Citrya
means “Brilliant” and that’s how they aspire to be – the people at Citrya
believe that the marketplace is crowded with solutions and products each
solving a specific or a particular class of problems. Not all of them help
“Make life easier” and their endeavor is to find those gaps and create dramatic
value that will enhance the utility of the ecosystem of existing products
exponentially.
Okay,
yes, that sounds intense and confusing possibly, but to crystallize it, they
are in search of solving and innovating in small, but dramatic ways and are
humble enough to acknowledge that they don’t aspire to create the next path
breaking invention in human history, although they would love it if they could
actually, prove their humility wrong!
Below
is a short excerpt from the interaction we had with Mr. Krishna Mitter CEO of
Citrya Innovations.
How long you've been in this business??
After
over 17+ years in a multi-national, we started a business to live our dreams.
It’s a year and a half young, but the journey has enriched us manifold than the
duration. When we (my co-founder Umadevi Santhanam and me) found synergy in
what we wanted to achieve; Citrya took flight.
How did the idea for your
business come about?
We
were able to create a brand new product from India and it became a worldwide
selling proposition with a multi-national environment. This taught us what a
business is. We looked inward at how we could impact the Indian eco-system with
our product expertise. We started building complex technologies, then realized
India is growing and then hit upon the need for personal identity that many of
us yearn to build. The ubiquitous business card is centuries old and we felt
that bringing it to the digital age not only provided a big benefit but also is
the seed for much greater social achievements. That’s when we started iEmerge –
a Digital Card service < link to http://iemerge.citrya.com > and also provided an
ability to create FREE cards so it is accessible to all.
What have been some of your
challenges/failures, and what have you learned from them?
As
with any technologist, we started our path with a complex technological
infrastructure. We quickly realized that we were ahead of the adoption curve.
You realize then that the path is not something that can be defined and
executed, but what is most important is an adaptation. If there is the only thing we
learned, we learned to adapt, to listen to the voice of our customers and to never
build so much affection to your product that you stop listening to the outside
world. We are what we are because of our customers and their involvement in
making us successful.
We
also required an office space where we could meet our corporate customers, have
a private space for the team and not have to bother about logistical
facilities. In short, we wanted to run the business with everything else taken
care of. We searched, shortlisted 10 places, and found Golden Square at the
right time. The location, clean and vibrant private spaces, meeting facilities
and private office configuration met our requirements precisely. However, what
differentiated Golden Square in my mind was the extremely professional staff,
the delegated authority that enabled quick decisions and the sensitivity to the
business requirements.
What is your favorite aspect of
being an entrepreneur?
My
favorite aspect is the ability to impact people lives and create change. A
a year back, I would have thought that a business card is trivial, but today,
when I see so many people using the cards to build their identity, their
reputation and brand their business listening to their customers through
the analytics we create, it is immensely satisfying. Entrepreneurship is not about
creating the next big technology, it is about ‘Making Life Easier’ for people
through technology, simple or complex!
Do you have any advice/suggestion
for budding entrepreneurs?
Simple!
Entrepreneurship is about conquering fear. Lots of people will tell you that
this path is difficult. Make no mistake, they are right. But dreams are never
easy, but if you dared to dream, garner the strength to listen to and learn
from the advice you receive and not be discouraged by it! That will ensure you
live your dream and not someone else’s!
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