The 30 Inspiring Entrepreneurs to watch in 2018

1. www.insightssuccess.in JUNE 2018 Entreprenuer of the Month The Inspiring Inspiring Priti Shah CEO & Co-founder Payswiff ENTREPRENEURS ENTREPRENEURS To Watch In 2018 To Watch In 2018 Outstanding Entrepreneur Priyanka Agrawal Co-founder, COO & CEO Fractal Ink Design Studio Ajay Bohora Co-founder & MD HDFC Credila Ajay Bohora Empowering Students to Actualize their Dreams of Higher Education

4. Editorial T he most inspiring and successful businesspersons are those who don’t follow the herd but anticipate the needs of the market earlier than the competition. Such expectation is not without risk, but the payout can be considerable. After all, pivotal innovations, such as the Internet, the automobile, and the smartphone, were all observed with high degrees of skepticism when first introduced. In today’s unpredictable world, the only thing that is constant is the cut-throat competition. With a world population of more than 7.6 billion, all of them competing to ace in the race of success, there are two kinds of people: followers and leaders. Followers go along with the bandwagon, unlike the leaders who shape their own path, plan their own road and board on a journey of success. There are plethora of resources like the wide-ranging internet availability which is easy access, innumerable software and programs available at the beck and call of an individual, global network conducive of viral exchange of information, knowledge, news, etc. It depends on the people, whether to put these resources to the best use or lose this opportunity and become stagnant. Entrepreneurship tends to attract people with unique minds and strong personalities. Startups are full of promises and excitement, but the flip side is, they're also full of risk and uncertainty. There are a lot of countless concepts out there that in some way never get off the ground, and, conversely, there are plenty of questionable ones that have become massive successes. Building the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Inspiring entrepreneurs stimulate admiration and trusts through their actions, not just their words. Many influential people articulate that integrity is necessary to them, but inspiring and influential people walk their talk by demonstrating integrity every day. The business world might seem buttoned-down from the outside - but in reality, it’s a lot more interesting than one might realize. Entrepreneurship is about building a profession from scratch while managing limited resources including time, money and personal relationships, which requires planning. A small business or an entrepreneurial venture may not be interested in creating large plans that runs in pages, but they need to still create a plan. A plan may be small word document where specific goals that can be measured, are written. A good business plan not only helps entrepreneurs to focus on the specific steps which are necessary for their to make business ideas to succeed, but it also helps them to achieve both their short- term and long-term objectives. Business persons are known for being interesting characters, both at work and in their personal lives. Although government plays a vital role in enabling entrepreneurialism, it’s the private sector that has the most crucial part in developing entrepreneurs in India. It does this by nurturing the entrepreneurial ecosystem: specifically, by providing access to markets, support systems, and funding. Furthermore, the concept of entrepreneurialism should not be limited to growth-oriented companies rooted in India’s major urban centers. Entrepreneurialism must also percolate in smaller towns and districts throughout the country. As it does in other countries, the entrepreneurial sector in India will also spawn tomorrow’s multimillion-dollar companies. Shweta Priyadarshini Shweta Priyadarshini

5. Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Shraddha Deshpande Managing Editor Rajarshi Chatterjee Executive Editor Shweta Priyadarshini Contributors Ashwini Deshpande, Abhijeet, Apurva Rahul, Bhavithiran, Anmol Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Co-designer Asha Bange Picture Editor Alex Noel Shweta Shinde Art Editor Visualiser Savita Pandav Business Development Manager Akansha Garewal Marketing Manager Dhruv Apte Business Development Executives Meera, Ashwini, Sapna Research Analyst David Circulation Manager Vivek Bangade Prashant Chevale Database Management Technology Consultant Swapnil Patil sales@insightssuccess.com June, 2018 Corporate Ofces: Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off. No. 513 & 510, 5 Flr., Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017 Phone - India: +91 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com th Cover Price : RS. 150/- https://twitter.com/insightssuccess Follow us on : www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/ We are also available on : Copyright © 2018 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Printed and Published by Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd.

6. Cover Story 10 Ajay Bohora Empowering Students to Actualize their Dreams of Higher Education Articles 54 42 Technocentrism Moving towards Data-Driven Entrepreneurship Techknowledgy Train The Significance of Technology for Entrepreneurs

7. 32 24 20 Entrepreneur of the Month Priti Shah An Innovative Leader Redefining Payment Processes and Empowering People across India Outstanding Entrepreneur Priyanka Agrawal Chasing Perfection through Ideation and Disruptive Solutions Interview with Insights Success Ayush Lohia Developing and Implementing Strategies, and Managing the Overall Operations and Resources of Lohia Auto CXO Standpoint Entrepreneur’s Tale How can Entrepreneurs Achieve Their Goals in Life 38 Expert’s View Importance of English Language in India 70 46 62 Market Change Here's what to do in a volatile stock market Nurturing Education Challenges of Setting Up an Education Enterprise

8. Abhinand Kaseti Determined to Thrive through Innovation 28 Amith Srinivas Navigating a Successful Voyage towards Pinnacle 30 Anand Jha Lifting the Future of Gaming & Technology Service Provision to the Newer Heights 36 CredForce The Global Credentialing Behemoth – and the man behind one of modern businesses' greatest success stories 44 Kedar Sabne A Curious Entrepreneur Defining the Boundaries of Innovation 50 Rahul Chawla A Trailblazer in Creating Landmarks in the Real- Estate Industry 52 Shrinivas Rao Bringing Client Advocacy to the forefront in the Commercial Real Estate Services industry 58

9. Sid Naidu Ace of the Fashion Production Firm 60 Srikanth Muralidhara Choreographing the Industrial Intelligence Landscape 66 Swapan Rajdev An Entrepreneur Building Complex Application with Simple Design 68 Tushar Mittal An Ingenious Entrepreneur Modernizing the Era of Corporate Interior Market 74 Uma Shankar Bhardwaj Delivering Novelty and Quality in the Digital Advertising Industry 76 Vikas Owdhbal Ensuring Power Management, LED Lighting, Solar and Security Solutions 80 Zia Mody An Illustrious Corporate Lawyer Incredibly Transforming the Law Industry 82

10. Unveiling the Clandestine of Success of Inspiring Businesspersons E ntrepreneurship has become a social movement with wider implications. In terms of wealth generation a significant characteristic of millennial enterprises is that they are less profit-driven. The success is measured as much in terms of the experience of running a business - what it brings people in terms of a sense of fulfillment, challenges met, and the chance to work with like-minded colleagues. They want to have fun with a business and then move on to something new rather than necessarily pushing on with relentless growth and up scaling. Herein we take an opportunity to feature such prudent and competent companies in our special issue of The 30 Inspiring Entreprenuers to watch in 2018, in which we have signified 30 effective and the prominent business sectors. The journey of our magazine begins with Cover story; Ajay Bohora Co-founder & MD of HDFC Credila is empowering students to actualize their dreams of higher education. We have introduced Priti Shah, CEO of Payswiff, as Entrepreneur of the Month who is an innovative leader redefining payment processes and empowering people across India. Priyanka Agrawal is listed asan Outstanding Entreprenuer, the Co-founder, COO and Chief Experience Officer of Fractal Ink Design Studio. She is one such leader, who has come to the forefront of business with her hard work and dedication, which in turn molded her to be a best-fit in order to stand amongst the world’s top most talented entrepreneurs. We have also encompassed Kedar Sabne, Director of Inteliment,a curious entrepreneur defining the boundaries of innovation, Abhinand Kaseti COO and Co-Founder of Unocoin Technologies, Rajiv Gupta President and CEO of Credforce, Swapan Rajdev Co-founder of Haptik, Rahul Chawla Founder and CEO of In4Velocity, Anand Jha, Nilee Games, Amith Srinivas CEO and Founder of RecoSense, Vikas Owdhbal and Rajesh Kumar Budhia Co-Founder and Director of Senaxus Technologies, Shrinivas Rao CEO of Vestian, Sid Naidu Entreprenuer of Sid Production, Srikanth Murlidhara Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer of Flutura Business Solutions, Tushar Mittal Founder and Managing director of Studiokon Ventures, Uma Shankar Bharadwaj Founder and CEO of iAvatarZ Digital, Zia Mody Founder and Managing Partner at AZB & Partners amoung many others. We have interviewed Ayush Lohia CEO of Lohia Auto Industries, developing and implementing strategies, and managing the overall operations and resources of Lohia Auto. We have also encompassed some insightful CXO’s written by Abhishek Sharma, co-founder of Akkado, Anil Nagpal, Chairman And MD of Argyle HR Solutions, Bhakhtawat Krishnan Founder and Director of Inspirus Education, K.Ramalingam Chief Financial Planner of Holistic Investor Planners. Entrepreneurship isn’t easy and certainly comes with its various hardships, but these incredible founders never gave up. Do flip every single page to unveil the secret of the success of these inspiring business persons.

