A German born American physician and writer Martin H Fischer once quoted about life as, “Life is the ticket to the greatest show on earth.” What an extravagant show it is indeed? For the last 4.65 billion years, the show has been going on, while we as Homo Sapiens bought our ticket only eight to ten million years ago, thanks to our ape ancestor who evolved into wise-wiser and the wisest people, us.
And what an incredible innovation we humans are? Although, compared to the universal saga of 13.82 billion years, our lifetime of merely 80-100 years might not be even subatomic, yet it is us who have named everything, including the universe and even nothing, including the void. Today, we are on a mission to explore the deepest secrets of that universe. We do it from multitudinal angles. One significant angle is by engaging into the enterprise through entrepreneurial activities, which generally most of us begin after the adult age of 18 or 20 years.
However, Rohan Karnataki, the Serial Entrepreneur, Startup Mentor, and Angel Investor, an extraordinarily and incredibly innovative leader, who wears many hats, has been an entrepreneur since childhood.
An Entrepreneurial Adventurer Since Early years
Rohan shares, “I am a first-generation entrepreneur. From childhood, I always participated in all competitions and took leadership roles in all activities. I thrive on challenges and love to work towards solutions. It gives me immense gratification when I am able to help someone or solve a problem. My intent and inspiration behind venturing into the business arena is and will always be my passion for helping others and making their lives better.”
The Founder of Hindavi Technologies LLC, a US-based IT Services and Staff Augmentation Company, expresses, “I feel that every person on earth must live up to their full potential and experience everything that life has to offer – in personal, professional, social and spiritual space. With this intent, my business career has been none less than an Adventure!”
Rohan started a business at the age of eight, selling popsicles at the local bus depot. That is how he learnt the value and meaning of money, time and an honest day’s work. Later he,
- Ran a successful facility management service while studying in college, providing employment to seasonal farmers who were jobless during the off-season. Learnt that self-respect is more worthy than money.
- Created a commission-free marketplace for farmers to sell their products directly online. Learnt the value of empowerment.
- Started a single-mother and women-centric manufacturing unit for Premium Chocolates. Learnt the importance of self-sufficiency.
- Started the First Women’s Sports League in India. Learnt to play with Big Boys!
- Worked on an AI project predicting Ethnic Cleansing using social media in third-world countries for United Nations (UN). Understood the power of technology.
- Founded Hindavi Technologies LLC (www.hindavi.com), a US-based IT Services and Staff Augmentation Company with the execution of 1000+ projects in Web/Cloud, Mobility Platforms.
- Co-founded Colortonic Studios– an Award Winning 360-degree UI/UX and Digital Media Agency
- Self-funded a successful IT Product – Xporience (www.xporience.com) – one of the leading Event Technology and Event Management Platforms used by top Event Organizers like Dubai Expo 2020 and clients in the UK, Australia, Singapore
- Creator of 100 Days of Walking Challenge Mobile App, empowering people to make Walking a lifestyle habit.
- Founder of CareerFirst Edutech – India’s first 360-degree career design platform that provides the best career roadmap, enhances employability and creates job opportunities for graduate freshers.
Winning Over the Challenges
When asked what the initial challenges he had to surmount to ensure his business’s success reached greater heights, Rohan revealed, “One of the challenges I faced earlier in business was establishing credibility in the market. We offered clients to try our product or created a Proof of Concept (POC) of their requirements. We focused on developing a strong relationship with clients rather than only the commercial aspects.”
Clients started appreciating our work philosophy and product value proposition, and soon, Hindavi was the most sought-after vendor in the market. “Our client retention rate is 95%, and word-of-mouth business revenue is almost 40% even today,” says Rohan.
Professional Value Proposition
Rohan shares that
- Work Ethics,
- Reliability,
- Transparency, and
- Long-term partnership,
are the professional values and qualities he thinks his clients’ value in him and his many ventures the most.
Unique Selling Philosophy
When asked what the USPs that highlight his uniqueness in the industry are, Rohan states, “Whatever business we are into, our main USP is that we exceed our clients’ expectations while focusing on our clients’ long-term vision or goals. Our work philosophy, culture and ethics are unmatched and un-replicable in any industry in which we work.”
An Entrepreneurial Leadership Wisdom
As an experienced professional, Rohan’s advice to the budding aspirants willing to enter the business world is full of entrepreneurial wisdom. He shares, “In my business experience of 20+ years, I have learnt a few business rules that one must follow to become a successful businessman.
Paperwork is everything – All agreements, contracts, partnerships, etc., must be maintained on paper. Never run a business on blind trust.
Learn to Adapt – Consumer behaviour, buying trends and requirements are changing rapidly today. Your business needs to adapt to these changes and embrace new business models, technologies and processes. Companies that are flexible to adapt to this changing environment will sustain themselves in the future.
Don’t be afraid to fail – Failures are valuable lessons that pave the way to success. Taking brave decisions that are aligned with a larger goal is important. Entrepreneurs who learn from their failures and use the wisdom for business growth become powerful leaders in their industry.
Develop people skills – Developing a high emotional quotient is one of the most important skillsets for becoming a successful businessman. Putting yourself in other people’s shoes and empathizing will take you a long way.
Invest in knowledge and people – A business becomes successful when everyone working in that business feels a sense of pride, ownership and security. When you invest in people and make them more efficient, skillful and confident–they become your company assets and help you accelerate rapidly.
A Future of Smart Human-Automaton Collaborations
When probed about how he envisions his multiple ventures’ operations with the emerging technologies and automated tools that are revolutionizing the business world by enabling innovations, Rohan says that with his business, innovation and technology go hand in hand. Every venture that he has started has been at the forefront of technology. He says, “When I create a strategy roadmap, the emphasis is on creating structured processes and systems that are scalable. All our business products are enabled through business automation tools and technologies.”
All business workflows, operations and transactions are automated to give customers a seamless experience. Rohan adds, “We are one of the first adopters of innovative technology trends like RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technology that emulates human actions interacting with our digital systems and software,” and concludes, “I believe that in the future, humans will only be required to ideate tools and technologies and devise scalable business models; intelligent machines and robots would operate them.”
