IAM1506 – Founder Creates an AI-Powered Building Relationship Chatbot to Connect with People

Rabi is a serial entrepreneur. Working alongside his current founding team for 10+ years, they have used AI to build recommendation engines, social platforms, and enterprise software. His first startup iDubba/iCouchapp was a “TV show recommendations + social engagement” app that had 2M+ monthly active users at the time it was acquired.

Rabi then made a bold move to Silicon Valley to start a new company. While there, Rabi became frustrated that the ability to build relationships lacked technological innovation and intelligence. And so, EvaBot was born. EvaBot is an emotionally intelligent gifting relationship solution that enables thoughtful companies to accelerate the key relationships that increase both growth and competitive advantage. With a platform built to generate emotional engagement and collect actionable intelligence, they are the standard in amplifying the customer and employee experience, creating an unforgettable journey for the recipient and truly valuable insight for the company. Their vision is to set the standard for business relationships by using AI to personalize the physical and digital experience.

• CEO Story: When Rabi moved from India to Silicon Valley in order to build a new tech company. They realized they needed to connect and build relationships or be part of a community. The most challenging part is that they were limited with their time due to limited resources and no work permit. They found a way to build relationships by sending personalized gifts and building relationships needs more time, so they built an AI assistant to gather personal information. That is how their company started, and right now they operate on a bigger scale.
• Business Service: Evabot is a personalized AI-powered chatbot gift. Gathering personalized data. It will then surprise you with a gift that no one is choosing.
• Secret Sauce: Going very deep into everything, understanding the core problem. Going deeper and doing things differently.
• CEO Hack: Plan with patience but you should execute with impatience. Always have a bias for action.
• CEO Nugget: Think long term, to create a more sustainable business. If you believe in the idea that you work on, you should spend your life on it.
• CEO Defined: Every stage is different. Start right by getting the right founding team where each has a different complementary skill set. Hiring a great team. Each stage has different challenges.

Website: www.evabot.com

Twitter: @rabigupta

LinkedIn: rabigupta

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00:27 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:54 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. Abhrabi Gupta of Evabot. Rabi, super excited to have you on the show.

01:03 – Rabi Gupta

Hey, hi, Gresham. Yeah, I'm really excited to be here. Yeah, let's see what we got.

01:11 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. Let's jump in and see what all the awesomeness that you're working on and doing. And of course, before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Rabi so you can hear some of those awesome things. And Rabi is a serial entrepreneur working alongside his current founding team for 10-plus years. They have used AI to build recommendation engines, social platforms, and enterprise software.

His first startup, iDubba, an iCouch app was a TV show recommendation plus social engagement app that had nearly 2 million plus monthly active users at the time it was acquired. Rabi has then made a bold move to Silicon Valley to start a new company. While there, Rabi became frustrated that the ability to find and build relationships lacked technological innovation and intelligence. And so EvaBot was born.

EvaBot is an emotionally intelligent gifting relationship solution that enables thoughtful companies to accelerate the key relationships that increase both growth and competitive advantage. With the platform built to generate emotional social engagement and to collect actionable intelligence, they are, they are standard and amplifying the customer and employee experience, creating an unforgettable journey for the recipient and truly invaluable insight for the company.

Their vision is to set the standard for business relationships by using AI to personalize the physical and digital experience. And let me say that I was a recipient of an Eva box and it was an incredible experience. So super excited to see the man and the legend and all the awesome things you're doing, Ravi. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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02:37 – Rabi Gupta

Yes, I am. Yeah, thank you for such a wonderful intro.

02:40 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, well, thank you for doing all the awesome work. And I guess where I wanted to kind of kick things off was for winding the clock here a little bit more on how you guys started with a car your CEO story.

02:49 – Rabi Gupta

Yeah, so you know, as you already mentioned, you know, when I moved to Silicon Valley from India, the biggest challenge for me and my other co-founder was, you know, how to build relationships, you know, relationships typically take a long time and you have to be part of a community, right? Like the same college or you work at the same company. And we realized that we didn't have that much time because we didn't have money.

We didn't have a work permit to work here. So we figured out a way to build relationships, and that was through very personalized gifts. But in the process of sending personalized gifts, we realized that the irony is that if you want to send a very personalized gift, you need to know the person for over years. So then we realized that we could actually use an AI assistant to ask all the questions on your behalf to the person who is getting the gift.

And they are very open to sharing that information because they believe that they are chatting with the bot, not a real human being. And then we use that data or the insight to send a very personalized gift. That is how we started the company. And that is what we do today. But, you know, it has evolved into a much larger thing.

