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< All Interviews Vandana Tolani Founder Women Entrepreneur VictoryTales believe that people who can inspire others are the real hero in the present world and we always look forward to such personalities for our inspirational platform. Besides this, it is said that learning what success is to you is more about deciding what matters most to your spirit and your happiness is all about, we are introducing Ms Vandana Tolani, Founder of Convanto, after spending fifteen years in Singapore and Jakarta returned to India and founded her own company Convanto. Today, Convanto is one of the most well-known boutique investment banks in India and led by a female founder. Vandana Tolani is a Strategy Advisor / Mentor, Business Management Consultant, Investment Management and having over 15 years of experience in International and domestic business advisory & fund-raise. Her core area of work is fundraising for early-stage start-ups across sectors and industry sub-verticals. Vandana has a diversified set of experiences and has enabled her to develop an eagle's eye for spotting opportunities in industries that are set for long term growth in the Indian economic context. She is also passionate about helping businesses reach the right people and fulfil their business requirements. A highly organized and detail- oriented professional with a large network of VC Funds, angel investors and family offices. Her vision of driving a two-way value innovation exercise has helped her create trust with most of India's marquee investors. Share this Interview: Know more about Convanto Convanto is a boutique investment bank firm with a wide range of services aimed at enabling young start-ups, it provides them with services such as Fund Raising, Marketing & Growth Advisory, GTM strategic Advisory, and value-added services such as building Investor Presentations and Financial Models. Convanto also advise small, medium and large enterprises to raise capital, assist in finding products-market fit and implement a successful go to market & branding strategy. Tell us a little about your organization and your organization’s journey so far. Convanto is a portmanteau of the words “Consultant Vandana Tolani” and it started seven years ago, in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is a boutique investment bank firm with a range of services aimed at enabling young start-ups - it provides them with services such as Fund Raising, Marketing & Growth Advisory, GTM strategic Advisory, and value-added services such as building Investor Presentations and Financial Models. We at Convanto advise small, medium, and large enterprises on raising capital, finding their product-market fit, and implementing a successful go-to-market strategy, branding strategy and brand positioning. Unlike traditional consulting firms, we have proven our operational expertise in bringing money, creating value, and driving growth to help you maximize your results. Tell us a little bit about yourself (background) and your journey as an entrepreneur, please. I had my own Family Office in Singapore and Jakarta. I worked as an Investment Banker & Advisor to Family Offices and Angel investors in Jakarta, Indonesia, helping start-ups from a diverse background, from Fin-Tech and B2B Tech all the way to consumer start-ups. I was raising funds for them & providing them with a range of services just as Convanto does today. After 15 years of staying in Singapore and Jakarta, I came back to India. I did investments for a bit, and then returned to advisory. That is when Convanto was founded. Today Convanto is one of the most well-known boutique investment banks in India and led by a female founder. Today, I am also a Venture Advisor with Loyal VC, the INSEAD-led Canadian VC Fund, having a core portfolio of over 160 investments in more than 35 countries. I am also a Partner with GSD Venture Studios, a Silicon Valley-based Venture builder. Over the years, I have arranged Funding for start-ups & growth-stage companies in diverse sectors like, EdTech, FinTech, Consumer B2C & B2B, AgriTech, Health- tech, Food- tech, Disruptive & DeepTech as well as non-Tech sectors. Please do have a look at my website for testimonials. I feel proud to apprise that this month I have been nominated as one of the Top 10 Women Leaders in Wealth Management 2021. My expert opinion is often sought by leading business news channels and publications like VCTV, and Business World, and I have participated in 100+ talks. You can easily see them on YouTube and the VCTV streaming site. https://latoken.com/vctv/investor/1038 and www.convanto.com I am also connected with 300+ investors globally, picking up global deals while being sector agnostic. Our ticket size is $1-$25 million. Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job? About choosing entrepreneurship over job I would like to sum-up with the popular quote of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs perhaps summed this idea up best when he said: “When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it … Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.” Entrepreneurs don’t just want to change their lives -- they want to change the world. Mark Twain also explained the lure of entrepreneurship best when he wrote, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Being an entrepreneur gives me the opportunity to take a calculated risk on a passion. Entrepreneurship constantly presents new challenges. As I overcome the adversity in my business, it leads to personal growth as well. I love owning my own business because I feel there is always something that I can do to improve. Being an entrepreneur is awesome for a lot of reasons, but I think the most important and overlooked reason is that it forces a person to develop parts of their personality that make them more well-rounded and a better person. I think being an entrepreneur is great because the possibilities are endless. You can be as creative and innovative as you want to be, and the results are the most rewarding. What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation? Let’s face it, feeling motivated is perhaps one of the most difficult things you could ever do. If it were so easy, everyone would be making progress and achieving their goals they’ve set out to achieve. Even worse is when we read countless articles from around the web that make it seem straightforward. As a result, it often becomes frustrating due to it seeming easy to apply on paper. It does little to improve your self-esteem and confidence, especially when you face difficulties in applying the advice you know and understand so well. But all of this should feel encouraging, because one of the main things I personally found with regards to motivation is that it takes very little of it when doing the things, you truly love. It seems very confusing at first, but it makes sense when understood. Have you ever felt like you needed motivation when doing something that excited you? So, I think because I love what I am doing that keeps me going on, having huge responsibilities and having set goals keeps me going on. During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption? The best measures we took is to give work from home and closed deals online, without much disruption and we went all digital during this COVID-19 crisis. Every aspect of business is online and tech-enabled to ensure automation as much as possible to maintain the required social distance. What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far? Coming back to India after 15 years was not easy, but I was determined to move on in my journey. I set up Convanto 7 years ago, a boutique investment bank led by a female founder. Determination is a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult. I had to believe in myself and not others, and at one point I even had no support, but I was still firm on my decisions. The day I stopped listening to negativity from many people I found out that I was skilful, talented, and was doing things in the right manner, which was why I succeeded, not mere luck. When many doors closed many others opened, and it felt like God himself was by my side. I think looking for more solutions and less problems, and staying positive and happy, helped me overcome my roadblocks. Ultimately, we always must help ourselves as someone won’t always rescue us, and not giving up easily always helped me. What comes first for you - money or emotions? I think a balance of both along with ethics is important to have. What many of us have forgotten is that our money can do so many important things. It enables us to secure education for ourselves or our children, support or recover our health, and gives us freedom to enjoy our lives. Though we may conflate money with all sorts of attributes—wealth, power, intelligence, style, even human worth—money has no personality of its own. It does, however, reflect our feelings, values, and beliefs. Importantly, money can endow us with an irrefutable sense of freedom. Numbers can’t do that. Emotions I think we all have but we need to have balance of emotions always. Emotion isn’t all bad. It tells you what you’re passionate about, what really matters to you. It makes you feel alive. The key is self-awareness. Much of our emotional world is unconscious. How do you handle the pressure and manage stress? As you know everyone has to deal with pressure, both in their personal and professional lives. In the workplace, this pressure often manifests itself in the form of tight deadlines, demands from your clients, investors etc. Since stress is unavoidable, it's important to learn how to channel and deal with it in a healthy, productive way. In doing so, you'll not only survive tough situations, but thrive despite of them. I do morning walk daily; meditation and I drink lots of water. When under pressure, our first response is to work harder and grind through it. But you can't get out of the problem by doing what got you into the problem. Take contrary action by creating a daily habit of pushing away from your work for 15 minutes or more of "purposeful slacking." Walk, stretch, breathe, meditate, be still and allow yourself mental and emotional freedom from all the pressure. What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/start-up? My persistence was one of the key factors that helped my brand to grow. I was always on my toes, looking for new ideas and ways to position my business, often even stepping out of my comfort zone when it came to the events I did. Moreover, I am a firm believer that growth is largely related to client satisfaction, and so I do everything in my power to make sure they are satisfied with my work. Over time, I have learned that the best way for sustainable growth and success of any relevant strategy is to focus continuously on customer problem-solving or feedback and improving the service to them and their successful experience with what you offer them. This builds continuous consumption, trust, value and growth, and is what I have implemented in my brand. This, combined with my determination and persistence, has helped my brand to grow the most and reach where it has today. In your opinion what are the keys to success? The number one lesson I’ve learned in my lifetime is that nothing beats hard work. Hard work outweighs talent and intelligence and is necessary if you want to succeed. This not only means working hard when things are going well but working harder when things are not. It means taking calculated risks and sticking to them, no matter how challenging they are. This is very important to keep in mind as an entrepreneur. No business is perfect, and just like people, they too have their faults, no matter how successful or unsuccessful they may be. Recognizing and accepting these faults as an entrepreneur, facing reality and doing your best to work around these faults is the best way to move forward and the secret to success. With time, I’ve learnt of the importance of adaptability too. How adaptable a business is defining its ability to stay afloat in the future. Being progressive in terms of keeping up with the ever-changing market is of great importance in an industry such as this, and we ensure that Convanto does its best to keep up with these changes. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur? Every single person I know who is successful at what they do is successful because they love doing it. Anything can be done, as-long-as you truly believe it. We led with our conviction rather than rational, because rational said it was impossible. Find something you love and do it better than everyone else. Failure is a steppingstone to greatness, and we all fail. I read the book ‘Power of the Subconscious Mind’ and found it inspiring, and I practiced the law of attraction. Also remember that you will never be criticized by someone who is doing more than you. You will only be criticized by someone who is doing less, so always remember that. Successful people do not put others down. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

