Global IndianstoryZoho’s Sridhar Vembu: The Silicon Valley entrepreneur who’s promoting ‘work from hometown’

Indian Entrepreneur

Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu: The Silicon Valley entrepreneur who’s promoting ‘work from hometown’

Written by: Global Indian

Nestled at the foothills of the Western Ghats, about 650 kilometers from Chennai is Mathalamparai, a tiny village in Tenkasi district in Tamil Nadu. With a population of a little over 2,000, it might not be your typical location to house a software major. But with his current Twitter location tagged at Tenkasi, Zoho Corporation’s Indian entrepreneur, founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu has been on a mission to redefine the term ‘headquarters’.

Zoho’s foray into rural India began when the Chennai-headquartered software products firm began operations from Mathalamparai. Termed the Zoho Experiment, this has been Vembu’s initiative to enable his employees to work closer to their homes and boost the rural economy. Unlike other tech giants, Vembu drifted away from the philosophy of having standard office headquarters and has been operating from a rural setup since 2019; urging his employees to do the same.

Sridhar Vembu in Tenkasi

The Software as a Service (SaaS) company is currently working on a model to establish ‘feeder offices’ in rural areas with an emphasis on Tamil Nadu. The initial setup has reportedly been quite successful with both the organization and employees doing well on all fronts; the latter has the advantage of being closer to home, thereby striking a work-life balance.

Vembu was awarded the 2019 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and earlier this year he was honored with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honor. The Indian entrepreneur was also recently appointed to the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) of India.

Back to his roots

Born in Thanjavur district to a family of farmers, Vembu graduated from IIT Madras in Electrical Engineering before he went on to do his Ph.D. from Princeton University in New Jersey. Following a brief stint at Qualcomm, he went on to co-found AdventNet in 1996 with his brothers and friends. The company made software products at a time when IT services were the rage. In 2009, the company was renamed Zoho Corp to reflect its transition from a software company to an innovative online applications provider.

Today, Zoho provides cloud-based CRM solutions and over 40 apps in the areas of online accounting, and human resource and inventory management. Having spent considerable time in the US, the Indian entrepreneur lived in and around San Francisco’s Bay Area, before deciding to move back lock, stock, and barrel to India in 2019, just a few months before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world embraced a work-from-home policy, Vembu went on to embrace the work-from-village mission. The reason behind his decision, which might be a paradigm shift for the IT sector, is subtle yet ingenious.

Emphasizing that talent emerges from rural areas, 54-year-old Vembu asserts that this transition will have people working globally; from villages. The bigger picture: more opportunities for people to work from a single location while catering to global requirements. Currently, Zoho has two rural offices — Tenkasi and Renigunta in Andhra Pradesh. In an interview with Forbes India, Vembu said his motivations to go rural are two-fold,

“One, I want my employees to live in these villages because it brings a lot of cross-fertilization of ideas.”

Second, Vembu hopes that the city folk will be able to pitch in with mentoring and coaching the local youth who can then be recruited by Zoho. “It would be a two-way exchange here…”

In addition to his regular work, Vembu also does his bit for the village: he has been teaching Maths and Science at a local school. The Indian entrepreneur opines that such a lifestyle i.e., teaching, farming, and other village-related activities, can enable people to re-connect with their roots. Vembu himself is finding his way back to his old ways. A typical day for him begins with early morning calls to his US offices, before he sets off for a long walk, occasionally taking a dip in the village well apart from spending some time farming.

Life is worth living for these moments! pic.twitter.com/HoTaaaWqrh

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) May 23, 2021

Plans for feeder offices

Indian entrepreneur Vembu and his team are working on replicating the concept of feeder offices not only in India but also at Zoho’s offices in the US, Mexico, and Japan. This nascent concept of ‘work-from-village’ has proved to be a well-calculated gamble as the employees of Zoho have managed to develop the latest offering i.e., customer service software – Zoho Desk. Incidentally, Zoho was one of the first software product unicorns. In 2019 Forbes valued Vembu’s 88% stake at $1.83 billion. The company has over 50 million users globally for its apps.

