Entrepreneur of the Month

The concept of professional networking for recruitment occurred to Rohit, when he was interviewing professionals in India. Rohit says, “We envisioned techTribe because I was spending quite a bit of time in India at the end of 2005, and realized that professionals in India didn’t have a networking environment to connect with other professionals, and while there were social networking portals in use for social life, there was no place to meet others who could help with their careers.”

This was not the first venture for Rohit. He was a co-founder of Webify (acquired by IBM in 2006), commercialWare (acquired by Datavantage), and before that the VP - Strategic Marketing for Baan (NASDAQ:BAANF). techTribe is fast becoming a popular portal where professionals can link. “The response to techTribe has been simply great. We saw a slow start as expected, given that it was a first of its kind service where people were asked to be “givers” rather than just takers. On techTribe, professionals shared their experiences, helping others succeed.”

techTribe is funded by ‘Canaan Partners’ in a joint investment with ‘The Entrepreneur's Funds’ and ‘Miven Venture Partners’. Rohit is very satisfied with his relations with his investors. He says," We share the passion for building great companies, and Alok Mittal (Canaan Partners) really has the ability to roll up his sleeves and be an advisor to the techTribe team. They have been one of the very few VC’s I’ve met who have been very open with their feedback even before the money exchanged hands. That is a critical component to making a decision for me as to which VC to go with, since the money is the same, but the difference is in the value and the cultural fit. Our other investors also have been great sounding boards. They are truly venture firms interested in building great companies.”

techTribe has a unique business model no doubt. On competition, Rohit comments “While there are elements of techTribe that are unique, we expect the biggest competition to come from job sites, who’ve struggled to target the middle to senior level job seekers, who are mostly passive. Since we are not just a job site, and professionals use techTribe for their daily networking needs, the referral-recruiting model based on a community works best. There is also LinkedIn, which provides basic networking, but does not have a reason for people to visit every day, and is mostly used as an introduction network.“

Rohit is very upbeat about their upcoming plans. Their recently launched referral recruiting service is showing great promise. “techTribe is just getting started. We have enjoyed a little success so far, and we’re looking forward to expanding our offerings through innovative models, similar to the referral-recruiting model we launched recently.” The tribe at techTribe is extremely enthusiastic about their work with a startup. “Interns and young employees that have worked with techTribe are ecstatic at the pace, efficiency, and passion at which the work gets done at a startup, and how fast they learn and we need much more of that in the Indian ecosystem.” Tech tribe has strength of 16 people currently. They have as their clients, Genpact, Oracle, Morgan Stanley, iGate, among others.

Key differentiators for a successful entrepreneur? “The ability to listen – its right after the risk taking abilities which is by definition a part of entrepreneurship. Listening effectively to what the market is saying largely determines success, and of course, execution is important, but executing on the right thing is more important.“

Rohit shared his experiences of the differences between running a startup in India and USA. “The challenges we’ve faced in running a startup in the Indian environment have to do with the newness of the corporate culture. From a startup perspective, we are used to startups being the most preferred employers in the Silicon Valley, while in India, most are still risk averse. It’s changing though. I believe success of some startups in India will tilt the hiring environment in the startups’ favor. It requires a social change, with the families of the youth needing to understand the value of working for a startup.

For a role model, Rohit feels, “David Skok was an awesome role model for his ability to work the crowd and market. Larry Garlick at Remedy was a great role model for focus. Jan Baan was a visionary at Baan and Tom Erickson taught me all I know about sales and business development. And Manoj Saxena at Webify continues to be a role model – I am amazed at how similar my behavior is at techTribe to his at Webify – never content with things, yet fully at peace with where things are.”

His advice for budding entrepreneurs--“There’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur in India. There are inherent risks, but the worst-case scenario will never be as sweet. All indications are that the boom in India will continue for the next few years. If you identify a real problem to solve, and have the entrepreneurial spirit, go for it. Worst case, you’ll learn a lot, and there’s always a great job as a backup anyway. The second would be to always start with a team. No matter how great we think we are, we are going to have very difficult times, and if we don’t have passionate co-founders, it’s very difficult to keep going at times.”

And how does he unwind? “I spend quite a bit of time working with young entrepreneurs in India, helping them the same way others have helped guide me. I do take 4 hours every day to myself for a social life, which is a much-needed balance. I don’t sleep much. In those 4 hours, I am an active foodie in the city of San Francisco and Delhi, and enjoy a round of golf now and then.” Rohit has co-authored a business book along with Patricia Brown, titled “How Innovators Connect”, which showcases innovation through the experiences of more than 40 successful innovators in Silicon Valley and India.

And lastly, “The most important lesson I’ve learnt is to never believe that I have the answer. At best, I strive to have a good idea of the problem to solve, which if solved, can result in monetary gains. If I have identified the right problem, and have the right team, the solution will come, and no matter what I think it is on day 1, I’m wrong.“

Thank you, Rohit, for sharing your experiences. They will definitely help others who are starting out to tread the same path as you.