< All Interviews Ashish Vats MD and CEO Entrepreneur We as VictoryTales, with our long & arduous search for bringing more and more meaningful and inspiring stories from around the world, this time introducing Mr. Ashish Vats. Mr. Ashish Vats MD & CEO of Medilinks India is an IIM Calcutta Alumni with experience of over 19 years in Healthcare Industry, a remarkable Job tenure of 17 years starting from Executive to Director of an MNC. Mr. Ashish’s varied experience as Management & Strategic Consulting, Business Development/Corporate Development, Strategic Planning, Acquisitions, Market Research, Marketing, Branding, Sales & Operations in various Multinational and National organizations added feathers to his cap in establishing Medilinks India. Mr. Ashish has a highly professional and experienced team having international exposure with a proven track record Handled and Implemented best Industry practices, Leadership and efficient team Building, Analysing Business Potential, Conceptualising and Executing Strategies, Driving Network Expansion & managing long term relationship with Business Partners. In addition to this, Handled Entire width of Business from Doctors Engagement to Marketing and Sales (Domestic & International Business) and was responsible for managing the entire top line with the support of Marketing, Communication, PR, & Branding. Mr. Ashish did his MBA (Marketing) from a prestigious institute with Certificates courses in Strategic Management from IIM Calcutta, Digital Unlocked from Google & ISB, Merger, and Acquisition, Finance Analysis & Modelling & other Professional Diplomas in Computers, e-commerce & IT are adding values in his learning and performance contributed in aligning more than 100 Business alliances/Collaborations during his past & present assignments in a very short span of time. Share this Interview: Know more about Medilinks India Medilinks India has proven expertise in introducing the best healthcare practices by introducing the world’s best systems and processes. Medilinks India properly understands the need and the best healthcare business plans. Medilinks India is partners with leading Hospitals and its specific strengths to handle the healthcare business effectively makes it a premium player and gives an edge overall to be chosen as a management consulting partner. Medilinks India with its Several years of experience and exposure to various healthcare-related projects have enabled them to provide all solutions to all aspects of Healthcare including Medical Tourism, Online Skype Consultations, Hospital management & Operation, and Business Development & Marketing. On inquiring from where did the idea to start something like Medilinks India came from and requesting him to tell us about his background and his journey as an entrepreneur, Mr. Ashish Vats apprised that ; The Healthcare Industry is going through a rapid transformation and this transformation is certainly a costly affair. Concept of Corporate Hospitals/Corporate Style services in Healthcare Organisations and Hospitals are now preferred over the Conventional health services delivery centers. Moreover, the experts lead to Business transformation or We can say the CXO level of the organization adds a heavy financial load on the organization, which is somewhat acting as a hindrance incomplete transformation of any Hospital/Healthcare from a loss-making business to a Profitable Business. Understanding the Scope of providing CXO level Innovative Consulting at Subsidised Cost under the umbrella of Medilinks India motivated me to start the Venture. ​19 Years of Experience in Healthcare Industry, a remarkable Job tenure of 17 years starting from Executive to Director of an MNC, supported by IIM Calcutta and ISB Learning added fuel to be an Entrepreneur. On inquiring from Mr. Ashish, why he has chosen to become an entrepreneur over a job? He apprised that; To provide Indian Healthcare a Complete new dimension and dynamics, it is required to Execute a new model which can’t be possible in Job. With Medilinks India, We are successfully transforming businesses all across India. Entrepreneurship is all about taking Challenges, bringing Innovations, and optimizing Success motivated me to be an Entrepreneur. On inquiring from him about what was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur? Mr. Ashish replied that; India needs a robust Healthcare Functioning & Delivery System as per Indian Customers’ needs whether its Allopathic, Ayurvedic, Homeopathic, etc. So far, most of the organizations are replicating the International Business or Service Model without understanding the local Customers’ needs. Developing the trust of Promoters and Investors in Healthcare is also a challenge nowadays and all these can be achieved only by creating success models which an Entrepreneur can project. Can you please share with us your source of motivation for becoming an Entrepreneur? Motivations come from self-pressure to achieve the Dreams with Determination. My family too is the Major Source of Motivation for me especially my wife-Ajita always acts as a backbone. On inquiring, How many hours a day do you work on average? Mr. Ashish explains that; It requires zeal and time for planning and Execution. I usually work 12-16 hours a day to achieve goals. On inquiring about the Uniqueness of his company Medilinks India, Mr. Ashish apprised that ; Medilinks India’s biggest differentiator is our business model and its team. We are a team of IIM Alumni with experience of more than 15 years minimum and understand the pulse of the Healthcare Market. We suggest practical and Cost-effective strategies to our clients after understanding the strength of the Promoter, its team, and the respective market. As an individual, How do you handle the pressure and manage stress which comes in your entrepreneur life? I adopted a strategy to Counterattack against pressure by thinking about new ways to understand what went wrong, where is the flaw in my planning and execution creating stress. Moreover, Spending time with my little daughter-Prisha is my best stress-reducing exercise. On inquiring how do you generate new ideas? Mr. Ashish told that; I try to club the Concepts and differentiates from what we are offering and what the market demands, helps in generating new ideas. Generally, Expectations and failures generate new innovative ideas, which should be clubbed with your strength. How did you come up with the name of your company? We wanted to link all channels of Medical fields to ensure better Services profitably and are always proud of our Motherland India so we kept “ Medilinks India” as the name of our Company. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur? Identify your Strength, Pick Concept according to your Strength, and Execute Effectively. What are the challenges that your clients usually come up to you with? What are the initial steps taken by the firm to address their challenges? Identifications of the Core problem & Expectations from the Consultants are the biggest challenges with the clients. Most of the time, Clients remain in the confusion that only the Sales and Marketing Department is not doing justice while everything else is fine as they concentrate on revenue. In order to make them understand, we work out Gap Analysis of different Departments and collect internal and other Scientific data to prove our stand. Moreover, We form a Strategic Committee including Client to monitor the Corrective measures introduced by Medilinks India. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

< All Interviews KSR MURTY Co-founder Entrepreneur VictoryTales with its objective to strive and grope vigorously to bring some of the meaningful and powerful stories from around the world to empower and motivate our growing community of entrepreneurs, this time we are introducing Mr. KSR Murty Co-founder of Dart blockchain who always works on a tag line ‘add value to get value’. He also advice young entrepreneurs to not focus primarily on money or investments but keep your focus on creating a sustainable venture & value creation. I believe, rest things will automatically set with time. KSR Murty is very much passionate about learning as he believes that learning should never stop and to learn is to be alive for him. With over 30 years of experience in the field of IT & Telecom sector & provided a turnkey solution as system integrator for public sector companies & corporate companies and he has devoted his whole life in this field. As per Murty’s belief, success mantra of successful project is a team work that too with like-minded, dynamic & energetic personalities to deliver the successful project. LAW graduate & specialized in Marketing Management, KSR Murty, is having ample experience in Techno Marketing & has worked closely with NIIT, Siemens as channel partner for IT education /software development & IP enabled telephone Exchanges from the both companies. He has received award of excellence in sales & services. Murty have served for public sector companies like SAIL, RAILWAYS, COAL FIELDS & NTPC & corporates like Lanco Infra, Monet Ispat, Century Cement (Birla Group), Lafarge Cement. Also, he was engaged in import & export of computer networking equipment’s of Nortel Networks under own company Golden Rays Traders Ltd Dubai, presently he is also CEO of QFIX technology. KSR Murty have been awarded by Top notch foundation for the category “Most innovative Blockchain & Best Defi initiative” for the year 2022. To know more about KSR Murty visit: www.ksrmurty.com Share this Interview: Know more about Dart blockchain “One Sea Technologies Pvt Ltd” is two years old company & engaged in developing software. Our specialty is to provide solutions in blockchain Technology, Decentralized Finance (DEFI), Web3 solutions, online blockchain-based gaming & sports, Metaverse & NFTs. One Sea Technologies has been awarded by a Top-notch foundation for the category of “most innovative blockchain & best Decentralized finance initiative” for 2022. We are coming up with our own blockchain named “Dart” www.dartcoin.io This blockchain will be the world’s fastest lightning-speed blockchain, Tell us a little bit about yourself (background) and your journey as a entrepreneur, please; For nearly 30 years, I have ridden the highs and lows of entrepreneurship as a never-ending challenge, accomplishments, setbacks & hurdles to be overcome. Building my companies QFIX Technology & Golden Rays Traders Ltd. has been a wild ride never knowing what's around the corner, yet always on the lookout for new opportunities in technology but now I am running both the companies successfully & simultaneously opted to go for blockchain which will be the future of globe & hope that my 30 years’ experience in technology field will give an added advantage to Dart blockchain’s success. The year 2021 has been challenging for any profession or business but only two industries have proven themselves as billion dollars & trillion-dollar market globally that’s online gaming & blockchain in other side we saw business shutting down due to pandemic, the list of woes seems endless. But despite all obstacle’s I, Vamsi Andukuri and Dr Ratna Raju of Dart have designed a Dart blockchain successfully to keep public data as public and it's only possible with blockchain technology. I am a LAW graduate & specialized in Marketing Management (Director Marketing & Co founder of Dart blockchain) having more than 30 years’ experience in Techno Marketing & worked closely with NIIT & Siemens as channel partner for IT education /software development & IP enabled telephone