youngest ceo

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Meet the world's youngest CEO1 message

Raja jayakumar <[email protected]>

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Suhas Gopinath

When 14-year-old Suhas Gopinath started Globals Inc ten years ago from acyber cafe in Bengaluru, he didn't know that he had become the youngest CEOin the world.

Today, Globals is a multi-million dollar company with offices in the UnitedStates, India, Canada, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia,

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As a child, I was more interested in animals and veterinary science. But when Isaw my friends who had home computers talk about it, I had this urge to learnand talk in their wave length.

But we didn't have a computer at home. In those days, computers were very

expensive and we couldn't afford one.

So, what I did was, I located an Internet cafe near my house. With my modestmonthly pocket money of Rs 15, I couldn't afford to surf the net every day.

I noticed that the shop was closed in the afternoon from 1 PM to 4 PM. So, Ioffered to open the shop for him after my school hours and take care of thecustomers.

In the bargain, he let me browse the net for free. That was the first businessdeal of my life and it turned out to be a successful one.

Suhas with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates

· On building websites using open source technology:

Once I got the chance to manage the shop and browse the net, I startedbuilding websites. It became my passion in no time.

I got hooked to open source technology after I started looking for e-books onhow to build websites. They were not available as they were created in





propriety sources.

So, I started using open source to build websites.

On getting the first contract to build a website

There is a freelance marketplace on the web where I could register and offer my services to build websites. I registered myself there as a website builder.

The first website I had to do was free of cost as I had no references. It was for acompany in New York.

My first income was $100 when I was 13 for building another website but I didn'thave a bank account. so, I told my father that I built a website and got paid for it.

I was not excited to get the money because money was not a factor that drew

me to it. It was the passion for technology that attracted me. I used to buildwebsites free of cost also. I was only a 9th standard student.

After that, I built my own portal and called it Coolhindustan.com. It was focusedon NRIs. It was a portal where I wanted to showcase my skills.

After that, many companies approached me to be their web designer.





Suhas Gopinath speaking to students' at a conference in Austria

· On buying his first computer

When I was in the 9th standard itself, I had made enough money to buy acomputer for myself. At that time, my brother was studying engineering and myfather thought he needed a computer.

In no time, I also bought one for myself. But we didn't have a net connection athome.

My spending hours in the net cafe working on websites did affect my studies. Ispent the entire summer vacation after the 9th standard in the cafe.

On rejecting a job offer from the US

When I was 14, Network Solutions offered me a part-time job in the US andthey said they would sponsor my education in the US. I rejected the offer





because that was the time I had read a story about Bill Gates and how hestarted Microsoft.

I thought it was more fun to have your own company. Many US companiesused to tell me that I didn't even have a moustache and they felt insecure taking

my services. They used to connect my ability with my age and academicqualifications.

So, I wanted to start my own company and show the world that age andacademic qualifications are immaterial. I decided then that when I started acompany, I would recruit only youngsters and I would not ask for their academicqualifications and marks cards. I follow that in my company.

Gopinath delivering a lecture at the DLD Conference

· On starting his own company at 14

Soon after my 9th standard summer vacation, I started my own company,Globals Inc. I wanted the name Global or Global Solutions but both were notavailable, so I named it Globals.

I registered my company in the US as in India, you will not be able to start acompany unless you are 18. It takes only 15 minutes to start a company in the





US.

I became the owner and CEO of the company. My friend, an American who wasa university student, became a board member.

I was very excited because that was what I wanted to do. From that day, Istarted dreaming of making my company as big as Microsoft.

· On doing badly in school

In my pre-board CBSE exam, I failed in Mathematics. The school headmistresswas shocked because that was the first time I had failed in any subject. Shecalled my mother and said she was horrified by my performance.

At home, like any typical South Indian mother, my mother made me swear onher head that I would focus on academics.

I told my mother that the world's richest man Bill Gates had not completed hiseducation. Why do you force me then, I asked her. She then said, I am sure hishoroscope and yours are not the same!

I come from a family where entrepreneurship is considered a sin. My mother was quite upset. She wanted me to do engineering, then an MBA and work in agood company.

As per my mother's wishes, I took a four-month sabbatical from my companyand studied for my board exam. I passed with a first class.

I still feel that you cannot restrict yourself to bookish knowledge. I believe thatpractical knowledge is more important.

In the first year, the turnover of Globals Inc was Rs 1 lakh (Rs 100,000). Thesecond year, the turnover went up to Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000).





Suhas receiving the Incredible Europe Innovation Award at Vienna

· On looking at Europe as a market

Till I was 16 or 17, I didn't tell my parents that I had started a company. I kept ita secret because I thought they would object to it. They only knew that I was afreelancer.

