Accomplished technologist and entrepreneur Preet Raj, recently featured as one of the Top 10 CTOs to Watch 2022 is blazing a trail when it comes to helping brands build communities and connect better with their consumers. The young founder has made excellent strides as he has unveiled several new updates on his business Bakstage.
Preet Raj is giving brands worldwide the capability to host live social spaces from their own websites for them to connect and communicate with their consumers while having direct access to valuable consumer data that could be used to offer better services and spark more engagement. To learn more about him and his new platform Bakstage, we secured an interview with the young CTO and Founder.
Give us a little about your background, where are you from and how’d you get into the industry?
“My journey as an immigrant founder has been a lot of fun with many ups and downs and I’m happy for all the opportunities that I’ve been able to create for myself and others during this journey. Starting from 2011, when I came to the US to pursue my Master’s in Computer Science then working for top investment banks like Goldman Sachs & JP Morgan and then leading the engineering departments at amazing startups, all of it has been a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of hard work. My time in all of my corporate and startup career has been very rewarding as I’ve had the opportunity to build systems, businesses and teams from the ground up. I think my constant drive to be in the driving seat of innovation has helped me a lot.”
How did the startup ventures go?
“Many of them became award-winning platforms. For instance I led the development of FLYX to be one of the Best Apps of 2020 at the Google PlayStore. FX Hedge Pool has received numerous awards and acclaim. I also pride myself for being able to assemble kickass teams in these ventures. I wanted to take that success and learnings while building Bakstage.”
Can you tell us a bit about your company Bakstage. What is Bakstage?
“We started Bakstage with the sole purpose of empowering brands. If you look at the current eco-system all brands depend heavily on walled garden social networks like Instagram, Twitter etc. to build communities and engage with their consumers. This unfortunately has left their own websites and apps with little to no engagement, no 1st party data, and no consumer insights because of which these brands fail to adapt with the changing consumer behavior and miss out converting their own website traffic into consumers. Bakstage helps brands build deeper connections with their consumers on their own websites so that they own their consumer consented data, build strong communities and get amazing consumer insights. It’s a no-code platform that gives brands the ability to host live and interactive streams from their own websites taking the customer experience to a whole new level.
What are some of the benefits brands moving to Bakstage will find?
“Well there are so many, but I personally love how brands are using our platform features like live interactive streaming, which allow consumers and brands to connect more easily and build deeper relationships, and advanced analytics & data collection, which allow brands to gain and analyze consented 1st party user data more effectively. Brands in the current digital space are overly dependent on platforms like Facebook or Twitter and they know it. They don’t own any of their consumer data, don’t have insights into consumer behavior. Comparatively they miss out on converting the traffic on their own websites into actual customers. Bakstage is putting that power back in the hands of brands.”
Lastly, I’d like to hear a little about success and what that means to you.
“Success to me is doing things that you love with the people that you like and celebrating small wins along the way. Entrepreneurship can be a very lonely and a long journey, don’t get disheartened if you don’t see success initially. If you can find and assemble a kickass team/co-founders, then there are no limits to what you can achieve. I can definitely say finding my team was an a-ha moment. It was when all the pieces started to fall into place.”
Any tips or advice to fellow entrepreneurs?
“Be patient! It’s a long journey, be prepared to iterate and pivot multiple times if necessary. And don’t do it alone, surround yourself with good people that complement your skills.”
With a comprehensive approach, a well-qualified team, and a product that empowers brands to connect better with their consumers, Preet Raj is determined to change how businesses engage with their audience.