03:57 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And I absolutely love that you talked about building relationships, because I think so many times when we think about our products and services, we can just think of the nuts and bolts of what we do, like what products or services we have. But actually, the reason behind it, the why, often is 1 of the most compelling things. And A lot of that ties into that human path, that part, which is why I love everything you've been able to build because it's about helping people, it sounds like facilitating that opportunity to build those relationships and deeper connections.

04:25 – Rabi Gupta

That's correct, yeah. Yeah, that's like, it all starts, in our case, like what we say is it all starts with a gift, but relationship building is not just the gift, right? It's all the things you do beyond that first gift.

04:37 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely, but it's so important. You can't get anywhere unless you start. So I love that you guys are creating that start and that inflection point so that people can kind of move forward with that. So I know I touched on a little bit, when I read your bio, I wanted to drill down and hear a little bit more about EvaBot. Can you tell us a little bit more about how it works and how you're helping people to spark those relationships?

04:56 – Rabi Gupta

Yeah, so the way EvaBot works is the first engagement or the touch point is a very personalized gift. To personalize the gift, we use an AI-powered chatbot that chats with the person getting the gift. And because we have kind of, I traded a lot on like how humans engage when they chat with the bot, we are able to get a 99.9% completion rate when people start chatting with Eva. In the process, we collect their personal information like address, preferences, do they like coffee or tea, whether are they allergic to any food, what's their family background, do they have kids or pets, what's their favorite sports team, and music. We collect all this data and Eva then gets a sense of who this person is.

And then based on what is available in our inventory at that time and the budget of the gift, Eva surprises the recipient with a gift that no 1 is choosing. We are the only gifting company where an AI really selects the gift. Like no, neither the sender nor the recipient selects the gift. But what happens after that is because we already know the person and because you're using AI, so you can know 1 or a thousand or million people, right, using AI, then Eva starts giving you nudges about important touch points.

So For example, if you have a client living in Highland Park in Chicago and there was a shooting, you can, Eva can actually tell you that, hey, you have these 5 customers living there. You should ask if they're okay, are their families okay. You know, if there is a birthday coming up, Eva can remind you of the birthday and you can either send a gift or a very personalized note. So because Eva gets to know people on your behalf, that is the key thing. It starts with a gift, but then you can generate very personalized touch points going forward and that really bears the relationship.

06:46 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. And you know, I definitely, you know, going through the, you know, some of the experience, I really enjoyed how easy it was to kind of answer the questions and even the excitement, you know, from getting the box as well, too. But I love the aspect, even I touched upon it when I read your bio that I think so many times we can get into silos where we say, okay, this is technology, this is human interaction. They have nothing to do with 1 another, but I love how you fuse those things together because I think having that assistant that even be there to say, okay, this is something that we didn't know if you knew about, is this person's birthday or this is happening? Do you wanna take that extra step to help you build and develop that human connection even more?

07:26 – Rabi Gupta

Yeah, that's right. What we have realized over a period of time is, that companies are spending so much money on corporate gifts, but no 1 is asking them for a real return on investment, and they don't like it, they don't have any clue. Right. So we are not only making it very measurable but also really making that gifting as the stepping stone towards building a relationship.

07:51 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely, I love that. And I love that stepping stone analogy, because again, in order to get and develop those relationships, have all the multitude of opportunities that can kind of come from that. You have to have that step taken and you have to have that door kind of open and facilitate a little bit more. So absolutely love that. Yeah. Perfect. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce and this could be for yourself, the business, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

08:20 – Rabi Gupta

So, our secret sauce is basically, if you talk about the product, then it's like, it's very small things, understanding human psychology, really solving a problem, as I said, like, when people think about gifts, they start thinking top down, right? They're like, oh, give so I have to solve the logistics problem, right? I have to solve the gift card problem. But that is not really it, right? Like, we actually go beyond that We say, okay, gift, but why do you want to send a gift? Right? What is the real reason? Is it like new employees joining your company and you want to give a great experience?

Then is swag the right answer or which swag do you want to send, maybe a few items that are more suited to the person's taste? And in the process, you also get to know their birthday so that you can get, you know, send another gift on the birthday. So we go like really, really deep. So I think our secret sauce is actually going very deep with everything and understanding the core problems. This is like asking 5 whys, right? When you ask 5 whys, you get to the bottom of the problem. That is what we try to do.