With its headquarters in Chennai, Zoho Corp is focusing on providing seamless services to clients, irrespective of office locations. Once the work in the first 10 villages is underway, the company plans on implementing similar models in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. If successful, it could be replicated across other companies as well.

Sridhar Vembu on Twitter

Rural India, despite so much poverty, offers a sense of belonging and rootedness. The result is low crime.

The reason is traditional religious faith.

Even as we lift ourselves up economically, I want to nurture the roots of our culture and the faith that sustains life. 🙏

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) June 19, 2021

It is best not to burden our efforts with expectations. When we act with resolute will, the universe opens doors but our prior expectations get in the way of us recognizing those open doors.

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) June 7, 2021

Name*

Email*

Name*

Email*

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Published on 25, Jun 2021

Share with

ALSO READ

Manoj Bhargava: The Indian-American billionaire rocks in philanthropy with 5-Hour ENERGY

(July 25, 2022) ‘Batman’ and ‘ironman’ are some of the words used to describe Manoj Bhargava, one of the richest Indians in America but he sees himself as just a person who makes useful things for the needy. From living like a monk in India for 12 years to running a multi-billion business in America, he has led an extraordinary and versatile life. The Indian-American billionaire launched his most profitable product, 5- Hour ENERGY in 2003, and reached the top of the business game. However, far from living the high life, in 2015, he pledged 99 percent of his net worth to help the less fortunate. His unique, zero-profit business model is designed to serve as many people as possible. A stickler for anonymity, Bhargava would once joke, “if you google ‘Manoj Bhargava’, It will take you to some lawyer in Singapore.” [caption id="attachment_27299" align="aligncenter" width="856"] Manoj Bhargava, Indian-American philanthropist and entrepreneur[/caption] In one of his rare interviews, he went on to stress why he shies away from any kind of media: I don't have this hobby of being famous. I don't think it's bad for other people. It's like a hobby. Some people collect stamps, other people like to

ian-American philanthropist and entrepreneur[/caption]

In one of his rare interviews, he went on to stress why he shies away from any kind of media:

I don't have this hobby of being famous. I don't think it's bad for other people. It's like a hobby. Some people collect stamps, other people like to be famous. I don't have that hobby. I just look at it in that sense - Manoj Bhargava

Global Indian turns its spotlight on the philanthropist-entrepreneur.

Beginning of the unusual life

The entrepreneur, who is inclined towards roads less traveled, led the first 14 years of his life in India. His family moved to Pennsylvania, the USA in 1967 so that his academically inclined father could pursue his PhD at Wharton. From a house with several servants in Lucknow, the Bhargavas had to manage with the bare minimum in the USA.

From a young age, Bhargava displayed an exceptional talent for mathematics, which helped him bag a scholarship at The Hill School, an elite private academy where he completed his high school education. He then joined Princeton University in 1972. Much to the disappointment of his parents, who ran a plastics company in Indiana, Bhargava dropped out of college one year later. It was the first of a long series of unusual decisions he would go on to take during his life.

There were no jobs in the area where his parents were settled and young Bhargava was clueless about life. He started reading about a saint in India and was intrigued by his choice to devote his life to a spiritual quest. Finding it to be a worthwhile path, Bhargava moved back to his country of origin in 1974. This was the second unusual decision that he made.

[caption id="attachment_27300" align="aligncenter" width="782"] Indian Entrepreneur | Manoj Bhargava | Global Indian Manoj Bhargava interacting with locals in a village[/caption]

Throughout his twenties, Bhargava traveled across India going from one monastery to the next. This pursuit of stilling the mind went on for 12 years, the bulk of which he spent in India, traveling to the USA from time to time to do some sundry work, which even included driving a taxi in New York. He remains proud of these experiences and believes that they gave him a perspective that just cannot be earned in a fancy school.

During his ashram stay in India, Bhargava worked at a printing press and also looked after the construction works. Meanwhile, his experiences in Hanslok Ashram made an indelible mark on the young man’s mind, laying the foundation for what would come next and the interspersing of spirituality and entrepreneurship that he delved into later in life.

