One-stop shop for all human knowledge
Living in a world of technology makes our lives convenient. However, technology is also making us increasingly disconnected from what we call the real world. Konversai aims to change that. An eBay of knowledge, Konversai is the world's one-stop shop for any and all human knowledge. It connects people on a one-on-one basis and enables video conversations between them for the exchange of knowledge. There are millions of people who have knowledge and skills, have time, and need income but don't have a way to offer it and earn from it. There are also millions of people who need face-to-face interactions to learn something or get trustworthy information but are limited by geography, time and money. Konversai offers the solution to both of these problems. It is the platform that allows everyone to be part of the gig economy.
Konversai is the brainchild of Sushma Sharma, a corporate lawyer and a professor based in New York, with Law degrees from Delhi University, the University of Oxford and Columbia Law School. She originally comes from Patna in India and has lived in more than 6 cities in 4 different countries. She had no plans to be an entrepreneur but when her daughter, who was 7 years old upon moving to California from Hong Kong in 2014, developed an illness, a new journey began. It took months to figure out what was wrong, and that was a trying time to say the least. Only after her daughter recovered did Sharma find someone who had been through a similar experience with her son, and all she could think of was, "Why didn't I meet her earlier?" Despite her extensive network, all she needed was a person who had experienced something similar and that wasn't available. That was the beginning of Konversai – a place to find someone when you need him or her for any conversation or knowledge you seek. The idea grew rapidly to become a place where we can share all or some of our skills, experiences, and knowledge that we acquire during our lifetime. "Information is everywhere, but not knowledge," Sharma says. "Right now you can Google anything, but when you speak with someone whom you can see and you learn from that person, there is a sense of trust that is lacking in anonymous online encounters."
With the proliferation of online video sharing, another video-based platform may seem redundant. But Konversai provides the kind of personal connection that does not exist in other social media platforms. In Sharma's own words, "I felt so strongly that there had to be a place where you didn't have to pretend to be someone, a place where you could talk to someone at a real level."
The platform can be used for any subject of interest – the only limit is your imagination. Whether it's Hindi language, cooking, Bollywood dance, traveling, calculus, computer science, yoga, or something else entirely different, any and all knowledge, skills, and experiences have value on Konversai. You can use the platform as you wish (minor exceptions do apply).
For a non-tech person to create a website, create a team, find users, and find funding has not been an easy journey. But with time, help of her team, initial investors, and many very good friends, she has still managed to grow Konversai from 6000 users just two years ago (at the time of tragedy) to over 150,000 + users. Konversai is continuing to grow at an exponential rate now, which shows that there is an intrinsic need in the world for it.
