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This Entrepreneurial Story is about Vikas Singh who Founded ‘Psi Phi Labs Technologies Ltd’ located in Bangalore.
About – Vikas has been in the technology research industry for 9+years. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, Vikas was working with McAfee as a senior research scientist where he led a couple of amazing product teams, successfully filed a patent in his name and contributed substantially to the cyber security world. Vikas also invented his own wireless communication system at the age of 21,right from designing the hardware/electronic circuit all up-to writing his own communication protocol. A geek who is very particular about product design and user experience and has huge respect for people who are passionate and driven in life.
Vikas Portfolio | Vikas’s Blog | Twitter | LinkedIn
Product Name : Dronna
Core Team : Abhigyan Raghav, Navarjun Singh, Karthik S. – Dronna Team page
When Started: July 2012
What motivated you to start your Business?
I have been building things since i was a kid. Born to a missile scientist Dad and a social entrepreneur Mom, having a purpose in life, chasing dreams and doing something big came natural to me. I believe, you don’t choose to be an entrepreneur. Either you are, or you aren’t. Deep down you know it.
Tell us about your Business
Dronna symbolizes knowledge, stands for a teacher.
Dronna’s long term vision is to crowd-source all the important day-to-day information, knowledge and experiences of people and use the power of technology so that one day a child can talk to his great great great grand father via Dronna and learn how things were back then.
Today, Dronna is a decision (search) engine that helps you find useful and relevant information from people you trust in real life so that you can make faster and well informed decisions.
It works on few fundamental concepts…like, how too much of information and too many choices lead to unsatisfactory decisions and how, in real life we don’t have 500+ friends but those few whom we trust and who end up helping/influencing us most of the time in our day to day decisions, and how at times the person we least expect could be holding the information we are looking for.
That’s what Dronna is today. An ecosystem built on trust, driven by influence,about people you care about in real life with a twist of discovery.
What is a Day in a life of you like?
Crazy, Challenging, Fun, Multitasking, Tiring, Sinusoidal emotionally, wanting to do more, better…but in some small corner, deep down in the heart, really proud about a day well lived.
One particular skill you got right and gave you best results.
Attracting passionate people, the right kind of talent, inspiring them to work together for a purpose, leading such a driven team through thick and thin, and taking care of them comes natural to me. That’s my biggest strength. I believe an amazing team can do the impossible, and that’s what me and my team is up to.
What have been your biggest challenges in running your Business so far?
Building a B2C internet product company out of India specially the kind (crowd-sourced information/search technology centric) that every wise man in the Indian startup ecosystem will say that India is the wrong place to start, is a challenge we are up against.
We know that even though its super difficult to crack this, we believe the problem is also the opportunity for a market like India. Moving to the valley is an option, not the solution. Dronna is a global product and we have a plan but India could be the jackpot.
I do agree with all the challenges such as product in India might face as part of our internet maturity and how we, as a developing nation have a natural tendency to consume(resources/information) more than provide, are risk averse and late adopters in internet technology, not to mention the not so startup supportive Eco-system as compared to the west. But I also believe that things are changing and someone will crack the problem, someone will build the next Google or the Facebook from India. Its all about execution, team work, and perseverance.
How did you overcome these challenges?
We are trying to figure out smarter ways to solve problems in parts. Instead of going head on trying to challenge the way a nation of 1.2 billion people perceive, use and accept technology products, specially one that has lot to do with human psychology and group behavior, we are focusing on small wins, target groups, and keep repeating them till we gain enough momentum to achieve the critical mass.
What have you found the most effective way to get new clients?
Keep your eyes and ears open, listen to the subtle signals that you can get from your early adopters, keep fixing things, move fast, get better and instead of defending your short-comings, accept them with honesty and involve the users to help build a better system together.
What advice do you give to other business owners?
Entrepreneurs are a different breed, they don’t listen to others much. That’s sounds bad but within safe limits that’s also a very important quality that prevents them from getting lost amongst too many advises. So, I don’t know how much of my advice will matter but still, I’d say keep trying things, analyze, improvise and improve; be quick, lean and learn from others, but end of the day do what you really believe in. It’s ok to screw up. Everyone does. Move on, but don’t give up!
How did you keep motivated through difficult times?
Believing that there is a possibility that what we are upto might one day change the world. Startups fail in huge numbers but then a few make it through too. That’s good enough for us to keep working towards our goal.
Whats your favorite quote?
“It ain’t about what you’ve got. It’s about what you make of what you’ve got!”
“The best way to predict the future is to create it”
Who inspires you?
Nikola Tesla, Wright Brothers, Elon Musk, Design and UX philosophy behind Apple products, the Intent behind Google, the vision behind Wikipedia, the not-so-well-known innovators and social entrepreneurs in India who are working at the grass root level to bring a change…the list just goes on. There is just so much awesomeness in this world, you just cant help but be inspired.
Do you have a Business Philosophy?
Don’t lose the vision. That’s your compass.
Contact links
More Info
https://www.startupfreak.com/dronna/
Startup Freak wishes Vikas, All the Best!
