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Interviewer- Can you provide me with a description of your business? Vaibhav A Mishra - We are unique Neutral SME focused digital lending marketplace in true sense which connects lenders, SMEs, brokers & digital companies. We plan to solve bigger & genuine problems of justified loan amount, identify the exact fund requirement in terms of nature & tenure, loan pricing decisions, quicken the underwriting process, reduce delinquencies and identify early warning signals. Ring-fencing the borrowers by fulfilling their various nature of funding needs. Effective Ring-fencing will help in maximizing life-time value from the borrowers, Our product offerings will be sub-industry focused and would include Term loans, Transaction/ Cash flow based loans, GST data based loans, Supply Chain financing, Machinery/ Equipment Loans and Loans against Shares/ Securities. To addressing almost all short-term to long-term funding needs of self-employed segment, We wish to solve the genuine SME fund problems in the country on the best effort basis in the most convenient digital ways. We have visualized to build a complete SME focused lending marketplace which would go much beyond just being matchmakers. Alternate scoring basis financial & non-financial data points for 360 degree view of the borrower, Almost real time credit underwriting leveraging tech & data-science, Demographic, Compliance scoring basis borrower’s Residence/ Office location. Interviewer- How did you get started in this business? Vaibhav A Mishra - Idea of starting something like this came in while i was working with the largest private bank where i could clearly see the pain which even good businesses were going through in their attempt to arrange funding. We incorporated this company with the aspiration of building platform business with easy scaling capabilities and having broad product range offering fulfilling borrower’s funding requirements at almost each time point and with appropriate ROIs. Interviewer- Why do your customers select you over your competitors? Vaibhav A Mishra - Our assessments are automated and we also do include non-financial parameters while assessing these SMEs. No other competitor is been able to automate the whole process of credit underwriting the way we have done. Interviewer- What are the biggest issues for running this business? Vaibhav A Mishra - Only problem is to convince the traditional institutional lenders for lending basis the transaction/ cash flow data. Slowly we are seeing the change now where the lenders have started accepting the alternate scores and non-traditional way of credit underwriting. Interviewer- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs? Vaibhav A Mishra - Stick to your conviction and success will automatically follow. Don’t give up on your dreams. Success comes only to braves!!

Interviewer - Can you provide me with a description of your business? Yash Chandiramani - Staying true to the word Razzmatazz (from which we derived Admatazz) - defined as a noisy showy activity to attract or impress - we at Admatazz aim to create campaigns that not only stand out, but also achieve the clients intended objective for initiating a campaign. We're a team of 15 highly motivated people, who together, carefully curate campaigns to maximize the freedom that the online spectrum provides while simultaneously achieving targeted results. Interviewer - How did you get started in this business? Yash Chandiramani - I was always a copywriter, whether it was the offline marketing business I started when I was 17 or even when I was in the restaurant business, my customer resonated with my quirky ad campaigns and social campaigns . Knowing that I had a flair for creative strategy I started freelancing on the weekends to help other friends in the industry with their campaigns, that was the start of Admatazz. After which I realized the potential Digital Advertising has in India and how it is yet being explored in the nascent stage by agencies, I took a leap of faith, sold out from the restaurant business and decided to scale Admatazz up. Interviewer- Why do your customers select you over your competitors? Yash Chandiramani - I believe our clients resonate with our manner of work and the thought process that goes behind it. We aim to always align a client's goals with the strategic creation of a their campaign. Creating campaigns that attract people is one thing and creating campaigns that attract people for the right reasons is a completely different ball game, but that's what Admatazz focuses on and I believe that's what our clients see. Interviewer- What are the biggest issues for running this business? Yash Chandiramani - Aside from common business problems that crop up in every sector and venture, the biggest hindrance in my opinion is hiring the right talent. I personally do not mind investing in training freshers or even my current team as long as i sense that they're talented and never want to stop learning how to better themselves. Hiring someone who doesn't have the relevant skill set and dedication to grow, won't do any benefit for the firm. Interviewer- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs? Yash Chandiramani - My first suggestion is work smart - there could be a host of reasons which could deter a person but I believe that dedicated, calculated effort in the right direction and the zeal to succeed is the right mix for a budding entrepreneurs. Another suggestion is that you must be involved in something you're passionate about, if you're involved in a venture because of it being a trend you just wont be able to generate that zeal to guide your venture to the next level.

