Forget the Naysayers with Prerna Gupta, Co-Founder of Hooked

Prerna Gupta is a serial entrepreneur and investor. After being
at the helm of many successful startups, Prerna is now the CEO
and Founder of Hooked, a company that is redefining fiction for
the Snapchat generation. Hooked has over 100 million viewers
across social media, a short form video streaming app called
Hooked TV, and has received funding from Ashton Kutcher, Mariah
Carey, LeBron James, and Jamie Foxx to name a few. 


As the child of Indian immigrants growing up in a conservative
town in Oklahoma, Prerna spent much of her life pretending to be
someone she was not. Through soul-searching and digging deep
within herself, she grew to understand that her differences made
her special and that if she stayed true to herself, she would
always be happy. Prerna has carried this lesson with her
throughout her life: the courage to be herself has made her a
risk-taking, brave entrepreneur, even when others have doubted
her.


 


We chat with Prerna about her start-up lessons and failures, the
importance of failing and iterating in business, the downfalls of
being solely goal-driven, and why you should constantly seek
fulfillment in life versus deferring your happiness to some time
in the future. Prerna also shares more about her and her
husband’s decision to buy a one way ticket to Costa Rica,
thoughts on staying balanced, and why love will always be more
important than wealth. 


In this episode, we'll talk to Prerna about: 


* The impact that growing up in a small town in Oklahoma had on
Prerna. [2:52]


* Prerna’s career after college, before she decided to strike out
on her own. [6:35]


* Prerna’s feelings about going down a different path to most of
her friends who were in the corporate world. [10:30]


* Details about Prerna’s first startup, Yaari, the pivot it made,
and why it closed. [12:39]


* Moving onto a music creation app, Songify, after Yaari closed
and the inspiration behind it. [15:45]


* The double-edged sword of achieving your goals and creating
success that you never dreamed of. [19:29]


* Getting acquired by Smule and the big decision to sell
everything & move to Costa Rica. [21:35]


* How Prerna applied The Lean Startup methodology to a book
concept she was working on [27:19]


* When Prerna reached her ‘aha moment’ on the journey to creating
HOOKED. [30:54]


* Prerna shares 3 lessons on what makes certain businesses go
viral. [34:00]


* How Prerna thinks about balance in her life and what makes her
feel most balanced. [37:10]


* Advice for those looking to go down the fundraising route.
[40:20]


* Why venture capital is not for everyone and it is not the only
way your business will succeed. [41:32]


* Hear some of Prerna’s rituals that keep her motivated and
inspired. [44:07]


Follow Prerna:


* Personal Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/prernagupta/ 


* Hooked Website: https://hooked.co/


* Personal Website: https://www.prernagupta.com/ 


Follow Yasmin:


* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/


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