12. Cover Story Ajay Bohora Co-founder & MD HDFC Credila

13. Ajay Bohora Empowering Students to Actualize their Dreams of Higher Education Being able to learn, unlearn and relearn as a corporate culture is the only way any organization can reinvent itself

14. Q equivalent to graduating from a top institution. The cost of education is however increasing rapidly. In fact, the cost of studying at reputed institutions is already quite high. Keeping this in mind, parents, who want to provide their children with the best possible education, invest their money in mutual funds, fixed deposits, unit-linked insurance plans, etc., for the long term. uality education is a must for a complete and successful life. For many, it is While he was pursuing this career, due to his immense passion for Education, he co-founded New Era English School in Nasik, along with his family. New Era English School has been recognized by The Week Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Most Innovative Schools in India”. The test of a true entrepreneur is to do more with less, for more Moreover, he has served as the Member of the Sub Committee on ‘Student Financial Aid’ of Government of India, Delhi. He has served as the member of the Senate of 125 years old prestigious Engineering Institute: VJTI, Mumbai. He has also served as a special invitee to one of the committees of the University Grants Commission UGC. He has also served as a member of Higher Education Network, FICCI, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Delhi. He is a recipient of “Engineering Achievement Award” by The Institute of Engineers (India) for the year 2007-08 and the “Emerging Leader of the Year Award” in 2012- 13. A Successful Partnership Ajay attributes his success to a lifetime partnership with his brother Anil. Anil Bohora is also the Co- founder and Managing Director of HDFC Credila. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of HDFC Credila. His professional experience includes diverse technological and managerial areas. Thus with an aim to pioneer the private education loan industry in India, Ajay Bohora & Anil Bohora launched India’s First Dedicated Education Loan Company,Credila, which focuses exclusively on funding students for their higher education in India and overseas. What HDFC Ltd. is for Home Loans, Credila is for Education Loans. But despite all this, one may still encounter a shortage of funds. An education loan, therefore, plays a vital role in such a scenario by helping to bridge the gap between the shortfall and the required amount. But less than 3% students, mostly belonging to middle-income families in India avail of education loans, against 85% in the UK, 77% the US and 70% in Germany and France, according to a study. Ajay Bohora is the Co-Founder & MD of HDFC Credila Financial Services, an HDFC Ltd. Company. He has earned Bachelor of Engineering from VJTI, Bombay University and MBA from Hofstra University, New York. The study also highlights, that though there are many schemes for providing financial aid to poor students, however the amount given is very low and procedure to avail the facility is very cumbersome. That is why the percentage for education loan seekers is extremely low. Moreover, Education Loan is the second largest asset class in the USA, with over $ 1.2 Trillion worth of total student loans outstanding. Despite India’s population being four times that of the USA, all lenders put together, the total Education Loan portfolio outstanding is just about $12 Billion. He started his career with Tata Exports Ltd. and then went to New York to pursue his MBA. After that, he worked in the field of Finance at various positions for six years at MetLife in its New York offices. After 8 years in the USA, he returned to India, to start a joint venture in partnership with a USA Company. With a track record of success, in 2006, along with his brother Anil, he founded Credila, which provides Education Loans to students for their higher studies in India and abroad. He has held senior management positions from start-up to large corporations including AOL Time Warner, Pitney Bowes, etc. where he

15. “HDFC Credila has created & engaged with the eco-system to add value at each touch point in the life cycle of students for higher education ” was responsible for successfully managing the design, development, and implementation of large complex systems to reduce cost and increase efficiency by outsourcing critical business processes. At AOL Time Warner he was responsible for managing large business relationships. He has received his Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering) from College of Engineering Poona, India and earned his Master of Science (Electrical and Computer Engineering) degree from Ohio University, USA. “We have been privileged to have a loyal, dedicated and hardworking team. Their future prospects while the value creation is done, keep me going through difficult times. What also motivates me is a quote I once read, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” shares Ajay. An Epitome of Perseverance “The test of a true entrepreneur is to do more with less for more,” says Ajay. For his first entrepreneurial venture, the challenge was to get a joint venture partner in an industry he had no background in, no capital to invest and no track record. Even though it sounds unbelievable, with 6 months of passionate dedication and thousands of literal cold calls Ajay ended up with joint venture partner from Iowa, USA with 49% equity, which after scale up, he sold to WNS.

16. In the second venture, Credila, the challenge was to enter the education loan industry without any background, find a strategic partner, scale up, become profitable, and pioneer private education loan industry in India. It took at least 20 visits to the USA about one year of efforts, laser focus on the mission and depth of conviction to get over hearing hundreds of ‘Nos’, before Merrill Lynch of New York decided to invest from India to anchor Credila. HDFC Credila has created & engaged with the eco-system to add value at each touch point in the life cycle of students for higher education. An unconventional approach was adopted & a value proposition matrix got created for the eco-system with Credila’s deep insights & domain expertise. A global network of partners got hand- crafted with strategies & passion. Students’ communities got created on mobile platforms. Special privileges and offers have been curated under the CredilaOneStop platform, as a value-added service for students. entrepreneur is the opportunity it presents to create jobs, transform lives and contribute towards the nation building!” asserts Ajay. He strongly believes that for any and every entrepreneur, failure is a part of life. Failures teach the best lessons of life. Although there have been no major failures for him, setbacks have been quite frequent and huge! These days, disruptions are omnipresent across industries! Being able to learn, unlearn and relearn as a corporate culture is the only way any organization can reinvent itself to be able to leverage emerging opportunities presented with ongoing disruptions. Ajay is highly inspired by the entrepreneurial journey of Steve Jobs, his struggles, his life, his failures and his accomplishments, despite extreme odds he faced all along since the time he was born! “Like me, many budding entrepreneurs might find the biographical books around Steve Jobs and his life quite motivating,” advices Ajay. “Being partner with Merrill Lynch to becoming part of Bank of America to having Indian financial powerhouse, HDFC as our strategic investor worked out due to our sincerity, honesty & passion!” shares Ajay. At HDFC Credila, they revolve the corporate culture around three things: Co-creating products & services with the eco-system, value-added customer experience, and passionate Team HDFC Credila driving it! Credila (now called HDFC Credila) has achieved many milestones in its journey. It has so far, has funded tens of thousands of Indian students studying in over 2100 Institutes, across 35 countries around the world. It has disbursed a cumulative of over INR 6,200 crore of Education Loans since inception. Embarking towards the Future The pace of change in today’s world in mind-boggling! It’s extremely critical to learn, unlearn and relearn every day, to develop as an entrepreneur. Ajay reads for a cumulative period of about two hours a day. He also takes efforts to meet new people primarily from unrelated industries and unrelated organizations so that disruptions occurring in their fields and their learnings can be quite valuable for him to grow as an entrepreneur! Professionally, HDFC Credila looks forward to crossing US$1 Billion mark in the total disbursed amount of education loans by HDFC Credila in the next 12 months. Building Unique Attributes into Credila “Until the economies of scale come into play, remaining focused and leveraging resources is highly critical to contain the cost of operations,” asserts Ajay. Moreover, in the context of high defaults of education loan industry, with an absolute focus to carry on HDFC Ltd.’s’ legacy of building high- quality portfolio of loans, HDFC Credila uses its domain expertise to ensure that NPAs remain quite low. “Our parents continue to be our role models. They have impacted our entrepreneurial journey. Their honesty, sincerity, hard work and loyalty lead the foundation of our lives,” says Ajay. Live life with goodness has been the philosophy with which they are setting examples. Advice for Young Entrepreneurs “Entrepreneurial skill is a natural calling of the person! It’s the passion! The best part of being an