Interviewer- Can you provide me with a description of your business? Sanjeev Potti - We offer more than 80 varieties of finest whole leaves teas from across the Globe; ranging from hot to cold and every-day to extravagant. Our TEAS menu constitutes a carefully curated mix of Blacks, Greens, Whites, Oolongs, Herbals & Coolers and also flaunts our perfected varieties of 15 Desi Chais. We believe in serving our teas as whole leaves and not to restrict their flourishing in a tea bag. Food items in our EATS menu, which are served fresh, complement our Teas to justify the pairing concept world over. We also use tea as an ingredient while preparing few of our signature dishes in our menu, making Tea Trails, perhaps one of its kind place where you can eat tea ! In the retail space Tea Trails runs primary runs different formats as Dinning Tea Cafes, casual cafes & On the Go. Whereas in corporate space, Tea Trails serves a perfectly brewed cup of Chai made with fresh, natural ingredients to offices and working professionals in kiosk formats. Our offerings include varieties of 15 varieties of hot Chai, Iced Chai, Shakes; and Snacks perfectly accompanying the morning and evening ritual of “Ek Pyali Chai” In order to deliver on our promise of a great tasting cup of Chai, we source the highest quality whole leaf tea from tea gardens in Assam, Darjeeling and the Nilgiris. Our Tea Guru choose the best teas from premium plantations each season, through a meticulous process. The top-grade tea leaves we use are free of artificial colours and flavours, offering customers not just great taste but also, good health. Interviewer- How did you get started in this business? Sanjeev Potti - For us it all started almost 5 years back when our passion for tea, inspired us to build a business concept around tea as a beverage. We strongly believe, in a country like India where consumption of tea is second only to China, there is a huge business scope for a concept like ours. Post 2 years of rigorous R&D, our concept turned into reality when our first Tea Trails Café started operations at Viviana Mall, Thane, Maharashtra in December 2013. Today Tea Trails is a chain of premium tea cafes in India having its presence in 10 cities, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, New Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Vizag, Lucknow, Surat, & Baroda. Interviewer- Why do your customers select you over your competitors? Sanjeev Potti - We offer more than 80 varieties of finest whole leaves teas from across the Globe; ranging from hot to cold and every-day to extravagant. Our TEAS menu constitutes a carefully curated mix of Blacks, Greens, Whites, Oolongs, Herbals & Coolers and also flaunts our perfected varieties of 15 Desi Chais. We believe in serving our teas as whole leaves and not to restrict their flourishing in a tea bag. Food items in our EATS menu, which are served fresh, complement our Teas to justify the pairing concept world over. We also use tea as an ingredient while preparing few of our signature dishes in our menu, making Tea Trails, perhaps one of its kind place where you can eat tea ! In the retail space Tea Trails runs primary runs different formats as Dinning Tea Cafes, casual cafes & On the Go. Interviewer- What are the biggest issues for running this business? Sanjeev Potti - In general, high real estate cost highly impacts the retail business so as the retail f&b outlets. Quality & skilled manpower is another challenge that all F&B business face. Interviewer- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs? Sanjeev Potti - We are the only one tea café in our segment who franchise the business for aspiring entrepreneurs. We believe, franchised business could be a strong stepping stone for budding entrepreneurs who wants to start F&B business as the support systems and infrastructure that the franchisor provides helps the franchisees to tide over the challenges in the business and keep their business upto date to latest trends in the market.

Interviewer- Can you provide me with a description of your business? Manoj Iyer - Upraisal is based in Mumbai and offers Human resource and placement solutions to a strong but varied customer base. Customer satisfaction is our first priority. We work hard to build long term relationships which are found on trust and mutual respect. We, at Upraisal provide the right recruitment opportunities and solutions to individuals as well as organizations. Our recruitment procedure is rigorous, cost-effective and broken down into various steps like pre-screening to reference check. Interviewer- How did you get started in this business? Manoj Iyer - Four years ago, when I met Kamini our co-founder, it was just evident that both had entrepreneurial mindset and synergies in areas of interest. That’s where the seed of Upraisal was placed. Over the last few of years both of us have mastered our respective skills, gave up our cushiony jobs and kickstarted with Upraisal to solve all hiring pains for organisations And like all aspiring start-up stories, we have worked our way from rock bottom & slowly graduated to the level that we are on, right now. Interviewer- Why do your customers select you over your competitors? Manoj Iyer - We work with some of the leading companies for their hiring needs and we close super critical positions within minimum turnaround time. we’re an independent consultancy, we don’t get caught up in the red tape or bureaucracy that often comes from being part of a larger multi-national. Our Managing Director and senior team are hands-on within the business: we don’t wheel them out for client presentations only to hand the work back to more junior members when we get back to the office. Our size also means that our consultants have ownership of specific projects and clients; so you always have one point of contact that is fully up-to-date with the current situation Interviewer- What are the biggest issues for running this business ? Manoj Iyer - The biggest issues while running the business is the delay in payments from clients for the services we offer, feedback for candidates who have attended interview not been given in time at times profiles are shared and then they are put on hold. Interviewer- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs? Manoj Iyer - Never give up , be a doer and not just a dreamer focus on goals and achieve the same and be extremely patient.

