RAKESH SHARMA tells AKANKSHA SONI that a good start-up needs to have a talented team and be user-friendly
What gave you the idea of starting a multi-functional online platformIJ
The basic concept was that we have so many online platforms and sign-ins for different needs, so having a couple of things under the same umbrella is our USP. I used to go to linkedIn for the traditional marketing, then to Facebook for social networking. So I wanted to create a single sign-in, user friendly platform and above all something which is 100 per cent Indian.
What factors of online usage do you cater tooIJ
Everybody has got three basic needs — entertainment, learning and networking. So I had thought of encompassing all these things under one umbrella and less than one sign in. We have the e-learning portal for the learning, this is the portal where you can see the videos on different subjects and topics, and there is a student section, supporting e-mocks. E-mocks are an important factor that has been introduced for the first time in India, basically every time a person will log-in, a new paper will be generated. Then we have the social networking and music even in the music section we allow people to upload their own songs and earn 40 paisa for every play — this rate is actually better than that of YouTube, news updates, web and image search etc.
On your website the chatting or posting platforms for personal, public, and business communities are separated. Why is that soIJ
People want their personal, professional and public lives to be separate and we allow them that very freedom but all under one roof. We have distributed the social networking platforms among three zones, where we have: The open zone, here everything you post will go to the public platform. And then we have My Zone, that is the personal zone compassing of my close friends and family, no-one else can see this profile and holds, posts, photos, locations will not be seen with anyone except those allowed to view it. last, we have the Biz-Zone that is the third platform of social networking available for your business connections and work associates. We give our users the ability to create three different profiles, with different profile and cover pictures, different information and different contacts.
Why only IndiaIJ
We have started with India and spread worldwide. Our aim is that the American tycoons are earning billion of dollars from countries like India. So we are looking to strike and earn back that money, we are coming up with a GMAT, GRE and SAT. But first we are looking to develop a good grasp in the Indian market.
What feature do you offer that new to the social networking dilemmaIJ
We are a unique in its way of differentiating your personal, private and business. Other than that we are looking to introduce the function of a family tree in the My Zone. Where users will be able to make the family tree, and connect other users and connect them to their tree and hence, after generations, people will be able to look back to their great, great uncle or cousin and see their posts and pictures on a digital platform. So 50 or 100 years from now a child can look back and see where he or she came from and their entire parentage. And whoever will join the platform in coming time will add to the family tree. We are also working on a virtual gaming section, but that is on the trial phase, but in time to come we are trying to make a niche for ourselves in the social media market.
What are the main issues faced by digital platform start-ups in IndiaIJ
The biggest challenge is that you need a talented team, a good start up has to be user-friendly, and the payment or reward is very hard to come by because there are already so many established names in the industry. Hardly, anybody would like to try something new, these are the initial challenges faced by any start-up.