Karan Sawant - Founder - BeyondMe
BeyondMe is a pioneering tool in the field of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that specialises in swiftly diagnosing traffic loss and identifying weaknesses within Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Our venture is dedicated to providing digital marketers with a comprehensive solution that streamlines the analysis process, enabling quick determination of traffic loss reasons related to crawling, rendering, indexing, ranking, and content quality.
The SEO industry is a dynamic landscape where businesses strive to optimise their online presence and improve search engine rankings to drive organic traffic. It’s an ever-evolving field shaped by search engine algorithms, user behaviour, and content relevance. BeyondMe operates at the intersection of technology and marketing, leveraging AI-driven insights and advanced analysis tools to assist marketers in understanding and enhancing their websites’ performance.
My entrepreneurial journey started in my 3rd year of Engineering College (SIESGST) at the age of 22 when I applied for my first patent on IDPS through a law firm, Ediplis Counsels, using the money from Freelancing to cover the legal cost.
I’m a deep tech person with expertise in conducting market research and have previously worked in web3 and AI-based startups. During my past experience, I have worked on building NLU-based chatbots, creating smart contracts, building bots for remote process automation, creating pipelines to handle pretty large data streams, scraping Google more than 1 million times a day, and many more. Working in all those companies and startups in the past, I have realised how important understanding Search Engine is to drive organic traffic, and existing solutions were not enough for doing so. And that practically gave rise to my current beliefs, that is, “We need to build our website in a way it is easy and cheaper for Search Engine to crawl”. I have always been curious about things and have been a part of the Nvidia Startup Inception program, Microsoft for Startups, Nasscom 10,000 Startups, and Entrepreneur First Toronto in the past. I was covered by a local newspaper in Maharashtra, Sakal. I’m an AI enthusiast and like to fiddle with the upcoming AI models and build them. I also have applied for 3 patents. I got experience from my failures and have learned a lot from them. I learned a lot from the previous startups that I was part of. The entire journey is a roller-coaster.
During my time at Entrepreneur First, we were shown the value of Customer Calls, so I decided to get on a call with over 50 C-level connects in my network in a month’s time to understand what are the major problems they are facing while running various aspects of the business and use my personal experience to give direction to this calls. This concluded with a hunch that data is already available in Google Search Console, and analysing it is time-consuming and not sustainable over a longer time as the data is very dynamic and analysing it again will take the same amount of time.
I decided to start working on this pain point to get the data from the various sources that can help in doing SEO. I started building the main framework and all the features as a widget so that it is easy for me to keep adding the feature.
Search Console Analysis and low-hanging keyword detection are the core features that resonated with our target audience. At the present time we have around 1.75K users who are using our platform.
Our mission is to empower digital marketers with cutting-edge tools that swiftly diagnose traffic loss, pinpoint SERP weaknesses, and enhance websites for optimal performance. Through BeyondMe’s intuitive analysis and AI-driven insights, we aim to simplify SEO processes, enabling businesses to drive organic traffic effectively. Our vision is to revolutionise the SEO landscape by continually innovating BeyondMe, becoming the go-to solution for businesses seeking rapid, accurate diagnoses of traffic issues. We aspire to be a driving force behind website optimisation, leveraging technology and data to empower marketers globally. Innovation, simplicity, adaptability, learning and well-being are the core values our company is based upon.
Success, to me, is a blend of meaningful impact and continuous innovation in the field of AI. For BeyondMe, success is enhancing website performance through our tools while continuously evolving to meet the evolving needs of the users. Incubation in Nasscom 10,000 Startups and Microsoft for Startup, crossing the 1.5K users mark, are a couple of recognitions that we have marked.
Technical and legal guidance and mentorship were challenges I faced during the initial days. Being a part of groups like Entrepreneur First, Startup Chapter One, and Founder Poker helped me network, and those challenges became a learning opportunity, strengthening our resilience, refining our strategies, and guiding us toward building a more robust and user-centric product.
Having a smaller and highly effective team of self-motivated individuals helps us sustain being a bootstrap startup and build a product while being a profitable venture. This team is the key to the stability.
Enhancements in AI and Quantum Computing have provided a positive impact on the company. It made the integration of various parts easy, and using open-source code and tweaking it to match our product made the development easy. The recent update on Google Bard AI has negatively impacted the industry and will change the way we are currently doing SEO. It will lead to new ways of doing it, which also means an opportunity for new startups like us to compete with well-established brands with an innovative approach.
Apart from working on BeyondMe, I am also an independent researcher currently doing research on Financial AGI models during my free time. This Financial AGI model will be very useful for individuals to make smarter trades.
Our long-term vision for BeyondMe is to establish it as the go-to platform for SEO diagnostics and optimisation using AI, empowering marketers worldwide with cutting-edge tools and insights.
Having a third and unbiased eye is always helpful as it prevents you from going to pitfalls that you neglect in the love of building your product. The guidance, insights, and support provided by mentors have been invaluable in shaping my entrepreneurial journey and making me wise.
Starting a business is an incredible journey filled with highs and lows, challenges and triumphs. Embrace the learning opportunities that come with every setback and success. Understand that failure is not the end but a stepping stone towards growth. All you need to do is change your mind on how you see failures.
This will make every failure a success as things don’t go as planned, but it’s how you adapt and persevere through those moments that define your success. Moreover, seek guidance and mentorship. Don’t hesitate to ask for help or advice from those who’ve walked a similar path. Surround yourself with a supportive network of mentors, peers, and advisors who can offer guidance and support.
Lastly, believe in yourself and build a startup that is unique to you, aka focus on Founder Market Fit instead of Product Market Fit. Entrepreneurship requires self-belief and passion. Trust your instincts, stay true to your values, and keep moving forward, even when the path seems challenging. Your passion and dedication will drive you through the toughest of times and inspire others to join your journey.
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