Interviewer- Can you provide me with a description of your business? Rahul Verma: ROOHI is an innovative & most emerging an International Hotel Management & Franchise, Hotel Marketing & Sales Representation and Hotel Consulting company with plethora of services for an individual & stand alone Hotels Palaces Resorts & Destinations across the country. ROOHI Hotel Management & Franchise Services support individual stand alone hotel owners & operators in Pre-Opening / Launch & Operations with our 7 international hotels brands and uncovers the hidden revenue opportunities & potential, minimise operational & sales expenses through our expertise & skills with our dedicated & experienced team. We relentlessly focus to generate top line revenue & bottom line profits by creating extremest satisfied guests. With our 7 hotel brands under Staarbridge International Hotel Management Company (SIHM) based out in Bangkok, streamline all operational aspects & execute an international level guidelines, SOPs & Brand standards helps partner to compete against other National & International brands & acquire niche positioning within hospitality sector with desired market share. Our brands meet all the need of business and leisure travellers seeking comfort, attention and high quality services, We have currently 18 hotels & resorts in our portfolio operational in Bangkok, Phuket, Hong Kong, Pattaya, Indonesia & Vietnam. Seven Seas Luxury & Glamorous Five Star Luxury Hotels and Resorts StarGates - Four Star City Hotels & Resorts StarLight’s –Four Star Beaches or Mountains Hotels & Resorts Nova Boutique – Four-Five Star Luxury Private Boutiques Hotels & Resorts Fairyland “Green Concept” Four to Five star Hotels & Resorts. Sunny Lion – Premier Budget Beaches or Mountains Hotels & Resorts. Sky House – Premier Budget city Hotels ROOHI Hotel Marketing & Sales Representation services offer an extensive product suite to individual stand alone hotels through our Branding, Marketing & Sales Representation nationwide helps to maximise the success of any hotel regardless of category around the world. Branding is the main pulse of any star hotel, ROOHI maximise the revenue with intelligent Sales, Marketing and Revenue Management. ROOHI takes up the complete Sales & Marketing operations (Online & Offline) for luxury to economy hotels and strive to enhance better & healthy financial returns. Team focus to generate high end premium business & maximise yield within Corporate & Travel Trade partners with their strong past relationship & vast experience in respective market nationwide. ROOHI stands for “REVENUE OPTIMISING OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY” ROOHI Hotel Consulting Services create substantial and valuable solutions to individual stand alone hotels owners & operators with HR Recruitment and Property Acquisition Services. We build the best team for our partner as the team will impact brand overall success and fame. ROOHI is expert in dealing the properties at right value to the clients in the hospitality industry. Our Team of experts in Property Acquisition works in a pragmatic and fully aligned way basing on the interests of our clients. ROOHI works on the mandates for the investors and the owners of the hotels across the globe. We also support the group of hotels for the expansion strategies. ROOHI Stäärbridge SIHM will be focusing on our following key specialization & services to drive success through Management Consulting I Hotel Franchise Management Service I Hotel Representation I Technical Services I Pre-Opening Hotel I Quality Control I Quality Management I Liability for all Ongoing Expenses I Individual Attention I Analysis of Market Study I Hotel Operating Philosophies I Brand Creations I Mystery Shopper I Hotel Star and Service Standard Rating Service. ROOHI Stäärbridge SIHM is planning at its best with a future goal of reaching 20 hotels in 2019 and to eventually grow by 2020-2021. We love to have a positive human connection and through Stäärbridge, ROOHI is going to be a part of Child Welfare in India. ROOHI Stäärbridge SIHM’s Low profit margin service, Commitment, Honesty and Strategic plans will made ROOHI Stäärbridge SIHM as the most trusted Hospitality brand in India. Interviewer- How did you get started in this business? Rahul Verma: I have been working in Industry since 2 decade & associated mostly with Luxury to economy individual standalone hotels & resorts across the country. I am witness for the challenges our Individual stand alone brand Owner faces on daily basis which impact the overall quality & standard of services for the guest & ultimately impacts the top & bottom line. Looking at current scenario in hospitality industry me & Pallavi Verma (Director & Co-founder) decided to create platform specially for Individual brands & support them in each & every aspects of Pre-Opening, Launch, Hotels Operations, Asset Management & Franchise, Policy & Procedures, SOPs, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Marketing, Sales, HR Recruitment, Property Acquisition & Expansion etc… designed & customised as per individual need under ONE UMBRELLA with help of our combined three & half decade experience in Industry and our in-depth knowledge in respective domain, our skills & area of expertise and strong relation in Industry. Pallavi Verma - Director & Co-founder, well versed with PR, Revenue Management, MIS, Administration, HR & all kind of backend process in Industry and I am from Marketing & General Administration background, this duo helped us to implement right process & system for all our partners which in turns get better & quicker ROI. We have created a “ROOHI Community" where plethora of services have been introduced which guide them to avail any kind of OUTSOURCED services with timely deliverables & operated in ethical manner. Interviewer- Why do your customers select you over your competitors? Rahul Verma: I think, A family oriented business, as a duo husband wife role in this company helps us to be at edge with our competitors where we consider all projects & partners as our family and work accordingly. We also believe in partnership either with our own employees & hotel partners. We are a low profit margin company & try to contribute certain percentage in society welfare & also our employees are our partners holds percentage in Company profit. OUR Philosophy & beliefs are PEOPLE, PROPERTY & PROFIT and most important we are in mission to create better revenue & employment