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19. Management Company Name Brief HDFC Credila is India’s First Dedicated Education Loan company and a pioneer in the field of education loan. Ajay Bohora Co-founder & MD HDFC Credila hdfccredila.com Acumen specializes in mergers and acquisition (‘M&A’) transaction advisory. It advises client on matters relating to transactions be it buying/ selling of companies, determining value of business, doing due diligences, assisting clients prior to/ during due diligence by setting up data rooms, raising private equity finance and research requirements related to M&A transactions. Acumen Financial Consultancy Private Limited acumenfc.co.in Abhay Jain Manager CEO Unocoin is India’s leading Cryptoassets & Blockchain company with over a million customers. It is making easy to buy, sell, store, use & accept bitcoin securely in India. UnocoinTechnologies ariscapital.in Abhinand Kaseti CMO & Co-founder RecoSense offers data intelligence platform for Content & User Insight. RecoSense InfoSolutions Pvt Ltd recosenselabs.com Amith Srinivas CEO NGFT is one of the fastest growing gaming and technology service provider companies which provides services across the world. Nilee Games nileegames.com Anand Jha CEO & founder Equinox Labs has become India’s Leading Testing and Compliance Organisation. FSSAI Notified, NABL Accredited and ISO 9001 Certified – The company is a game-changer in Food, Water, and Air Analysis, as well as FSSAI Compliance Consultation. AXESTRACK is a fast growing brand ventured by a passionate team from world’s most eminent institutions. We are dedicated to the field of GPS based vehicle tracking solutions and its exhaustive data analytics. Proficient in providing valuable solutions, it caters to diverse clients from all verticals. Equinox equinoxlab.com Ashwin Bhadri CEO Harman Singh Arora CEO & Co-founder AXESTRACK axestrack.com ROX is a reliable IT system integrator and IT security solutions provider in the marketplace for more than 15 years. Jim Rakesh MD and CEO ROX Trading & Systems rox.co.in Inteliment is recognized as a leading provider of Data Driven Analytical Solutions & Services in Visual & Predictive Analytics, Data Science, IoT, Mobility & Artificial Intelligence areas. Kedar Sabne Director-Finance & Legal Inteliment Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. inteliment.com Electronic Payment and Services (P) Ltd. is a leading Retail Banking Technology Service Provider founded in 2011, by veterans with over 150 years of combined experience in the banking, technology and retail payments industry in India. Electronics Payments & Services electronicpay.in Mamallan Mani Founder

20. Management Company Name Brief Cloud4C, An independant company (Previously Ctrl4C a subsidiary of CtrlS) world’s 1st Tier 4 cloud with a 4 Copy architecture that includes built in High Availability, Backup, and Disaster Recovery. Milind Kharkar Vice President Cloud4C cloud4c.com Payswiff is a channel payment solution provider which deals in providing GST solution, billing and retail software integrated with payments. Set to capitalize on the evolving dynamics by setting its business model on delivering technology services to the banks and acting as a Payment Service Provider (PSP). Payswiff payswiff.com Priti Shah CEO & Co-founder Priyanka Agrawal Co-founder, COO & Chief Experience Officer Fractal Ink Design Studio fractalink.com Fractal Ink Design Studio is a leading design studio providing extraordinarily creative art and design solutions. In4Velocity builds a vertical solution for the property development market to manage complex construction activities and customer related sales transactions. In4Velocity in4velocity.com Rahul Chawla CEO & Founder Credforce, largest credentialing ecosystem spanning more than 180 countries with more than 50 proprietary certification products and 18 knowledge standard frameworks is a multi- award winning conglomerate. Rajiv Gupta President & Group CEO CredForce Asia Limited credforce.com Letosys is a leading global business solutions & Information technology company and delivering, consulting, outsourcing solutions to clients 10* industries and has enhanced business efficiency at corporate companies across the globe. Leto Systems Private Limited letosys.com Riyaz Mohamed President Global Vox Populi achieves business success by enabling access to our research products and services including market research, competitive intelligence, market intelligence, and consultancy that provides businesses with reliable evidence as a solid base for making decision. Global Vox Populi globalvoxpopuli.com Sadique Akhter CEO and President Bajaj Corp Ltd is part of Bajaj Group which has interests in varied industries including Sugar, Consumer Goods, Power Generation and Infrastructure Development. Bajaj Corp bajajcorp.com Sandeep Verma President Vestian is an occupier-focused workplace solutions firm specializing in commercial, industrial, retail and hospitality sectors. Vestian Global WorkPlace Services Pvt Ltd vestianglobal.com Shrinivas Rao CEO-APAC Sid Productions is a venture that dabbles in fashion shoots, model grooming, art direction and brand building, Print ads, TV commercials, digital and feature films. Sid Naidu Entrepreneur Sid Production Ltd

21. Management Company Name Brief Magnasoft is a technology company providing services, solutions, products and consulting to large global organizations. We are leaders in the arena of geospatial technologies, engineering services, “in-transit” safety, smart wearable technology, and IoT platforms. Siddaramanna M B - Senior Manager Magnasoft Consulting India Pvt. Ltd magnasoft.com Flutura is an AI solutions company focused on improving two core business objectives of “Asset uptime” and “Operation Efficiency” with Cerebra AI platform tuned for IIOT in Oil and Gas, Specialty Chemicals, and Heavy Machinery Manufacturing industries. Srikanth Muralidhara Co-founder & Chief Customer Officer Flutura Decision Sciences & Analytics Swapan Rajdev Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer Haptik haptik.ai Haptik is one of the world’s largest chatbot platforms, building applications for consumers, publishers, and enterprises. Studionkon Ventures Pvt. Ltd skvindia.com Studiokon Ventures specializes in delivering end-to-end interior office design solutions for corporate infrastructure for corporate, retail, and hospitality spaces. Tushar Mittal Founder & MD iAvatarZ Digital iavatarz.com iAvatarZ Digital is a leading professional offering innovative integrated online marketing solutions. Uma Shankar Bhardwaj & CEO Founder Senaxus Technologies Private Limited (STPL) is committed to offer complete e2e (end to end) solutions in Power management and security solutions.It provides turnkey solutions for complete SITC (Supply, Installation, Testing and Commissioning) of all Power and security product lines. Senaxus Technologies Private Limited senaxus.in Vikas Owdhbal Co-founder & Director Winspire Solutions has been providing clients of every size with consultancy, customization, training and implementation of ERP, CRM, Supply chain Management and Business Intelligence solutions. Winspire Solutions winspiresolutions.com Vinod Shinde General Manager Appiness Interactive, a Bangalore based Product Development and UX firm specializing in Digital Services for the whole spectrum, from startups to fortune-500’s. We do not redefine anything or reinvent the wheel. Appiness Interactive Pvt Ltd appinessworld.com Visakh Viswambharan Founder & CEO ACPL, a leading specialist provider of end-to-end Quality Solutions in the area of information security to customers across India – Products, Services, Training and Consultancy. ACPL acpl.com Vishal Bindra CEO Zia Mody Founder & Managing Partner AZB & Partners azbpartners.com AZB & Partners is one of the prominent law firms in India providing value proposition and unique services to its clients.

22. Priyanka Agrawal Priyanka Agrawal Chasing Perfection through Ideation and Disruptive Solutions P who has come to the forefront of business with her hard work and dedication, which in turn moulded her to be a best-fit in order to stand amongst top talented entrepreneurs. assion and hard work accompany success. Vince Lombardi quoted once, “Leaders are made, they are not born”. Priyanka Agrawal should be implementing solutions, at the same time push boundaries and build an innovation layer that might require a leap of faith to see if it succeeds. When it comes to honest opinions Priyanka s clients always trust her. According to ’ her, the biggest win is when they keep coming back for it. is one such leader, Priyanka attributes her success to her biggest mentor and inspiration in life, her Dad, who has given a perspective to look at this world with an immense amount of optimism. In her journey, Priyanka relies on two other people as well, Geeta and Tanay, who are not only the Co-founders but also a great support system who help take the vision of Fractal Ink to greater heights with their amazing energy and talent. Priyanka is the Co-founder, COO and Chief Experience Officer of Fractal Ink Design Studio–Linked by Isobar. After graduating in 1999, as an architect from BIT Mesra, Priyanka started her own firm called Ambiaance Designs in 2001 along with her life partner, sold off that company and went to London, where she pursued her Master s in Design. Later on, she worked with ’ DMGT (The Daily Mail Group) in London where she got exposure to the field of User Experience in its full glory. ‘ ’ Tanay . In 2006, they Fractal Ink Design Studio Fractal Ink Design Studio has grown from an initial setup in a small garage like office with 6 people, to around a 100 people company, as seen now. The company has come a long way in establishing itself as one of the best in the craft of Experience Design. In 2010, she landed in India with high aspirations and big dreams of starting a new venture. That s when the foundation for Fractal Ink Design Studio Pvt. Ltd. laid with her fellow co-founders Geeta, Hemant and Tanay. ’ was Fractal Ink is built inside out on the philosophy of “User Centric Design” approach. The Experience Design studio focuses on understanding the clients business needs and the users objectives and addressing them with innovative ’ ideas and solutions that are effective and engaging. The organization s work spans over sectors from BFSI to e- ’ commerce, enterprise to devices and everything in between. The company works with top global consulting firms to provide digital design services to their clients. The underlying bedrock idea in establishing Fractal Ink is to push the boundaries of experience design and to be persistent in the efforts to look for ‘What is’. As a Founder and Chief Experience Officer, Priyanka aims to be a consultant and makes clients aware of the various possibilities in their domain. She tries to show them the vision of what they can do, rather than just look at the competition and trying to mimic them. “I think my biggest strength is ideation and looking out for disruptive solutions. Diversifying their thoughts using design thinking principles and then converting them into the right solution is my prime goal,” asserts Priyanka. ’ Priyanka always tries to create a balance between Research and Analysis with proper science behind why and how they rather than ‘What next’ 20 |June 2018|

