Innovation is the secret of their success. They believe a simple idea can transform lives. They dream big and are passionate about their goals... Meet the young, ambitious, intelligent and enterprising architects of India. Here's a special series on India's best innovators and entrepreneurs, winners of the latest Nasscom Innovation Award 2008.
A gaming success mantra
It has been games, games and more games for 31-year-old millionaire entrepreneur Vishal Gondal. He flunked his BCom exams as he was devoted to games, a passion he pursued from the age of 13. Later, this passion led to a serious business when people offered him money to develop games.
In fact, Vishal was amused to see that people were ready to pay him for doing what he liked the most.
At the age of 16, he started his first company, FACT. Later, he received seed capital from Infinity and IL&FS. With an initial investment of Rs 3.25 crore (Rs 32.5 million), Indiagames was born in 1999.
The initial years were tough, especially during the dot-com bust, but they remained focussed and never gave up. Indiagames's products are now distributed to over 75 countries through partnerships with mobile operators.
From a humble beginning in a garage with just five employees, Indiagames has come a long way. Today, Vishal leads a team of over 300 employees and has offices in Mumbai, London, Los Angeles and Beijing. In 2006, UTV acquired 51 per cent stake in Indiagames.
Thinking 'out of the box' has kept Vishal Gondal ahead in this space. He believes that gaming will grow bigger than cricket and Bollywood in India."Entrepreneurs must have a clear focus. One must keep focusing on a single thing than trying to do many things at the same time. And copy cat ideas will not survive. One needs to be innovative and do unique things," he points out. However, he laments over the dismal state of innovation in India. "Indian companies had it very easy till now he says. They will be forced to innovate and do things differently."
The GOD service
It is the largest and India's only paid games-on-demand (GOD) service. It is a subscription-based system where users can log in and choose from over 200 games. All a user needs to do is pay Rs 200 for downloading games for a month's unlimited service.
We found that there were many people who wanted to play games but did not know how to go about it. Users are scared to do something online and they needed help. The traditional call centres were not geared up for helping gaming enthusiasts. So we picked up 4 to 5 gamers and set up a call centre to guide people.
We call them GOD's doots. We have about 200 people in different call centres. These doots guide people, make sure they have no trouble playing their favourite games.
How successful is this system?
The system has been very effective. The users just need to make a call to get their queries answered by gaming experts. We already have about 32,000 users.
How has the work experience been so far? Did you ever feel a work pressure?
It all started with an interest in gaming. The best part is I never thought I was working. When people said they can pay me for developing games, I thought it was quite funny. I have always enjoyed doing this so there was no pressure on me.
An exciting experience
It was exciting, I just kept myself focussed and went ahead. It was difficult to pull through the dot-com bust. Our funding blew up, but we did not give up. We got smart investors and went ahead with our plans.
How important is education to become a successful entrepreneur?
I went to college, opted for BCom so that I could spend more time on games. However, I flunked in the final year exams. While education is important, it is the passion for what you do that makes you a winner.
Every day is a new experience. In India, doing regular things like applying for a ration card, a passport, taking a railway ticket pass itself is a learning process. The day-to-day things teach you a lot.
Indian companies will be forced to innovate'
Indiagames won the innovation award competing with companies like Infosys, Wipro and Reliance ADAG's products.
While it is a huge achievement for us, this shows the dismal state of innovation in India. But so far Indian companies had it very easy. But as the times are getting tough, Indian companies will be forced to innovate and do things differently.
Indian companies focus more on services than products. How important is a product-based innovation?
Doing just services will not help. It is high time we stopped supplying engineers to big software companies and jumped to the next big league of product-making. India is a land of opportunities and we can do wonders if we think out of the box. Companies must think beyond making money and try to make products that can address real problems.India needs more visionary entrepreneurs'
The biggest challenge is educating people. We are looking at extending the reach online gaming across India. Many people are keen on playing games but they do no know how to go about it.
Getting more people and guiding them to pursue their interest is what we are trying through the Games On Demand (GOD) service.
What are the 5 most important things an entrepreneur must have? Do you think India needs more entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurs must have a clear focus. One must keep focusing on a single thing than trying too many things at the same time. One needs to have a good team. Copy cat ideas will not survive.
One needs to be innovative and do unique things. It should be a business of tomorrow and futuristic. It need not always be about technology. Finally, one must take risks to be successful. India needs more visionary entrepreneurs. Even if India gets 1,000 good entrepreneurs, we can achieve a lot.
Demand for gaming will boom'
How is mobile gaming doing?
Mobile gaming is getting every popular. We have tied up with mobile companies like Airtel, BSNL, Tata Indicom and MTNL.How is the demand from abroad?
The demand from abroad is growing. Racing, action and cricket are among the popular games. Games like Batman, Harry Potter did very well.Gaming will grow bigger than cricket'
Recession is here to stay and India will be hit by the crisis. We have not been affected by the recession so far. We need to have an eco system in India to create real business models. We grew by 150 per cent last year. These are challenging times and we will emerge stronger from the crisis. Layoff will force people to do something on their own.
What is the future of gaming? How will it grow?
In India, 70 per cent of people are under 35 years of age. So we see a great future in gaming. In terms of entertainment, gaming will grow bigger than cricket and Bollywood in India. Games based on racing, action, cricket, Bollywood and Hollywood do well. Even in countries like the United States, Japan, Korea, gaming is the biggest entertainment platform.
'India is the land of opportunities'
Our focus on this segment, a great team and constant innovation has helped us come this far.
What would be your advice to entrepreneurs in India?
India is the land of opportunities. So you must spot and grab an opportunity. The opportunity may not always be in the technology space. Security is a big opportunity. Hotels are now spending crores (tens of millions) on security solutions. So people should look at other sectors as well.
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