Every start-up begins with an idea – some work, and some don’t. Those which do, are usually the ones that have managed to make it through, riding the bumps along the way, leaving a bold mark in the niche world of similar foundations. Bongo is one such start-up that began as an idea and soon launched itself as the first and largest Bangladeshi entertainment catalogue with a constantly updated library of movies, dramas, TV shows, music videos and songs. As the first online service to be actively involved in creating original content, they also have aggregated content from some of the biggest labels and TV channels in the country. As the Netflix of Bangladesh, Bongo has been recognised with a Top Start-up in Bangladesh award as well as being voted as the Most Promising Start-up during the event Innovation Extreme.
Today we talk to Ahad Mohammad Bhai and Navidul Huq, the founders of Bongo and how they took an idea and turned it into a video streaming portal that has racked up several thousand viewers per month and has a base of 125-million mobile users. As the previous founders of the immensely popular DhakaHotties that went viral in 2004, Ahad and Navid tell us what makes Bongo tick, how they keep their ideas fresh and dish out the three qualities that make a start-up a success.
Whose brainchild is Bongo?
Bongo was founded by Ahad Bhai and Navidul Huq. Together we previously founded a successful project DhakaHotties, a photo rating website which went viral when it was launched in 2004. Navid came to Ahad with the idea one day, saying “there is no place for us to find Bangla content online – we should do something about it.” Ahad loved the idea, and they started working on the project straight away.
What is the main idea behind Bongo? Tell us a little about the beginnings of Bongo.
There is a lot of Bangladeshi content available but there is no centralised place to find it. Especially for Bangladeshis living around the world, with 25-million NRBs, they have no access to Bangladeshi content.
We wanted to launch a centralised platform to provide Bangladeshis a one stop service full of local content – movies, music, TV shows and more.
All present, most entrepreneurs are looking into start-ups. To what lengths did you have to go to get funding?
We have self-funded everything so far. There are a lot of opportunities now to find funding as people are interested in financing IT projects in Bangladesh. There are a lot of ongoing movement and activities at the moment and a lot of foreign funds are available. However, the best place to start when looking for funding is at home. If you have an idea or project that you really believe in, ask your friends and family to back you up to begin with, and once you have some traction or proof of concept, private and other individual investors will be much more likely to be interested.
As you initially started out, what concerns did you have about your company?
The main concerns revolved around the fact that the content owners didn’t understand what we were doing. We needed their content in order for our site to work, and they did not get what we were trying to do. Getting people to understand the concept of video on demand was a long and tough process but once we were able to overcome this, things started going much smoother.
At what point did you realise that the website was going to take off and have as many users as it does now?
We got approached by several companies to work together with us, many months before our product was even ready. We had secured content but we had no service yet – however, Grameenphone offered us a deal as they were interested in our content library. Once we had a meeting with them, many other people approached us as well. I think the GP deal is what really validated our idea and gave us the confidence to move forward aggressively and quickly.
Tell us one thing that Bongo does differently - something that sets them apart from others.
We put a lot of focus on the user experience. We have invested a lot to ensure that the site is easy to use, the video delivery is fast,
and that we are always providing fresh and new content. We have also built our own studio and are producing original content to keep the site fresh.
In addition to this, we are working with up-and-coming talent to give them a platform to produce and publish their content. At the end of the day, Bongo is more than just a website, it is a platform and a community.
Currently who or what do you see as your biggest competitor?
YouTube. There are a couple of other websites which are live and offer video streaming but their libraries are much smaller than ours and they do not offer the variety and depth of services that we do. We also offer cross-platform and multi device services and our services go well beyond just video streaming.
YouTube has the largest library of Bangladeshi content online outside of Bongo, so our main goal will be to convince users to watch the same content that is available on YouTube on Bongo instead.
If you had a chance to start over again, what would you do differently?
Move faster!
In your journey with Bongo, what has been your most satisfying moment?
The day that our library hit 10,000 videos, our entire company watched a movie together online, streaming from Bongo.
Excluding Bongo, what other businesses do you admire the most?
Apple!
How does your team keep up and generate new ideas?
We have a very good and creative team and we are always brainstorming, bouncing ideas off each other, and always looking for new ways to innovate. I think the key is to always stay fresh and try out new things.
What would you say are the top three skills required to make a start-up a success?
Dedication, leadership and innovation.
Any future plans you are excited about at the moment?
We will be launching our service in the Middle East to target the Bangladeshi community there, and we are also looking at launching in other territories as well. We are very excited to make Bongo global!