Kunal Pandya – a young Indian entrepreneur

Kunal Pandya is Founder of NCrypted Technologies, an India based technology company.

He launched a several web portals before starting up NCrypted Technologies, a few of which have become one of the leading and profit-making portals in its respective fields today.

He earned his MBA in Marketing in 2005.

Today these two companies and has over 50 employees working for him with offices in Mumbai, Rajkot and associate offices in New York, San Jose and Wales (UK).

And all this is achieved by him at the very  age of 25.

Being friendly in nature, he makes it easy for others to talk to him. He runs mostly with tight schedule with jobs in pipeline to look after. I could fetch him for an hour from his busy schedule and asked him few questions while enjoying hot coffee.

Till we finish the coffee, you enjoy our conversation:

Kunal, how did it all start, you in the I.T. field?

Prior to doing my MBA, I did IT engineering from Bangalore. Websites, designs and complex algorithms have always attracted me towards them. I used to bunk other classes during the college and spend time in the library and the computer lab to learn and practice the subjects I loved the most – the web related subjects. After doing MBA in marketing, I learnt how I can use this knowledge of mine to market it in the US, EU and even Indian markets and provide customized solutions to customers. My trainings in hardcore sales and marketing research helped give a shape to my dreams. As you know, I never had a conventional job, I’ve always been an entrepreneur and I love it this way. Initial years were difficult, but once it started rolling, there is no looking back.

Being MetroJoint.com such a hit portal in India, how you looking at its future prospective?

MetroJoint has a promising future; especially when you have a huge traffic and repeated visitors adding in valuable content to the site on daily basis. MetroJoint is not just a social network; it is a social media site in whole. Along with social networking capabilities, it allows the user to control his/her type of audience and provides flexibility to upload and share unlimited videos, photos and make favorite joints, write blogs etc. We are looking for alliances and additional funding for the company at the moment to explore certain development and expansion options. We plan to be one of the industry leaders in the field of social media in India in a few years.

How does it feel being in the top position at such a young age? And what it takes to be on top?

I don’t think I am on top for any thing at the moment, haha.

But, yes you can say that I’ve been successful so far. And this little success helps me each day to dream big about the next day.

The moment you feel you are on top, your growth stops accelerating. You’re never on the top; there is always something ahead of you which you need to compete with.

Tell us something about NCrypted Technologies, services offered by it and your staff strength.
NCrypted Technologies is a LAMP company providing high-end online and offline solutions for medium to large scale organizations worldwide. Our clientele include 2 of Fortune 500 companies and over 45 others from USA, UK, EU, Australia, Middle-East Asia and India as well. Currently we have staff strength of about 40 and plan to grow the team to more than 200 by the year end 2009.

What motivates you to look after two such big companies simultaneously?

Let me make it clear. We are not big – nowhere near it. We are a small team and managing small teams is not a problem at all, haha. Still, all of our processes are automated; everybody has their own set of instructions and responsibilities; so if everybody performs up to their level, entire process or the project runs smooth. We believe in practical outcomes rather than following some typical orthodox marketing mumbo-jumbo with no output.

Personally, I have to divide my time between both companies; and as both are my passion, I manage them easily.

Your hobbies?
Hanging out with friends is my favorite pastime. I also enjoy reading books, writing, listening to good music, dancing and sometimes create a few beats of my own as well.

Favorite movies?
Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Sholay, Jurassic Park, Jab We Met, The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Lords of the Ring trilogy, Mother India are few of my all time favorites among others.

Your message to young entrepreneurs.
To quote it straight and simple in the words of the legendary late Dhirubhai Ambani, “Dream big, dream fast, dream ahead!”
Thank you very much Kunal for taking time and talking to us.
Thank you, Devang.