We never say that, oh, the competitor is doing this, so we should also do this. Our answer is always very different. So yeah, I would say the secret sauce is going deeper and doing things differently.

09:41 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And I think so many times people can go far, they can go wide. But going deep is really where that opportunity is. And I love that mention of human psychology and really understanding that aspect, but I almost got visions of sometimes a little kid that might be around us and asking why this, why that, why that, why that, why that. And as irritating as that might be, that's really where you get to ask those questions to kind of understand the reasoning, the rationale, and the true connection and opportunity that you have. And if you don't ask those whys, If you don't really have that in mind when you're building or creating something, then you can definitely create things, but they may not necessarily deeply solve that problem. So that's why I love that. For 1, that's your secret sauce, but 2, you can definitely hear it in the foundation of everything you build.

10:30 – Rabi Gupta

Yep. Exactly. I mean, that is very important. You know, so we try to do that with everything. And you know that that creates a competitive advantage. I mean, there is nothing else. Its competition is not about, you know, having comparable features. It's about like going really, really deep with understanding the problem and then keep on solving more and more problems like that for your customers and you have a great retention rate.

10:56 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

11:08 – Rabi Gupta

Yeah, so I mean, as the companies grow, there are always new things you learn, right? So recently what I realized was, as you grow into a larger company, the bias for action, which is a very good value, it's Amazon's value, and there are a lot of companies that have had that value, that becomes very important because the end of the day you realize that as you grow, fewer things are getting delivered, right? Fewer product features are getting delivered. I was talking to 1 of my mentors and he said a very great thing. He's also an investor. So he said, you should plan with patience, but you should execute with impatience. And that was a really good insight again, that always have a bias for action, and there are different ways you can do it.

12:00 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I absolutely love that. And so what would you consider to be what I like to call a CEO nugget? So this is a little bit more word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something that you know, or you mentioned about your mentor or it might be something you would tell your favorite client or if you happen to be a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

12:17 – Rabi Gupta

You know, 1 thing 1 thing is, you know, I always believe in is, you know, think long term. And that solves a lot of problems fundamentally, right? Because if you are thinking long-term, you will try to create a business that is more sustainable. You're not dependent only on VC money to grow, right? So if you think long, so for example, internally we think like, how can we create like a company that lasts right now for 30 years, but as we grow, for a hundred years maybe, right? So then we start asking all the right questions. Is the problem that we are solving the fundamental problem?

Will it always be there? Or will it grow with time because of the new technological changes? And then you start doing the same thing with your team. So you start telling your team, hey, don't think short-term, think long-term, so that they have the confidence that they can actually go and sell the right stuff. So that is 1 nugget, I would say, because end of the day, if you believe that this is the idea that you want to work on, then why just 1 year or 2 years? I mean, you should have that mindset of spending your life on it. That is when most of the life-changing companies are built.

13:36 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping that different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So Rabi, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:47 – Rabi Gupta

Yeah. So again, what I have learned from my experience is every stage is different, right? Like when you start, the CEO is doing maybe everything along with other co-founders. The first job of the CEO is actually to get the co-founders. It's very important to have co-founders, but at least a founding team, right? Like where people have complementary skills. Then once you have product market fit, then you get into the other stage. So today, for example, we are post-series A, we have customers, and we have a product-market fit.

At this stage, there are different challenges. I think for now, But I think there are certain things that you should always do, which is like a hands-on approach to things, right? And then of course, hiring like great leadership team, believing in them, and coaching them to be great leaders. So that is, I think, what a CEO should always do. But, you know, other than that, like 70, 75% of your skills should always be changing, getting better, all of that.

14:56 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Ravi, truly appreciate that definition. And of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get a hold of you find out about all the awesome things you and your team are working on.

15:12 – Rabi Gupta

Yeah, so of course, you know, maybe talk briefly more about Evabot, you know, as I said, just to remind people that, you know, we have more of a relationship-building company, we use AI and gifts as a hook to get, you know, to get to know your customers and employees. And then we help you create phenomenal experiences with them. You can find us on evabot.com. You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn as, you know, LinkedInRabhiGupta, Twitter, rabhi underscore Eva. And yeah, so, so yeah, I'm happy to, you know, connect and answer any questions. And of course, if you need any advice from my experience until now, I'm happy to, I'm very open to that.

15:57 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Thanks. Well, thank you. And I appreciate all the awesome things you're doing. And we'll definitely, of course, have the links and information in the show notes. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:06 – Rabi Gupta

Thank you. Thank you so much, Gresham

16:08 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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