What is the nature of your business? (Business Profile)
We are creators of world's firsts. Our business model is very unique -we are simply not a technology company or a mobile business consultancy company, but a combinational technology firm that builds business models in short: A media firm. We build innovative streaming technology to put music of near - CD quality into mobile phones no matter where the user is-any time-any place. We also do is to build business for our partners [customers], such as Virgin Radio and Bacardi to come out with new business models, new & innovative ideas to deliver their music to customers through mobile phones. We help our partners and build an entire mobile strategy for them in relation to audio on mobile phones. It's all about building mobile lifestyles be it for music, educational purposes, marketing etc. We have 3 services that are world's first.

What made you embark on this venture choice?
The idea first came to me at a very unique situation back in 1999 way before the iPod days. I was stuck at a train station in San Francisco in the middle of the night and I wanted to listen to some soothing and calming music. But it was quite troublesome to turn on my computer and transfer the music to my PDA. I also realized that my mobile phone is my primary communication device and I carried it all the time. I thought it would be great if I could get access to music through my mobile phone-no need of messy transfers and I could access any song I want. So, from there on, I started conducting due diligence and found out that there are two trends in the telecom and music industry: First, mobile phones are being developed to possess more and more advanced technologies-soon it would be beyond a simple communication device. Secondly, people from the younger generation are moving towards a more sophisticated way of listening to music---digital and global content. People today like to listen to music of a broad range of content. However, most of the business owners of music could not meet the customers' needs. I thought it would be great to find a way for people to be able to get access to the music or radio stations they like anytime and anywhere. They do not need access to PCs, but simply through their mobile phones. That was my vision for our business at that time. Today, our service has reached out to 91 countries. So people with our product are able to listen from all 91 countries. It is free of cost. So it is really beneficial to customers. It is also beneficial to our partners like Virgin Radio that they can now earn ad revenues from countries outside UK whom they were not able to reach before our service.

How does your business work?
We partner with famous music radio stations or brands by using our technology to stream their music to users' mobile phones and pushing their radio station experiences onto mobile phones. Users can download the free software from our company website- www.sydusmobile.com; install a small application on their mobile phone. Then they can get the access to their favourite music and digital radio stations. So far, we have 3 partners: Virgin Radio in UK, Barnabas Road Media [Christian Radio] in the US and our newest partner--- BACARDI B-LIVE Radio. We are proud to share that Sydus is the world's first in 3G radio service, world's first Christian mobile radio service and world's first branded radio service.

How did the technology come about? How long did it take you to develop it?
I was very fortunate that I have some very good friends I used to work with in San Francisco. They helped me develop the technology. The developing process took about two and a half years. It was a bit long time. But the difference between us and some other people who is doing similar things is that we believe there should be certain quality of music. It is not justifiable to push bad quality music to customers and say "it should be tolerated because it is mobile phone." We decided to put out bar of quality so high that when we release out product, people will get really excited about it. Not only about listening to music on mobile phones, but also about the high quality they can get. In order to achieve this, the waiting was worthwhile.

Did you have the capital to start the business or did you have to borrow from someone to get started?
Fortunately, we got a lot of help from family, friends and many friendly people we know. They have been very kind to us, allowing us to start doing our business. We did bootstrap very strongly for a number of years something all real start-ups go through. We were very cautious about our expenditure until we had our first customer.

Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another?
Yes. My parents do inspire me. My family have investments and business in different industries. They inspired me to join our family business. But I have been free spirited and, not like a typical Asian son, decided to go venture on my own. My parents have been very supportive through the whole process, both emotionally and financially. I feel that it is very critical to have support from people you trust. They believe in you and push you forward.

What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else?
To be honest, my childhood dreams were basically two things, either being an air force pilot or being a cricket player. But later I felt these two things were not really realistic and was an avid gadget freak. So I decided to pursue engineering. I also studied Economics. Before I joined university, I had been thinking about what I really wanted to do. And I realized two things about myself. First, I love technology, but I love what technology positively impacts human beings. . That was a paradoxical issue. Second, I love music. I was so passionate about music that I have to listen to music almost 24 hours a day. So when the idea about mobile music came to my mind, it was a childlike excitement for me. It really excited me to move forward see how mobile technology could change the world of music and human consumption.

Is it a hard decision for you to leave the company you worked for and started your own business? Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company?
It is one of the most difficult decisions an individual must make. Maybe it is just a little bit less important than marriage. This is something that will drastically change your career. It has a lot of pitfalls, a lot of potential and it is very risky. The negative component of it is that you will have no salaries. It is hard to leave an environment that you have been get used to and felt comfortable with. I had a good job and quite high disposable income and got pampered with that. I came to realization that if I started my own business, I would have to give up all those things--- high salary, fancy restaurants and etc. And I have to scale down towards bootstrap. As a matter of fact, every decision you make would have such a huge impact that if you make one wrong turn, it could be the end of your career, the end of the company and people who support you. It is a very tough mental challenge that you have to go through to overcome all these and to say "Yes. I am ready for this." I made the decision at the end because the idea was so compelling that I believed it so strongly. Everything is telling me this is the right thing to do, for myself and the world I was very fortunate that my family and friends understood the value proposition and supported me. They championed me and said "Don't worry. We are behind you." So I know, if I have any problems, I can turn to these people who I trust and I love. So, although it was tough, I made the decision at the end. And I believe I made the right decision.

