Circles (B): Launch and Pivot

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Abstract

This case describes the entrepreneurial journey of two college friends — Anchal Taatya and Abhiram Nukalapati. While studying at IIM Ahmedabad, they saw an opportunity for aggregating credit card discounts and launched a pilot in February 2019 under the name Circles. Circles helped discount seekers and credit card holders to connect and make transactions. Case A outlines their journey until the launch, where they faced the dilemma of choosing between a B2B and a B2C business model. Case B outlines their struggles in launching a B2C product and eventual shutdown of the venture. The key objective of this case is to understand the business formation stage of a college start-up, and how they arrived at opportunity identification. The case is aimed at enabling classroom discussions on the role of trust in platform businesses and how regulations — or lack thereof — can shape the destiny of new ventures.

Additional Information

Product Type Case
Reference No. CIIE0025(B)
Title Circles (B): Launch and Pivot
Pages 8
Published on Dec 3, 2021
Year of Event 2020
Authors Mendonca, Valerie; Karna, Amit; Mukherjee, Saral;
Area Centre for Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship (CIIE)
Discipline Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategic Management
Sector Banking Finance Insurance (BFI)
Learning Objective Understand the entrepreneurial journey of college startups. Appreciate the role of experimentation in launching new businesses. Understand the struggles in an early stage of venture scaling.
Keywords Entrepreneurship; College Startup; Experimentation; New Venture; Business Model
Country India
State Gujarat
City Ahmedabad
Organization Circles
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