A complete stranger slapped my teammate. I was next !
Today marks the day, almost a decade ago, when a group of 50 brokers attacked NoBroker. It was not the extent of the assault, but the surprise/shock of “Is it really happening?” What seemed like a local procession in front of our office-cum-residential house quickly revealed itself to be a group of people hell-bent on beating us and breaking computers/servers.
I ducked the next slap that was meant for me. When I tried to record it on my phone, it was quickly noticed by them. Our only saviour was the iron grill door through which we locked ourselves inside. Akhil and I had the look of “Ab kya karey?” on our faces. Next scene was us sitting in a police jeep going to the station, with brokers still continuing to create a ruckus at the office. We realised our complete lack of “connections,” with no IAS, IPS or politician on our speed-dial.
The day somehow ended, but the circumstances ensured that we had to vacate our office overnight and display “regret” messages on our website. Through the entire ordeal, somehow, it never crossed the minds of us three founders that NoBroker was at risk. Such is the power of optimism (or should I say misplaced innocence). Somehow, we struggled, the team grew stronger together, and we tried to survive one day at a time.
Today, after Rs. 1,000 crore+ of yearly revenue and after serving 4 crore customers and saving thousands of crores in brokerage, we can afford to reminisce about it as an “incident” that happened. What did it teach us? Perseverance, optimism, the power of compounding and, above all, the power of “never giving up.”
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@akhil10s @Sgarg2408 @nobrokercom @NoBrokerHood