When Sagar Rambhia and Ari Lewis attended high school together in Long Island, New York, all Sagar knew about Ari was that he was a 16-year-old kid who had made a 900% return investing in the stock market. When they formally met at the Future Business Leaders of America conference, they soon realized that they wanted to work together, and their resolve was solidified when Ari joined Sagar at Case Western Reserve University.
Their joint passion for gaming and entrepreneurship led to the creation of Koalah, a platform for online cash-based skilled gaming for mobile.
What attracted you to the Flashstarts accelerator?
A professor that we knew introduced us to Charles Stack. We really enjoyed our conversations with Charles and Jen– they seemed really knowledgeable about the startup space. We were really excited that we got in!
Tell us about your company.
We met in high school, and now we both attend college together at Case Western Reserve University. We really like playing mobile games, but felt that advertising was so clunky and we hated in-app purchases. So, we decided to make a new platform that doesn’t only help game developers, but gives users a new way to make money.
We both saw the opportunity in mobile real money gaming from the decline of Zynga and rise of King.com.
What has been the biggest challenge?
We have a distributed team, so communication is a big challenge. We recently started doing a daily video chat to make sure we are always on the same page, which has really helped us with the communication issue.
Tell us about working and living in Cleveland.
Cleveland is a special city; there’s an abundance of opportunities for people willing to take advantage of them.
How do you like working with interns?
They are a valuable part of our company. Without them we would not be where we are today.
What is some advice for future interns?
Be prepared for some great challenges. Especially if you’re a developer, go to hackathons and build applications. Try to become a full stack developer and don’t just stay inside your comfort zone. If you know Python or Ruby, learn JS or Sketch. Expand your learning skills so that when you come to Flashstarts, you can handle all challenges.
What surprised you about your experience at Flashstarts?
There’s a lot more that goes into building a successful company than people think. Meticulous planning is essential, and above all, working hard is the key to success.
What are some things you’ve learned this summer, so far?
How talented all the teams are. We think it’s great that there are 12 teams here that can really change the world. Ranging from healthcare to world peace, it seems like anything’s possible in the Flashstarts accelerator.