opportunities for Industry with at least 20% better Salary Structure for all employees which impact the life style & quality of living for all employee & their families associated with our company. I believe these are few work ethics & principles helps us to be at edge over our competitors and become must trusted & honest hospitality brand associated with Luxury hospitality brands like Hard Rock Hotel Goa, Madhubhan Resort & Spa, Gujarat, Hotel Clarks Shiraz, Agra, The Royal Retreat Resort & Spa, Udaipur, Fountainhead Leadership Centre, Alibaug, Hotel Grand Visava, Lonavala & Zara’s resort, Khandala. The JOINT VENTURE partnership & Master Franchise (INIDIA) with STAARBRIDGE (SIHM) INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT COMPANY (BANGKOK) empower us to reach more geographies than ever before. The objectives of the Stäärbridge SIHM for the first 5 years in Asia of operation include: Exceeding Customer’s Expectation in range from Luxury Glamorous to Premier Budget for Accommodation, Food and Events and Maintaining the 80% Occupancy rate for all year around with desired market mix and share. We empower the independent owner and operator to compete with the nationwide & worldwide chains and help hotel maximise result in three fundamental areas: People, Property and Profit. We provide service designed to meet individual brand needs to increase financial return through Customer Satisfaction, Work Culture, Commit to People and Care for Environment. Interviewer- What are the biggest issues for running this business? Rahul Verma: I think, Industry insight & knowledge about the advantage of Outsourcing Sales & Marketing, Operation & Asset Management is required little more and People management along with Funds management are few important area which need to be handled carefully in day to day operations & running this business. Interviewer- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs? Rahul Verma: Think, Believe, Desire & Dare …. and fearlessly work on your passion for your Industry/domain to create a thoughtful & visionary platform which help people/industry to grow NOT JUST MAKING YOURSELF GROW !!

Interviewer- Can you provide me with a description of your business? Otis Critchley - Jagaha matches businesses (& investors) with commercial properties in the Mumbai metropolitan area. We have the largest inventory of commercial real estate in Mumbai with over 17,000 offices, shops, showrooms, restaurants and entire commercial buildings with us. Every single property listed at Jagaha has been verified in person by a member of our team – what you see online, is what you get! Instead of running an advertisement model like many of the other property sites, Jagaha has its own commercial real estate advisory team that is the most active in Mumbai doing over 30 to 40 different client property inspections per week working with many different corporates, retail establishments and restaurants. Interviewer- How did you get started in this business? Otis Critchley - I moved to Mumbai in 2011 and soon thereafter started a residential property placement firm for expats, in due time my clientele starting asking my firm to find them commercial properties for their respective firm’s businesses. The task of finding suitable properties in Mumbai proved to be extremely challenging; namely, we were fully dependent on property sites that often provide inaccurate, fake or misguiding information and then we had to coordinate with dozens of real estate brokers to show properties, many of which proved to be not dependable. There were clearly too many inefficiencies in the process and the success rate of finding the right commercial property proved to be much more difficult than for residential. In the middle of 2015 it was clear what we needed to do, provide a commercial real estate portal in Mumbai that had the maximum amount of verified properties. At that time and even more so now, every search from accountants to doctors to restaurants to you name it, will occur thru a google search. So either you pay to have your goods and/or services on another platform or you build your own. In April of 2016, we launched Jagaha, our own commercial property portal, and we have been building our footprint in Mumbai’s commercial real estate space since! Interviewer- Why do your customers select you over your competitors? Otis Critchley - There are a few reasons: transparency, strong online presence, brand (our goal is to make sure this grows tremendously!), the quantity of verified properties, professionalism & knowledge about the commercial real estate marketplace would be at the top of the list. Also, one of the reasons why Jagaha has been able to have more Mumbai commercial properties with us than the other property sites is that it's completely free to advertise one's property at Jagaha and in fact, it gets better than that, we do all the work: we visit your property, take pics & videos, write a detailed property description, create a YouTube video of your property, create your own URL, and market your property online. Interviewer- What are the biggest issues for running this business? Otis Critchley - The biggest issue with our current model is that payment is made after we complete our service as we get paid when we deliver value; namely, we get paid when we help close the commercial real estate deal for our clients. Having payment made after the fact has led to clients taking their time to pay, which only prolongs our already quite long sales cycle. We have fixed this problem to a certain degree in that prior to the first property inspection, the client must sign off on paperwork that confirms he/she will pay Jagaha’s fee at the time of registration. Interviewer- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs? Otis Critchley - There is that advice to jump in and just start! And that’s not bad advice; however, if looking to start your own firm expect that everything will take 3-5x longer than you anticipate. For more practical advice, make sure that your pockets are 3-5x deeper than you expect they need to be. Things take time & strategies will change. You won’t have a perfect plan, nobody does, that’s the norm so be prepared to also spend 3-5x longer building your business than you’d think as well! Please do check out our YouTube channel that goes into our firm’s “Why?” which is best summed up by our #MoveForward tag line where we want to help our clients, businesses, grow and prosper in Mumbai and beyond.

