Out of 1,000 pharmacies, only 100 took to his shiny new app. That was the moment Talha Shaikh learned that a whiteboard is a poor substitute for a customer.
The co-founder of Biddano joined The Builders Club to explain how a B2C medicine delivery idea became a B2B pharma supply chain platform, and what it took to get distributors to listen.
How do you build a healthcare supply chain startup? Talha Shaikh’s core thesis
Talha’s core thesis is that the best startup opportunity often sits in the unglamorous layer behind the consumer app. Biddano began as a hyperlocal pharmacy aggregator, but fill rates and delivery times kept failing because the B2B link between distributors and pharmacies was broken.
So the team pivoted to fix that gap. It chose to empower local pharmacies and distributors rather than replace them, because they still serve most of India’s pharma market.
- Talk to customers before you build. The first product was designed on a whiteboard and missed real needs.
- Never fall in love with the idea. Stay loyal to the mission and flexible about the model.
- Do it yourself first. The founders made deliveries and onboarded distributors to learn the work.
- Choose investors for fit. The right backers matter more than the best headline terms.
How did Biddano start, and what went wrong with the first model?
Talha studied engineering, worked as a software developer, then started and sold a tech services business before turning to healthcare. His family background in hospitals and diagnostics gave him a view of the sector’s inefficiencies.
With co-founder Ashok Yadav, he launched a Pune-based hyperlocal pharmacy aggregator that routed prescriptions to nearby chemists for delivery. Adoption reached about 500 to 600 pharmacies, but two metrics kept failing.
- Fill rate: pharmacies did not fulfil complete prescriptions, so users dropped off.
- Delivery turnaround: riders waited on chemists who did not have stock ready.
- The cause on both counts lay in the B2B supply chain behind the pharmacy.
Why did Biddano pivot to B2B?
The founders surveyed their pharmacies and asked industry leaders for advice. Pharmacies themselves suggested that the real gap was in supply, so Biddano moved to B2B, where the customer base is selective and volumes are larger.
Talha emphasised keeping the mission, which was improving availability and affordability of medicines, while staying flexible about the product.
- Survey existing users and stakeholders about the problem.
- Share the mission clearly so partners can help shape the solution.
- Map the value chain: pharmacies, distributors, C&F agents and chemist associations.
- Pick the lowest-hanging gap and build a minimum viable product for it.
What problem does Biddano solve for pharmacies and distributors?
Pharmacies buy from several distributors, each with its own delivery schedule, so a missing item could mean a wait until the next day. Biddano built a logistics and technology platform to let pharmacies procure from local distributors within about three hours.
The company deliberately positioned itself alongside local retailers and distributors. Talha noted that over 95 percent of pharma sales still flow through brick-and-mortar shops, and many customers are older people who do not use apps.
- The founders did deliveries themselves to learn the logistics, including cold-chain items like insulin.
- Distributors in outskirts markets, up to a 40 km radius, gained access to more pharmacies.
- He cited growth to over 20,000 pharmacies in eight cities at the time of recording.
How do you find the right mentors and advisors?
Talha warned against paid advisors who sell hours without results. His rule is to seek people who have built something themselves, preferably investors who have skin in the game.
His early investors told him not to expect hand-holding mentors, and to use communities and domain experts for specific questions.
- Prefer entrepreneurs turned investors over professional advisors.
- Do not give equity or ESOPs to part-time consultants.
- Choose investors for support and values, not only for valuation.
How do you win over distributors and spend investor money wisely?
Talha personally visited distributors, sometimes 15 to 21 times before one agreed, because one distributor could unlock access to hundreds of pharmacies. He treated it as a numbers game and kept returning.
On money, he said bootstrapping taught the discipline of releasing funds monthly against forecasts. After funding, the team relaxed and hired expensive experienced people who were not suited to early-stage work.
What did he recommend for early-stage research?
He used a lean business canvas to structure ideas, spoke to users while writing a product requirements document, and asked stakeholders what features mattered most.
Further reading and sources
Frequently asked questions
When should a startup pivot from B2C to B2B?
Consider it when customer feedback shows the real constraint sits behind the consumer experience. Talha Shaikh pivoted after fill rate and delivery time problems traced to the supplier layer, and B2B gave a smaller, more reachable customer base.
Do early-stage founders need a paid mentor?
Talha argues no. He suggests learning from communities and domain experts, and choosing advisors who have built companies and ideally invest in yours, so they have skin in the game.
How should founders manage money after raising funding?
Keep the discipline you had while bootstrapping: tie spending to forecasts and return on investment. Talha admits his team hired costly experienced staff too early and recommends people who will get their hands dirty.
Conclusion
Talha Shaikh’s story is a case for humility: build less, ask more, and let customers point at the real problem. For Biddano, that was the supply chain behind the app.
Before your next build, schedule five customer conversations and ask where the process breaks before it reaches your product.
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