23. Outstanding Entrepreneur “ “ Priyanka Agrawal Co-founder, COO & Chief Experience Ofcer “ “ My people are my strength. If I am able to make a difference in their lives, motivate them, laugh with them and have fun with them, I have had a meaningful day 21 |June 2018|

24. The Boxing Ring quite early in our career and we kept this randomness drive our lives. We did it the second time when we packed bags to move to London to start from ground zero and again the third time when we moved back from London to Mumbai to build something greater.” Priyanka believes in long-term partnerships and not on one- time clients. Fractal Ink has clients sticking with the company for the past six years, where it keeps innovating with them and adding value to their core business. This happens only because the company doesn t think like entrepreneurs but as honest and passionate designers. Fractal Ink s process is not driven by change request and ’ sign off closures but getting to the absolute right solution for the client. ’ Priyanka doesn’t call herself successful yet, instead, she gives all credits to the fantastic partnership between her and the fellow co-founders . “If we didn t work well together as a team we would have failed miserably. We fought, we cried, we voiced our concerns openly. We resolved, we hugged and we moved forward with double vigour,” asserts Priyanka. ’ “We also, fight a lot with our clients. Our premise is if we are not questioning and reasoning enough, we are giving you what you want not necessarily what you actually ‘ ’ need . For the very same reason, we have named our ’ boardroom “THE BOXING RING”. If you are not fighting it out, you are not thinking enough,” says the COO. A Piece of Advice ‘ “I think a positive attitude is all that matters. A positive and happy mind creates wonderful solutions. Failure is the pillar of success is what my advice to all my peers,” says Priyanka. If you exist, you better endeavour towards being the best “ “ ‘ “ “ ’ The Ups and Downs All successful personalities etched in the entrepreneurial world history have great stories to tell. Priyanka, an outstanding entrepreneur of today s age, also has an interesting life experience to share, which inspires many of the budding aspirants to take strong decisions that may turn their lives upside down. Both risk and success are the two faces of a coin. Priyanka has gone through all the ups and downs in her career, before creating Fractal Ink. She shares her experience here. Fractal Ink runs Friday sessions to motivate the teams, where they connect with each other as human beings and celebrate. It is a mix of talks, workshops, project sunset reviews, domain knowledge or just a fun activity. The company also runs an experience lab where it encourages people to come and experiment with new technologies and create solutions. ’ Priyanka affirms that mediocracy shouldn t be an option for success and honesty towards ’ work should never be compromised. A book that greatly inspired her as a creator is Ayn Rand s Fountainhead . ’ ‘ ’ “The biggest risk in my life was when I left my job one random day on the back of a freelance opportunity. I still remember, Tanay was completing his Masters in IIT Bombay and I was working for some 10,000 per month salary. One evening, on my way back home, I got a freelance offer over a call, for some 30,000 to execute a project. The only thought that came to my mind was that this will sustain me for the next 3 months and I am sure I will find something else too during this period. Next day, I walked up to my boss and put my resignation in. Small Step Taken Today “I really don t have a set plan, but yes as of now we are ’ ready to ride the wave of big data, internet of things, AI, Machine learning, AR, VR and the biggest of all, experiences created with voice or sound where we will see humans getting out of the black mirror and start engaging in real conversations with technology,” proclaims Priyanka. More hard work and be more connected to all the people is the key mantra to success. Keeping clients happy and making them grow is the small step Priyanka takes today to foresee a big success tomorrow. That to me was the craziest thing I have done and since my husband is equally crazy there was no resistance. I am so glad today because there was no looking back from that moment. This set the momentum of taking risks in our lives 22 |June 2018|

26. Priti Shah Empowering People across India An Innovative Leader Redening Payment Processes and O And, for entrepreneurs, life is nothing but a bag full of surprises where risk forms the foundation to monuments of success down the line. ne of the most celebrated Brazilian lyricist and novelist Paulo Coelho had once said,“Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.” mode for correcting the wrong you increase your ability to embrace success.” A Journey that Turned an Enthusiast into an Entrepreneur Priti, born and brought up in Mumbai, started her career early at a very young age of 17. It is then when she opted for a Diploma in Administration Services from Premlila Vithaldas Polytechnic, Juhu. Being passionate about entrepreneurship, Priti began her career as a trainee and pursued her graduation at parallel. Meet Priti Shah, the one who believes that the biggest risk is not taking any risk. The differene is to understand between daring and caution, While breaking all the stereotypical thoughts and odds of the society, Priti emerged as a businesswoman with an aim to be an extraordinary entrepreneur. If one is driven by passion, focus and dedication, nothing can stop the person from achieving his/her milestone. Priti’s life validates this statement. Even after getting married at an early age of 21 and being blessed with a daughter at the age of 22; her urge towards learning new things took her acheive multiple landmarks in her career. Let’s hear the inspiring story of Priti Shah, the CEO and, Co-founder of Payswiff, an Omni-channel payment solution provider which deals in providing GST solution, billing and retail software integrated with payments. It is one such company that is set to capitalize on the evolving dynamics by setting its business model on delivering technology services to the banks and acting as a Payment Service Provider (PSP). Most interestingly, Payswiff is also an enabler and plays its role in the cause of “Digital India”, majorly focused to Bharat part of India for financial inclusion. Priti’s passion took her forward and that is what drove her to pursue teaching and also to be the visiting faculty at SNDT University for Travel & Tourism for Postgraduate students. She has a wealth of experiences topped with a doctorate in Management from the National institute of Management. Inspired by many and motivated by self, Priti says, “There are a number of good ways that can have a ripple effect and enable one to move forward. It increases their sense of self -efficacy and the tendency to focus with a balanced perspective. With time, one learns to be more resilient and open to ideas. My failures were business I started young in travel and also some decisions that went wrong in business but I learnt taking the wrong decisions is the first step to take the right decisions. As long as you are in the faster With a rich work experience of 13+ years in the Payment Industry, Priti is contributing extraordinarily to Payswiff. Her first stint of the payment industry was with the startup called EBS, which is one of India’s largest online payment processing platforms. In the year 2005, Priti took efforts to take the company forward as one of the founding team members of the company. While talking about her experiences at EBS, she has shared that it was the place which offered her the opportunity to learn, handle and take 24 |June 2018|

27. Entrepreneur of the Month Priti Shah CEO & Co-founder “ “ “ “ 25 |June 2018|

28. ownership of sales, administration, and operations among many others. values, she connects the dots to use her skill set to achieve the company s objective. ’ Priti further adds, “I grew personally and professionally where I excelled from a Managerial position to Sales head, then Vice President and later on my exit I held position President of National Sales. The experience certainly did help me believe in myself.” I disciplined, process-oriented and focused personality with high level of communication and team building skills, drives the company forward and helps it achieve milestones in the world of payment . s n a nutshell, Priti s fast decision-making ability; ’ About the Company Revolutionizing the Payment industry Being an omni-channel payment solution provider, Payswiff enables merchants, ISOs, and even customers of banks to accept payments through POS/mPOS devices, apps or other new-age based payments solutions. The Payswiff merchant solution includes the POS & mPOS terminals, and Payswiff ONE the company s flagship plug n play payments ’ solution app helps merchants, and business owners accept payments from a variety of cashless channels including UPI, net-banking, e-wallets, multi-bank EMI, etc.The solution helps merchants accept both contacts & contactless cards, with all leading debit & credit card brands such as MasterCard, VISA, American Express, Rupay and Maestro. Additionally, it helps merchants provide value-added services to their customers to earn an extra revenue while the inbuilt tools help manage their business ecosystem better. The Leader’s Sources of Inspiration Priti is married to Maulik Shah Director of Payswiff and they have a daughter. She attributes her success to her husband and states that Maulik is the pillar of support that has encouraged her to pursue her dreams and scale a career graph for herself. She expresses her gratitude towards her family and even her young daughter and says, “My daughter being my critic has helped me grow personally & professionally too.” Co-founder , the current and ‘ ’ Priti further expresses gratitude towards her sisters & family and says, “I am thankful & fortunate to have a family that doesn’t compromise a bit on my aspirations… especially at times when your presence is needed most and you are not there!” Apart from a supportive family, Priti is grateful to her business partners along with the entire Payswiff team. She further talks about her sources of inspiration and says, “There are 2 people who have impacted my life to a great extent one is Mr Prabhu co-founder & Managing Director, Payswiff and second is Ms Varsha Jain who is the head of the department at Premilila Vithaldas Polytechinc and she has been my inspiration all time long.” T enterprises, banks & financial institutions build and operate a seamless, cashless, digital transactions infrastructure. Such end-to-end, co-branded solutions are highly-customizable with a faster go-to-market capability. It also offers API s and SDK s for all types of businesses to ’ ’ effortlessly integrate payment solutions with their existing apps, systems and software. Payswiff Enterprise Solutions he helps large-scale Being an energetic woman, Priti expressed her strong desire and will to see Payswiff as a globally recognized and preferred payment platform that generates immense value to its customers and stakeholders. She further shares, “Moreover, down the line I would like to have an incubator for startups especially women.” Most interestingly, Payswiff is the only Indian company to combine tax-compliance with payment solutions. To businesses, it offers innovative and convenient services ranging from GST compliant invoicing to filing of tax returns with ease. The Entrepreneur’s Contribution towards the Company After gaining extraordinary experience at EBS, Priti took the charge and spearheaded the business of Payswiff in India. She personally ensured that all the values of the company, i.e., , Integrity InclusivenessAgility and Innovation are inculcated in every member of Payswiff. She shared her strategies and said that on the basis of these , 26 |June 2018|