Interviewer- How did you get the idea of bringing a revolution in education and establishing 'IIDE'? Karan Shah- During my college days, I interned and was in the founding team at today one of Asia's largest Digital Marketing Companies 'Social Kinnect' where I got exposed to Digital transformation and Digital Marketing as a technique to increase sales for brands. Post graduation, when I entered the job market I realized that there is HUGE demand for digitally skilled resources and there is literally zero supply for the same. I mean 'Digital' wasn't even there as a subtopic in our University textbooks. The supply and demand ratio seemed like an opportunity to me. I am a passionate public speaker since childhood and I instantly combined my digital marketing knowledge and my passion for public speaking to form IIDE - Indian Institute of Digital Education - India's premier school for digital skills. Interviewer - What obstacles did you face in the initial years? Karan Shah - Everyone thinks that you are a young kid with bubbling ideas and most people don't take you that seriously. From gaining credibility, meetings, being considered serious is something I faced a lot in the initial years. We run courses in collaborations with a lot of colleges as of today. 1 of the college took me 14 meetings with 4 hours per day sitting outside the principal's office just to get a meeting with him. Interviewer- What are the challenges you are facing till date? Karan Shah- Challenges have faced today. Most of the challenges are people management, quality control, increasing customer lifetime value increment and many more. But most of the problems today are happy problems. These are problems you need to have if you are a growing business. Happy to face these challenges every day. Interviewer- What measures are taken by your institution to keep following your core values? Karan Shah- No Pain, No Gain. Winning isn't everything, its the ONLY thing. These are 2 of our favourite quotes at IIDE. We also have an induction day at IIDE where each and every employee on their first day has to drink a cup of black coffee. It's forced down your throat. But today its a part of our culture. Everyone embraces it and makes fun of the new person joining. Interviewer- Through your experience , what words of advice would you like to give to small budding entrepreneurs to make them grow? Karan Shah- 1) Time is money. Think of things as investments and not expenses. 2) Aim to have zero profit on your books of accounts in the first year. If you have a profit on your books of accounts and there is no expense against it (for the growth of business) then that's the entrepreneurs mistake.