Are there at any point in your life that you experienced a significant event (WW2, racial riots of the 1960s, the Economic Crisis of the 80s or 90s, SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends) which affected or influenced you and your business that made you change the way you think and do your business?
Fortunately, we have never been affected by significant events like SARS because we are a global business. I would say, one significant event, or one of the biggest difficulty for us is really changing consumer behaviour landscape. It is hard to change the way consumers listen to music, the way they consume music but we are seeing the change happening for us.

What are some of the challenges in starting a business from scratch?
For us, the biggest challenge is to change consumer behaviour. The transformation from the traditional way people consume music is not instantaneous and not easy. It takes years for the transformation to take place. It is sort of similar to the transformation from letters to emails. In 1980s, most people wrote letters and it took a month to send a letter to the other end of the world. But today, it takes like 10 mini seconds to send an email. We are lucky that Apple has created a helping hand for us to justify to investors and consumers that digital mobile music is the way to go. But Apple uses separate devices other than mobile phones. It is a huge helping hand for us because it is very hard to change consumer behaviour. Since Apple has done the job, it becomes much easier for us to convince a consumer to buy our product. With our current set of customers and users from 90 countries it's a great testament of belief and hard work.

Who/What motivates you?
What motivates me most is the sheer challenge---the challenge to lead the revolution in two huge industries---telecom industry and music industry. The motivation comes from the excitement that a small company like us can change huge industries and make a world a better place.. We can show the people from mobile industry that they can also make profit from this market and consumers will win. That change and influence on these mindsets is a huge challenge and the biggest motivation for me. It is the self-satisfaction that you gain when you feel that you can give back to the world something that is so exciting. Imagine that in some poor countries where people cannot afford PCs, which are relatively much more expensive than mobile phone, they can get educated through mobile phones because there is radio and technology by Sydus. The people can get to know international news, receive classes and tutorials. The impact on these people would be so amazing and when that happens, it will be the real satisfaction for me, and for everybody in my company. Our motivation is to influence the world, make it a better and more exciting place to live in.

Tell me about the first few customers and the first few years of business.
The first few years were tough and challenging because we were trying to change the way people listen to music. Most people were hesitant and it was hard to convince them. Our first customer was Virgin Radio---UK's only commercial rock music station. We helped Virgin Radio to become the world's first station available globally via 3G phones.

Please tell me some stories of your best day in business or your proudest achievement to date.
About the proudest achievement, I think there are two moments. One is that after we launched our first product with Virgin, we had some listeners writing back to us, saying how excited they areand that we are working on consumers' behalf and we are representing listeners' voice. Another moment is that when we know we have a listener from Botswana. To me, it is gratifying that we are able to reach some remote part of the world such as Botswana where PC cannot reach.

Do you recall your worst day in business? Have you ever felt like giving up?
Yes. There were days when you questioned yourself whether what you are doing is correct and whether your team is on the right way. These questions come from time to time. As a founder of the company and the leader of the team, you have to bear those pressures and make things moving. You cannot let those momentary emotions to influence the entire team and make everyone feel depressed. It is quite a challenging work.

When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you?
Emotionally, it is the first day when I came across that idea. I strongly believe it would work from day 1. I felt that was just a natural evolution of technology. But the real moment was when we found that we had listeners from 91 countries 3 month after we launched our first product. Actually, 40 hours after the launching, we had listeners from each of the six continents. That was really gratifying to know that people are loving what you are doing.

What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed?
We had many challenges:  1.We had financial challenges.  2.We also had physical and geographical challenges because the idea came about in San Francisco, but we have to relocate everything when we move to Singapore.  3.Building the right team was also very challenging. I am a big believer about having the right people for the right job rather than having a lot of people in the company and hopefully one of them will work. Our team is built based on calibres. Nationality, race and gender don't matter to us. Everybody in my company has great passion for our job. That's very important to me.

What are some qualities that you feel you possess which differentiate you from someone who works for others?
I think there are three qualities. 1. Ability to learn and understand and adapt to a new environment very quickly, whether it is business or technology. Our world is changing so fast. Every industry is changing because of globalization. We are competing globally, selling globally and consuming globally. 2. Passion and persistency. For me, every single day when I wake up since I started this company, I get so excited that I can influence the world, I can change the world. I have to check my emails all the time because I am dying to know what is happening and how I can do better. The passion and persistency goes hand in hand. They help me go through bad days. 3. Networking and team-building. I know what our weaknesses are so I have to build a team which is well compensatory for that. For me, I know I am not as good a software engineer as I am a business technologist, so I make sure that I have a very strong technical team.

