Place isn’t just a company, it was born to give soft power for everyone.

Why? We believe reputation or social capital is the hidden currency that runs the world. People with high reputation unlock opportunities every single day. Opportunities come to them, because people know they can get it done. How? It's their network and the good will they have amongst their network. Any critical point in their life, they know someone who can get them in or out of it.

However, in India, we lack this at scale. Networking is still very early in India. Many of us haven’t yet discovered the magic/power of creating value for others without expecting something in return. We lack the soft skills, we are not nurtured well, and our diversity fragments us, we operate as twenty-nine different countries with language barriers, cultural gaps, and economic divisions. All of it together making it very hard to build reputation that matters. It's good to know someone who studied from AIIMS and is a general surgeon at a top private hospital when your father is ill, it's good to know someone who is studied corporate LAW when you are about to start your technology company, it's good to know someone from IIT Bombay when you're trying to organise a event in IIT bombay. Life is very uncertain but if you have the right network and good will amongst them, it matters.

Yet, we still operate in silos. Stereotypes are very common, mis alignment and judgement is in our bones, and having a genuine belonging is rare.

Unknowingly or knowingly, social networks have been a saviour for this country, especially where networking or even dating are relatively new concepts. However, by the time India got upto speed, they moved on by making feed, content and publishing at the centre of their product. And with the decrease in data rates and smartphones, these platforms very quickly became overcrowded, noisy, information overload, and perfect stage for emotional exhausion making communication, connections or the art of networking never really see the light of the day.

People still operate in silos even after widespread adoption, we crave for meaning, opportunities, belonging and what not.. making a strong case for the need of exclusive social clubs designed for specific demographic (high signal and not slop) while aiming for more qualitative or purposeful outcomes.

Hence, the creation of place - an exclusive invite only social club for tier 1 university grads.

Why only tier 1? It’s the easiest way to keep the signal high and slop out. Also, when smart, driven people nurture each other, they don’t just create opportunities for themselves, they build the future. And for everyone else, social networks are already widespread.

We want place to be as cool as possible, like a third space or like the coffee shops of the 16th century where Newton, Edmund Halley and bunch of intellectual people used to hangout and debate scientific discoveries.

It’s not easy, but we want to try. We want to try bringing the best of people (all of tier 1 from India and the world) together, effortlessly nurture relationships, make it fun, playful and wholesome; making it a place where you’d genuinely feel belong and love hanging out.

How it works: Place plugs into your world, understands you and your context, and introduces you to three people each week, who genuinely feel like “your people”, the ones you should’ve already met. The connections are gender neutral, highly compatible, high shared context and everything in between to keep you at natural ease all the time.

It’s got great taste, designed for intimacy so we are comfortable talking about all the black, white & grey things in life. It’s super private, end to end encrypted and built on the principles of trust and safety, so it naturally compounds into better opportunities and genuine belonging for everyone here.

If you’re from a tier 1 university, don’t miss out. It’s the hottest corner on the internet, come onboard.

with love,
Praveen Peddi