A creator, today, has to navigate his or her way through myriad social media platforms in order to find their target audience. Joynt, co-founded by Sagar Ramteke, Vijay Goel and Vivek Kumar, is a 2.0 version of a messaging application that helps micro creators build a club. Itis as easy as creating a chat group, engaging directly with followers and monetising content. The creators can release exclusive content for their followers and engage personally with them. The mission was to build a ‘creator-friendly’ system that supports creators reach out and keep their art alive.
Sagar Ramteke shares a personal story that inspired him to build Joynt. “My father pursued his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and even though he was able to do some amazing shows in famous art galleries like Mumbai’s Jehangir Art Gallery , he could never discover his full potential. Joining a full-time job in Chandrapur, a small village, to take care of his family, he was far removed from the world of art in Mumbai. He tried to revive his art career after retirement, but we lost him after a few years.”
Ramteke, an ILS Law School graduate, used to lead a $250M portfolio at Intel Mobile R&D outsourcing worldwide; he believes Joynt will solve challenges faced by creators, “And create a platform that would never restrain another artist from feeling free to create and pave their future.” Joynt is a place where you can showcase your creation exclusively to your followers, “The app is designed to be a “joint” which shares joy and positivity.”
Vijay Goel, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and Ex-Fidelity Investments executive, sees the app in a different light, as a sort of mentorship platform for smaller creators. “This personally speaks to me because I truly believe in the value of that relationship. At Joynt’s home base, in Bengaluru, our hiring process involves a lot of personal discussions about the beliefs and values of potential employees. This is to understand how this person fits in with us, often a person does not know their hidden talent. I always strive to be their mentor and nudge or guide them beyond what they think are their limits.” He notes that most of the platforms work towards finding creators that have already established themselves. It is not easy for a micro creator to be discovered and live a life supported solely by his or her work.
The Joynt team sees itself as a personal agent for the creators, to guide and support them on this platform and help them reach out to their ‘tribe’. Vivek Kumar, a founder of Intugine Technologies, talks about how the app has been developed to bridge the gap between like-minded people. “India’s transformation into a digital India allows us to find a way to connect all the cultures through different forms of expression.”
The founders were keen on making the app safe and user-friendly for both the creator and the followers. Creator’s content is released into a closed system, it cannot be shared outside the app, eliminating a major concern of plagiarism on a digital platform.