Although he did make his return to the material world, the billionaire continues to spend one hour a day in meditation and contemplation.

Entrepreneurial journey

Acting upon his family’s urgings, Bhargava joined his parents’ plastic injection manufacturing company in Indiana, after twelve years as a monk. A couple of years later, he founded his first venture – an outdoor furniture parts company, followed by another that worked with chemicals. However, it was his third venture, Innovations Ventures LLC that went on to rock in the US market. The product - 5-hour Energy (a concoction of nutrients, vitamins, and caffeine) enjoyed massive success. Starting in 2003, it grew up to an estimated $1 billion within ten years of its launch.

Talking about entrepreneurship at the Pioneers Festival, Vienna, Austria, Bhargava remarked:

"If you cannot tolerate falling on your face a few times, choose a different profession.”

Indian Entrepreneur | Manoj Bhargava | Global Indian

Over time, Bhargava created a variety of new ventures - MicroDose Life Sciences, Stage 2 Innovations LLC, ETC Capital LLC, Plymouth Real Estate Holdings LLC, and Oakland Energy and Water Ventures. He also financed a New York-based film distribution company, Bleecker Street. His latest venture has been the purchase of 90% of Freelancer Television Broadcasting which includes television network, NewsNet, and television stations WMNN-LD and WXII-LD through his company MBX Wyoming Inc.

The Journey of Purpose

If one has more money than one needs to support his or her lifestyle, then the person can either do something stupid or smart, which is something that Bhargava believes in. He chose to be smart and started The Hans Foundation in 2009 making it India’s largest charitable endowment. Under his Billions of Change movement, the Hans Foundation provides for the basic needs of the rural poor of India. “There are three fundamentals that define a person’s well-being – electricity, water, and health. If you have these three and if you are not lazy you will make a living,” he said at the Pioneers Festival.

Bhargava believes that electricity can solve major problems. In a documentary film for the Billions of Change movement, he mentioned, “We do not realise that billions of people live without or limited electricity. If we can fix that we can make a huge difference in a person’s life.”

Indian Entrepreneur | Manoj Bhargava | Global Indian

Making a difference

His invention shop, Stage 2 which is based in Michigan employs extraordinary engineers who work on his vision and make useful things for the lesser privileged with the purpose to have a global footprint and impact the world. They have designed many useful pieces of equipment like the portable solar power device that generates and stores 300W of electricity, lightweight portable solar panels to charge the power device, and filtration units to purify brackish water used for drinking and agriculture at the rate of 5-10 gallons per minute. These innovations have made a world of difference to a great number of people staying in rural India.

While addressing students of Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, he mentioned:

“For me, it is a privilege to serve those who have less.”

Bhargava has also worked on the solution of millions of farm waste that is burned every year causing pollution. He has devised a way to make simple, organic, and cost-effective fertilizers. These organically made fertilizers solve many problems – bring down the investment costs of farmers so that their earnings increase, reduce environmental pollution, improve water absorption of soil and increase the quality of produce.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE8exLmcu-Y&t=186s

Through The Hans Foundation, and Hans Foundation Hospital he is funding hundreds of Indian not-for-profit organisations and providing access to healthcare, education, and livelihoods to the underprivileged in India. The Indian-American billionaire has brought light to the paths of many by traversing a road less traveled through his zero-profit business model.

Follow The Hans Foundation and Billions in Change movement

Reading Time: 5 mins

Comic belief, period! Menstrupedia entrepreneur Aditi Gupta busts taboos

(March 2, 2022) Not many individuals are comfortable discussing periods or even menstruation freely. The subject is often relegated to hushed tones. Sanitary napkins hidden in brown paper bags, menstruating women banned from kitchens, places of worship and festivities, or just isolated. Even today, several girls in small towns and villages drop out of school due to lack of proper hygiene once they start their periods. To shatter these myths and taboos surrounding menstruation Indian entrepreneur Aditi Gupta launched Menstrupedia with her husband Tuhin Paul. Launched as a comic book aimed at educating and creating awareness about menstruation, the comic demystifies the biological process and makes information accessible for young kids in the throes of puberty. Today, Menstrupedia works with over 11,000 schools and 10 government organisations, and the comic itself is published in 19 different languages with a presence in six countries. In fact, Aditi’s work has been so appreciated that she has been featured in international magazines like TIME and is also on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. A magical childhood Raised in Garhwa, Jharkhand, Aditi is the eldest of three siblings who led a magical childhood. “Our house was by a river. My brother and

