Entrepreneur of the Week#4
a. So who is Sanketh Y S basically… tell us a
little about yourself?
From way back I was in 5th
grade i.e, 2005 after a workshop I decided to do something different which others
haven’t but I had no Idea. Atlast 2012, I started an NGO – Shushrooshaa with no
support because even now no one supported ME nor encouraged ME. They all said
it would be a rough path, discouraged ME with various set of reasons. For the
next 6 months I was alone handling it, visiting various other orphanages, old
age homes! I Then, there was an Idea from before to start a Company of MY own
and now I needed funds so I thought this was the right time to start something
of MY own. Thus, Libmyth was born and following other start ups. All these
start ups were born because of MY own needs.
In 2008, I wanted to publish my book and I approached few publishers, everyone
said no because I was young, had no prior experience. I then realised there are
many people in the same situation. So, I decided to start Libmyth. Anyone can
upload their works, it is a platform for other media agencies to select a good
one to syndicate into theirs’. We are in talks with paperback publishers, once
it is done even these books will be published as paper back.
b. What led you to going ahead with the idea of
taking “Online Startup Incubator” online and creating a profitable business
entity out of it?
In 2008, I wanted to publish my book and I approached few publishers,
everyone said no because I was young, had no prior experience. I then realised
there are many people in the same situation. Hence, I founded Libmyth.
All the start-ups that were founded by me were to
solve a previous problem occurred. No one should face similar kind of problems and to make others’ journey easy and smooth going,
Social Scientists was founded.
I have founded 5 start ups and a NGO and in
the starting stage I needed some or the other help. I wanted to help start-ups
so that they don’t face similar problems and to make their journey smoother and
faster, I started advising them. I realised only advising wont help much.
Hence, Social Scientists. It is online as its very easy to connect. As our
tagline says ‘Your startup connections”. We are building a community for collaborative growth and to enhance
togetherness to bring change in this eco-system. We even have a offline
presence too!
c. What has been the most challenging task while
setting up?
The
difficult thing was searching for a co-worker and yes, I found after few months
but nonetheless he just left after working for a couple of weeks, there were
two tech guys who left one after another. Later on Ahaan Pandit came to MY
rescue to guide ME further and he is Our mentor now. But we did not find anyone
for designing for few months. Amrith Shanbag is helping ME with technical
aspects. Now, the things are getting better, risks are always there and the
journey seems to be getting more excited.
d. What would you say are your Business
Strengths?
The
deliverables!
e. Who is your main Inspiration?
Business/Personal.
Inspiration.
I get that from everything. I appreciate Life and the things around. I get
Inspiration from everyone, bits and pieces from everyone and everything. When I
see someone as a role model, I try to become like them. I want be myself in the
best possible way possible.
f. What makes you different from your
competitors like?
There are many startup incubators, communities and supporters. Most of them do
not reach to the nth person who wants to start. Money plays a vital role.
Funded/good team/good released product startups get the support. Events would
have entry fee not only that any service which is opted would be charge
applicable. Entrepreneurs who would have started cannot afford it. We help them
with idea validation, getting a team, mentors, investors (in future
WHY?
This world is not too small, it’s bigger enough to accommodate
you. When we started up on first we faced many problems and this platform is
created to help co-entrepreneurs with their projects.
HOW?
We would like to collaborate with you to make a bigger impact
together. Be it a simple blog or a complex inventory system we have a plan to
work with you.
THEN?
We have learnt this through our experience and we would like you
to be a part of this learning process.
Here, we are forming an inter-dependent start-up community. It's an
online incubator wherein you can collaborate with other start-ups,
entrepreneurs, NGOs, developers, investors or anyone in the
community.
We are building a network and getting everyone in one platform to make
this startup ecosystem better.
- Startups collaborate
together.
- Entrepreneurs can connect with
startups in the community.
- Mentors can choose any
startup of their choice to advice or entrepreneurs can connect with them
for guidance.
- Investors to fund the dreams.
We support entrepreneurs in building more
successful start-ups, start-ups in achieving what they need for their growth,
partners to develop this Community. We want to bridge the gap in start-up
ecosystem and build a support network. We are building this community for
collaborative growth and to enhance togetherness to bring change in this
eco-system.
f. If given the chance to go back in time, is
there anything that you would’ve done differently that would impact “Social
Scientist” as it is today?
The Journey is a memorable but lots of surprises daily good, bad or in
between!
The only reason to be in startup is when you feel
making this world a better place than it is today. Solve real customer’s real
problems, which no one else is solving. So, there is nothing as such I would
have done in a different way. If I can go back inTime, I want to start it much
early!
g. What future plans do you have for your
business entity?
To be the most trusted and biggest, supportive incubator + talent hub!
h. What are the 3 top factors to which you would
like to attribute the success of your startup?
1. Idea
2. Community
3. Passion
i. How inviting is India Inc. towards upcoming
businesses like yourself?
If someone who’s totally ignorant about the Indian market walks up to me
and asks me about entrepreneurship in India – my answer to them would be that “Entrepreneurs
are everywhere, one who wants to stand on his own feet, maybe a business
development guy, tech guy, real estate or even a pani puri wala. The one who
does in a non-conventional way.” The
awareness about entrepreneurship is definitely increasing incredibly, but not
enough converts yet. Lots of wannapreneurs, but few actual entrepreneurs.
Again, our goal is to make entrepreneurship a way of Life!