To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the "secrets" in making a successful business?
Many qualities are very essential such as passion, persistency, ability to learn in a new environment, building good team and the ability of knowing your weakness.

Who or what inspires you?
I would say there is a combination of people. But the ones who inspire me most are my parents. They are both entrepreneurs and big believers in making the world a better place to live. I have been seeing how they have been excited, seeing how they have been going through their ups and downs and finally got to success. I have been learning from them and following their footsteps. They really inspired me and I know I have to work hard to make sure I meet their expectations.

Have you ever thought of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations? How and where?
We have already expanded our business to San Francisco US. We are opening up in London UK, Beijing China and India in the next 3 or 4 months. Given the global environment, we have to play globally. We are basically representing Singapore to the world. That's how we figure ourselves.

What aspects of expansion would you like to see for your enterprise?
In terms of expansion, I would like to hear from more people from all over the world. I hope to hear that what we are delivering to our customers are helping them and benefiting them. 91 countries is great. But I wish we could reach out to all the 160 countries in the world. Our customers can tell us what they like and dislike so that we can improve and deliver better product to them. It is all about people. Our customers' opinion and feedbacks are most important to us.

In your opinion, how would you define entrepreneurship?
I think one aspect about entrepreneurship is starting off with a passion and vision which are convincing to the entrepreneur that what he/she is doing is beneficial to not only him/herself but everyone involved and the world will benefit from what he/she brings on. Another aspect about entrepreneurship is building team and organization from scratch. It is like an architect building a house. You got to do all the things to build up the house. If you get really excited about all those things, think you'd build the building really high and you would be gratified by the result, then you are a true entrepreneur. Rewards are just rewards. They should not be the goal. Real entrepreneurs should be chasing their dreams, their visions, not chasing money. Take Bill Gates as an example, he found out the power of influence he can make to the world to make it better and much more efficient. I like what I am doing because I feel gratified that I am sharing the same vision, which is to influence the world, with many successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates.

To what extent does one's educational level help or hinder entrepreneurial-ship?
I think education is important. It teaches you the way to think and solve problems. It doesn't matter what your major is and whether it is related to work you are doing. It is a lesson of life. When you encounter a problem in life, you would think and solve the problem to make life better and easier. I don't see there should be an emphasis on whether you have an MBA or not. Take myself as an example. I did engineering course in university. It taught me knowledge on technology. I also studied economics. It helps me to make business models very quickly. I did not have experience in learning marketing but I have very good understanding of consumer behaviour because I studied psychology. For our company, since mobile industry is so new that there are no books or documents which can teach us or give us all the information we need. So I have to be very resourceful and get every avenue to get that information. I think ultimately it depends on an individual to see how far he/she can go. It doesn't depend on whether you come from an affluent family or whether you are from Harvard Business School. Harvard Business School and affluence give you an advantage, but they do not guarantee success.

As we try to select the final 41 entrepreneurs, what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others?
From my perspective, first, the person should be very passionate and the passion should not be because of money. It should be more about how I can transform the world and how I can do things beneficial to other people. Second, the person should be very resourceful. He/she should be able to demonstrate that he/she has overcome quite a lot of hurdles and a lot of challenges to be successful. Third, the person should be able to inspire youth. He/she should be able to demonstrate that he/she is young and dynamic. The younger you are, the more challenge you will face. So if a person can demonstrate that he/she is capable and he/she is young, he/she would definitely have greater potential to success.

What are some of your own values in doing business and what do you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation?
I think the greatest value is that you must have a dream and you must be passionate about your dream. You need to have a reason for everything you do and every decision you make. You must tell yourself "This is what I like and I want to be the best." Every one of us lives to be satisfied. I want to say that the one thing that is guaranteed in life is death. When you die, the one thing that is guaranteed you will not take with you is money. The only things you can take are good memories and satisfaction. If you are satisfied because you are the best in what you can, your life is fulfilling. On the way to pursue your dreams and to be the best, there will be challenges and drawbacks. So you need an undying love for the things you do.

What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business?
Life and business are quite similar. They are both about quality. You must know the reason why you are doing all the things. Once you believe what you are doing is the right thing and you love doing it, nothing is going to stop you. The people who are doing best in every field and industry are people who love what they are doing and they feel that what they are doing will be giving back to the society and they can deliver the best thing to people. That's the passion you must have.

Your Personal Comment [Optional]
Mr Saumil Nanavati is a young entrepreneur with great passion for his business. I was really impressed by his philosophy in doing business as well as life. "Follow your dream, be passionate with what you love to do, believe in yourself, always work hard and try to the best." This is what I have learned from this successful and approachable entrepreneur and what I shall always encourage myself with.