MeetTheSketchers is a series to put a face to the humans behind Sketchnote! Here's a chance to get to know the people who make the product tick, and see what makes THEM tick!
The amalgamation of content with SaaS is the new-age marriage of commerce with art. It's at this junction that Nishtha Kanal finds herself, leading the content team at Sketchnote! On the morning right after Christmas, Nishtha tells us about her journey so far at Sketchnote—the million pivots and awesome results from them! Find out what prompted Nishtha to enter into the world of startups, a move that has led her to spearhead many projects at Sketchnote, and what makes her tick outside work
How did you connect with Sheekant Pawar (co-founder and CEO of Sketchnote)?
This is a rather interesting and fun story that both Shreek and I like to tell everyone we meet associated with Sketchnote. Shreekant’s previous startup was called Diabeto and helped people living with diabetes manage their glucose data and lifestyle. I was a Diabeto customer and was quite upset when the operations ceased eventually.
Somehow, over the course of interacting with Shreek, we became acquaintances, enough for him to think of me when Sketchnote was starting out and he needed someone to work on the content. He called me up and it was a no-brainer!
What gave you the confidence to join a startup, as opposed to a legacy company?
I always thought of myself as someone who didn’t take a lot of risks with employment opportunities. As a former journalist, there was little scope for trying my hand at newer companies. But when Shreekant and Julio spoke to me about Sketchnote, my instinct told me this was it. And I was glad I listened.
There was a lot I could do with the content here; I’d never worked on laying the foundation for an organization before and it was such an exciting prospect. Moulding the written word for Sketchnote from scratch has been one of the best experiences of my life.
What do you know now about your work that you didn’t do 2.5 years ago?
When it comes to working on a new product, you need to be quick on your feet. Time is of the essence and pivots can come your way at any second. Content is ever-changing and I can hardly even recognize the strategies we were working on in the beginning! The only way to work on a startup is to be prepared for challenges at any second, and we’re moving together as a team.
What works at Sketchnote are you personally proud of?
I think having worked on the platform for a couple of years and then getting the first few users was the high point of my Sketchnote career. The amount of feedback we get and the appreciation we get for the detailing we’ve put into Sketchnote makes me extremely proud of being part of a team full of passionate people who think like one entity.
Outside Sketchnote, what is your current fascination with?
My longtime fascination has remained with sports for a while now! I’ve enjoyed watching cricket and football—and have played some in college. But now I’m trying to understand football strategizing on a theoretical level better now. The fascination started with tracking player forms for fantasy game competitions but evolved into trying to understand tactics on a deeper level. Besides sports, I’ve recently acquired a kalimba and I’m trying to crack song covers on it.
Everyone in the Sketchnote ecosystem knows Nishtha quite well; we meet her in our inbox every Thursday with the latest Sketchnote product updates! While being fully clued into the world of content, Nishtha is hyper-analytical, and that lets her wear many hats at Sketchnote!