Interviewer- How did you get idea of 'Crixfeed info Services’? Viresh Pratap Singh- I am one of the youngest investor in Bitcoin also called “public blockchain” and trading in cryptocurrency. During the trading period I observed that market is highly volatile and attractive for investor prospects. In the end of 2017 suddenly marketcap of cryptocurrency is jumped from 30 billions to 822 billion and became a topic under going immense study with different reviews, even ICO (seed funding) is started booming. Various entrepreneurs are taking an advantage of blockchain technology for their fund raising process. But then I come to know investors and entrepreneurs are facing some problem like access to the good products, Right audience, how to choose true valued ICO, latest and trustworthy update about news and global regulations, and events happening in related places. Then the idea of crixfeed came to my mind and I thought this can break the ice. Interviewer- What were the main challenges you faced during establishment? Viresh Pratap Singh- The biggest challenge was execution of any idea, I was having a science background and this was completely a new thing for me. After that I was not habituated of websites working and things related to it but I figured out I have to find people who are capable of doing this thing. Then by destiny I met two of our genius directors Mr. Bhavesh Rathod and Mr. Manish Rathod after few meetings we were sitting with an idea that can be executedand day by day we are stepping towards new goals. The current challenge which I am facing is, I have to generate extra believe on my idea, the government regulations is pending and they are finding a way to regulate and make public blockchain a fruitful thing with Faith and benefits for the whole world. Interviewer- What pressure you have to handle while working on BlockChain Technology? Viresh Pratap Singh- Rather saying it pressure I will say it COMPETITION in which I have to win and for that I have to acquire knowledge about market vastly, the industry is completely new for me and growing day by day , if I want to be in the race I have to grow with the market. Another one is globalization pressure we are working on global basis. Most of our clients are from outside India and to make a repeated place we have to be there at night and day on Basis of need. By the way I'm enjoying it because I choose it. Interviewer- In just few months you have grown really well and worked with innovative technology companies, what measures did you take to set yourself quickly in this vast competitive field? Viresh Pratap Singh- To take a step ahead for me is just an understanding. What is future and use case of blockchain technology in this present world? And I found blockchain technology can apply at every working industry, when we talk about future I and my team believes that this technology can help to bring the sci-fi world into the reality it’s the kind of evolution in human history. That believe and learning help us to live in this market. And the fact is whole market is doing new something according to generated need. And I think we are just helping each others business to build a new colony of blockchain technology. Interviewer- What are the obstacles your company is still facing? Viresh Pratap Singh- In the obstacle box. The obstacle I can see is funds to grow crixfeed parallel with the market. And employees as this market are new normally people don’t have enough knowledge and it’s a task to find people to work with me on this platform. Interviewer- From past experiences of few months what experiences would you like to share to encourage budding start ups? Viresh Pratap Singh- When we think about any business suddenly our mind click how much money it worth and we forget about service, client, system and learning. But when we focus on problems of business, customer and clients we can see the clear picture we don't need to worry about money the job of every entrepreneur is to solve the problem for people and create a new opportunities. One thing I always push my self for "start" when you start something there is only two ways left, success or failure and both words are interconnected failure is key of success every failure gives u a lesson for new start you just have to think out of the box to walk on lane of success. If u want to start something start it today don’t wait for tomorrow.

Interviewer-- What made you think of setting up a company providing all features of branding products and customizing gifts? Anant Mukim- Prior to Blurb Box, I was running Belzack Creatives, providing services such as design and photography to companies. While working with brands on their design requirements, we realised that we were feeding very critical activities for companies – their product packaging and also their merchandising campaigns. Realizing the depth of the opportunity, my co-founder and I decided to explore the commercial printing and promotional merchandising industry in 2013, and we haven’t looked back since. Interviewer- How did you manage to establish yourself in this competitive field? Anant Mukim- Our single point of focus has been our customer and we have always emphasised on providing quality service and great products. Instead of providing standard products to every company in the market, we have consciously worked on creating deep relationships with select clients. This has allowed us to closely partner with our clients on tackling their merchandising problems, and focus on providing engaging and memorable experiences for their consumers. Interviewer- What struggles did you face initially to take your company to next level? Anant Mukim- Initially, it was tough to convince large brands to work with a young company claiming to provide the best service in the industry. We found it difficult to get our foot in the door and faced several rejections. Gradually, by sticking to our promise of quality and honesty, we were able to build a strong client roster which now includes companies such as Unilever, Red Bull and Diageo. Interviewer- Do you have any plans expanding your company? Anant Mukim- Absolutely. We have been growing organically and responsibly to ensure that we never lose sight of our primary purpose – focus on quality service for the customer. We have grown to a 14-member team, and are adding more employees and clients every year. Over the next two to three years, we aim to integrate full-fledged design services to become a holistic design and production agency, and provide end-to-end services for our clients. Interviewer-- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs? Anant Mukim- While developing your product and growing your company, do not just focus on your product, but rather focus on how the product changes the lives of your customers. Always focus on the customer and everything else will fall in place around it. Also, do not worry about money and success, just enjoy the journey! After all, business is like a rollercoaster – it is not about reaching the destination, but about enjoying the ride.

