College dropout's startup set up to be the next big coworking aggregator in India

The Hacker Street, a technology-powered supply aggregator and provider of coworking and managed office spaces, currently offers over 30,000 spots across 7 cities since its launch last June.

For 27-year-old Gourab Paul, solving big problems was always a passion. That’s why he chose to work with several early-stage startups between 2012 and 2016, including adtech startup AdPushup, and self-drive car-rental startup Peersome. He eventually landed up at tech-focused venture capital firm Kalaari Capital.

Brought up in Siliguri, Gourab dropped out of college back in 2012. He says, “I was a misfit in the college education system, hailing from a small isolated town in West Bengal and with almost no exposure to the real world. I had no knowledge on the possible career paths. And, later, I realized that the rat race made absolutely no sense to me.”

While working with Kalaari Capital, Gourab was fascinated by the insights of commercial real estate space and came across unique problems. While studying different sectors and keeping an eye on trends, be it vernacular internet to AI, ML, Blockchain, and IoT, he realized that the commercial real estate space, especially the office space segment, is largely ignored by new-age startups in India.

Startups like Nestaway, Ziffyhomes, CoLive, and others were providing sophisticated solutions to renters, but the office rental spaces puzzle was still waiting to be solved.

Not long after, in June 2018, he took the plunge and started The Hacker Street, which pegs itself as a tech-driven supply aggregation and unified provider of office spaces, be it co-working or managed.

However, being an outsider in the ‘commercial real estate industry’, Gourab didn’t have it easy. Convincing real estate folks was the hardest, confides Gourab, who was often asked about the total experience he had in the real estate space.

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