My Proficorn Way (Part 51)

Failures

  1. Pre-IndiaWorld (1992-1994)
    • Multimedia Database
    • Electronic Parts Catalogue software
    • Image WorkBench – image processing
  2. IndiaWorld (1997-1999; all these were portals)
    • Dhan – India Investments
    • Indialine – The Internet in India
    • Nagar – Build your home (page)
    • Man Pasand – Indian Favourites
    • India Travelog – Destinations in India
    • IndiaVotes – Opinion Polls
    • Itihaas – 5,000 years of Indian History
    • News Asia – Asian News
  3. Netcore early years (2001-2005)
    • Blogstreet – blog search engine (one of the world’s first)
    • RSS IMAP Aggregator – mailbox for RSS feeds
    • Pragatee – one-stop software for small businesses
    • Visual Biz-ic – enterprise software
    • Digital Dashboard
    • Emergic Freedom – Thin Client, Thick Server
  4. Netcore B2C (2005-2010)
    • MyToday SMS – free subscriptions
    • MyToday Mobs – SMS groups
    • MyToday mobile portal
    • NayaNaya – latest news
    • MyToday Store – paid SMS subscriptions
    • Phone.cc – dedicated portal for every mobile
  5. Politics (2009)
    • Friends of BJP
  6. Free A Billion (2015-2018)
    • New Constitution for India
    • Swatantra Mumbai
    • Nayi Disha and Dhan Vapasi
  7. Investing in Startups (2007-10)
    • Seraja – Event Web
    • Novatium – $100 Computer
    • About 10 other companies

28 years. 30 failures. And 3 big successes.

  • IndiaWorld (1995-99): sold for $115 million in 1999
  • Niti Digital (2012-14): helped Narendra Modi get a majority in 2014 Lok Sabha
  • Netcore (1998-): going strong; a “proficorn”

None of the successes were guaranteed. Success is inevitably built on top of failures. We forget our failures. But the failures are the stepping stones – the pathways that lead to the ultimate destination. If I had not had the courage to experiment as an entrepreneur (and accept repeated failures), there probably would have been no success.

There were long periods of serial failures. But I did not give up. I kept trying new things. That is how I live life even today. In every new idea that I am working on, I wake up every morning to work hard to reduce the risk of failure.

Tomorrow: Part 52

Published by

Rajesh Jain

An Entrepreneur based in Mumbai, India.