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Young Indians who make a difference

March 27, 2008
SUHAS GOPINATH

His passion for the Internet made him chief executive officer of a web solutions and networking company at the age of 17. Suhas Gopinath today runs offices across 11 countries!

He originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but he was fascinated by the cyber world and in 1998, when he was just 13 he launched a website called CoolHindustan.com.

"I wanted to provide Indians all over the world with a forum to post public events, tips for eating out and everything else they're interested in."

But when the site was hacked into, and the logo changed to 'CoolPakistan.com', Gopinath abandoned the project.

At age 14, he decided to become an entrepreneur. "I did not have the money to start. My parents refused to give me a penny, saying it was not worth it. So I wrote to Network Solutions Inc in the US and they readily agreed," he said.

When he wanted to set up Globals Inc along with three other friends, the local government refused him permission because he was a minor. So he registered his company in San Jose, US. His age got him in trouble a second time when his company lost a large outsourcing contract in Singapore, as the law did not allow him to sign the deal.

Today, his team consists mostly students, aged 17 to 22, divided between Bangalore and San Jose.

Gopinath's father, M R Gopinath, once a scientist at the Defense Ministry, though acknowledges that his son made the right choices, still frets that it's important to get a degree.

Career graph:
In 2005, an investment firm from Houston, Texas offered him $100 million for a majority stake in Globals. He refused. His logic, "Why should I sell my baby?"

Awards

  • In 2005, Gopinath was one of the finalists of the Infosys Education World Young Achievers Award
  • The youngest among the 175 recipients of the Karnataka State Government's Rajyotsava Award
  • In 2007, The European Parliament and International Association for Human Values conferred 'Young Achiever Award'
  • Suhas Gopinath is also a brand ambassador for PETA.

    How did it all start?
    "I used to surf and read up a lot on Microsoft and Dell. Bill Gates really impressed me."

    C V MADHUKAR

    His mission was to provide easy-to-understand analysis on legislation.

    The founder-director of PRS Legislative Research, C V Madhukar started his company because the Indian Parliament didn't have a research service to explain the content of the bills Members were considering. Today his audiences are not only from both houses of the Parliament, but from NGOs, media and large corporations.

    His six-person team, financed by the Ford Foundation, is the country's first non-partisan research service focused on pending legislation.

    Career graph:

  • Madhukar started his professional career in 1993 as an investment banker with ICICI Securities in Mumbai
  • He spent significant time as a volunteer and made various contributions to the growth of Pratham.
  • At the invitation of the Government of Karnataka in early 2000, he co-founded and managed Akshara Foundation, a basic education initiative focussed on Bangalore’s children.
  • He concurrently set up the Azim Premji Foundation. The initiative supports technology in rural schools in India.

    Education:

  • A Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree from Bangalore University.
  • Master in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
  • He also has an MBA (Finance) from the University of Houston and

    Awards

  • Madhukar was awarded the Echoing Green Fellowship and Ashoka Fellowship.
  • He was also selected as the Eisenhower Fellow from India for 2008.

    His advice to entrepreneurs
    "Take advice, trust your instincts, and go for it!"

    Image: Suhas Gopinath, India's youngest CEO.
    Also read: Here's how real estate prices are falling

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