Schooling at La Martiniere for Boys, college at St Xavier’s, the out-and-out Kolkata boy that he is, Varun Bajaj couldn’t think of any other city to float his start-up when he dropped out of IIM Bangalore with a dream of doing something on his own. Today, as CEO and co-founder of StepUpwards, a web platform for corporate training, Varun Bajaj is helping fulfill the career dreams of many.
My Kolkata caught up with Bajaj to understand the need for constant skill upgrades in a professional environment and the strategies applied to provide customised training to clients globally. Edited excerpts from the conversation follow…
My Kolkata: Tell us about StepUpwards and what lies at the crux of its existence?
Varun Bajaj: StepUpwards is a skilling platform that functions with the belief that no matter the size of a firm, it should be able to achieve their desired goal. It’s very similar to planning one’s career, and the course that helps you achieve that. The point being after we’ve started working, education is no longer in our purview, and sooner or later the skills attained become stale.With change being the only constant, it’s necessary to adapt and learn. Otherwise, people will become stale as their skills. If something new comes up, we need to understand it and learn it to achieve the desired result. Skilling is different from education, therefore, we call ourselves a skill-tech platform rather than an ed-tech venture.
‘StepUpwards is a skilling platform that functions with the belief that no matter the size of a firm, it should be able to achieve their desired goal,’ says Bajaj
How can tools help in today’s demanding job market?
At times, we might think that for whatever new has come up, like ChatGPT, we need to learn it. So many of our clients need training in something as basic as Microsoft Excel. Even though many use it, not everyone is able to tap into its full potential. It’s linked to holding a Samurai sword by two people, the novice who’s trying to slice a bamboo with it and is unable to and then there’s the old master who knows the right angle to hit and cuts it. Until you’re able to completely utilise the tools at your disposal, they are useless.
What made you choose Kolkata as your base?
I have been a Calcutta boy throughout, right from my schooling at La Martiniere to college at St Xavier’s. After this, I got into IIM Bangalore, but dropped out, as I wanted to start something of my own. Calcutta was my default choice, and we are no longer living in a world where we need to be at a specific location to start a business. We live in a digital age, so even if you’re in any tier-2 or tier-3 city, by putting the right team and strategies in place, people can achieve success. One of our experts is based out of Bhopal and trained a client in the US. Also, as a registered firm, we have our offices both in Bangalore and Kolkata.
Bajaj during his college days at St. Xavier’s
How is StepUpwards different from other similar startups?
There are a lot of players, and models in this space. For instance, Mooc is a platform providing on-demand content, then there are individual trainers and companies providing certification programmes. The way we built ourselves is by providing live training. When you’re watching a video, one might zone out if they are not hearing what they want to listen. Also, we not only give certification programmes, but also customise it for each client. If I want to learn data analytics or dashboard training, the way I’ll apply it, or a sales team or a data scientist would apply it would vary. You can’t put all of them into the same bracket. We have homogenous learners training with a similar goal, and this is how we stand out by ensuring learning happens in a timely fashion, and is return on investment (RoI)-efficient.
How to stay relevant is a question working professionals keep asking themselves. How do you help them?
Interestingly, whenever we email clients there’s a common phrase we use: ‘Stay Relevant’. It’s interesting you ask this question because if you don’t keep learning it’s inevitable that sooner or later, you'll become irrelevant. If the human capital of a company stops learning, the firm will become irrelevant as well. To stay relevant, one has to keep abreast of what’s happening.
Key learning areas at StepUpwards
How do you ensure that learners truly gain a certain skill set?
Step one is to correctly identify the gap, for which a call takes place with clients. The course is customised based on this. Once it’s approved by the client, there’s no scope for ambiguity. Secondly, it is live training, so, if you don’t understand something one is able to clarify their doubts immediately. Lastly, assignments and assessments ensure it’s a very hands-on learning experience. It’s not only about learning during the training session, but also about implementing it later and receiving feedback. Also the management or the client funding the course knows what result it will yield. Earlier, people used to stay and pray, hoping that what they learn is helpful. With us, you pay after assessing the RoI.
Which are some business sectors constantly looking to upskill their employees?
Information Technology is up there, given there is constant change happening. Another aspect to this that we have witnessed from a functional perspective is sales. Soft skills are pertinent to this as we are no longer functioning with the mindset of only accomplishing sales. Now, it’s about building a brand, and a rapport that leads to repetitive sales. Beyond that, we see a focus on productivity.
The common fear among all is of stagnating in their careers. Salary aside, people are now looking for companies where they can keep learning and apply themselves.
For someone who’s mid-way in their career, how can they keep the learners mindset alive?
This is one thing that has to come from the learners themselves. No matter how much I tell you to read a book, you’ll not do it unless you want to. The culture also has to come from the company itself. Today, the thirst for upskilling exists in India's work culture. The common fear among all is of stagnating in their careers. Salary aside, people are now looking for companies where they can keep learning and apply themselves.
According to some surveys, the ‘Great Indian Startup Dream’ is crashing. How does StepUpwards hope to survive?
If the product that you are creating is really adding value to your stakeholders and customers regardless of the macroeconomic scenario, you’ll always be in the top percentile. The financial system, policies, and global scenarios are always changing and will not be stagnant. The company has to adapt to that. Also, it’s the robustness of your product that will govern on which side of this phenomenon you are.
What are your future plans?
The focus till now has been on the Indian market. We wanted to test and build our product in India as it’s our home market, and then take it to other markets. It’s a tech product so if it’s built well for one market it can be replicated across other markets as well. In the near future, we will enlarge our focus towards the Southeast Asian markets.
