Mango Bites offers Desi networking in NYC

Shaunak Kulkarni had enough of high-energy Desi parties like DJ nights and Bollywood dance events in New York City. While they are fun, he was craving an environment to genuinely connect with other South Asians and recognize them for their professional skills, rather than just their dance moves.

“There are plenty of social and party events for the South Asian community in New York, but no one focuses on professional communities,” said Kulkarni, an analyst at Peloton.

Kulkarni decided to fill that gap last fall by creating Mango Bites NYC, which officially launched last month as a newsletter and events community where South Asian professionals can connect around their career interests. The idea began in September, when Kulkarni started hosting intimate investor dinners and analyst happy hours. His goal was to make the task of networking less daunting by offering a sense of familiarity to Desis.

The name comes from the mango bite toffees he started giving away at the events.

“During my first event, I was thinking ‘What kind of thing can I give away that's cost-efficient’ and I gave away mango bites I had ordered on Amazon,” Kulkarni said.

These monthly events have gained popularity among South Asian professionals based in New York and New Jersey. Many Desis from New Jersey cross the Hudson River to meet like-minded individuals and grow professionally in a supportive community.

The group gathered on July 2 for a 12-person "Desi Investor Dinner" at Bhatti Indian Grill on Lexington Ave. The intimate setting allowed attendees to share their professional adventures without feeling conscious. One attendee, Sakib Jamal, shared insights about his recently published book, "The Young VC's Handbook," which demystifies the venture capital field for aspiring professionals.

So far, Kulkarni has built a newsletter subscriber list of 1,100 people, primarily younger professionals aged 25 to 35. The newsletter highlights upcoming events, recaps insights from previous ones, and features a "Cool Desis Doing Cool Things" profile section, all topped off with a meme for a touch of humor.

In this interview, Kulkarni tells Central Desi about the inspiration behind Mango Bites NYC and shares his vision for the brand’s future.

Can you tell us about your upbringing and what brought you to New York City?

I had a bit of a hopping-around journey growing up. I was born in San Jose, Calif. My parents moved from India to the US in 1992, and I was born in ‘98 and then lived there for about seven years. When I was about seven or eight years old, my family moved to Pune, India, where I lived until the end of high school. I came to the US for my undergraduate studies and went to the University of Pennsylvania, after which I started my career in investment banking and moved to New York City in 2020. I've changed jobs a few times but have always been in the city and love the city a lot.

What inspired you to start Mango, and how did it all begin?

Last summer, I had just started my job at Peloton and wanted to do something of my own. Investment banking and venture capital jobs demand a lot of time. It's pretty hard to do things outside of those jobs. But at Peloton, I found I had more free time. Many business people and life coaches talk about finding your superpower, which is the intersection of what you enjoy doing and what you've been successful at in the past. I did a lot of thinking about what my superpower is, and I was kind of drawn to the idea of bringing people together.

I had attended some networking events in New York City and enjoyed them. It was a great way to meet new people doing different kinds of things. It made the city feel a little smaller. Although I'm relatively extroverted, I noticed this [extroversion] mainly happens when I'm with other South Asians. In simple words, I am much more comfortable socially with other brown people.

I realized that there are plenty of social and party events and stuff for the South Asian community in New York, but no one was focusing on professional communities.

When New York Tech Week was approaching, I thought of hosting my first event in collaboration with them, so I reached out, and they were receptive. So, I organized a happy hour in September. I expected around a hundred attendees, half of whom would be friends and personal contacts, but 650 people signed up. I was like wow, we're really onto something over here and now I had a pretty valuable list of emails from the registrations. I started an informal newsletter, emailing them monthly about events. Every event I hosted was oversubscribed, with more sign-ups than I could handle.

I decided to formalize this under a brand and make the events more frequent. This led to the creation of Mango, which officially launched last month.

You mentioned the gap for South Asian professional events. How did you notice the gap?

In all my research, while looking for new events to join, I noticed there were never really events specifically for South Asian professionals. There were plenty of parties and other social gatherings, but no networking-specific spaces. It was a bit underwhelming because South Asian people are doing such amazing things in New York and the West more broadly. It felt like a no-brainer that there should be more spaces for cool people to meet other cool people and do impactful things in the city and the world.

How frequently do you organize events, and what kinds of events can attendees expect?

I've been organizing events roughly once a month since last September. The size of my events varies. I have larger happy hours, like the Tech Week ones, which are like 300 plus people usually each time. Then, I host smaller, industry-focused happy hours or events with specific niche focuses. I'm doing a “South Asians in Product” happy hour next month, which is like 50 to 100 people, something in that range. And then I do a lot of small group dinners, which are actually some of my favorite events, like 10 people, maybe 15, either founders, investors, some kind of other niche where it’s very small and tailored and just people at the dinner table getting to know each other.

What goals do you have beyond networking when organizing these events?

I know people say this a lot, but I never really understood it until I started experiencing Mango, but I’ve learned to enjoy the process, not the destination. I know it’s a huge cliché, like something you see on T-shirts, but I’ve truly felt that with Mango. I don’t have any specific end goal in mind. I think it could go in multiple directions. I could see a media angle where I interview cool South Asians and make a blog or podcast. That’s one path. Another path could be building a community for tech professionals in New York City and beyond.

For me, it’s about taking things one step at a time. I figure out what I want to do next, do it, and then reevaluate and decide on the next step. Even the launch of Mango wasn’t planned until a few hours before. I decided to formalize things a bit more, create a brand name, build a website, and set up an Instagram.

Right now, my focus for the next few months is on increasing the pace of my events and growing my newsletter. I have 1,100 subscribers, which is great, but I’m looking for ways to push that number higher. That’s the priority right now.

Any cool connections sprout from the events?

One story that stands out is from one of my dinners. Someone was looking for a roommate, and another person mentioned they were looking for an apartment. They started talking about potentially living together, and I thought, "Wow, that's incredible!" It felt amazing to have played a small role in that connection.

Your newsletter always poses these three questions to every person you interview, so here’s your chance:

Favorite Bollywood Movie: My name is Khan

Favorite Desi Eat: Chicken biryani

Favorite NYC restaurant: Indian Accent

This interview was edited and condensed. You can sign up for Mango Bites to attend future networking events, or follow Shaunak’s journey on Instagram.

Tehsin Pala is the associate editor of Central Desi.

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