30. Abhinand Kaseti Determined to Thrive through Innovation A Computer Science Engineering at R V College of Engineering and proceeded to work with i4 Communications Pvt Ltd. in a fast, upscale environment, assuring client delight on setting up data centers and IT infrastructure for most of the MNCs in the Asia Pacific region. In 2011, he worked as a preferred vendor to Google as an AV architect, who is passionate about the infra solutions. The Inception Story of Unocoin bhinand Kaseti, an eminent leader with well- defined goals, is set out to make a difference in the arena of Bitcoin trading. Abhinand studied Abhinand has been keen to learn and explore new technologies that come to his notice. Bitcoin was one such, which sowed the seeds of curiosity in him and he was upfront in learning more about it. He started attending meet-ups regarding Bitcoin and it only kept on exuberating him and making him more determined to do something with Bitcoin. Life is like a mirror. If you smile at it, it will smile back at you “ In July 2013, a few members met at the India Bitcoin meet-up group which was known as “Bangalore Bitcoin Progressive Thinkers” aiming to take Bitcoin to the masses. Since then, CoinMonk Ventures facilitated and hosted India’s first Global Bitcoin Conference in December 2013, where Unocoin was launched on a trial basis. Trade was open for users with a set buying and selling limits. On February 1, 2014, Unocoin went off trial mode into full operations. Prior to the incorporation of Unocoin, Abhinand and the three co-founders of the company took part in a tech conference to understand more about Bitcoin, mining and so on. Then by 2013, they launched a Bitcoin trading platform named as Indians to buy, sell, use and accept Bitcoin. Fast forwarding, today Unocoin serves 15 lakh customers and offers six crypto assets to be traded on its platform. The company has won multiple FinTech awards and has been funded $2.5million to date. “ Unocoin, for “While I was in a constant learning process, I and my other mates decided to start with a trading platform exclusively for Indians and the reason behind this was to make the masses aware of the advanced technology, which is possibly the future of a cashless economy,” asserts Abhinand. Dedication and Innovation Regardless of the competition, Abhinand believes in sticking to and believing in his own plans even if he could see bad days coming with it. However, when it comes to completion, he always follows a quote which he has etched in his heart, ‘Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers’. At the core of Unocoin lies its innovation and a dedicated team with a passion towards building world-class products 28 |June 2018|

31. centred on the Bitcoin ecosystem. It has built the world s simplest Bitcoin PoS for offline merchants and in a first of its kind introduced SIP (Systematic Investment Planning) for Bitcoin. The merchant gateway service provided by Unocoin lets online businesses accept Bitcoin as a mode of payment and OTC (Over the Counter) Trade allows users to trade in bulk. ’ Unocoin is committed to and has single-handedly driven the Bitcoin awareness program in India. With a series of meet- ups, seminars, guest talks, college activities and other collaborations, the awareness of Bitcoin in India has skyrocketed in the recent times. The efforts put in by the team at Unocoin translate towards building a cashless Indian economy. Journey till Date “It has been amazing ride for me so far with continuous challenges on and off”, says Abhinand. He adds that his journey as an entrepreneur so far has made him realize one thing— if you don t build your dream, someone else will ‘ ’ hire you to help them build theirs . The popular quote truly holds value in every entrepreneur s journey towards success, prompting them to do more. ’ ’ Abhinand Kaseti CMO Co-founder & Abhinand reveals that in his journey, Mr. Grant Cardone, an Entrepreneur, Speaker, Sales Expert and Motivator, has greatly influenced him. Grant s talks on positivity and great ’ attitude act as a booster in down times. Another great personality Abhinand likes to mention is his mentor, Mr. Richard Branson. Abhinand enjoys reading a lot and his favourite book is The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim ‘ Ferriss. Challenges and Risk Leading him towards Success Advising and Inspiring the Budding Entrepreneurs Budding entrepreneurs seek advice from successful personalities so that they could overcome the stumbling blocks in their ways. The only piece of advice that Abhinand likes to share is, learn the rules of the game and ‘ then play better than anyone else . Setting a trend is harder than following the trends. He urges others also to set trends in the industry, in their own ways, so that the industry would flourish with novel ideas and innovations. “For me, the mere idea of ‘thinking’ is what I always encourage in my organisation. I let them practice their idea if I see there is a slightest ray of achieving anything”, quotes Abhinand. ’ ’ “Our industry denies to follow tradition, it only respects innovation”, says Abhinand. Getting into the Bitcoin industry was indeed a risk followed by my firm belief. He says that his biggest failure so far is only when he is unable to take the best out of the employees. Footsteps Towards the Future Abhinand attributes his success to Bitcoin and the technology. He justifies the statement by explaining, “without Bitcoin, I wouldn’t be where I am now”. He adds that he has learnt one thing from difficult times, which is, people have to fight through some bad days in order to earn the best days of life. Constant training and a will to win shape a perfect leader. Abhinand is determined to learn new things, come up with new ideas and putting them into practice in the upcoming days. He plans himself to get better trained for the role that he is playing right now and build lasting client relationships meanwhile clawing his way to the top. 29 |June 2018|

32. Amith Srinivas Navigating a Successful Voyage towards Pinnacle C success achieved.” ~ Hellen Keller, Renowned “ “ initiative is very challenging, be it with a capitalistic value of entrepreneurship, championing new transformation within a big enterprise or bringing out a change within the society. haracter cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and He glances over his journey till date. His vision spreads far beyond capital generation or gaining applauds for himself. In his own words, “My journey so far in establishing RecoSense has been a phenomenon of American Author Experience can be termed as the magic key of a successful life. The success story of Amith Srinivas CEO RecoSense of perfect example of such a glorified life. internal transformation of my own mindset about perceptions on problems / need of the market and society, people relationships and ways to leverage technology for a meaningful impact of value addition rather than just for capital generation.” , the dynamic is a A strong business value addition with a deep technology differentiator will deliver growth with the support of aligned sales & marketing strategies This man of diligence and vigor derives almost 15 years of experience in the industry working in the roles of product engineering, product marketing and business development across the globe. After pursuing his engineering in Computer Science from Bangalore University, Amith started his career as a software engineer. Later, he built experience in roles of global product marketing for deep technology products across startups to enterprise companies. Amith s expertise lies in the business ’ development for deep technology products across the globe. “A strong business value addition with a deep technology differentiator will deliver growth with the support of aligned sales & marketing strategies,” asserts Amith. Previously, Amith worked with two successful startups. “Experience of working with the founders of those companies added a lot of learning to my journey”, he says. “ Amith reflects about his father, who became a first generation entrepreneur building an independent traditional business. For Amith, his father still continues to be his guiding spirit and inspiration in the battle. An avid reader, Amith was strongly influenced by the books like Good to Great by James Colin, In the Plex by ‘ ’ Stephen Levy, Zero to One by Peter Thiel etc. He ‘ ’ recommends Pursuit of Happiness which is a good movie ‘ ‘ ’ The Journey that Shaped According to Amith, any journey of pushing a new ‘T he Brilliance ’ ’ 30 |June 2018|

