The Journey of Exile: From Idea to Reality
It all started in a cramped hostel room three years ago. We were just a group of college friends frustrated with the same problem—finding decent PG accommodation was a nightmare. Hours wasted on sketchy websites, endless calls to unresponsive landlords, and finally settling for places that looked nothing like the photos.
The "Aha" Moment
It was during one particularly disastrous apartment hunt (think hidden fees, mysteriously missing amenities, and a landlord who conveniently "forgot" about the water shortage) when Aditya blurted out, "There has to be a better way to do this!"
We stayed up that entire night sketching out ideas on napkins and whiteboards. By morning, we had the rough concept of what would eventually become Exile—a platform where finding PG accommodation wouldn't feel like solving a mystery with missing clues.
From Idea to First Line of Code
We were naive. Seriously naive.
"How hard could it be to build a platform?" we thought. "We'll launch in three months!"
Narrator: They did not launch in three months.
The first six months were a crash course in reality. Between our day jobs, we coded late into the night, pivoted our approach at least five times, and learned that "just one more feature" is the most dangerous phrase in product development.
The First Real Test
Our MVP was basic—embarrassingly basic. But it solved the core problem: connecting PG owners with potential tenants through verified listings. We convinced 15 PG owners in our locality to list their properties, and then we practically begged our friends to use the platform.
The feedback was brutal but necessary. Our search functionality was broken half the time, the booking process was confusing, and mobile users experienced what can only be described as "digital chaos." But some users loved the verified reviews and transparent pricing—our first real validation!
The Funding Rollercoaster
Raising money was... interesting. We pitched to 47 investors over eight months. That's 47 different ways of hearing "interesting idea, but..."
On our 48th pitch, an angel investor who had personally experienced the PG nightmare saw what we were trying to build. His investment wasn't huge, but it was enough to let two of us go full-time and hire our first developer.
Growing Pains
Scaling brought challenges we never anticipated. Our servers crashed during a college admission season when traffic spiked 400%. We had a two-week period where bookings were accidentally duplicating (try explaining that to already-skeptical PG owners).
One particularly memorable crisis involved an accidental email that went out to all users at 3 AM with the subject line "Test Email Please Ignore" and body text that was just "asdfghjkl." We got more responses to that email than any marketing campaign we'd ever run.
Finding Our Rhythm
Around the 18-month mark, something clicked. We had refined our core features, built trust with both PG owners and tenants, and finally figured out a sustainable business model. Our team had grown to 12 people—each bringing unique perspectives and skills.
We started seeing organic growth—users recommending us to friends without prompting. PG owners were approaching us to list their properties. We even had competitors trying to poach our team members (flattering, if annoying).
Where We Are Today
Today, Exile connects thousands of tenants with quality PG accommodations across three cities. We're not perfect—we still have bugs to fix and features to improve—but we're solving a real problem that affects real people.
The platform handles everything from virtual tours to secure payments, and we've built a community where honest reviews help everyone make better decisions.
Looking Ahead
The journey so far has been exhausting, exhilarating, and everything in between. We've made countless mistakes and will undoubtedly make many more. But each day, we're helping people find homes, not just houses.
Our vision is expanding beyond just listings—we're building tools for landlords to better manage their properties and developing resources for tenants to understand their rights and responsibilities.
Lessons Learned
If there's anything we've learned that might be useful to other startups, it's this:
- Solve a problem you actually understand. Our frustration as users made us better founders.
- Launch before you're comfortable. Our early product was embarrassing but necessary.
- Listen more than you talk. Our best features came directly from user complaints.
- Take care of your team. We couldn't have survived the tough times without genuine connection.
- Celebrate small wins. They'll sustain you through the inevitable valleys.
The startup journey isn't the straight line to success that media often portrays. It's messy, non-linear, and filled with moments of both doubt and clarity. But for us, it's been worth every sleepless night and anxious day.
Here's to the next chapter of Exile—whatever it may bring.
This blog post was written after a particularly long day, fueled by our office's questionable coffee and the satisfaction of helping 37 students find accommodations that morning. Typos are a feature, not a bug.