MBA ENTREPRENEURS (3).. Rishabh
Chopra
Putting His Trust In God
After
working for several years in the corporate world, 28-year-old Rishabh
Chopra wanted to do something more challenging. “I thought
entrepreneurship would provide me with the opportunity to have no limits
on my creativity, and I will get a chance to deal with new challenges
continuously,” recalls Chopra. He wanted to create value for the
different segments of society and he wanted to do it differently.
It
was in 2010, while still interning with MindValley, a leading online
publisher in the personal development space, in Malaysia, that he learnt
how to track demand for different content online. After spending a lot
of time researching and hunting for something that had high demand, he
realised that web searches related to Indian mythology were one such
untapped space. “Lord Ganesha alone has some 2 million Facebook fans,”
Chopra explains.
“I
came across the fact that there are about 3 million ideas in ancient
Indian mythology but only 22 are popular online or on social media,” he
adds. The idea of creating personal development programmes based on
Indian mythology was seeded in 2010. Chopra realised there was massive
pent-up online demand for information on Indian mythology, especially
from places outside India. Chopra tapped this opportunity and approached
professors and filmmakers to develop content, and then marketed that
through online channels around the globe.
Chopra’s
venture offers content (through e-mailers, DVDs and other online media)
that draws from Indian mythology and other ancient Indian teachings to
help people with their issues. He has been able to rope in 26,000 users
across 20 countries in just 12 months, the most being from the US. His
customers include a senior executive of a US-based chipmaker who sits in
Africa, and a former minister in Mauritius.
While, the emailers are free, paid programmes cost $47-97. Chopra is constantly looking for new ways to monetise content.
Transformative
Learning Solutions got its final shape and face when Chopra joined ISB
in 2011 and the venture incubated at the Wadhwani Centre of
Entrepreneurship Development there. He received the initial funding of
about Rs 10 lakh in cash and kind. Chopra has recently got a fresh round
of capital from angel investors, both in India and abroad. Most of this
investment is focused on customer acquisition, anwhen television goes
local d since the company is expanding, Chopra says breaking even is
still some time away.
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