Exchanges from the both companies. I have received an award of excellence in sales & services. I have served for public sector COMPANIES like SAIL, RAILWAYS, COAL FIELDS & NTPC & corporates like Lanco Infra, Monet Ispat, Century Cement (Birla Group), Lafarge Cement, etc. & Also I, was engaged in import & export of computer networking equipment’s of Nortel Networks under own company Golden Rays Traders Ltd Dubai, Presently I am CEO of QFIX technology. I have been awarded by Topnotch foundation for the category “Most innovative Blockchain & Best Defi initiative” for the year 2022. Presently, I am Co-founder of One Sea Technologies Pvt. Ltd. & Dart Blockchain. Also, I have a very strong technical & marketing team to design, implement & market the Dart blockchain, and our technical team is headed by a best CTO award winner young, dynamic & Visionary Mr. Andukuri Vamsi who is having a vast experience technically in blockchain & Crypto space. As per my opinion and market recognition, Dart is global initiative in blockchain space & uniqueness of Dart is its lightning speed & cost effectiveness compare to other leading blockchains in present scenario. Also, Dart allows business & governments to use blockchain infrastructures and leverage its strength without prior knowledge of distributed system. Dart blockchain’s goal is to make the Dart fast by using the delegated PBFT method, larger scalability and lower transaction fees. Dart blockchain generates block in every 3 seconds & reward per block is 36 DRT to super representatives As per my belief success mantra of successful project is team work that too with like-minded, dynamic & energetic to deliver the successful project. Dart - Fastest Growing and Fastest Performing Blockchain Eco-System will be launched in the Month of Jan 2023. Dart will be Known for its Scalability and will be a Competitor for Ethereum very soon. Dart’s future surely looks promising. The future of mass blockchain-based solutions is considered to be heavily dependent on progress made in decentralized applications (DApps). DeFi (Decentralized Finance) projects are in the rage right now with a massive rise in networks that support this wave. Dart will be the leader in this space in the Future. Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job? I’m very much passionate about learning. Learning should never stop. Many people equate age, status or certain achievements with the end of their education, but to learn is to be alive. I want my ideas to be unconventional. Entrepreneurs are the ones who change the world. They see the world as they want it to be, not how it is. Entrepreneurs are able to contribute the nation for its development & indirectly provide the employment What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation? Good Question. I would say not just in but at night, it usually happens. am always fond of figuring out something niche or new, which may create a proposition for me and the public at large. I usually keep this mode on all the times and it serves the source of my motivation all the time. By God’s grace, have been able to do that as well, where either has created it or worked on something related to it. Also, I am currently in the process of developing something niche on lines. What is your brand’s USP? Larger scalability and lower transaction fees . How is your brand different from the competitors? Dart is global initiative in blockchain space & uniqueness of Dart is its lightning speed & cost effectiveness compare to other leading blockchains in present scenario. Also, Dart allows business & governments to use blockchain infrastructures and leverage its strength without prior knowledge of distributed system During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption? As the business is born during the COVID-19 crisis, each measure is taken to ensure that the model aligns with the challenges of the pandemic. Our business model consists of a lean team which is not resource-heavy and has minimal overheads. The freelancer model ensures each and every work can be handled remotely, where we don’t need to do physical meetings. Every aspect of the business is online and tech-enabled to ensure automation as much as possible. What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far? Every business has risks. Our risks are associated with a right skillset that we look for expansion in future. We already have a core niche team but I see from future expansion perspective, we would need innovative minds, with the flexible thought process. Although, with a clearly defined process, and innovative means to reach out to search resource, we are confident enough that we will mitigate it. What are the three most important lessons you have learned while building your start-up? Be open for new opportunities Look for the potential of tech Hire people who believe in the vision In your opinion, what is the importance of a good team? Teamwork promotes strong working relationships Finally, when employees work together and succeed as a team, they form bonds that can turn into trust and friendship. It's human nature. And it's great for any organisation, since employees who like and trust each other are more likely to: Communicate well with each other. Teams innovate faster Teamwork can create healthy competition What comes first for you - money or emotions? I am an emotional person. Business needs to have emotions, not personal, obviously, but business ones like concern for quality deliverables, client satisfaction, targets & roadmaps, you planned & how you will achieve it, etc. Money is obviously the priority but I believe if your value creation process is right for others, money will automatically come as an outcome of it. How do you handle the pressure and manage stress? I have successfully carried out Pre IPO advisory for a Government undertaking under the supervision of great mentors I have. It was a challenging task as the sector for which we were executing it, was complicated. Even, parallel hired consultants were not that effective as compared to our work and Organisation fired them. But due to the continuous trust of my immediate supervisor in me, I have been able to carry out successfully. What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/startup? In my journey so far what has helped me immensely is the lean methodology. In your opinion what are the keys to success? There are a few and you can learn it on your way up. As long as you have growth mind set it is not a problem. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur? I always work on a tag line ‘add value to get value’. Don’t focus primarily on money or investments but keep your focus on creating a sustainable venture & value creation. I believe, rest things will automatically set with time. Also, if you are starting up a venture, feel free to reach out to us. You will find us a great partner or mentor to you with innovative means. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

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< All Interviews Neeru Bhaskar Principal Professionals Being Founder & CEO of VictoryTales, I feel privileged to introduce Ms. Neeru Bhaskar who is presently working as Principal of Delhi Public School, Jankipuram, Lucknow(UP). I feel Ms. Neeru Bhaskar is a truly inspiring woman and the one who plants the seeds of knowledge among children, sprinkles them with love, and patiently nurtures their growth to produce tomorrow's dreams of every parent. I always look back with appreciation at the brilliant women which came across in my life, but with gratitude at those who touched my human feelings and I feel Ms. Neeru Bhaskar is the one who touched every individual’s feelings with a warmth which she possesses. I still remember the day I was discussing the perfect qualities of a teacher with her and she broadened my vision at that time when I was in the teaching line. She has chosen this noble profession to shape and polish the character, caliber and help all her students to recognize their within potential. After spending so many years in this profession she reached the spot where every individual wants to reach but very few reach. It is said that when you see a well-functioning school, most likely, there is a good Principal behind it. A Principal who sets a vision for the school and sets clear objectives. Someone who creates the space that fosters a teacher’s professional and personal development, and encourages student’s personal growth, creativity, and their own journey of discovery. After working in the field of teaching for so many years before becoming Founder and CEO of VictoryTales, I feel, a Principal must be a pedagogical leader to dozens of teachers: observing them in the classroom, evaluating institutional performance, and helping them get the professional development opportunities. I also feel proud to apprise our readers that Ms. Neeru Bhaskar is rich in pedagogical leadership and she deals with such challenges as Principal with hundreds of students and their personal and academic challenges, besides responding to the parents, on one to one basis, each with their own expectations for the school. Share this Interview: Know more about Delhi Public School, Jankipuram, Lucknow Delhi Public School Jankipuram is an academic institution that follows a progressive educational system. The school follows a curriculum that truly believes in developing life skills in students and making them global citizens. The school promotes a holistic learning system that caters to all-around development of its students and provides a challenging environment to reach their optimum potential. We aim to instill a progressive mindset and have blossomed into a multidisciplinary institution, offering various facilities to impart myriad expertise. The school nurtures leaders of tomorrow, who will succeed in whatever they put their hands to, anywhere in the world, and yet retain a distinctive ethos and essence of India. We strive to develop the cognitive, emotional, psychomotor, and aesthetic faculties of the learner through a number of curricular and co-curricular activities in order to foster team spirit and environmental cognizance. We offer an amiable, stress-free, and value-based learning experience. We also lay emphasis on the proficiency of a learner in the acquisition of essential life skills attitudes, values, and achievement in outdoor co-curricular activities encompassing sports and games. Visit Website On inquiring about her inclination towards choosing the teaching profession and reaching as principal how do you feel for yourself, Ms. Neeru Bhaskar explained that; The idea came to choose this profession from the responsibilities that we as kids had to shoulder from a very young age. I basically belong from Uttarakhand whereas I was born and brought up in Kanpur (UP) and my schooling has been from the prestigious 'St. Marry's convent School' of Kanpur. I dreamt of my childhood to work as an administrator and had always wanted to be an IAS officer. But due to my father’s passing away, I recognized our responsibilities at a very young age. At that time Teaching seemed to be the most suitable career option. But with the passage of time, I discovered my strength as a teacher and realized that somewhere along the way Teaching children & training & grooming them was my forte and became my passion. I still feel that “Teaching is My Calling” and I will continue to work for the students so that together we can create ideal future-ready citizens with strong civic sense coupled with responsibility and empathy for fellow human beings. How do you feel that being a Principal of a prestigious institution like DPS Jankipuram Lucknow, you can live your life for children? Like I have already mentioned, Teaching Children & helping them to Evolve is most satisfying & for a person like me, I feel it’s the sole-factor that attributes to my confidence & purpose of living. There’s a lot we can do with young minds. I feel by instilling the right values in them, we can help to build the Social Structure that we ourselves want to be a part of. It gives me a sense of fulfillment to make a child discover his/her own strengths & latent potential and help him/her evolve into a complete personality. Now as a Principal, I Feel great in doing the same with my Staff. It feels so exciting to help an Individual evolve