For most youngsters, an IIT-IIM tag is a ticket to six-figure salaries in top MNCs. And then there are people like Ankur Gattani, who choose to bypass the lure of slick career routes for the uncertainty of entrepreneurship. In open defiance of the risks that such a move entails and without any guarantee of success, they venture into the unknown spurred on by an unwavering belief in their idea. For 24-year-old Gattani, the idea involved capturing everyday moments of life on the Web, an online journal offering unprecedented posting access. Borne of a chance meeting with one of his seniors, the idea took on a life of its own till he decided to set up OneLife Knowledge Services, his own private company.
The entrepreneur:
• Did B.Tech from IIT-Bombay, but opted out of campus placements • Was a regular at the entrepreneurial cell at IIM-Calcutta • Had the beta version of his Website ready before his convocation at IIM |
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A student of IIM-Calcutta, the only one in the 2008 batch of the post graduate programme to opt out of campus placements, Gattani was always sure of his life’s calling— he would be an entrepreneur. “I’ve always been involved with the student entrepreneurial cell, both at IIT-Bombay and at IIM, and a start-up was pretty much my game plan,” he says. “In fact, during my IIM interview, I was asked if I’d pick a job in India or opt for a highpaying job in the US. The interviewer was surprised when I told him that I had opted out of placements at IIT and planned to do the same at IIM. That probably clinched it for me,” he adds.
Despite the demands of the MBA degree, Gattani did not lose focus. “Every morning I’d brainstorm start-up ideas with members of the entrepreneurial cell and discard them the next day,” he laughs. But there was an idea he just couldn’t shake off—he wanted to create an online journal where one could record everyday moments and feelings. This idea prompted the creation of Life in Lines, or LiL, and Gattani was determined to have it running, at least in an invitation-only mode, before February 2008. “I wanted to do it before the convocation so that I would have had something to show before I left college,” he says. So while his classmates were preparing to woo recruiters, Gattani was developing LiL and initiating registration for OneLife, the company that would manage LiL.
The concept:
Blogging, Facebooking, Orkutting, Beboing…and now micro-blogging or blogging in snippets. Despite a plethora of social networking sites, Gattani claims that LiL will not only garner eyeballs, but also reinvent space. Whether or not the portal is a success, it certainly is unique in its accessibility. Different input mechanisms— voice recording, SMS, Gtalk, e-mail or direct log in—have been included to access the Website (see graphic). This means that you can post your thoughts as soon as they cross your mind—which is what micro-blogging is all about. Says Gattani: “The voice recording option is a first for India. The landline number is interfaced with a server which records your voice, and based on the caller identity, posts it to your account.”
Risk versus reward:
While many would balk at choosing a startup over a fat pay packet, Gattani is supremely confident. He may not be sure how and when LiL will start generating revenues, but he knows he has a potential winner on his hands. “At the moment, in the community Web space, it’s more about getting users,” he says. The logic is that if there are enough people using the product, advertisers will follow.
Gattani readily admits that LiL won’t make “big money” in the next one year. “Right now, we are focusing on garnering eyeballs. Unless you get the user base in place, you don’t know how the market is going to respond to the product, and hence, all projections of revenue are pointless,” he sums up. Besides, he has a handy parachute ready. “If it does not work out by the end of the year, I can always go back to the other option of getting a corporate job and making money. But if I crack it, I’ll be making a lot more money with LiL,” he says.
Besides, he is putting his IIM skill-set to good use. OneLife is a consulting arm as well, helping companies with strategies, sales planning, etc. “We decided to do this because in Web space there are aspects that the technical team has to work on, which means that I don’t have anything to do for three days at a stretch. So we could fit in the consulting work easily,” he says. It has helped him make good money on the side. As for other sources of investment, his mother is his “angel investor”, so he’s not worried about a cash crunch in the near future. Which probably explains why even his Plan B does not include going back to a job.
Lessons to share:
Gattani has just two things to share with those aspiring to a start-up on the Web— be sure and be patient. With the kind of action taking place in this space, it’s going to be difficult to establish a brand identity unless one has a significant innovation to offer, a differentiation that one can sustain. LiL’s USP is what makes Gattani confident of the concept’s viability.
The road ahead:
The name of the game is to refine and redefine the user experience by enabling simpler and better access channels to the portal. So the LiL team plans to add the latest technologies to the site as soon as they have access to them. “For instance, we want to explore the voice transcription service, which means that if I make a recording on LiL on the voice system, it can be transcribed and posted because it would make it searchable,” he says. “In five years, LiL will offer a lot more,” Gattani promises. We’re hoping he lives up to it.