33. for perseverance and Silicon Valley TV series which is ‘ undoubtedly an inspiring one. ’ The Other Fortes of Success “Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.” This saying by Roy T. Bennette, a renowned author, shows us one of the indispensable elements of success and excellence. Amith, as he claims, surpassed all the challenges in the way with his unshakeable self-belief. His robust self-belief always encourages him to stand up after encountering a catastrophe like situations and made him stand tall with gratification. Beyond self- belief, the proper mindset is another problem solver that can help any individual to overcome all the obstacles. “In downtimes, I try to come up with micro-milestones to achieve for better optimistic results and help myself navigate through the falls.” His insights towards life and its problems are praiseworthy indeed. About the Company RecoSense was incepted with a vision to enable enterprises to have better understanding of users based on their content data and user behavior. From the past experience of working with data led companies in the internet domain, it was most obvious for Amith that online companies should focused on marketing to acquire users, on operations for building content and on delivery but there is a big need of ROI on user acquisition for longer retention. The company s focus is on pioneering user personalization for ’ strong end user experience and more value added audience engagement. Amith Srinivas CEO & Founder Once the system independently understands the content, it will be able to associate with user behavioral data obtained from touch points of both online and offline for our customer with the offerings from our customer. The system at RecoSense does three dimensional mapping of User to User, Content to Content and User to Content. RecoSense added value in the ecosystem by offering platform to digital enterprises with deep-tech automation for data intelligence. The company strives to equip its customers with data engineering expertise with low cost and faster time to market without sacrificing their own core focus areas. The Roadmap for Future Amith believes in achieving the targets like meeting the daily milestones on customer relationships, product enhancements and issue resolutions and also with dedicated time allocation for learning macro aspects like – Industry Trends, Technology Updates, Market Movements, Strategy Innovations and more. NLP and Machine Learning- the Unique Features One of the key strength of RecoSense is an IP called Knowledge Graph which is built on advanced Natural Language Processing and Machine learning framework to interpret the content data across any domain in multiple formats. The RecoSense knowledge graph generates an automated Meta structure around the enterprise content by identifying the data patterns and by associating related content within the enterprise and also by constantly learning from open source data repositories online across multiple domains of Retail, Media, Travel, Finance, Healthcare etc. “I wish to see myself as impact driven leader in upcoming years to have built an organization where scale doesn t just come by defined process but by multitude of teams across the geographies who would work towards delivering an impactful product in the work areas aligned to the organization,” concludes Amith ’ 31 |June 2018|

34. AYUSH LOHIA Developing and Implementing Strategies, and Managing the Overall Operations and Resources of Lohia Auto 1. How did your company s journey as a preeminent brand begin? What was the underlying bedrock idea behind incorporating the company? Lohia Global has diversified operation in various sectors like Automobile, Handicraft Export, Retail Warehousing, Real Estate, Brass coil manufacturing etc. Lohia Auto Industries is an automobile division of Lohia Global founded by visionary Late Mr. N.K. Lohia He was very much concerned about Fuel impact on environment and fuel dependency on imports and he wanted to explore alternative which is electric vehicles. With this vision Lohia Auto Industries was established in the year 2008 with an objective to provide clean, efficient, reliable and affordable inner-city & rural transportation. 2. What are the key aspects that demonstrate uniqueness of the company? In the highly cluttered automobile market, company has carved a niche for itself with electric scooters. Keeping in mind the energy security of the country, Lohia Auto has been continuously working towards giving last mile connectivity solutions in personal & public transportation and launched different models in electric 2w and electric three wheelers in passenger and cargo both segment. Lohia Auto also launched with its brand of Diesel/CNG Three wheelers. ’ ‘HUMSAFAR’ in both segment i.e. Passenger and Cargo for Domestic and Exports market. Diversified product portfolio is our uniqueness which gives last mile connectivity solution. 3. Tell us about yourself as a person, your educational background and as an entrepreneur. How do you use your skills to run your company above and beyond your competitors? I started my entrepreneurial journey in the year 1999 with Design co- handicrafts export unit & part of Lohia Global. In Designco I had gained experience in marketing management. During this period I have also worked in export industry and developed an in-depth understanding of the market & industry trends. With an insight to the industry scenario, I have made a vital contribution in the multi-fold growth of Designco in my seven years of association. Later, I took-over the stainless steel manufacturing unit where I roped in an exposure to the production and development of the raw steel. With my vast experience in manufacturing, development and marketing, I introduced automobile as a new vertical to group business. This is how we have established Lohia Auto Industries as an electric vehicle company. ‘ ’ 32 |June 2018|

35. Interview with Insights Success Ayush Lohia CEO Lohia Auto Industries 33 |June 2018|

36. 4. How do you see your entrepreneurial journey till date? Could you name a person/mentor/book/ who has had a tremendous impact on your entrepreneurial journey? I can safely call it as an absolutely incredible journey. I have learnt many things from my own experience. It has helped me in establishing Lohia Auto as a brand in highly cluttered automobile market. I have a habit of reading books which always impacts my decision making and working process. Some of my favourite books are – THE ONE THING, THE ANSWER, THE MILLIONIRE, CRITICAL CHAIN, THE CHOICE, EAT THAT FROG etc. 5. What is the biggest risk you have ever taken? What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them? The biggest risk which I had taken was entering into B2C business i.e Automobile as our all group companies were in B2B segment. I would not like to talk about failures as I take it as learning and experience which always ensures better working and results further. 6. To what do you attribute your success? What motivates you at difficult/down times? I have gained lot of learning and experiences in business cycle & changing market scenario and faced down times also. I can say any success is only experience with best enjoyment, enthusiasm and motivation once you get it after difficult times. 7. How would you describe your entrepreneurial skill in a sentence? What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? Fighter & Learner who never gives up and always learn from mistakes. Here, I would like to quote “I never make a right decision but I make them right”. 8. What would you advice to your fellow peers to successfully carry their work functionalities? How do you encourage creative thinking in your organization? Team Motivation and team work is primary thing which I always recommend to every employee. Also I always suggest them to try both conventional & unconventional approaches to do any work. I always appreciate out of box thinking & new innovative ideas. 9. Is there any book or movie you would like to recommend to the budding entrepreneurs? What advice would you like to give them? Yes, I would like to recommend the budding entrepreneurs to read and watch success stories of “Apple” and “McDonalds” and other inspiring people. Also some movies like Joy, office Space, The Pursuit of Happiness, Pirates of Silicon Valley etc. I would advise them to focus on their objective and to be clear on what they want. Also, make clear goals for short term, medium and long term. 10. What measures do you take to ensure to grow and develop as an entrepreneur every day? How do you see yourself growing in the next five years? Learning, experience and out of the box thinking are the three measures which I consider as basic requirements for growth & development. We are working on expanding our portfolio of EVs for last mile connectivity and we will also introduce new projects in the coming years which are in pipeline. 34 |June 2018|

38. Anand Jha Lifting the Future of Gaming & Technology Service Provision to the Newer Heights A as a flash gaming portal but later changed its entire identity of Nilee Games from online flash gaming portal to corporate game development service providing company. Today in 2018, it is known as Nilee Games and Future Technologies Pvt. Ltd (NGFT). “ else, so he started exploring different ventures. Driven to make a difference on a global scale, Anand started learning to programme and then started working as a flash game developer. While witnessing the drastic change in the technologies over the years and after earning seven years of rich work-experience, he emerged with an out-of-the-box idea and founded Nilee Games. nand Jha is the CEO and Founder of Nilee Game which was started in 2009 and was officially registered as Nilee Games in 2011. It was started Rising above the competition We enter into a corporate world where gamification is in high demand Being a 360-degree service provider, NGFT is always in its front foot to work towards the never- ending future technologies. The company s greatest strength lies in their vision. While everyone thinks of today, Nilee Games not only thinks about tomorrow, rather it thinks three years ahead of the emerging technologies. NGFT's pillars of success rest on its three verticals that include Gaming, Future Technologies and Animation NGFT teamwork on product and services in Gaming, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Simulation, Motion Sensing, Robotics, Embedded Systems and Custom Made Technologies, which can be used in various sectors like Media, Publishing, Entertainment, Pharmaceutical Companies, Housing Company, Consumer Goods, Education, Banking, Engineering and Construction, Hi-Tech, Automobile Industries, Health Care, Futuristic Game Zone. ’ & VFX and each vertical has its own expertise in its core area of work. “ Altering the Path to make a New Choice · Gaming : NGFT provides game and application development solutions for online, offline, android, iOS, gaming consoles, handheld & desktop to game publishers and studios, e-Learning companies, After completing B.Sc. in Maths and Physics, Anand started his career as a faculty in an institute. Soon he realized that teaching was not his goal and his passion lies somewhere 36 |June 2018|

39. advertising companies, film & series production houses and corporate companies globally. In recent times, NGFT witnessed corporate companies embracing gamification as a learning tool for their employees and marketing tool for their customers. Gamification for employees and customers work differently and require a deep understanding of their market segment and consumer behavior. NGFT have successfully gamified many brands and companies, few companies even reported some excellent growth with gamification in their business. · Future Technologies: technology team constantly works on product and services in Virtual Reality (VR) – a computer technology that replicates an environment, real or imagined and simulates a user s physical presence and environment to allow for user interaction, Augmented Reality (AR) – a cutting-edge technology that is used to superimpose information on the real world we see, motion sensing, robotics, embedded systems, simulation, and custom-made technologies. These technologies are used in several sectors which include entertainment, media, publishing, pharmaceutical, housing, manufacturing, consumer goods, education, retail, banking, engineering & construction, hi-tech, automobile, healthcare, theme parks and many more. Nilee Games well-knitted ’ ’ Anand Jha CEO & Founder Animation and VFX: of Animation and VFX, who plays a pivotal role in providing quality graphics and, VFX for all the projects they undertake. Also, they work on other 2D/3D Assets Development, Animation and VFX projects and provide services across the globe. Anand says, “There is huge competition in the game development domain. As we are an old company with a strong grip in the market, a team of qualified & experienced professionals and huge client base, we are supple enough to abreast with top-notch technologies and implement as per their demands.” · Nilee Games has a talented team as well. Among the motivations that guided him on the path to success, he rates his Mom’s support somewhere at the top. Additionally, he considers motivational books and videos as a great helps in getting through the tough times of disparity. There were many failures he has been through and learned that one should always give a second thought while taking any financial decision. Failure is the Pillar of Success Considering his entrepreneurial journey which is nothing less than a roller coaster ride, he is well prepared for the same in the future as well. He is a firm believer of the prudence that says one is always benefited by one’s experiences irrespective of whether it’s a good or bad one. In his book, same theory is applicable to success and failure 37 |June 2018|