as a Professional of superlative capabilities. Leadership lies in creating more Leaders. And I thank God for helping me continue to emerge as a leader rather than an Administrator. On inquiring about her source of motivation when she wakes up in the morning, Ms. Neeru Bhaskar conveyed her feelings and conveyed; I feel “My Profession, An Opportunity to meet My Students & My Staff & together create a constructive day” are my source of motivation. On inquiring about what challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far? Ms. Neeru Bhaskar apprised us that; As you know the Principal of a school has to deal with hundreds of students and their personal and academic challenges besides administrative issues. I accept these challenges every day and try to cope with them utilizing my utmost abilities that I acquired after having been in this profession for so many years. Fortunately, I have kept only the positive and constructive memories in store and keep on moving forward in my journey. Nowadays stress at work is an increasingly common feature of modern life, on enquiring from Ms. Neeru Bhaskar about how she handles the pressure and manages stress which comes in her life, she explains that; I love to interact with the Tiny Tots of Pre-Primaries whenever I feel stressed and they have always helped me to revive my spirit & made me feel rejuvenated. I have always kept my Connect with the Almighty Above. I completely trust Him & believe in the Power of Prayer and I feel that “Sai has been my Strength Always.” On inquiring about one strategy that she believes has helped her grow as a woman, Ms. Neeru Bhaskar apprise that; I believe Integrity & Genuine Hard Work has helped me evolve both professionally & personally. I have never compromised on the Quality of my work output. Mediocrity has never been a part of my working style. On inquiring about her opinion about “the keys to success”, she explains that ; Frankly speaking, your success doesn’t happen by chance. It takes strategic actions in the right direction to get you there. I believe only Hard work, Genuine efforts & Honest Wok-Approach makes one’s ladder of success. On asking Ms. Neeru Bhaskar about the advice she would like to give to someone to become something in their life? she replied politely that; To any aspiring professional, I would like to say that no matter which profession you choose, please ensure you invest honest inputs before you want to receive profitable outputs. That would help you achieve longevity goals. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

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< All Interviews Tushar Kansal Founder & CEO Entrepreneur VictoryTales with its objective to bring more and more meaningful and powerful inspirational stories from around the world to empower and motivate our growing community of entrepreneurs, this time introducing Mr. Tushar Kansal, Founder CEO of Kansaltancy is an accomplished professional with experience spanning multiple sectors from Venture Capital (Brand Cap), Big 4 Consulting (Deloitte & Touche), LSE-listed Sistema's India unit (MTS India) to CFO of Guggenheim Partners-owned company (DLI). He is Mentor and Judge at Entrepreneurship cells of IIT-Mumbai, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Chennai, ISM-Dhanbad & such marquee Institutions. Tushar has expertise of Financial & Business advisory, Fund raising & creation of docs/ collaterals for VC Funding. Tushar is a Venture Advisor with Loyal VC, the INSEAD-led Canadian VC Fund, having a core portfolio of over 160 investments in more than 35 countries. He is also Partner with GSD Venture Studios, a Silicon-valley based Venture Builder. Share this Interview: Know more about Kansaltancy To know about Kansaltancy, kindly Visit Website or Download Brochure . What is your educational background? I have completed Executive Education from Harvard Business School, an MBA in Finance from University of Delhi and B.Tech (Textiles) from Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences - Bhiwani, which is affiliated to the “Textile Institute Manchester, UK” and part of the leading Industrial & Education house in India “The Birla Group”. Major part of my Schooling has been at Montfort School, Delhi. How did you begin your career? Was it in conjunction with the present role that you have taken up or otherwise? I was lucky enough to get campus placement from my Engineering College at Indo Rama Synthetics, a big poly-staple fibre manufacturing company at Nagpur. I was inclined towards IT sector or in Finance and after clearing MBA Entrance examination I did MBA in Finance from University of Delhi. Again, I was lucky to got campus placement in M&A division of SBI Capital. I Co-founded an education company titled “KITES” which imparted training to high school students for IIT entrance examinations. We were having 800 students at one time which were accommodated in three KITES centres in North Delhi. In the year 2006, I sold KITES to Narayana Institute and got honourable exit from it. For the last decade, I have been in leadership role, driving Business, with large companies and as an entrepreneur. At Deloitte, I executed Private Equity assignments/ Valuations & Financial Advisory. At Brand Capital, I was part of the team investing across companies. At MTS India, as head of Debt division, I was instrumental in raising almost $2.5 billion of debt in 3 years and handled all round financial goals as CFO of DLI, including compliances towards the PE Fund Guggenheim, as the main investor and owner. I am Founder of Kansaltancy Ventures, an Investment Management firm as also Saffron First, a Start-up Network/ Fund and all the roles played by me have deeply helped me in executing my present professional journey. Tell us more about your journey? My social media links are at Linktree and corporate website is Kansaltancy.com . I founded a startup Indus B2C Global in 2013. It was a startup into B2B consumer space. The product was Human Hair extensions which are sought after by mostly women of African origin. It was during my time with this startup that I realized the gaps between what startups need and what companies are offering to help the startups. Later on, I quit full-time Management of this startup and became a financial investor. That’s when I launched Kansaltancy Ventures – we assist startups and growth stage companies with equity fundraising, debt, mergers and acquisitions and mentoring. We also help in getting business for the startups. The large part of my work at Kansaltancy Ventures is doing webinars and helping founders and team members of aspiring startups to reach their desired goals. Today, I have made a lot of progress in creating an ecosystem in this field. I am a Mentor and Judge at Entrepreneurship cell of IIT-Mumbai, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Chennai, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT ISM-Dhanbad & such marquee Institutions. I have an expertise of Financial & Business advisory, Fund raising & creation of docs/ collaterals for VC Funding. I am also a Venture Advisor with Loyal VC, the INSEAD-led Canadian VC Fund, having a core portfolio of over 160 investments in more than 35 countries. I am also partner with GSD Venture Studios, a Silicon-valley based Venture Builder. Over the years, I have arranged Funding for startups & growth-stage companies in diverse sectors like, EdTech, FinTech, Consumer B2C, B2B & D2C, AgriTech, Disruptive & DeepTech as well as non-Tech sectors. The full list of 40+ Recommendations are on LinkedIn. I feel privileged to apprise that my expert opinion is often sought by leading business news channels and publications like CNN-News18, VCTV, Business World, Business & Economy, Qrius and Digital Market Asia. I have come on 150+ talks - Just check on YouTube, VCTV streaming site https://latoken.com/vctv/investor/1040 & Kansaltancy.com! What are the offerings of Kansaltancy Ventures? Kansaltancy Ventures ( Kansaltancy.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/kansaltancyventures ) is an investment management and advisory firm into Equity fund raising, fund raising for VC Funds, Debt and Mergers & Acquisitions. It has developed years of experience in Growth Companies to prepare for the unknown while meeting their Needs. Our verticals are as follows: Funding: Equity & Structured Debt Planning & Pitching to Investors Mergers & Acquisitions Pitch Deck Preparations & Presentations Business Plans & Project Plans Preparations Start Ups & Growth Strategies & Planning Go-To Market & Digital Marketing Strategies Financial Strategic Planning & Analysis Strategic Planning & Execution Advisory Business Valuations Advisory As an independent Growth delivery firm, we can access many different Funding Options so that the customer can get the right Funding and services. Saffron First ( https://www.linkedin.com/company/saffronfirst ) is a Global Crowdfunding/ Angel Network & Fund, headquartered in Singapore, crafting investments in APAC/ India & providing domain specialists, capital & an ecosystem of strategic partnerships What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career? I chose entrepreneurship over my corporate career because I always wanted to make an impact. I have always been intrigued by entrepreneurship and read success stories of all the successful entrepreneurs. You see – It’s fascinating how you build something from the scratch to an empire around it and this is not everyone can do it. It takes a lot of courage, planning, perseverance, hard work, teamwork, combined with good strategy & execution skills. ‘Kansaltancy Ventures’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving with the help of your startup? Kansaltancy Ventures is an eponym from surname in my name – Tushar Kansal. A large part of our work in assisting startups and companies and working closely with them, mentoring them on various aspects, like getting business for them from our relationships, management concepts and providing a way forward. Because of the Consulting nature of this engagement which we have with companies, I thought that having “Consultancy” rhyming first word as the first name, would be very suitable. During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption? As the business faced Covid, each measure is taken to ensure that the model aligns with challenges of the pandemic. Our business model consists of a lean team which is not at all resource-heavy and has minimal overheads. The freelancer model ensures each work can be handled remotely, where we don’t need to do physical meetings Every aspect of the business is online and tech-enabled to ensure automation as much as possible. How do you manage yourself and keep on going despite the challenges? What drives you? I always try to make sure that I empower the right people for the right work. This way I do not feel overburdened with work that leads to stress. In my free time, I try to travel, spend time with my family, and try to maintain my work-life balance as much as possible. Travelling helps me clear my mind and focus on issues that need my attention. I am also into Yoga and Pranayam, which keeps my whole energy system balanced. I also learnt much about Naturopathy, which my family follows in the past 30 years. Being in naturopathy has kept me away from too much hard medicine and instead relying on nature cures. In your opinion - what is more necessary: Idea or a good team for a successful startup? I have seen companies with very innovative ideas with niche market segment fail just because they lacked proper team spirit in them.” To be successful, you should team up with co-founders who share your vision behind the idea, and you also need to hire the right people for the right position so that it gets implemented in a proper way. The Investors always bank a lot on the team – they believe that if the Team is good, even if the product is not perfect, it can be made perfect. Even if the Business Model is not good, the team will pivot to the right one eventually. You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going? I love my work. Anything you do in life you have to have a passion for it and should not feel like working. I am also the eternal optimist and like to see the Glass half full! Your ability to do something in the world essentially depends on the extent to which you can harness your body and mind towards your goal, and after that, harnessing the situation in which you exist. But the most fundamental things are that your body and mind function not only to the best of their ability, but the way you want them to. If you bring your mind to a certain level of organization, it in turn organizes the other three dimensions of your system – your body , emotion , and energies . We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur? Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and see them as an opportunity to learn. #1 Before you leap, look! - Many possibilities always mean trouble. To be able to identify which one of these possibilities you should go with is a certain exercise. The problem is people jump into something and then exercise their mind – no. Before you jump into something, it needs to be looked at with enough attention because once you jump into something, there should be no looking back. If you are constantly looking at the rearview mirror, you are not going to go forward. #2 Enhance your perception – See life the way it is. If you are born afresh, that means you have no conclusions about anything. You are willing to look at everything like you are just born. If you can see life just the way it is, you have the necessary intelligence to conduct it well. If you are not able to see life the way it is, your intelligence will work against you. #3 Your ability to pay attention is key. If a human being has to break through their limitations, the most important quality is steadiness of attention. Your ability to manage anything is directly proportional to the level of attention and observation that you have. #4 Put your life into whatever you do - Whatever the path you jump onto is not the best thing to do. You can never do the best thing in the world. Whatever you jump into, if you really put your life into it, it can become a great thing. Do not ever try to do the best thing because if you try to do the best thing, you will waste your life trying to be better than someone else. #5 Take charge of your inner situation - Either you allow your destiny to be an accident, or you allow your destiny to be your intent, that is a choice you have. Either you allow the situations to make you something or you make the situations the way you want them. What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story? Getting the right opportunity and performing to the best of your capability when you get that opportunity. To get that opportunity, I present myself as a brand. I prepare myself to give in my best shot at each and every opportunity that comes my way. "People who are right a lot listen a lot, and they change their mind a lot. People who are right a lot change their mind without a lot of new data. They wake up and reanalyze things and change their mind. If you don’t change your mind frequently, you’re going to be wronged a lot. People who are right a lot want to disconfirm their fundamental biases." What are the three most important lessons you have learned building your startup? I’ve learned to not compare myself to other successful men who seem to have it all together. Invariably, things are not always as they seem, and no one has it all together. I have also learned how important it is to embrace change because, at any given time, you will need to shift strategies due to circumstances beyond your control. Lesson 1 : Approach your relationship with your founding team as you would a marriage Lesson 2 : Your startup has limited eggs, don’t place them in so many baskets Lesson 3 : Only hire those you could see yourself working for Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success? I firmly believe in the 14 Amazon leadership principles: Customer Obsession - Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers. Ownership - Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job." Invent and Simplify - Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here." As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time. Are Right, A Lot - Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs. Learn and Be Curious - Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them. Hire and Develop the Best - Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice. Insist on the Highest Standards - Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed. Think Big - Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers. Bias for Action - Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking. Frugality - Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense. Earn Trust - Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odour smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best. Dive Deep - Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are sceptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them. Have Backbone ; Disagree and Commit - Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly. Deliver Results - Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle. Please share with us - What has worked well for you so far? One thing I would say that helped me and my company grow is the ability to listen to our customers. We believe that customers are not interested in products but in getting their problems resolved. The more we listen to them, the problems they face in their business, the more efficiently and effectively we can resolve them. We believe that we are capable to do that, and it is the only reason for our growth. To know more about Tushar Kansal and his views:- Tushar Kansal on Latoken Venture Capital Tv (VCTV) . Tushar Kansal at At MSME & Startups Forum Bharat . Tushar Kansal at CXO Genie/ Founders Genie/ Inflection Point Ventures . Tushar Kansal at Open Source Network (OPN), Supporters Fund, Canada . Tushar Kansal at Silicon Valley Startup event . Tushar Kansal at Startup Grind, Asaba, Nigeria . Tushar Kansal at panel discussion on Co-working, Co-living at Starterbites Ventures . Tushar Kansal at Incubate IND . Tushar Kansal at Frontrunners Inc., Mary Kurek . Tushar Kansal at MentorKart, Ashish Khare . Tushar Kansal at MFL EduClub . Tushar Kansal speaking on what Investors want . Tushar Kansal at Dr Abhinav Saxena’s show on Cloud Kitchen . Tushar Kansal at Startup Monk . Tushar Kansal at Startup News FYI, Madhur Malik . Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

< All Interviews Samip Founder and CEO Entrepreneur We as VictoryTales keep scrolling for more and more meaningful and powerful inspirational stories from around the world to empower and motivate our growing community of entrepreneurs, this time we are introducing Mr. Samip, Founder and CEO of DamaCas who while studying in Canada came across with an idea to promote the Make in India products and help the small businessmen who wanted to sell their products online. Share this Interview: Know more about DamaCas DamaCas is a Pvt Ltd company based in India which focuses on e-commerce which provides multi-vendor products at one place that too online especially for the items made under “Make in India”. The products ranging from apparels, home essentials, furnishings, baby products, cosmetics, footwear, handicrafts, furniture, Costume Jewellery and electrical & electronic accessories etc. The main objective of DamaCas is to make every effort to promote Indian made/manufactured products and to provide Indian products to the genuine aspirants. This will not only help Indian craftsmen grow and sell their products, but it will also help to enhance their income. DamaCas is a venture started by Mr Samip for providing high quality essential products to the individuals across the country that are not imported, but are made in india by locals and small businessmen. This platform is aimed at families across India who are looking for an easy-to-use service in which they can see and read about different products available and be able to compare them side by side so that they can make informed purchasing decisions. DamaCas is an E-commerce marketplace which showcases products which are only Made in India. We offer a platform for small and medium businesses to reach an audience to sell their items on a B2C platform with no additional charges. We are empowering people to come onto the DamaCas platform, even for those suppliers who have never thought of showcasing their products online. We are solving several problems like some marketplaces having inadequate technology, poor customer experiences, lock of global applicability and a lack of structured logistics processes. We aim to branch out into many other verticals once we have established a strong backbone in the B2C market in India. This includes expanding the portal to other countries, exporting Indian goods, promoting NGO’s and their products, encouraging local artisans to sell online, having a B2B segment and advanced technological solutions in E-commerce. To know more about the company kindly Visit Website . Where did the idea to start something like this come from? Please also talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur. The idea to start something like this venture came in my mind during March 2020 while in lockdown when world has seen most people losing their jobs and businesses were getting closed. The idea behind starting this was to boost the economy of the small and domestic craftsmen or manufacturers who were proceeding towards the closure as the world was going to standstill with unlimited period keeping in view the seriousness of the Covid 19 situation around the world. Since there are very limited resources for small businessmen and especially the craftsmen, the thought came in mind to help them buy starting an e-commerce platform where people can buy and sell things from online portal by remaining indoors. Since I was pursuing my studies and living in Canada at that time and as an international student it was hard like probably not possible to develop business in Canada, but the idea was appealing to me and I was determined to start at the earliest. I made my mind to start it from India our own country which is always open for their citizens and got one more concept to focus for the time being on selling “Make in India” products on our e-commerce platform where our Indian small as well as big manufacturer gets chance to grow and explore their business. Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job? Since I was pursuing my studies in Canada, but due to the covid situation no one was aware that the situations are going to be so bad and the world is going to standstill. Doing job was not in my mind as I was inclined towards establishing business and becoming one day and entrepreneur to help the small businessmen to give an online platform to sell their products. What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur? My self determination to help small businessmen who do not have digital marketing space to sell their products was my key driving force to become an entrepreneur. It was hard for me to startup things from Canada as things were going to happen in India. Interaction with the small businessmen was the main concern and while remaining in Canada it was virtually going hard initially but I managed to handle things for first 2 months single handed with the blessings and help of my parents. Things were developing in fast pace and I need a team, so I started putting up Advertisement on job portals. After almost one month, I got one female candidate, UK born Indian lady named as “Ms Payal Patel” living in India. She is the Head of operation of my team at present and she has over 18 years of experience in operation field working with UK government as well. Me from Canada and she from India started managing things in proper manner which were not in organized manner before and then as per requirements we had to get two more candidates without having any initial investments. What’s your source of motivation? My source of motivation is myself confident to help the small businessmen who are struggling to sell their products despite best in their product type. To implement my vision to become an entrepreneur I used to drive Uber for almost 10-12 hrs per day to earn and pay salary to employees. I started searching for investor and with one to two pitch I got one investor with that I got to explore the team as it was pretty hard to get vendors onboard, at present I have team of 8 