wrapping 2024
we wrote a very tough, but honest end of year update to all our members in december. everyone encouraged us to make this update public. took us about a month, but here we are:
as of jan 2025, we officially finish 5 years of building leap.club. as always, 2024 was a year full of ups and downs, and our fastest + toughest year yet. we feel like we say this every year, but as we finish half a decade of building for women, we think it is a good time to reflect on the past, plan for the future and share our thoughts candidly with all of you who have been a part of our journey:
let’s start with our offline community space in bombay
in july 2024, we launched india’s first community workspace for women. we moved our hq from gurgaon to bombay and spent april to october busy with the launch and everything 0-1. from the outside this might seem like a pivot or a change in strategy, but we never looked at it that way. after hosting 200+ offline events across the country, it was clear to us that when members meet in person, there’s a deeper connection, a stronger vibe - something that’s hard to replicate online. so doubling down on offline, where we see the best engagement that sustains, felt like a natural extension of our business. we are now at ~450 members for the bombay club, have hosted 50+ professional and social events and the attendance + feedback has been positive. occupancy and usage has been high specially amongst founders, freelancers, remote corporate workers, and for now our #1 focus for us in growth in new memberships + profitability at a unit + company level.
while the start has been ok, we have to be more confident of this model and pmf, before we think of larger expansion. the questions we need to answer are -
can we open 12-15 similar spaces across india?
can we get to ~25,000 offline members with a high retention rate?
what is the need vs want here?
we are working super hard on this every day and will have our answers in the next couple of quarters. update: we are getting ready to launch bangalore sometime this year; and here’s where you can join the waitlist.
what's happening with the online community and the app
as the world has moved offline, the app activity unfortunately took a backseat 12 months. here’s an honest view on what’s up in our world and where we need your help:
online engagement: radius and circles have potential but aren’t picking the way we need them to, and that reflects in the amount of time members spend on the app today. we truly feel that these features help you discover other women around you, and are open to ideas on how we can make it easier for you to connect with each other 1:1 and in groups. for now, we are revamping both features a little for better ux and this should be live before april ‘25.
revamping online events: we went back to the drawing board here and there’s a tonne in store for this year: leap labs (workshops for upskilling), spill the tea (yes, masterclasses are back), along with crack the code - our monthly online sessions are getting a makeover basis the engagement y’all have shown over the years.
city-based offline events: we continue to organize mixers in delhi, bombay and bangalore, but we really miss seeing some of you for these :( we would love to know if there’s something specific you feel we need to do more of or differently here. this has always been leap.club’s usp and maybe it's time for us to reimagine some of our formats for offline events.
what else is going on
a fundraise that we had closed + started paperwork et. al, fell through last minute. we are pushing through some tough times and are operating in survival mode as a 10 people team. it’s hard but it’s also a chance for us to focus on what truly matters, and train harder to bounce back. zomato, the biggest success story of startups in india runs multiple businesses today - blinkit, food delivery, hyperpure, events - and interestingly none of these businesses existed for the company in its first 5-6 years. so you never know how the story unfolds, the best we can do is to keep pushing :)
we truly believe that our strength as a community lies in our ability to be there for each other, through highs and lows. so, if you have any thoughts, ideas, or feedback on how we can make leap.club bigger and better—online & offline—please share them with us on r@leap.club.
we’re all ears and open to experimenting as we get ready for 2025. thank you for being part of this journey and for trusting us with your time, energy, and opinions.
to many more years of building leap.club together!
- ragini, anand and your friends at leap.club