Interviewer: How did you initiate the motive of helping out the children? Dhara: It all started with a realisation of a need - a gap! While I was raising my son from an infant to a toddler, I picked up a very important insight – ‘Play is the work of childhood and is the highest form of education!’ Like most young parents, we would often spend our noons playing board games, exploring LEGO bricks and solving puzzles. While I was doing that I realised that I could teach my son so many life skills and lessons which are of vital importance and which are very difficult to imbibe in a child in a formal school set up. On observing other mommies and children around I realized that while play was a part of a child’s routine it was often used by caregivers as a form of relaxation or break from learning. However as a mother I realized that play was the best educational tool an adult could have. This thought ignited a spark in me; to create a service that would bridge this gap of play & learning and thus was born The Kids Company in 2013. Interviewer: How do you stick to your mission of creating an intellectual environment for kids out there? Dhara: Well, it’s a pretty simple equation – I thrown in hours of HARD WORK to do a lot of FUN things! There is a lot of research and thought behind each game/activity / story / LEGO creation done in class. Often people misunderstand my work and define it only by the number of hours I conduct sessions but there is a lot more to it that happens off the classroom. I literally spent hours sitting on the floors of toy stores in various countries playing games with the store managers and only when I am thoroughly convinced, that’s when that game makes it to my shopping cart. Once the handpicked games come to my center, I spend hours understanding the rules of the games, tweaking them to make them more fun and educational. So that was all about curating games. The second and most important aspect is the experience for the kids in the classroom not missing out on achieving any of the chalked out learning objectives. Interviewer: What all the qualities of a child do you focus on? Dhara: At The Kids Company, our mission is simple, to create an environment for children, which combines intellectually stimulating & creatively engaging activities along with fun, play, thrill and excitement. Our activities are aimed at improving the child’s skills related to logical thinking, problem solving, self management, communication and inter personal skills along with igniting the spark of creative thinking. Through our LEGO sessions, we take our kids on a journey to explore their imagination and creativity. We want our children to be intellectually engaged and more importantly have FUN! Interviewer: What are your future endeavours and how do you plan to execute that? Dhara: Since the past five years, The Kids Company’s curriculum has been progressive and we have always ensured that there is something new and fresh we have to offer to our enthusiastic audience. Our program has not only been well accepted and loved by children in Mumbai, but we regularly receive calls/mails from parents residing abroad who have read about us online and they make sure their kids attend our sessions when they visit India. This has surely boosted our confidence that The Kids Company’s curriculum is not restricted to any geographic boundaries and in the future, we intend to reach out to maximum kids with our program. We are exploring various options in this direction, however we would not like to compromise on the quality of service and The Kids Company’s experience hence the delay J Interviewer: What would you suggest to the new entries in this field? Dhara: Any one who is the field of education and has a product or service for children, should surely consider themselves blessed as they are the chosen few who are able to touch our future generations. Apart from having a formal degree and prerequisite qualifications to be an educator, there are some skills which I term as ‘mandatory’ and ‘entry level filters’ for anyone venturing in this field. Open mindedness to understand and be adaptable to address to each child’s individual and specific needs: Teachers need to understand each child’s different mindset and be sensitive to their specific needs. As a teacher, its OK if she has not finished the lesson plan or planned activity for the day but what’s more important is how has each child in her class felt at the end of the class – the experience. Its been 5 years since I am conducting sessions and at the end of EVERY session I ask myself, on what note am I sending the child back home? Being innovative and adaptable: The world is changing and at a pace much faster than one can even fathom. If one is not able to be embrace and accept that fact one is sure to hit the wall! Year on year I see the a new generation walk in the class and its inevitable to bring in some innovation and change in my approach to cater to their specific needs and adapt to their learning style. Possess a powerhouse of positivity and the ability to transfer that to the little ones Children are the most innocent souls and hence called ‘Gods little angels.’ They sense things much faster than we adults can. As a child caregiver, one has the power and responsibility as to what one can pass on and leave the child with. When my little ones walk in class and I greet them with a BIG smile, they flash an even bigger smile back at me!

Interviewer-What are your core values which you follow to stick to your motto? Deepak Sharma: The fundamental belief behind our initiative is to appreciate the positive things taking place around us. Tell me one single day wherein we do not hear any negative news. Right from crimes like murder, rape, cheating, and to every thing, we hear about all this every single day. We are surrounded by so much negativity, all of us, that it is affecting our lives badly. Diseases and health issues that we never even imagined are surfacing. We cannot escape negative news. Media is doing it’s job of reporting us whatever is happening around us. However, amidst all this, we feel it is so important to strike a balance. Keeping this in mind, our core values include Commitment, Motivation, Positivity and Consistency. This means, we are committed to spread positivity and motivation to good deeds consistently. Interviewer-How did you think of establishing a world wide, independent firm appreciating good things taking place around us? Deepak Sharma: We have just started this year. We are trying to be stable gradually. It’s the initial phase and lot of trial and errors are happening, which is so normal in any initiative, no matter how much planning and homework we do before the launch. We are looking forward for some tie-ups, reaching out people across the globe with similar values and beliefs to be part of our