experienced people who are leading the idea, now to manage and organize the things it was pretty hard to do it from Canada, so I came to India in November 2020 and completed the legal things forming Pvt Ltd company, and launched the venture on 22nd January 2021. We have enough of investment for few more months so still looking for more investment to make this “Make in India” concept a Brand and provide the Make in India products in foreign countries as well. Initially I was just having one segment of simple multi-vendor e-commerce platform, but with the exploration of team I got many more different segments which are problem solving for everyone for govt, for businesses, for people and can also help businesses grow and get chance to explore their product in foreign countries. My journey to reach this level is indeed my source of motivation for the time being. How many hours a day do you work on average? Since I am in the implementing stage of my venture and working hours a day do not matters to me. I am working round the clock to make my venture a successful so as my team of personnel who are working with me are also with me in materialising the things in write directions. What is the uniqueness of your startup? My startup “DamaCas” is an E-commerce marketplace which showcases products which are only made in India. We offer a platform for small and medium businesses to reach an audience to sell their items on a B2C platform with no additional charges. We are empowering people to come onto the DamaCas platform, even for those suppliers who have never thought of showcasing their products online. We are solving several problems like some marketplaces having inadequate technology, poor customer experiences, lock of global applicability and a lack of structured logistics processes. We aim to branch out into many other verticals once we have established a strong backbone in the B2C market in India. This includes expanding the portal to other countries, exporting Indian goods, promoting NGO’s and their products, encouraging local artisans to sell online, having a B2B segment and advanced technological solutions in E-commerce. Our unique Segments are: B2C concept of “Make in India.” “Collaborating with NGOs who does the production where people get employment with the growth of their product”, We are also showcasing handicraft products on our portal, “We are also bringing unique segment that is “Delivery segment” where people can buy online from any local shop in the city and we can the thing delivered within few hours, “We are also integrating service provider segment where every service provider can get register and provide the service to their clients.” How do you handle the pressure and manage stress? Step back and put the problem in perspective, list some solutions to the problems and come up with a plan is my way of managing stress and easing pressure. How did you come up with the name for your company? It was actually not so simple for me to choose the name initially, first to just start the things i gave the name sampzkart.com, but it was not suitable at all globally or at any level, i got to took almost 2 months to prepare the name, but at last it got simple i choose initial letters of my family i.e D stants for Dilip(father) A in between always stands for “And” M stands for “Manisha” (mother) C stands for “_Chiku” _ (My Late sister) and at last S stands for “Samip” (Thats ME)__Damacas also refers to something else in terms of brand i.e “Do Admire Multi-branded Aesthetic Channel for All Shopoholic” “DamaCas”. What piece of advice would you give to college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs? The only piece of advice I would like to give to the college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs is to listen to your field interest and find the possibility of becoming a successful person to serve the humanity and to earn with positive ways of development. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

< All Interviews Parul Tarang Bhargava CEO and Co-Founder Women Entrepreneur VictoryTales always make efforts to bring most of the meaningful and powerful stories from around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. VictoryTales also believes that this inspirational interview will encourage you to follow your dreams, treat others with kindness, and never give up on yourself. We are pleased to introduce Ms.Parul Tarang Bhargava, CEO & Co-Founder vCommission. Ms. Parul did her B.Tech (IT) from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and started her journey from a content writer to the CEO of the Company. Her journey started way back in the year 2006 when she was trying out new ideas to get fresh perspectives about the business world to make good efforts to bring impact. Ms. Parul believes that Affiliate marketing is a well-known strategy now-a-days to drive sales and create a substantial online income. She also believes that Incredible valuable to brands and affiliate marketers, and the marketing tactic are at the helm of many successful campaigns and plays an instrumental role in deriving desired results. Share this Interview: Know more about vCommission The idea was conceptualized in the year 2006 and vCommission started in the year 2008 by a team of affiliates working for the western networks with a vision to revolutionize the Indian affiliate marketing industry and deliver unparalleled results to our partners. With collective efforts and hardworking of the team members, vCommission was ranked among the top 5 affiliate networks since the year 2012. vCommission is India’s Leading Global affiliate Network delivering performance on the web & mobile to top worldwide brands through a growing network of 100K+ affiliates. The company is a subsidiary of Adways VC India Pvt. Ltd. Which is a joint venture with Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed company Adways Inc.(Japan), the No. 1 Affiliate Marketing company in Asia. To know more about the vCommission kindly Visit Website . Tell us a little bit about yourself (background) and your journey as an entrepreneur, please; Your introduction and journey so far. Our journey started way back in 2006, this was a time period when we were very young and open to trying out new ideas, get fresh perspectives about the business world and see how far we could make our impact. What we noticed was that although affiliate marketing was a huge thing in the global market, it was still at a nascent stage in our country. In fact, during those times, several brands did not even accept Indians as someone with whom they could foster business partnerships. Witnessing this for ourselves, we thought that yes, this industry does seem to have upside potential and we can fill the underlying gap present in the Indian market if we act with the right approach. Now, when I look back and compare the ‘then’ and ‘now’, all I can say is that though we have accomplished much, we are still on the tip of the iceberg. As an organization, we still have a long way to go, learn many new things, maybe even fail at a few of them, however, in the end, come out victorious. Perhaps, this is how I like it. I don’t like to stop, I always keep looking for better and more substantial opportunities, challenges and everything in between that helps us forge ahead. Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job? To be honest, during my whole journey from being a content writer to becoming the CEO of vCommission, I would say that I’ve surprised myself not just once but many times over. For instance, I didn’t think that I could ever do sales, or maybe manage such a huge team of people with such efficiency. But then again, it was the journey that taught me, and I feel only gratitude that it did. For me, everything zeroes down to two things. The first being highly aspirational and the second being that I as a person have always been very open to learning new things and experiment. These two factors have played an instrumental role for me to chase bigger goals in life and pour all my energies to achieve what I really wanted for myself. What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation? A fairly good question. I would say that the mindset to achieve day on day and lead our company to new heights of success is what keeps me going. At the same time, this is something that also keeps me grounded and hustle harder than others. Because, in the end, it is all about the ability to act decisively when the situation demands so! This is something that has made all the difference in my eventful journey as an entrepreneur. What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far? To this, I would say that ups and downs are an integral part of anyone’s journey so as in my journey too, and I acknowledge that they have been a part of our journey as well or maybe I would even say that they have acted as the steppingstones to achieve greater success. However, I feel myself pretty confident that with our team, I will be able to eventually sail through any difficulty and come out victorious. What comes first for you - money or emotions? Although these two things usually don’t align with each other, I have seen that if mixed in the right proportions with a business-oriented approach, it can work wonders for any organization. I would even say that as any business is an entity in itself, it needs to have emotions, not personal, obviously, but business-oriented things like concern for quality deliverables, client satisfaction, targets & roadmaps we plan & how to achieve them, etc. Money is obviously the priority but on the personal front, I believe if your value creation process is right for your clients as well as your team, the money will automatically come as a byproduct of it. How do you handle the pressure and manage stress? I personally feel that spirituality is something that can change anyone’s life for the good and give it a better course of action. From the last 450 days or so I have not missed out on a single day of my meditation. It helps me remain calm, chase goals with greater efficiency and clarity of thought. Secondly, delegating work to my associates takes a great amount of stress off my shoulders. So, I would say meditation and my team are the two foremost factors that help me handle pressure and manage stress in a very effective way. What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/startup? I would say that my keen eye to identify opportunities and act swiftly upon them has been one of the major things which have helped me grow as a person. In your opinion what are the keys to success? I would say that to be persistent in your approach and never give up on what you truly believe in. Yes, this is especially for all the aspirational young people who want to excel in their careers. They need to understand that there is no such thing as overnight success. For anything good to happen, you need to give it time and work on it with a growth mindset. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur? Any aspiring entrepreneur should always remember that nothing is done overnight, satisfaction does not come overnight. You need to preserve; there is no second option for that. Secondly, especially aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start up, should always have a learning attitude towards everything. And if you feel confident and motivated enough that you must do it then you should do it. There is no age, no gender, no degree required to take the plunge. To this, I would also add that do not focus on money initially, rather go for value creation and creating something sustainable. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

