Saurabh is one of those visionaries who have the desire to build products for the betterment of society. There are people who often dream of doing something great, but very few are able to achieve it. Saurabh is the latter. Before embarking on his entrepreneurial career, he was a scientist at CERN working on muon cooling. After that, he went on to become a research fellow at CEA. However, there was something still amiss in his life, which is why he moved back to India to start work on his startup.
GTI Labs has been his brainchild creating a new consciousness with smart connected wearables and devices. Sync, a product from GTI Labs, aims to revolutionize women security with an SOS and distress application. According to him, Safety is at the core of all the products at GTI labs.
Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.
It’s a wearable women safety product designed to become an integral part of a women’s life and provide them safety at all the times. It has an SOS button which triggered once, can send an SOS signal along with the location of the user. We designed the device in such a way that the user becomes habitual in using this daily. To achieve that, we also provided a fitness tracker to it along with many other smart features like receiving smartphone notifications and taking a selfie.
What inspired you to build the above product/ service?
The increasing number of rape cases in our country motivated me to build this product. It’s a women safety product designed to become an integral part of a women’s life.
What is your life mantra?
Life is too short to play small, have an impact.
What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?
I was a Nuclear scientist earlier at Atomic Energy Commission in France, so leaving my Ph.D. in France to come back convincing my family about my dream to startup, Raising funds and reducing the size and cost of the product has proven to be the most challenging part in my journey till now.
Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.
We raised a grant of $80,000 from the Govt. of India for the project at IIT Delhi
How do you protect yourself from the problem of Brain Drain?
There are two kinds of employees. One who works only for money and the other one wants to be a part of something much bigger than themselves. We try to always hire the second ones. Because only people who believe in your vision can help you build a big and impactful company. So to avoid brain drain, we hire self-motivated people who are drawn to us because of our vision and nothing else. This makes them stay longer.
According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?
I would say 5 qualities are a must:
1. A strong self Image
2. An ability to think really big.
3. Perseverance
4. Perseverance
5. Perseverance
Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?
Google notes, AWS and Facebook marketing services
Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.
Creating sense of urgency – By asking myself and others this question
- If a task requires a week to finish, how would you do it in 2 hours if someone has a gun on your head and your life depends on it?
This simple question pushes our brain to find more creative ways to get a task done more efficiently.
Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.
Not able to sleep peacefully like a child. Need to relax a little bit and become more awake.
Answer in less than 50 words
• One tip to success:
Never change your destination when you find a hurdle, just change the route. Be like water, flexible yet determined to reach the end point.
• One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:
Waiting for the perfect conditions to launch an idea. Never wait or fall in the paralysis of analysis trap
• One most important lesson that you have learnt till now:
Launch quickly and iterate faster.
What are your plans for next 3 years?
To build GTI Labs into a Google-like company where we can build things that can have a much bigger impact on the world with things like cold fusion, most efficient solar panels, nano satellites and many other moon-shot ideas.
If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?
Would have started up early.
What are your top three getaway destinations?
Paris, Goa, Annecy
Share a quote that inspires you the most.
A small group of committed people can actually change the world. If you look at the history of humanity, that’s what has been proved time and again. Best example: Whatsapp – 2 engineers created something that challenged the telecom industry throughout the world.