JOIN USHow often does it happen that two youngsters, aged 14 and 12 years, appear on a stage and introduce themselves as “I am the co-founder & president of .....” and “I am the co-founder & CEO of ...”?
Well, it did happen last week when Shravan Kumaran 14, and Sanjay Kumaran, 12, took to the stage at the SAP Techniversity event in Bangalore last Saturday. The audience comprising engineering and management students, apart from senior executives from SAP Labs India, were spellbound when the siblings held forth on their 22-month-old start-up called Go Dimensions and gave some business bytes as well. Sanjay is co-founder and CEO, while Shravan is co-founder and president.
The siblings, studying at Vael's Billabong International High School in Chennai not only spoke of seven mobile applications developed by them, but also gave tips to aspiring entrepreneurs on how to run a successful start-up.
The two brothers went about with their presentation in an informal way, which had its share of humour also.
For instance, most entrepreneurs would have heard of funding from venture capitalists, banks, friends, et al. But ever heard of “Dad funding”? Sanjay came up with precisely that, when he referred to the financial support from his father Kumaran Surendran, himself an IT professional. The audience was in splits.
Shravan spoke on the need for a good business plan. “It should be realistic; also, one should have a conservative and optimistic outlook.”
Sanjay also spoke about his views on the prerequisites for a start-up. “You should have a strong idea, self-confidence, a good business plan and know about sources of funding.”
The business jargon was there too, when he talked of “idea to opportunities cycle.”
The siblings have developed seven mobile applications since July 2012 - Catch Me Cop, Alphabets Board, Prayer Planet, Color Palette, Emergency Booths, Super Hero EI5 and Car Race HD – and most of these have got ratings of 4.5 to 5 (maximum) by Apple's Apps Store and can be downloaded free.
Aiming High
The brothers are all set to develop their first paid-for application “Go App”, one that Sanjay said will give updates on all applications developed by them. “We want at least 50 per cent of smartphone users in India to use our apps, only then will we launch our first paid app,” said Shravan during interaction with reporters.
Surprisingly, they are not keen on Facebook. “Instead, we spend our time on developing apps and learning,” Sanjay said.