A CEO at 16, now a millionaire!

Innovation is the secret of their success. They believe a simple idea can transform lives. They dream big and are passionate about their goals... Meet the young, ambitious, intelligent and enterprising architects of India. Here's a special series on India's best innovators and entrepreneurs, winners of the latest Nasscom Innovation Award 2008.

A gaming success mantra

It has been games, games and more games for 31-year-old millionaire entrepreneur Vishal Gondal. He flunked his BCom exams as he was devoted to games, a passion he pursued from the age of 13. Later, this passion led to a serious business when people offered him money to develop games.

In fact, Vishal was amused to see that people were ready to pay him for doing what he liked the most.

At the age of 16, he started his first company, FACT. Later, he received seed capital from Infinity and IL&FS. With an initial investment of Rs 3.25 crore (Rs 32.5 million), Indiagames was born in 1999.

The initial years were tough, especially during the dot-com bust, but they remained focussed and never gave up. Indiagames's products are now distributed to over 75 countries through partnerships with mobile operators.

From a humble beginning in a garage with just five employees, Indiagames has come a long way. Today, Vishal leads a team of over 300 employees and has offices in Mumbai, London, Los Angeles and Beijing. In 2006, UTV acquired 51 per cent stake in Indiagames.

Thinking 'out of the box' has kept Vishal Gondal ahead in this space. He believes that gaming will grow bigger than cricket and Bollywood in India.

"Entrepreneurs must have a clear focus. One must keep focusing on a single thing than trying to do many things at the same time. And copy cat ideas will not survive. One needs to be innovative and do unique things," he points out. However, he laments over the dismal state of innovation in India. "Indian companies had it very easy till now he says. They will be forced to innovate and do things differently."

Network Marketing Success- What’s the Secret?

Network Marketing Success, Many Have Tried, Many Have Failed. So What’s the Secret?

Network marketing success: Why are some able to soar to greater heights while others fall, crash to the ground, and burn to a blackened crisp? Is it destiny or fate? Is there really a secret formula or are some just lucky?

I have talked to many people with these questions. The reason they are asking is because they want to achieve network marketing success but are unwilling to step out and test the waters. They are waiting until someone guarantees them internet success.

This is something I am unwilling to do. If someone guarantees you that you won’t fail, probably you should run away as fast as you can in the opposite direction. Success will only come to those who are willing to pay the price. The only person who knows that for sure is you.

Getting back to some of the questions that were asked, is there a secret? Well, I think the answer to that is yes. Probably there is more than one. I’m not sure how secret the secrets are anymore, but there are things you need to know.

If you want network marketing success, your greatest asset will be you. The number one reason most people in network marketing fail is a lack of action. YOU have to act. YOU will need to do the work involved. Of course, there are many other factors as well.

Money is another factor. If you don’t learn how to monetize, you will end up spending more money than you ever make each month. I’m not saying you need to have tons of money in order to succeed, but to say you will not need any would be a falsehood on my part.

Those who succeed are those who are willing to pay the price. There may be many paths to reach your goal, but the ones who will stay on their path and not be swayed will be the ones to reach their goal.

The awesome thing about this business is the amount of useful information available through the internet. Many experts in the field are willing to share their network marketing success.

They have paid a huge price to accumulate valuable information through years of experience. In turn, they now give it away to you free.

When someone looks at it from that angle, it gives them a responsibility to make sure they don’t squander what they have been given. Sometimes, if we obtain something free of charge, we forget its value.

I believe part of our network marketing success has to do with our attitude. Not only does this affect you personally, it also affects those with whom you come in contact. I can tell almost immediately when I am talking to a negative person.

Our words will give us away. No matter what the subject is, the negative person always finds a way to point out why something won’t work. A positive person is always looking for a solution to the problem.

In order to have network marketing success, make sure you not only follow all the guidelines found on this hub, but begin to have a positive outlook. This will go a long way toward helping you succeed.

Citibank introduces mobile banking with Citi Mobile

Citibank has recently introduced City Mobile, its mobile banking solutions, to provide convenience and on-the-go banking with upgraded mobile technology that is compatible with the popular mobile handsets across most GSM operators. With Citi Mobile, bank customers can check account balances, issue drafts, make credit cards, send money, request for a cheque book and much more.

Citi Mobile can be easily downloaded onto a mobile phone and the subscribers should have a Citibank Banking/ credit card account, a mobile phone number that is registered with the bank, an active internet PIN and a Java-enabled mobile phone with a GPRS connection.

Japan Plans New Economic Stimulus Package

Japan announced the implementation of a new 100-trillion yen economic stimulus package lately. The details of the package are however to be made public only in the beginning of April 2009.


Japan had already introduced several stimuli packages earlier worth a total of 75 trillion yen. They are made up of two extra budgets for the current fiscal year and the principal budget for the next fiscal 2009 with fiscal spending of 12 trillion yen.


The plan will be presented at a meeting of G20 leaders in April in London.

Reliance attracts 3.3 million customers in Feb

One of India's leading mobile operators, Reliance Communications, has attracted 3.3 million wireless customers in the month of February, as stated by the company. The total number of customers till the end of January was 66.3 million, as displayed by the telecom regulator's data.

RIL to start production by mid April

Reliance Industries Ltd is likely to commence gas production from its east coast field by the month of mid-April. It would start gas output from its eight wells with an expected production rising to 40 mn cubic meters a day by August and peak at 120 mn cubic meters a day.

At present, RIL is checking the condition of its 1440 kilometer pipeline that will carry the gas from the manufacturing place to the western state of Gujarat.

ROBIN BANERJEE APPOINTED AS CFO OF SUZLON

The fifth largest turbine maker of world, Suzlon Energy, has filled its post of chief financial officer (CFO) by appointing Robin Banerjee with immediate effect. Robin Banerjee is having an international working experience as he has worked at the top positions of varied domains like finance and treasury and M&A in industries like travel, steel, FMCG, auto etc.

Sumant Sinha, the COO of Suzlon, said that Robin's experience of working will bring value to the company for its share holders.