40. HOW CAN ENTREPRENEURS ACHIEVE Goals in Life THEIR T – Michelle Obama “ he only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.” Call it the pre-requisites of our job, it has never been easy for us to achieve our desired goals. But coupled with our gluttonous hunger for fulfilment and our yearning to run on the ostensibly endless epicurean treadmill – we have a track record of reaching for something better and bigger. Most people have a romanticized version of who an entrepreneur is. But I guess it’s not their fault, they’re bombarded with Facebook humblebrags of entrepreneurs working from the comfort of a beach while sipping onto a pint of beer; they read excerpts about newly minted billionaires and don’t even get me started on the things that the TV shows. The biggest hurdle people face in the course of achieving their goals is that they fail to set them right or even if they do, their approach towards it is all wrong. The best and most acquired way to achieve any goal in life is to not only set them in the right way but also to plan and execute their actions in accordance. NEW YEAR’S SYNDROME One thing that we all as entrepreneurs have in common is the will to dream and a burning desire to achieve it. Being an entrepreneur is a way of life and not just a career choice. It consumes most of our lives and changes our perspective and approach to different things in life. For many people, New Year brings a fresh start to their life, however, for most these goals don’t see the light of the day. In fact, according to one study by the University of Scranton, only eight percent of goals set on New Year’s Eve is actually achieved. Everything that comes at us, becomes subject to evaluation and this high-level perspective changes the way we tackle demanding circumstances. It’s genetically pre-dispositioned in our DNA to merely survive but thrive towards passion. The speed at which people create their New Year resolutions is directly proportionate to the speed at which the urge to see them through mellows down. Our species has proved day by day, that we have more than just survived; we’ve quite literally thrived, achieving eccentric results with our wild-eyed innovations and outlook on life. Not only do we wish to get the moon, but we also shoot for the stars. 5 STEPS FOR ACHIEVING ANY GOAL Achieving any goal comes with a statutory clause of being consciously aware of our actions and self-discipline. In our case, it requires an abiding determination to our actions and an implacable urge to want the desired goal. 38 |June 2018|

41. Entrepreneur’s Tale Abhishek Sharma Chairman Akkado (A Unit of Color Palette Pvt. Ltd.) 39 |June 2018|

42. Moreover, there is a proven system for achieving any goal which involves seven separate steps and a system called SMART goal setting. SMART goals, an acronym, allows us to break down the process and achieve our goals that the heart desires. Are you thinking, how to pick relevant goals for your life? The best way is to take a moment to write down your values and beliefs. For example, if honesty is a must in your value list, yet you think that all rich people are twisted and somehow get their way through, in some furtive or sneaky methods, you will definitely find it difficult to achieve those big money minting goals. 1 (S) -- Get Specific about your goals The first step in the SMART method of goal setting is to ensure that the goals you wish to achieve are specific and realistic. It should be measurable so that, you can track the success of your goal. You’ll find that the entire journey of achieving your goals has suddenly become much more fluid when you pick and choose the ones that are relevant to you. 5 (T) – Make sure the goals are Time - Bound If you want your goal to materialize, you NEED to be specific about it. It must move from your mind into the reality. You literally need to detail out all that you want to achieve. When do you plan on achieving your goal? Don’t just have obscure goals for yourself by ensuring you set a rigid timeline for all your goals. Pick a date and mark it on the calendar to one particular date. 2 (M) – Ensure that your goals are Meaningful When you allot a specific date to your goals, they are easy to track and you can break it down into monthly and weekly goals. Take a deep breath and dig deep to think about the meaning behind your goals. It has to be profound and something big, that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for. Write this down somewhere as this is one of the most important steps in the process. The goals of an entrepreneur are very much like an airplane journey. We are in the hurry of reaching our final destination and making that smooth landing. But for that we need to be clear of where our destination is and how much time is it going to take us to reach there. When the dreams and meanings involve things that are close to our heart, we go out of the way to make them turn into reality. We always do more to achieve goals that have a deep rooted meaning behind them. Isn’t all this very simple sounding? But clearly far rigid to implement. 3 (A) – Pick goals that are Achievable Pick goals that are achievable, or else wait for the longest time to achieve them. For most entrepreneurs, it is very exhilarating to have goals that are hard to achieve. Once you have set your goals right, you’re fuelled with eagerness of achieving them. Goals that are big have a higher rate of achievement. Plan your goals in advance so that they act as milestones for you to achieve. Last but not the least, chalk out the action plan that will help you get through the process. www.akkado.in 4 (R) – Pick goals that are Relevant How relevant are the goals that you’ve selected? Do they resonate with your beliefs and life values? 40 |June 2018|

44. Moving towards Moving towards Data-Driven Data-Driven Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship E very day it seems that the technology is pushing the boundaries of what entrepreneurship can deliver to the society. Recent developments in technology are shaping the future of the entrepreneurship. The current approach towards entrepreneurship in India has gone through a great change. We are living in a data-driven society where numerous tools are available to track customer habits, preferences, and purchases. Today, entrepreneurs have access to this entire customer’s data. This data is used as the foundation of new business ventures. It is interesting to imagine the power that entrepreneurs are going to have when so many different sorts of data are available. In India, data science domain has a 42 |June 2018|

45. Technocentrism Use of Data for Better Governance great potential and opportunity to drive change in the society. As per the alarming trend, India is in need of as many as 45,000 data scientists at this moment. Institute of product leadership recently hosted data science summit 2018 in Bangalore. The motto of this summit was to skill professionals to become a data-driven entrepreneur and create newer entrepreneurship models. Every professional who is engaged in customer and business-driven innovation should become a data- driven entrepreneur for better business growth. patients. This data is gathered in the form of digital data as a result patients are using personal digital health tracking devices to take care of their health. Quality data if analyzed properly, it can be helpful for programmatic decision making, proactive policy revisions and efficient delivery of schemes. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) launched Centre for Data Management and analytics to analyses relevant data for auditing process. The main purpose is to create a data-rich environment in union and state government to build capacity in audit and account department. Apart from above sectors, agriculture could also get maximum benefit from data-driven models. Data-driven models help to resolve issues such as determine the correct market price for crops, weather conditions & correct method to cultivate crops. The rise of Data-Driven Entrepreneurship in India The Indian government is working on an open data policy under the department of information and technology (DIT) to encourage a sharing of information between various departments and across ministries. In many states, municipal corporations have tie-ups with entrepreneurs to standardize city data. The government encouraged startups and technology companies which offer a data-driven model. These data-driven models will help the government to increase efficiency in its working. Social Problems Signifying an Opportunity Introduction of new data centers by Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are accepted by traditional companies. Various companies in India are using data to gather insights of the organization. The access to this data helps organization to maximize security with minimum governance. In India, social problems have huge potential to encourage the data-driven entrepreneurship. Recognition of problems in a correct manner is the most important factor for data-driven models. Traffic management shows a great opportunity for data-driven models as data generated in this sector is immense. The placement of sensors on traffic signals and roads to monitor the vehicle density at given time creates a large amount of data and it is possible to control traffic signal through IoT by using this data system. Many startups in India are eager to collaborate with the government to resolve traffic problems and emerge with innovative ideas. Due to digital India campaign, there is a huge opportunity for data-driven models. Easy access to mobile internet makes data faster and cheaper than ever before. A large amount of data is generated by mobile companies which operate across entertainment, shopping, banking, and traveling etc. With the improvement in the entrepreneurship system, many things have changed. The credit for this change in mindset goes to entrepreneurs, startups, government, and industry. They have shown a strong desire to take India towards data-driven models. Data-driven entrepreneurship is taking an extraordinary shape in India. Though more has to be done, there is a definite hunger to support data-driven entrepreneurship. This is the best time to support entrepreneurs, startups, government, and industries to build a data-driven entrepreneurship. Recently, Uber launched ‘Movement’ in India to support data-driven urban planning in four cities. These cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. The Uber tool uses data from millions of trips to help planners and peoples to analyze transportation patterns and make a wise investment in a future infrastructure project. This tool can also help people to discover patterns, rush hours, road closures and the impact of events to help optimize travel time. Other sectors which could get maximum benefits from data-driven models are Healthcare and Agriculture. Data-driven entrepreneurship has the ability to transform the healthcare sector. Healthcare sector has the large amount of medical data which is helpful to predict and prevent the disease, reduce medical cost and improve personal healthcare. In this sector, numerous organizations are using this data to personalize and increase the healthcare of their 43 |June 2018|