< All Interviews Sujay Santra Founder and CEO Entrepreneur We at VictoryTales, with the long & arduous search for bringing more and more meaningful and inspiring stories from around the world, this time, brings the story of a Kolkata based Healthcare Startup, ‘iKure Techsoft Pvt. Ltd.’, led by Sujay Santra, Founder & CEO, who is known for his inspiring entrepreneurship, an eminent speaker, and an impactful healthcare leader conferred by the ‘World Health & Wellness Congress’, 2019. Sujay has led a fascinating journey, but he thinks the best is yet to come. While he has led the transformation of India’s primary healthcare system using technology and scalable models since 2010, his startup incepted with the mission of ‘creating zero mortality in primary healthcare’ with cloud and artificial intelligence technologies is set for the new road ahead. Share this Interview: Know more about iKure Techsoft Pvt Ltd His venture iKure, has not only readdressed primary healthcare system for the marginalized community, but it has also created multiple layered impacts across the community enabling access to affordable and accessible health services, technology-enabled integrated care, empowering community health workers, and implementing behavior change programs to create holistic and sustainable impact in human lives. On inquiring from where did the idea to start something like iKure Techsoft Pvt. Ltd., came from and requesting him to tell us about his background and his journey as an entrepreneur, Mr. Sujay apprised that; It all began, when I visited my father for his ill health in my hometown, rural Kolkata. Working in IBM and Oracle, and an ardent technology lover, my father’s health crisis was an eye-opener for me to gauge the plight of the 840 million Indian rural populations. As his health recovered, I set out to look for the fundamentals that can bridge the gap and build a platform to seamlessly connect patients with doctors and the healthcare system. I took the lesser-known path to build the ‘Unicorn’. You can’t solve a problem unless you face one. Felicitation with the ‘Change Maker award’ & ‘Ashoka Fellowship’ by the former President of India, Shree Pranab Mukherjee in 2016 provided me with a firm anchor for my journey ahead. On inquiring from Mr. Sujay Santra, why has he chosen to become an entrepreneur over a job? He replied that; I have always enjoyed being an entrepreneur even, though my first attempt was less than far impressive. After graduating, I worked as a junior scientist in the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) and was mentored by Prof. K. Radhakrishnan-Mission to Mars ISRO chief, where I was drawn towards understanding the complexity of technology and how it can save a life. While I worked in top-notch IT firms, I was deeply rooted by my clearly defined problem of healthcare access and was ready to take the plunge and facilitate an innovation that can bring efficiency and value creation in healthcare and one that everyone would aspire to be a part of it. On inquiring from him about what was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur? Mr. Sujay apprised that; I believe I have been drawn by an inner inimitable driving force. Since my childhood, I was fascinated by technology and developed a life-long interest in software applications. This interest helped me participate and win multiple awards during my service period in IBM and Oracle. As I traveled extensively, I became more aware of the dearth in healthcare access, and my personal experience was instrumental in finding a wider perspective of technology application in primary healthcare. I resigned from my 9-5 job to move into the direction which was less appealing in many ways. However, the hardships, and struggle, I had to make to reach this far, was a great learning experience for me. My parents, family, and my team have been my greatest support. On inquiring about his source of motivation? Mr. Sujay narrates that; I have been fortunate enough to be mentored by people with iconic figures and men of diversified skill sets. For example, my father has been my greatest source of inspiration, who was a very successful Banker, with popular mass appeal for his generosity, and intellect, as he left a mark on every human life he touched. Witnessing the difficult circumstances of humanity, be it families getting cash strapped due to healthcare expenses or poverty that prevents them from accessing the basic amenities, my father helped them all, transforming shortfall into values, that few in such a position can make it possible. On inquiring, How many hours a day do you work on average? Mr. Sujay explains that; An entrepreneur’s working hours are beyond a 40-hour work-week. While bombarded with commitments and deliverables from all angles, it is hard to figure out the number of hours truly put in. I remember, not sleeping from two-three consecutive nights, and waking hours involved family responsibilities. So, I cannot equate no. of hours with my successes. I do catch up with my power naps during the flights or while travelling, also I believe your mental wellbeing is more important than your physical wellbeing, so it is necessary to keep a balance to help you sail through the patchy terrains and gloomy days at times. On inquiring about the uniqueness of his company ikure Techsoft Pvt. Ltd, Mr. Ashish apprised that ; A patient named Runa has been visiting the hospital for her dialysis. Sometimes a year back, when she complained about breathlessness and dizziness, she consulted multiple local doctors. As her discomfort grew, she switched doctors and medications, which caused her more trouble, at last, when her severity grew, she was hospitalized and suggested for dialysis and kidney transplantation. We often witness such health mishaps caused by disintegrated care coordination leading to fatal consequences. At iKure, we aim to create an integrated care continuum backed by innovative technology and scalable models. iKure is a Population Health Management company that delivers primary healthcare services through digital technologies, a network of hub & spoke clinics & trained frontline health workers. Our health management services span Preventive, Promotive, & Curative aspects of healthcare. iKure focuses on addressing the primary healthcare needs across all settings –rural, semi-urban, and urban areas. How do you handle the pressure and manage stress? Well, I talk to my father or I listen to music, take a long walk or drive somewhere and have some good food just to feel good about myself and that's how I have seen that I am able to handle pressure or stress. How do you generate new ideas? The generation of creative and practical ideas is the key to success. At iKure, I am open to new ideas, where every team member contributes in their own way to solve administrative challenges, opportunities to expand businesses, and generate technological ideas for products and services. We are also supported by investors, advisors, and different stakeholders who guide us with their novel ideas to drive change and open new possibilities for iKure in the healthcare domain. How did you come up with the name of your company? At iKure, “i” stands for Innovation and “K” stands for Knowledge. So we wanted to provide Health Care using innovation and Knowledge and that’s how the name iKure came into existence. What piece of advice would you like to give to the college graduates who wanted to become entrepreneurs? I think persistence and perseverance are important traits of an entrepreneur. So build on it, without burning it. You need a dedicated team who can believe in your idea, stay true to them, as much you stay true to yourself. Explain your strategies, goals and reinforce it internally. Being an entrepreneur is like running a marathon, you need to keep your stamina and go steadily and definitely you will be successful. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

< All Interviews Tanmoy Mukherjee Co-Founder Entrepreneur VictoryTales with its objective to strive and grope vigorously to bring some of the meaningful and powerful stories from around the world to empower and motivate our growing community of entrepreneurs, this time we are introducing Mr. Tanmoy Mukherjee, Co-Founder of Forbidden Foods Pvt Ltd. Mr Tanmoy Mukherjee attained vast professional experience while working with world renowned companies like Coca Cola, ITC, Bausch & Lomb, RIL and Lavazza before venturing into his own company Forbidden Foods Pvt Ltd. Tanmoy is an effective communicator with excellent relationship building and interpersonal skills having strong analytical, problem solving and organizational abilities. Having experience in leading teams for driving overall market development, Mr. Tanmoy attained Positioning with Revenue Generation and Profitability besides having vision and roadmap with the objective to develop a strategic footprint for driving profitable business in emerging markets . Share this Interview: Know more about Forbidden Foods Pvt Ltd Forbidden Foods Pvt. Ltd. aspires to delight the new-age Indian consumer with innovative and contemporary snacking products. The company is introducing a range of packaged snacks under a fun, exciting, and quirky brand identity that resonates with young and discerning consumers. Forbidden Foods is in the packaged snacks business with snacking options that are as healthy as they are unique and delicious. Forbidden Foods is using an innovative popping technology to prepare for its customers a Gluten-Free non-baked, non-fried, popped chips which are light, crunchy, and flavorful chips. As per the company’s commitment to its customers that their chips are 60% less fat compared to fried potato chips, with high-quality Sunflower oil used for garnishing. Where did the idea to start something like this come from? Please also talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur; Actually, the journey started when Ankur Jain, co-founder at Bira met me at Reliance Retail where he joined under my tutelage for training. I was mentoring him for the Rural Business Hub model wherein we had a great time as we hit it off. Then Ankur left to pursue his own business interests and I later joined Lavazza and Barista as the Brand Integration Manager for Italy. Whilst at Lavazza almost after a span of 5 years I left to join Ankur in his business interests. I was in touch with him. In meanwhile, Ankur had been concentrating on his business interest and was pursuing the beer game relying solely on imports from Belgium, US, and Spain. Anuj who was Ankurs batch mate at school also joined up after returning from a stint at UBS in London. Thus our journey at Bira began. Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job? Having been at the helm of affairs in Coca Cola, ITC, Bausch & Lomb, and then Lavazza I was getting bored and waylaid in my professional world, a sort of cocooned existence. But for want of a break, an opportunity and the like to change the status quo of life as I continued to toil in the inane large corporation marketing guided by SOPs and best practices with market integration. There was nothing to look forward to in this mundane 24X7 existence. But as the saying goes luck is opportunity + patience + divine intervention, Ankur called me one day in my Lavazza stint and told me to chuck all this and try to do something which will have my footprint and stamp. Sounded exciting, challenging, and differentiated and therefore I opted for it and now I can never aspire to do a regular job. What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur? Three factors will always play a full-frontal role in entrepreneurship: constant challenges, yearning to go for the unreachable, and quenching your thirst to create something new out of the ordinary. These are the guiding principles that, according to me, should always accompany your thought process. However, the big umbrella factor always is: Fire In The Belly. These are the key drivers What’s your source of motivation? One key takeaway from our ancient spiritual knowledge and the wisdom that they gave us is the constant yearning to look ‘inside’ instead of ‘outside’. By this I mean you will have to discover that force, the spirit inside your own self to egg yourself on in this journey Motivation is a driving force that runs on the fuel of passion, Knowledge, and ability to look beyond. Anyone & anybody can be an entrepreneur provided he or she can imbibe these 3 principles inside one’s self. Though you need externalities then’ fortune favors the brave’. How many hours a day do you work on average? Time management is a myth and oft used word which has become the fashion to denote how industrious one can be. If you can skillfully assign time/job matrices to something on the line of Steven Covey’s, you can make things easier. I usually devote 10 hours a day at the max and try to mix business with pleasure i.e taking time out on some weekends. What is the uniqueness of your startup? The game-changing word is Disruption which motivates the Consumer