- Tell us something about yourself?
Well, I did my civil engineering from BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore and pursued a master’s degree in Project Management from Michigan State University, USA.
Right after studies, I started working in Las Vegas as a project engineer, constructing casinos. Later, worked with Insituform technologies, St Louis and JCMS Inc, New Jersey. In terms of career and lifestyle, I was all set, but still felt I was missing something. I believed that I was not leveraging on my potential. When I started thinking about it, I discovered the entrepreneur in me. Soon, I quit my job, packed my bags and returned to India to start my entrepreneurial journey.
The first company I took over was my dad’s business. He was running a small scale detergent industry in Bangalore. At that time, he was selling just couple of products. Today Acton Labs is a professional company specializing in industrial & institutional hygiene & cleaning solutions. With more than 25 products and many in pipeline, sales grew more than 100% in 3 years. As a manufacturer, the challenges I faced right from product development to marketing led to the organic startup idea of fundinnovations.
With the support & knowledge of my good friend, Dr. Ramdas Satyan, PhD in electronics & communications, McGill University, Canada; we started fundinnovations, a platform to fund, collaborate, promote & market innovative product ideas.
- Tell us something about your business.
Fundinnovations (www.fundinnovations.com) is an online platform where designers, manufacturers, traders and individuals (collectively called innovators) with innovative product ideas (products that either solves a problem, defines a new style quotient or makes life easier) create projects using videos, images, and description of their product prototype or sample. They request people to evaluate their product idea and offer pre-ordering options of the product for a limited period of time. If innovators get the minimum quantity of pre-orders they set, the product idea is termed as successful and goes for production, branding and supply chain to the end user; else people who had pre-ordered the product get all their money back.
This way, innovators overcome the fear of failure and think out of the box. The market pulls the product from innovators, rather than innovators pushing the products in the market.
- What is your philosophy towards work?
I believe in working smart rather than working hard. I practice spending quality time at work, so that I get enough time with family and friends. It’s all about striking the right balance in life.
- Whom do you admire as your role model? And why?
I grew up learning proverbs & hearing inspirational quotes from my grandmother. They still influence me a lot. I don’t have a particular role model, as I derive inspirations from regular people who possess qualities like discipline, courage, creative thinking, patience, and honesty.
- “Management is core to every individual, organization & society.” Give your views on it.
In today’s world, management is everything. The success of an individual, organization or a society depends on how well we manage our resources, brand, financials, and relations. Lot of things depends on the decision making capability of the individual. So, understanding core management concepts is very vital.
- Name 3 qualities of prime importance that a businessman should possess.
1. Discipline – Entrepreneur is somebody who is completely on his own. When we take this journey, we need to discipline our body, mind and soul. We need to take care of our physical health, because if we lead an unhealthy lifestyle, the chances are, we will not see the success of our journey. Life throws lot of challenges at us; the only way to battle is with a healthy mind. By disciplining our soul, we find happiness, which helps us pursue our passion.
2. Integrity – It’s all about trust. It could be family, friends or business circle, integrity defines everything.
3. Optimism – We are what we believe and we make our own realities. Being optimistic and following your guts is what separates a leader from others.
- According to you, what are the challenges for Entrepreneurship today?
Today, we live in a world that has made everything easy for us right from finding information on google, to connecting with people on linkedin. Even digital marketing is
taking over the conventional advertising. I honestly don’t see any serious challenges for entrepreneurs in the current time. All you have to do is take the first big step of pursuing your idea, rest follows.
- Can Entrepreneurship be taught in B-Schools/Management Institutes/Colleges?
B-Schools give you knowledge but not wisdom. Entrepreneurship is like wisdom that can only be experienced and gets better with time, challenges and failures.
- Is the Name of the Institute from where a student pursues his/her Graduation/Post Graduation or other courses important while setting up your business?
What matters while setting up your business is the quality of your idea, implementation plan and commitment. Nothing else matters.
Name of the institute only reflects your personal brand and not the entrepreneur in you.
- Do you think today’s economy is conducive for a new venture to start upon?
I have heard of successful companies that started in bad times. So, it really does not matter.
In fact, India is a growing economy and this is the place to start new ventures.
- “Earning more & more is the motive behind any business.” Is it justifiable?
There is nothing wrong in establishing a solid financial goal. But, I don’t justify it as a motive.
In fact, at both Acton & fundinnovations, our motive is to accomplish excellence in what we do. Be it product development, customer relationship or providing a digital infrastructure, we want to give the best experience to our customers. If our customers are happy, we will also succeed financially.
- Share with us the most enjoyable moment you had experienced on work.
At Acton, when PhD’s and experts in chemical engineering failed to develop products, I wore the R&D hat, and with couple of students, went ahead and developed some amazing products. I used to learn organic chemistry in the nights and do experiments & product development all day long. Today, our products are respected in the industry because it was built with lot of passion. I can say, I enjoyed those days very much.
- Your feedback for BMS.co.in?
BMS.co.in is a good initiative to bridge students with industry and keep them abreast on current market trends. Keep up the good work!
COMPANY PROFILE
History- Fundinnovations – Founded in 2013 by Deepak Bhattachar & Ramdas Satyan
Vision/Mission- to provide a robust platform for people to express their product ideas and bring it to life!
Products & Service- Fund, Collaborate, Promote & Market Innovative Product Ideas
Marketing Strategy- Social Media Marketing
Existing Market Presence- Will be launching in June 2013
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