#shantanunaidu

Thinking of Winter is Shantanu Naidu’s deeply personal memoir chronicling the extraordinary companionship that shaped him in ways he never expected. Not a typical dog story, but a moving portrait of a bond that transcended expectation.Read More....

Goodfellows is India's first startup dedicated to senior citizens. Goodfestartup promotes friendship between elders and young graduates and is touted to be India’s first such companionship startup.

Ratan Tata in an interview said, “You do not know what it is like to be lonely until you spend time alone wishing for companionship.” Goodfellows is founded by Shantanu Naidu, who is just 28 year old and is assisting Tata as a general manager since 2018. Goodfellows connects youngsters with senior citizens. Shantanu Naidu studied from Cornell University and shares same love for dogs as Tata do.

It will work on a freemium subscription model allowing those who sign up to avail the first month's services for free and thereafter pay a subscription fee of Rs 5000 per month. The company said the fee has been decided keeping in mind what pensioners can afford.

Naidu told PTI that he enlisted the help of psychologists to develop criteria for selection of the right candidates to be companions. These young men and women would need to have the right skills of empathy and emotional intelligence to be onboarded by Goodfellows. The companions are expected to ease the day for their seniors or just talk and listen to them. A companion is expected to visit a client three times a week, spending up to four hours per visit.