We used to build websites and also offer online shopping and e commercesolutions. We even gave part time work to a few programmers in the US whenwe got many projects but we never had any office.

When I was 16, I saw that there were enormous business opportunities inEurope as a majority of the Indian IT companies were working for Americancompanies.

When I contacted a Spanish company, it rejected my offer saying Indians do notknow Spanish. As an entrepreneur, you can't accept rejection, especially whenyou are young.

I hired five student interns from some Spanish universities and told them they

would be paid based on their successful sales.

They were the people who met the companies and bagged the projects for us.By now, we decided to have a home office in Spain.

I replicated the same model in Italy. I contacted some Italian universitystudents.





Suhas meeting with Sheikha Nayhan, Minister for Higher Education, theUAE

· On going to Germany to talk about entrepreneurship

The American newspapers were writing a lot about me as the world's youngest

CEO at 14 from India, from a middle class background.

It was a good story for the BBC also. I never expected to be in the limelight. For me, starting a company was like realising a passion of mine.

On seeing these stories, a B-school in Germany invited me to talk to itsstudents on entrepreneurship. I was 17 then. By now, I had completed my 12thstandard and had joined Engineering in Bengaluru.

When I was 18, we set up an office -- the European HQ in Bonn. Then, wemoved to Switzerland. Six months back, we started our operations in Vienna aswell.

That is how we spread our operations from a small Internet cafe to become amultinational company with significant operations in Europe, Middle East, theUS, Canada, the UK, Australia, etc.

· On registering a company in India at 18





The day I turned 18, I registered our company in India as Globals, opened anoffice and recruited four people. I opened the office next to the Internet cafewhere I started my career.

By then, he had closed shop and joined a factory as an employee. Whenever I

met him, I used to tell him, 'you made me an entrepreneur but you stoppedbeing one.'

· On moving to creating products

We wanted our company also to be a product development company and our focus was on education, like the software that manages everything about achild while in school starting from admission till he/she leaves school andbecomes an alumnus.

It is a nasty software which students are going to be quite unhappy about! Thissoftware was aimed only at the Indian market. I want to be the market leader inICT in education.

Our software is being used in more than 100 schools all over India, Singaporeand the Middle East.

We are now in the process of raising funds. Once we do it, we will separate thecompany into two -- service and product development. I want to concentrate onproducts as I can't sail on two boats.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick





· On meeting former President Abdul Kalam

I met Dr Abdul Kalam when he was the President of India. I was 17 or 18 then.My meeting was scheduled for 15 minutes but we had such an intenseconversation that it went on for one-and-a-half hours.

I didn't feel that I was talking to the President of India. We talked like twofriends. He was sitting in his chair across the table but after some time, hecame and sat next to me. He isi such a modest person that it was a learningexperience for me.

· On being on the board of the World Bank

As per the wishes of my parents, I joined engineering but didn't complete myengineering: like Bill Gates! When I was in my 5th semester, the World Bankinvited me to attend their board meeting. I am the only Indian on the board of the World Bank.

The objective was to explore how ICT can improve the quality of education inthe emerging economies, by bringing in accountability and transparency in their financial deeds.

Robert B. Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, decided that they could nothave only Americans on the board and needed people from across the world.As they were focusing on education, they wanted young minds to add value tothe work.

He preferred a young mind from an emerging country and that was how I got

the invitation in 2005. Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I wouldbe on the board of the World Bank. The invitation was the most unforgettablemoment in my life. I report directly to Robert B Zoellick!

Some of the others on the board are the CEO of Cisco, the vice president of Microsoft and the CEO of SAP; all Fortune 500 companies and me, the onlyIndian!

I am helping the World Bank set policies on ICT in university education so thatemployability can be enhanced. My aim is to reduce the number of unemployedeligible youth in the world.

Right now, we are concentrating on Africa. Soon, I want to shift the focus on toIndia. It has been an amazing experience for me.

But I had to discontinue my engineering education at the time I joined theboard, as I didn't have enough attendance in college!





Suhas Gopinath

· On his dreams for his company

I have always believed that IT is not just technology but a tool that can solve theproblems of people.

That is what I want to do in my company.

I want my company to be a market leader in software solutions concentrating oneducation.

When I was younger, I didn't care about money. Now that I am responsible for my employees, I care about what we make. If I am not bothered about money,we cannot scale up our business.

When I started my company from a net cafe in Bengaluru, I never ever imagined that one day my company would be a multi-million dollar companyand I would be on the World Bank board as a member.

What drives me is my passion and it has been an amazing journey so far.





--Regards,VKhttp://goldlens.wordpress.com/works/Mob: +919790905194


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