packaged Goods space. Uniqueness depends on many factors: business category, the segment in that category, the competition in that category, the current players, not in that order though. What you have to look for is uncontested space, unmet needs for the category consumers, and the current offerings. Once that is done then you devise a price positioning matrix that gives you the open spaces to work on. For eg. In the case of BRB chips, we found white spaces in some unique offerings as compared to the mundane chips which have been going on for some time, no product differentiation, and value-added for the consumers. How do you handle the pressure and manage stress? I am reminded of a line in the movie Border: “Zindagi ka doosra naam problem hai”. Therefore pressures and linked stresses that are part and parcel of a daily work living Managing it is both, easy and difficult in a startup: Easier part : First being clear of your work duties, your deliverables, and communication flow. For instance, have daily morning meetings to resolve interdepartmental issues, any differences, and the usual flow. The basic step is to remove irritants and friction The difficult part is of interpersonal dynamics of the co-founders, expectations that can crop up linked to some new issue and financials How do you generate new ideas? Generation of new ideas is a more strategic part of the business It is usually done amongst the co-founders and which is obviously reliant on some key learnings that one has found lately, some new insight form our consumers and inputs form our own team New ideas primarily should result in new product development or some key messaging or distribution issues or facilitating business in a better cost-effective manner ​Therefore to sum up we need to generate new ideas to increase our value for the consumer, reach and distribution and the need to bring in cost effectiveness How did you come up with the name of your company? The name was more of a brain wave which one of our co-founders came up with one day in the morning to name it Forbidden Foods. It is linked to many facets: of course the first is the fruit as per the Bible signifying the need to break the molds of good and evil, next comes the work Forbidden which means that we are part of the angst of the youth(primarily our target is years 15 -25) and this age group loves to play anti-institution i.e thinking against the current wave. BRB was our take on this kind of a product type and brand as a result of this thinking and is actually an acronym: Be Right Back This relies on the prevalent SMS lingo in the current generation, the pointer towards taking any time, anywhere, and anyhow to break what you are doing and take a break. Just relive the moments with BRB and it is like a pause to taste and reflect on things around you What piece of advice would you give to college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs? Well, it is a mindset. Our current education brings about pressures, forcible competition, and expectations that are asynchronous with the current situation. Therefore there is no urge to ‘create’ but to ‘conform’ However, to inculcate that feeling of creating something out of our daily mundane existence is the key. We have to find our hidden talents, our passion, and the desire to seek something in life that not only creates a source of income but is also sustainable and creates opportunities for others. Because it is in giving that you receive. Having said that there are a lot of externalities that govern our world but the trick is to escape these and carve your own space. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read

< All Interviews Dr. Siddhartha Pandey CEO and founder Entrepreneur There are many renowned personalities around the world who are inspiring others to learn from their "high and lows" which came in their lives to achieve the present position, this time in VictoryTales, we introduce Dr. Siddhartha Pandey who is a man of many qualities. Dr. Siddhartha Pandey, CEO and Founder of HRD India is blessed with lots of qualities in him. He is on the mission to find and help align “Human Capital with Financial Capital”. He has successfully led and drives the Human Resource Department for prominent companies like Balasore Alloys Ltd., EMC ltd., Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd., Electro steel ltd., Adhunik ltd., Simplex Infrastructure and Shristi Infrastructure Limited. Dr. Siddhartha Pandey has headed The Confederation of Indian Industry (Eastern Region) besides remaining an active member of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industries (BCC&I), Merchants Chamber of Commerce (MCC) and also a member of WORLD HRD Congress. Blessed with a special aptitude for playwriting, he is regularly writing in Times, Magazines, Linkedin, and Various Social Sites. Moreover he is the winner of many HR leaders awards. Dr. Siddhartha’s plans have come to fruition rather sooner than expected after a successful corporate career in a Fortune 500 company, the tipping point came where his inner instinct led him to redefine life and the impact he wanted to create. It was the point at which series of small changes emerged and he knew that he didn't want his boss's job, any of the other senior management roles, or to work between 12 to 14 hours a day. Dr. Siddhartha also knew he didn't want to sacrifice his quality of life, and regret not living. Share this Interview: Know more about HRD India It's a company providing full service of Integrated HR solution which include services in all its elements such as retained as well as contingency-based search services, advisory services, recruitment process outsourcing, leadership, mentoring, coaching, corporate training. As CEO & Founder of HRD India, Dr. Siddhartha has chosen 'creative' business and operational strategies to obtain the desired results in seemingly difficult mandates. He explains further that their business is a fascinating combination of high-quality work processes and people sensitivity. On inquiring background about Dr. Siddhartha Pandey, and his journey as an entrepreneur he apprise us that “I have successfully led and drives the Human Resource Department for companies like Balasore Alloys Ltd., EMC ltd., Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd., Electro steel ltd., Adhunik ltd., Simplex Infrastructure and Shristi Infrastructure Limited. I have headed the CII (Eastern Region) and also been an active member of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCC&I), and Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce (MCC) and also a member of WORLD HRD Congress. I am a regular playwright in Times, Various Social Sites, Magazines, LinkedIn, and a social activist too, plus a winner of many HR leader awards”. He further narrates that, there's no "magic pill" that effortlessly launches you out of your cubicle confinement and into the free world of entrepreneurship. For some, the dream to be your own boss grows for a long time, even years, before it finally comes to fruition. "After a successful corporate career in a Fortune 500 company, the tipping point came where my inner instinct led me to redefine life and the impact I want to create. I knew that I didn't want my boss's job, any of the other senior management roles, or to work between 12 to 14 hours a day. I also knew I didn't want to sacrifice my quality of life, and regret not living. "That's when I decided to start my business. I brainstormed which skills I could build upon, and what people needed. On requesting him, why did he choose entrepreneurship over a job? he explains that; Being an entrepreneur means taking on a challenge and working hard to get through it. “Getting a new career or building a business is never easy, and not everybody will support you in your journey. With any business venture, it takes a while to gain the knowledge, establish you as a business owner, and gain the reputation to attract the clients. “It can be a long process and it may take time to get significant ROI but to be honest with you, the results are worth the struggle. Feeling like getting just stuck in a box and feeling just like a number being in a top management job was making a straight line. Being an entrepreneur one can have many advantages too like you have the opportunity to change the lives of others, you serve as a role model, creating something from nothing, no career hamster wheel. On inquiring about what gets him out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s his source of motivation ?, Dr.Siddhartha explains that ; The Source of motivation is to think that “Remember why I started”, it is not money or the experiences but it is to earn a taste of fame along the way and what I might leave behind should be appreciated because if I create something meaningful that’s going to outlast. The satisfaction is saying, this is my company and with this I will never hit a growth ceiling. I don’t know if it’s a lack of confidence or something else but you always want to prove yourself, you’re never quite satisfied – and that might express itself in being very competitive. You just want to do your own thing and are prepared to take huge risks to do it. Someone works for money and some work for his emotions attached to him, but on inquiring about that, what comes first for him - money or emotions? Dr. Siddhartha explains; “There is no secret that emotion always plays a vital role in human life. Entrepreneurship might seem like a glamorous career choice; and in many ways, it is. However, this independent path can have its downsides. Working alone, or representing your own brand, are a major responsibility and many entrepreneurs face emotional challenges, from loneliness to fear. So every time we have to control those emotions and overcome those with flying colors. When we start an idea it was well planned so the money will routinely come if there is a quality-driven business”. On inquiring about his way of handling the pressure and managing stress, Dr. Siddhartha Pandey explains that; “I will say there is no exact science to handle a pressure or stress, few points I can consider to manage the same like break down the problem into the task it will ease out to tackle the same, schedule time for socializing, give time to family, biking with friends, spent time in exercise or yoga or meditation. Try to think of stress as energy. Energy which we can use to propel our business to success. Minimizing stress by staying productive and keeping on top of your work is hugely important. If you struggle to keep focused try a productivity app to keep your motivation up”. What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/startup? Most of the advice and success stories for start-ups feel very vague, vapid, and in actionable, If you don’t have a tangible plan, you’re actually losing business -- or you’re increasing the chance of losing business to competitors. One strategy will not suffice a business success but yes technology is playing a major role to run a business like in the time of the pandemic. The value proposition of a business will always be an added advantage. On inquiring about his opinion about “the keys to success”, he explains that ; Passion is a simple yet profoundly all-encompassing narrative to describe the essence of a true entrepreneur. With passion, an entrepreneur possesses an inherent fuel and inexhaustible stamina that constantly drives his actions forward. Impetus and self-confidence also play a vital role in a tenacious entrepreneur – one who can dream of the unreal, and work relentlessly to convert it into a reality. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur? Entrepreneurship is very challenging, you are going to get hit and knocked down. Learning to take the punches and continuing to get up turns you into a stronger business owner and individual. Challenge yourself and be competitive with yourself, value your work, utilize the power of manifestation. Today, entrepreneurs can push beyond the clichés and their limits to develop businesses that add value to clients – and that adds meaning to entrepreneurs’ lives. Sai Poorna Patnaik Founder Shankar Sahai Co-Founder and Director Bhavini Khakhkhar Founder Dr. Ruchika R. Jha Doctor & Public Healthcare Consultant Anand Mani Tripathi Founder and CEO Gamethon Professional Gamers You may also like to read