A random text message led Akashlal Bathe of Bengaluru to discover that his next-door neighbor was one of Rapido’s co-founders. He shared a post on LinkedIn.
Viral WhatsApp conversation
Isn’t it cool to know that a famous person also resides in the same house or neighborhood as you? Well, a Bengaluru man experienced a similar incident. A simple group text allowed Akashlal Bathe to learn that one of Rapido’s co-founders was his neighbor.
Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and SR Rishikesh started Rapido in 2015 as a platform for bike taxis and a logistics solution provider. It is unclear which of the three but one of them requested a ladder on the WhatsApp group for Bathe’s area.
Akashlal Bathe, who was also a member of the chat group on WhatsApp, responded to the request. The Software programmer was shocked to see his neighbor’s “Rapido” WhatsApp status and his account picture, so he chose to text him privately.
He asked, “What line of work are you in,” to which his neighbor replied that he needed a ladder for “AC fitting.” “No. I meant are you into photography or something? Looking at your dp,” Bathe explained. Bathe asked the founder about his WhatsApp status after he humbly responded that he wasn’t interested in photography or podcasting. He said, “What’s up with Rapido?”
Rapido’s co-founder
Later, Bathe found out he was one of the company’s founders after searching for his neighbor on Google. Meanwhile, his neighbor responded to his inquiry. “I am the founder of Rapido,” he wrote, according to screenshots of the chat that Bathe later posted on LinkedIn. Bathe informed the Rapido CEO that he would post the conversation on LinkedIn.
He shared screenshots of their conversation on LinkedIn but hid the name of the man.
“Happens only in #Bangalore. Pinged a random dude who wanted a ladder in the society group, checked his profile with status as ‘Rapido’. Turns out the founder of Rapido is a neighbour,” read the caption of the post.
Users on social media found the post amusing and shared their thoughts in the comments section. “Both can plan the next startup over chai,” a user wrote. Another user commented, “Ladder ke badle, coupon maang lo!”