46. CredForce The Global Credentialing Behemoth – and the man behind one of modern businesses greatest success stories ’ M What do you get when you cross an insatiable ambition to dominate the knowledge industry with a world class education from the crème de la crème of management schools, and top it off with multiple awards and accolades? If you were to personify all of the above, the answer would be the man who has singlehandedly led the establishment and global footprint of what today is the world s largest ’ credentialing consortium with a presence in literally every region. CredForce has achieved, in its short life, what is mostly a dream for most startups. It has consistently been honored by some of the most prestigious publications in business, including Silicon India, CIO Review, The CEO Magazine to name just a few. CredForce has grown at a scorching pace since its inception and the speed of its expansion and subsequent domination, in emerging verticals and markets has only ticked higher with each passing year. It is already the single largest unified ecosystem in global credentialing with offices in Austin, Palo Alto, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Glasgow, Singapore and Cape Town. This runs parallel to its vast strategic partner network and technology platforms which also provide last-mile reach. Its growth numbers speak for themselves, perhaps louder than the awards they have received in a short span. “ eet Rajiv Gupta, the man who has elevated the gigantic credentialing ecosystem to more than 180 countries in just six years. “ We work for everybody whose business and success hinge on the credibility and trust they can inspire for their customers, investors and partners CredForce, the world s largest credentialing ecosystem spanning in more than countries with more than 50 proprietary certification products and 18 knowledge standard frameworks is a multi-award winning conglomerate. If that s too much to take in a single ’ sentence, also consider that they have consistently ranked among the BRICS 100 fastest growing companies, and Rajiv has earned multiple awards ranging from the Entrepreneur of the year by prestigious publications to the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2018 felicitation for professional and business services. ’ 180 An Ardent Leader The founder of CredForce, Rajiv Gupta is a prominent ranker in various media publications has always been a believer in the power of knowledge and growth. Being a world leader and global influencer in education and credentialing is but just a natural outcome of his persona; a 44 |June 2018|

47. fact demonstrated by the high degree of loyalty and motivation that he inspires among his employees across the world. It would not be an exaggeration to call Rajiv a phenomenon all by himself, either. After completing his master’s in Human Resource Management, he went on to earn an MBA from the internationally renowned Indian School of Business. And if that wasn’t enough, the next few years saw him complete his Fellow program from the Wharton School in multiple disciplines and rise in the ranks in corporate people management, from head of Human Resources for Asia Pacific, to the head of People Development in a large-scale enterprise like Moser Baer. Always an entrepreneur at heart, he had already been an angel investor in several startups and communities right from the early stages of his career. Having founded the BPO Certification Institute, the gold standard for BPO employment in more than 75 countries, its founder, President and CEO, Rajiv conceived the idea of a massive ecosystem that would be unprecedented and unparalleled in its sheer breadth and reach. The humble beginnings of what would become the world’s largest unified certifications platform ecosystem had begun – CredForce. Rajiv Gupta President & Group CEO “I didn’t realize the growth that we would achieve, but deep inside, I never doubted that it would be nothing short of stupendous. I had faith in the team and the vision. These two pillars held us together”, says the President and Group CEO of CredForce today, merely 6 years into its existence, a time frame where most entrepreneurs are struggling to stabilize or scale up. Rajiv has achieved both, not to mention several awards and accolades along the way. He has won several awards including the Entrepreneurial Role Model- Top Rankers Excellence Award at the 16 National Management Summit, Entrepreneur of the Year – Thought Leaders International, Organization Psychologist of the Year – Psycholinguistic Association of India and most recently, the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards in 2018 under Professional and Business Services category. organic growth even as we partner with the world’s best,” says Rajiv. Prestigious partnerships such as the one with the Wharton School are setting the benchmarks higher worldwide and stand testimony to their rapid rise up the global credentialing value chain. “We will make this happen even as we diversify into other verticals where capability validation is still a grey area. Vendor neutral capability validation is a transparency mechanism that just cannot be rivalled”, reiterates the man who has proved his words over and over again. “We will be affecting the careers of more than a quarter million aspirants worldwide by 2020, and two thousand companies across our regions of operation”, and it looks like they are already on the way to make it happen, with their trademark panache. th Setting Benchmarks We did mention insatiable – and so is this wonder of a company. Already on a massive vertical expansion plan, CredForce is not just happy with growing its customer base which today includes some of the world’s largest corporations, governments and thousands of professionals. “We are looking to turn even more aggressive in our 45 |June 2018|

48. CHALLENGES Education Enterprise E adults entrust you with their dreams, at a very crucial stage of their lives. The first thing that I said to my team when I acquired the business and began defining Inspirus almost a year ago was that “You are in the business of setting the future on course, you need to know every turn, every cross road ahead. Dreams might not always turn into fairytales but they certainly cannot end in nightmares.” It is that passion, that honesty and that earnestness that anybody stepping into the education space must commit themselves to. And in that commitment lies the greatest business truth too. Education allied entities cannot sell on an individualized USP. The only game changer in the space is “experience”. Word of mouth and repeat referrals are where 90% sales come from. While nurturing young futures the greatest challenge lies in keeping a few steps ahead of them always. With a dynamic environment, it isn’t enough to keep abreast with changing international policies that impact students and placement opportunities. The challenge is to keep the students’ confidence in your abilities to identify their strengths and then guide and prepare them to achieve the perfect admit that fits their end goals. As such my biggest investment is my team of teachers, counselors and content developers. This is a team that has the ability to put the student first. Who believe in increasing profitability by putting the child’s welfare before business. The team ensures each child gets focused attention at every stage, including staying in touch with students in the initial days in the new university. O F S E T T I N G U P A N ducation and education allied services, like International education advisory and prep, are businesses built on trust. Impressionable, young Becoming an entrepreneur in the current environment in India seems easy. From positive policy interventions; encouraging tax laws to VCs and angel investors, we seem to have it all. But in the education space the big challenge is coming from scalability and sustainability. Weak IP laws and easy accessibility to the technology challenge the stickiness of these businesses. But building a strong network of best practices that define the service quality across branches and franchise partnerships can go a long way. Strong internal processes and checks ensure quality delivery is consistent and constant. At Inspirus, we’ve tried to keep the focus on building a strong brand that goes beyond providing test-prep content. A brand that works with all stakeholders from students and parents to teachers and industry leaders. A brand that is youthful and agile in approach yet rooted and in-depth in know-how. A brand that can be established a thought leader in the space of International education advisory and prep. Developing a brand for young adults in a technology enabled environment does make the task simpler and the reach faster and wider. It makes marketing direct, distinct and cost effective. While measuring ROI is made simpler by digital marketing tools that can track campaign performance on regular basis enabling quick action that can optimize effectiveness and minimize spends. The way forward in today’s world is collaboration. Competitiveness is passé. Working together in the greater interest of the student is the only way forward as today there are several apps available which will help the student achieve his score and his choice of university. However, what can never be replaced is the human touch and the sensitivity with which each student has to be dealt with. 46 |June 2018|

49. Nurturing Education Bakhtawar Krishnan Founder & Director ABOUT THE AUTHOR ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ms. Bakhtawar Krishnan, Founder, Director at Inspirus Education, India’s premier coaching and test preparation institute. When it comes to coaching for the SAT®, GRE®, GMAT® and other standardized tests, Inspirus is second to none Ms. Bakhtawar Krishnan is an accomplished professional in the field of higher education related to the overseas study. She brings with her 30 years of diverse experience, both at the national and international levels, in different roles across industries. Over the last 5 years, she has carved a niche for herself and earned a solid reputation in the field of international education. In her wide-ranging career, Bakhtawar has helped hundreds of students realize their dreams of studying in prestigious international universities. She has several stories of successful top placements to her credit, at the core of which lies her deep sense of love and commitment for students and an unflinching passion foreducation. Bakhtawar believes in providing personalized student attention and actively engages with students to help them select the most appropriate university and courses, in line with their aspirations. Her innate ability to relate with students is supported by an enthusiastic and dedicated team of expert counselors and teachers at Inspirus. The unparalleled dedication of this team enables the highest quality of educational coaching and counseling to be imparted to students to enable them to realize their vision of an international education. She recently bagged the award for Femina World Women Leadership Congress Award 2018. 47 |June 2018|