Sumit MardaCo-Founder & Co-CEO of Mindhour Published On: Saturday, August 22, 2015 Views 3475

"Don't give up. Work harder than yesterday. Always be open to suggestions and feedback- doesn't matter who gives it."

Sumit is one of those serial entrepreneurs, who are always on a lookout of ways to use technology for betterment of society. Immediately after completing his graduation, he initially went on to join the 52- year-old family business of water meter manufacturing. During the next four years, he introduced new water meter models in product profile through technical up-gradation and international collaborations with companies in Italy and China. But there were a lot of cool ideas brewing in his minds, which led him to his second venture MOOZ. It is a pulp based drink for the rural India.

However, he came to the forefront in the entrepreneurial arena with his latest venture Mindhour which is the only Gamified education portal with the content strictly curriculum based. The Learning Videos on Mindhour are Interactive, animated and device agnostic. Within a short span of 6 months, they have managed to create a niche for themselves enrolling 10K students and have grown immensely.

Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.

Mindhour is an Adaptive learning portal ensuring complete preparation of the school curriculum in an Exciting and Rewarding way.

What inspired you to build the above product/ service?

Most of the students today are suffering from a serious problem i.e. “Lack of Interest to Study “. A child quickly learns to operate a complex gadget like mobile or computer but finds it difficult to learn a particular chapter in Mathematics. So today, it is not what but how you teach is more important. This idea led to the launch of Mindhour.

What is your life mantra?

I strongly believe that every one of us has one special power and we are suppose to make the world a better place for the rest. From a very early age in my life, I have realized for me that special power is “the ability to do business”. I do not believe in building a philanthropic institute or doing charity. Rather I want to empower the people and make them strong, to be able to make life beautiful for themselves.

What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?

I have done couple of businesses before starting Mindhour. Therefore, the challenges have been different at different stages. In case of Mindhour, the major challenge initially was hiring a good team of content developers. We were bootstrapped and did not have enough budget to offer high salaries. To add to that, we were also located in outskirts of main city to avoid high office rent.

How did you overcome those challenges?

We shared our vision with the employees and assured them that we believe in growing together and not alone. The friendly working culture and the strong believe in the thought that they are a part of a team that is working together to change the future, made salary and infrastructure a lesser priority to them. Today we have a very happy and closely knitted team of content developers, Tele- consultants & Technical Developers.

Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.

We are bootstrapped till date. All the investments have come from my partner’s (Varun’s) personal saving and me.

How do you protect yourself from the problem of Brain Drain?

We do not worry too much on Brain Drain. We believe in open communication.

According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?

I am too young to generalise this. However, I would share three qualities I would always want in me to secure growth in life:

1. Hard Work – No Substitute to this.

2. Patience – Makes you emotionally and rationally stable.

3. Determination – This keeps you on track to success.

Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?

I am not too much of an app person when it comes to personal use.

For Business, we use:

Google Analytics
Drop Box

Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.

I do not give up to failures. I am a strong believer of the fact that, every day we learn something and we learn the most from failures. The failures should not be perceived as something that pulls you back but an event which teaches you and prepares you for the bright future you are working for. The failures would only be considered negative to your growth if you drop down your towel and do not extract any learning from it.

Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.

I want to reduce my sleeping hours. I love sleeping and use it as a meditation tool. I generally sleep for 6-7 hours on a normal day. I am trying to reduce it to 4 hours. Scientifically and biologically 4 hours of sound sleep is sufficient for a healthy body and mind. This would save me 2-3 hours extra each day and I would have 45 working days extra in a year.

Answer in less than 50 words

One tip to success:

Don’t give up. Work harder than yesterday. Always be open to suggestions and feedback- doesn’t matter who gives it.

One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:

Don’t be rigid doing business. Entrepreneurship is about flexibility and being dynamic. Market is evolving each day and so should your business.

One most important lesson that you have learnt till now:

Execution is the king.

Millions can have a business idea but only one can execute it properly to reach the millions.

What are your plans for next 3 years?

Next 3 years we are going to redefine the after school education in India and other emerging countries.

If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?

If given a chance to rewind and change something, I would start a little more early. I think I should have started doing business from the 2nd year of my college. I feel the two precious years were wasted. This could have made me a better entrepreneur today.

What are your top three getaway destinations?

My Bedroom to have a sound sleep.

Share a quote that inspires you the most.

“Strength is Life. Weakness is Death” – Swami Vivekananda.

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