initiative. Interviewer-What initiatives will you take in future to make your company a step up in the ladder of digital evolution? Deepak Sharma: Currently, we just have a website and presence in some of the major social media platforms wherein we want to create a stability and reach more and more people so that we can create positive impact in their lives. We are also working towards having a dedicated app for ourselves, which will take some time. Interviewer-What barriers did you encounter initially while establishing your company? Deepak Sharma: Not knowing where to start from was indeed the biggest obstacle. This initiative has been in my mind for around 10 years. I wanted to do something like this much earlier. So when I took it seriously and started planning about it, acquiring right skill-set to maintain quality work and meet expectations of our target audience was a challenge. Interviewer- What are the obstacles you are still facing? Deepak Sharma: As a start-up which is not just a year old, we still have our limitations in terms of having good resources. We are just a handful of people driving and managing this initiative who are experts in our fields. We all have our professional commitments which are also important for our survival. Ours is a non-profit initiative. Hence, it is difficult to find people who would invest their time, talent and energy to something wherein they would not get any monetary returns. Ensuring constant content creation for our portal in a timely manner is still a challenge that we are trying to cope up with. We are working on having process designed to meet this challenge. Moreover, since even social media is now more of a paid platform, it is difficult for initiatives like us to reach our audience who do not have money to invest and buy media. Interviewer- What are views on expanding the services you provide? Deepak Sharma: Since the beginning, we aimed to be a global platform and not geography specific. So yes, as mentioned, we are working towards various associations to strengthen our reach. Interviewer- What words of positivity would you like to say to young entrepreneurs in order to make them grow? Deepak Sharma: The only way to make your dream come true is to work towards it. It is easy to sleep and see dreams, hence wake up from your comfort zone and start making them come true. Once we start working on it, things automatically start falling in place. All it needs is a loads of homework and planning, and more than anything else, huge amount of patience and determination.

Interviewer- How did the idea of setting up a med-tech start up come? Ashutosh Dubey- The motivation of setting up a med-tech start-up company came from my personal experiences and from seeing how so many people suffer from medical or health problems. No one wants to fall ill or get any kind of medical/health problems, but today people suffer just because of lack of appropriate technologies that can help prevent many such problems. With this motivation we invented our first product named Hynto which is a baby-care or preventive health care product for newborns to 6 month old babies who are kept in diapers. Studies show that up to 87% of such babies suffer from numerous medical problems because the parents or caretaker often fail to change the baby's (dirty) diaper on time. These health problems include Diaper rashes, Bacterial infections, Fungal infections, Yeast infections, Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) and so on .. Every pediatrician worldwide strongly recommends that a baby's skin, especially in the diaper area, must always be kept clean and dry. Diapers offer certain level of dryness, but does nothing about exposure to the dirtiness. This is the reason that pediatricians recommend to change the baby's diaper as quickly as possible after it is dirtied. However, today the parents/caretakers do not have any effective, scientific and medically tested method that tells them about the dirtiness conditions inside the baby's diaper. Our product Hynto is the world's first baby diaper dirtiness monitor that signals to the parent/caretaker at an appropriate time to change the baby's diaper. Timely diaper change goes a long way to prevent pain and suffering for such babies due to several infections. Hynto is absolutely safe for the baby, extremely comfortable for the baby, and very easy to use. Interviewer- What difficulties are you facing in this field to set yourself apart in this competitive environment? Ashutosh Dubey- As a start-up company with limited budget, and with a product that is the world's first of its type, the biggest difficulty is in terms of explaining about it to the people. Hence typically our conversations with general people go pretty long and it takes time for people to appreciate the product and its technology. However, this challenge also helps us a lot because all our conversations with people are very engaging and involved. There are lots of questions and answers, and many ideas that we never thought of comes out. It also gives us deep insights about the decision making thoughts and unsaid expectations that people have from us and our product. Even large MNCs struggle to get into deep conversations with people despite offering incentives. So our biggest challenge is also one of our biggest strengths are it makes us among the very few companies who are really in touch with people at the ground level, which is an excellent place to be, especially for a start-up company. Interviewer- As you are just an year old recognized start up , what are your future steps you will be taking in this long run ? Ashutosh Dubey- The last one year has been mainly about setting the right base. We spent almost an year to perfect the technology, apply for patents, get trademarks, get tax exemptions from the Indian government, work with regulators in India and abroad for this product, get the product quality to an international grade, get appropriate certifications. do the relevant 3rd party testing including medical testing, and so on. The coming time is all about leveraging this base for sales and scale. So, in the long run, we plan to scale up rapidly in India and abroad. Interviewer- What are the goals you hope to accomplish within next year? Ashutosh Dubey- Like I mentioned before, the coming times is all about two words - 'sales' and 'scale'. So, in the coming year the goals that we have in mind is to expand sales that covers all major cities in India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc. We are also targeting to start exporting the product to the USA and a few countries in Europe (incl UK) in the second half of the coming year. Interviewer- What words of motivation would you like to say that you have learnt through your experiences so far? Ashutosh Dubey- Never ever give up - no matter what! and The best is yet to come!