Cogoport Intern: Day in the Life!

As one of the fastest growing startups in digital freight, we are always looking for bright people. One of our recent hires is Saurabh, who joined the Cogoport team to help out the business development team. He wrote a blog post about working at Cogoport.

And now over to Saurabh:

Life at Cogoport

I have been a Cogoport intern for the past couple of weeks now, and so far, it is unlike any of my other internships or professional experiences. The learning curve is huge, but the opportunities for learning and growth are endless. I remember applying for internships and Cogoport stood out to me because it was a startup that had come up with its own unique idea and was trying to break the status quo in the enormous logistics industry. Also, I have always dreamed of having my own business and could not think of a better place to learn from. At Cogoport I am a business development intern and am tasked with bringing in new clients as my primary responsibility. My development and progress are overseen by Varun Mahendru, the Regional Business Head at Cogoport.

All Together Now

Cogoport has a defined hierarchy, yet it does not show. The heads of various departments, employees, and interns all sit together in the office. If a stranger was to walk in then they may not be able to tell us apart. It helps promote the culture of learning and taking on responsibility. The heads lead by example, and everyone in the office has always taken initiative and followed suit.

New Skills for New Business

I had always heard that start-ups are a lot more hands-on, and I’m excited to be able to experience it first-hand now. This really came to light when in my second week as an intern Drupad Goswami, who is Head of Sales at Cogoport, called in the evening informing me that we would be going to Morbi (an industrial town) to conduct a drive that would get more clients on board.

Diving in at the Deep End

So far, I had spent one day calling clients, and one day meeting them. Now, I was being thrown into the deep end and had to attract clients who could bring a lot of business to Cogoport. As I said, the opportunities to learn and grow were immense.

With coaching from Drupad and Varun I had my pitch locked down after the first couple of meetings in Morbi. After conducting over 40 meetings over the course of two days, I’d managed to get 12 new clients on board. My numbers were pale in comparison to the more experienced members of the Cogoport team in Morbi, but for someone who had been a part of the company AND industry for slightly more than a week… I was proud of the result.

We Have Lift-off!

After returning to Ahmedabad I was feeling much more confident when reaching out to potential new clients. There was no more nervousness. I was sure in my knowledge of the platform and industry.

Cogoport was able to help me in accomplishing all this in a matter of two weeks. I’m eagerly waiting to see what I can learn and (hopefully) accomplish over the next two and a half months!