Interview with Yash Kotak, C.E.O of znapin
Name : ~ Yash Kotak
Designation : ~ C.E.O
Company Name : ~ Znapin
Q. Tell us something about yourself?
A. "I'm Yash Kotak, CEO of znapin. I started my I.T. journey as an entrepreneur back in late '94. Early '95 was when my first website went live on a global stage, it was called www.gmagazine.com India's first bollywood magazine to go online and listed on Yahoo! back then as it was more of a directory than a search engine.
Duly inaugurated by Shri. Shammi Kapoor (father of Internet in India) at Nehru Planetarium.
After which there was no stopping. I single handed managed the whole of the I.T. department for the Chitralekha Group. From '96 through 2002 ran and administered servers for DALnet, the most premium Internet Relay Chat network holding 500,000 concurrent connections at any time.
Moving on, I won the best web designer award from EDIT Institute. Both 1st and 2nd positions were awarded to me by Vishal Gondal (Indiagames & GOQii) fame.
Then in 2004 came in my venture called I-Bubble where we conceptualised and prototyped India's first DVR (Digital Video Recorder) which you now see in the form of Tata Sky etc.
The Bluetooth boom came in with Nokia phones springing up left, right and center. Conceptualised BEAM (Bluetooth Enabled Advertising & Marketing) Numerous other internet ventures followed until 2015 Feb.
Now working full-time on znapin as other ventures are on auto-pilot where I'm not really needed except to sign cheques. Haha."
Q. Tell us something about your startup / business.
A. "znapin is the future of short format television. It is just the beginning of the new era where videos are taking center stage.
Here's a quick overview of znapin:
znapin lets you:
Find the best creative ideas ( We call 'em Booms ) to take your selfies and videos. Think of it like mini scripts to record the most fun, crazy and creative selfies and videos you have ever taken.
Add and create your own Booms and Nominate your friends to take crazy selfies and videos. Fun has no limits with znapin.
Think you can do a selfie or video better than someone else - Znapin lets you do it! Take a better selfie or video then them. Kaboom Them! Show them!
Engage and interact with your friends - nominate and invite them to take any Boom.
Create your own miniseries (mashup) of fun selfies and videos with your friends.
Share your images and videos on other social networks - Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Whatsapp, Viber, Hike, Vine, Facebook Messenger or via iMessage or SMS or just to your photo and video gallery
Additional interactions : Like someone? Get their attention by pinching them. Annoyed by someone? Slap them.
Gamify your entire experience with leaderboards for the most liked selfie and videos, most liked user, user with most selfies and a lot more.
Our Mission is to bring users & brands to co-exist on the same platform at par rather than the illicit likes creating a perceived value.
We want our users to be gratified equally as brands.
We're a network full of creativity where content meets community, culture and commerce."
Q. What is your philosophy towards work?
A. "With work I personally follow the KISS & CIGGAR rule. Keep it simple & stupid and Customer is God, God's always right."
Q. Whom do you admire as your role model? And why?
A. "My role model is my grandfather Shri Vaju Kotak.
A multi-talented man. The only writer after Shri. Rabindranath Tagore to have a postal stamp on his name.
He passed away at a tender age of 47 in which he successfully floated 3 publications and 19 novels.
His creativity and the magnitude towards the level of thinking inspired me. All I could know about him was through my grandmother and family."
Q. "Management is core to every individual, organization & society." Give your views on it.
A. "I totally agree to the above statement.
Building anything is 90% management and 10% the idea.
Managing time, work-force and execution is the key to success.
I honestly believe in the mantra, work smart and people will come along to JUICE.
'Join us in creating experiences'"
Q. Name 3 qualities of prime importance that an entrepreneur should possess.
A. "1. Don't hurry.
2. Fail as much as possible. Not on purpose though. Success will follow.
3. Learn from the mistakes and don't repeat them. EVER."
Q. According to you, what are the challenges for Entrepreneurship today?
A. "1. Picking the right team.
2. Cash-flow management.
3. Stress of not having a steady pay cheque.
4. Negative people, loneliness and self doubt.
5. Keeping a constant look towards your competition."
Q. Can Entrepreneurship be taught in B-Schools/Management Institutes/Colleges?
A."Yes. Textbook knowledge goes hand in hand with Practical. B-Schools & Management Institutes gear you up for the real world.
The knowledge imparted there helps you solve real world problems as you'd relate them to something you've learnt while at studies
Education is something I respect. Though I am a drop-out, I have attended quick workshops on management to better sharpen my skills."
Q. Do you think today’s economy is conducive for a new venture to start upon?
A. "To an extent yes. Depending on what you decide to start up.
For example.
E-commerce and Hyperlocal ventures are booming. If you're joining the pack it's easier. If you're doing something never explored, be prepared to be doubted and tested.
I chose the latter to prove to myself that something different can be made in India."
Q. "Earning more & more is the motive behind any business." Is it justifiable?
A. "No.
Keeping the fire alive to innovate as and when necessary is the motivation. Money will come in manifold times eventually.
Don't chase money. Let the money chase you."
Q. Share with us the most enjoyable moment you had experienced at work.
A. "Almost everyday is an adventure trip. We work in office without desks. We sit on bean bags. We don't even have a conference room, let alone a cabin.
Jokes, comments being passed, silly face making and playing darts keeps us entertained.
Every moment is enjoyable as long as you have an awesome team. I'm very thankful I have a team who supports me through thick and thin."
Q. Share with us your failures and milestones of success
A. "I've failed every step of the way. Tried never to repeat the same mistake.
There have been times I have repeated the same mistake again to realise that I should've learnt about it earlier.
Nevertheless, experience is what counts.
Success milestones despite all odds:
1. Idea conceptualised of znapin. (Feb 2015)
2. Company formed (March 2015)
3. Team assembled. (April 2015)
4. iOS app released (July 2015)
5. Web-frontend ready for A/B testing (August 2015)
6. Android app released (October 2015)
Each of the above six have been outputs of 24x7 hard work.
Least of all, as a company, we've survived in the fast changing world today in Venture Capital.
We're proud to say we're bootstrapped and touchwood, we're here to stay."
Q. How did you come across this startup idea?
A. "Bored by the same old pouts, znapin was built from ground zero to make authentic content fun with real people unlike bots & fake accounts flooding social media today just to show a perceived value. Honestly speaking, there's a lot of room for social media to be disrupted. The post to interactions ratio at the moment is as good as nil.
As per a thorough study & research, creative and fun content gets more eyeballs and interaction.
I personally believe, leave the news to the news fellows, they're good at it. We do what we do best.
7.1 Billion People, 3.09 Billion Internet users, 2.10 Billion active social media accounts, 3.8 Billion Unique mobile users, 1.9 Billion Mobile Social Accounts. The gap is huge and nows the time to share creative and fun content, that's where the engagement is and we're just about that!
How do we counter bots & fake accounts? Simple, don’t allow uploads from gallery. You take part in the mini-scripts (booms) and upload it then and there, the results are astonishing, download the app and check it out. "
Q. 3 Things a graduate who wants to work in your startup should know
A. "1. Passion to never give up.
2. Burning fire to achieve and learn.
3. Repeat 1 & 2."
Q. Your feedback for Managementparadise.com?
A. "You're doing an awesome job at imparting knowledge through blogs. Keeping things up-to-date ranging from Products to Jobs.
Forums and Communities you've incorporated are a perfect blend today's world wants and needs.
Keep rocking: D"
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