Re: [MTC Global] He dropped out of his MBA course, but cracked a $400mn deal with India's hottest start up!

Analysis of such abstract matter can hardly take us to some destination. I want to investigate how fragrance of a flower is created. I removed one petal after another, put it under microscope, work out the (would be) components (factors) responsible for fragrance. I have obtained a wonderful scientific analysis, all petals are used for analysis, nothing is left out and fragrance of flower also vanished!

The success of the otherwise academically poor guy may be related to one or more or non of the following factors:

Inability to pursue formal (caged) education.
Bubbling and boiling mind, notorious?
Determination, discipline and diligence, almost a mad/crazy/not bothering what others would say, carefree.
Proactive environment or totally full of obstacles for a carefree person.
Mere luck or chance.
None of the above, unable to put man's spirit in words.

Regards,

Dr. P H Waghodekar, PhD (Egg), IIT,KGP, IE&M, 1985,
Advisor (HR), IBS & PME (PG)
Marathwada Institute of Technology,
NH 211, Beed by pass road,
Aurangabad: 431010 (Maharashtra) INDIA.
(O) 02402375113 (M) 7276661925
E-Mail: waghodekar@rediffmail.com
Website: www.mit.asia
and
Chairman, Advisory Board, MTC Global, Bangalore.

Engineering & Management Education: An Engine of Prosperity.
Classroom teaching must match with Boardroom needs!

From: "Mr. Govind Autee" <govind.autee@mit.asia>
Sent: Tue, 26 May 2015 12:47:41
To: "join_mtc@googlegroups.com" <join_mtc@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Munish Sharma <munish.sharma@mit.asia>
Subject: Re: [MTC Global] He dropped out of his MBA course, but cracked a $400mn deal with India's hottest start up!

Dear Sir,

Quite inspiring indeed!

One statistic from the study is turning heads: a lot of these startups are successful. The report authors attempted to find out what's working, and they came up with five reasons for their success:

Started with a partner
Embraced a business plan
Recruited professional advisors
Used the newest marketing techniques
Maintained a steady work-life balance

Sage Report Enclosed.

Cheers,

G.S.Autee

From: join_mtc@googlegroups.com <join_mtc@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Prof. Bholanath Dutta <bnath.dutta@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2015 9:46 AM
To: join_mtc@googlegroups.com
Subject: [MTC Global] He dropped out of his MBA course, but cracked a $400mn deal with India's hottest start up!

Kunal Shah has just sold his four-year-old online mobile recharge venture FreeCharge, which he started with friend Sandeep Tandon, to Snapdeal for a whopping $400 million, the largest deal to date in India's consumer internspace. Here is an excerpt from a Times of India interview with him.

How did FreeCharge happen?

The idea came when Sandeep (Tandon) and I were doing a marketing solutions company. Sandeep is an engineer by training, and has built businesses, and I have known him for 15 years. We learnt about interesting marketing techniques that drive consumer behaviour. We started PaisaBack that ran cashback and promotional discount campaigns for organized retailers. While running this, I found that 95% of the invoicing of a mobile store was recharges. I was always a postpaid consumer and never knew that recharges were that big. I realized then that a huge amount of traction could be gained in online recharges, especially if we could somehow make it free. FreeCharge was launched on August 15, 2011. One of our early partners was McDonald's and this helped build our consumer base quickly. When we started, there weren't many believers in this category. Even today it's not mentioned in any ecommerce report as a category. It feels great to be a pioneer. There are at least six clones now.

Were the incentives you offered key to your success?

We believe behaviour changes happen when there is an incentive or motivation of some sort. Consumers who are transacting offline need a little incentive to come online and transact. Giving coupons and subsidizing things make people do that. For the youth, it helps them multiply their pocket money. If you can get an extra burger with a recharge, it's a big thing for a coffee date. v How long can you keep giving such incentives?

Incentives are sponsor advertisements from other companies. We merely position the incentive.We create footfalls for them.Merchants pay us to list their coupons.

Why did you sell out?

If I were going home, it would be a sellout. I'm not going home. I'm continuing in FreeCharge as CEO, doing what I want to do, which is to build a great ecosystem. We have taken big targets. We grew 1,000% last year and we want to do even more this year.

Why did FreeCharge move from Mumbai to Bengaluru?

Bengaluru brings a very interesting mix of people who have worked in product companies and who have worked abroad. No other city has that level of talent.We had people from Zynga games coming into our company. We see amazing value coming from Bengaluru. But I think the talent pool is be ginning to emerge everywhere.

Best Regards,

Educate, Empower, Elevate

Prof. Bholanath Dutta

Founder, Convener & President- MTC Global

--
MTC GLOBAL- Educate, Empower, Elevate
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