811_860543372175_4077299360980018741_o-1.jpg" alt="Indian Entrepreneur | Aditi Gupta | Founder of Menstrupedia" width="632" height="421" />

A magical childhood

Raised in Garhwa, Jharkhand, Aditi is the eldest of three siblings who led a magical childhood. “Our house was by a river. My brother and I spent hours trying to fish there. During Chhat, I’ve seen beautiful ceremonies right outside our home. A little mountain just beyond the river provided a beautiful backdrop as it changed colours every passing season,” she recalls, adding that summer evenings were spent under the glow of a thousand fireflies. “It really was magical,” smiles the Indian entrepreneur, who shares a close rapport with her parents who always instilled a sense of confidence in her.

In small towns like hers, girls are married off after class 10. “But my parents were well educated and went to great lengths to ensure that we were too,” she tells Global Indian.

Indian Entrepreneur | Aditi Gupta | Founder of Menstrupedia

After doing her engineering from Hindustan College of Science and Technology, Agra, Aditi did a Masters in new media design from National Institute of Design. “Growing up in a small town meant that one either studied medicine or engineering. Although, I had a creative bent of mind, I too first pursued engineering,” says the Indian entrepreneur in an interview with Global Indian.

Despite an idyllic childhood, Aditi was asked to keep her period a secret, even from family. “I got mine at 12. It was treated like an unspeakable sin. I was not allowed to touch or eat pickles, attend social activities or festivities, sit on the sofa or on the beds of family members. I had to wash my sheets after each period, stained or not,” shares the entrepreneur, who would use rags to manage her cycle, often dried in damp, dark places.

The onus to design for progress

[caption id="attachment_20577" align="aligncenter" width="544"] Indian Entrepreneur | Aditi Gupta | Founder of Menstrupedia Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul[/caption]

It was during her time at NID that she met and fell in love with Tuhin, who learnt about the inconvenience she often faced. He pulled up a wealth of information for her. “It struck me that there were millions of girls who were ill-informed about menstruation. This left them vulnerable to unhygienic practices, and also lowered self-esteem,” says Aditi, who undertook a year-long research project with Tuhin to understand the level of menstrual awareness in young school-going girls in urban and semi-urban areas.

[embed]https://twitter.com/menstrupedia/status/1481498655396102147?s=20&t=dZYYeqjWoRZo2A_OtVtKJA[/embed]

Most kids were ill informed, and most girls didn’t know about menstruation before their first period. “In fact, in Rajasthan 90 percent girls were unaware,” says Aditi, adding that even today 88 percent of girls and women in India follow unhygienic practices. “This is largely due to the culture of silence and the inherent shame surrounding it,” she adds.

After NID, both Tuhin and Aditi worked for a couple of years before they got married, and quit to launch their dream project. The idea for Menstrupedia received a great response. “There were a few naysayers who questioned it. We applied for Power of Idea, and were pitching it to investors who didn’t seem entirely convinced. However, we crowdfunded our book, raised ₹5.15 lakh (our target was ₹4 lakh) - the public loved the idea,” says the Indian entrepreneur.

[embed]https://www.ted.com/talks/aditi_gupta_a_taboo_free_way_to_talk_about_periods?language=en[/embed]

A comic on awareness

Menstrupedia was launched in 2014. The comic aimed at creating two-pronged awareness- do away with the associated shame by portraying menstruation in a positive light, and to help young girls learn about the subject in a fun way. It is also a great tool for parents and teachers to broach the topic.

Indian Entrepreneur | Aditi Gupta | Founder of Menstrupedia

Today, Menstrupedia has four offerings: the Menstrupedia comic, Gulu, a book for pubescent boys, workshops for teen girls and parents, and a masterclass to enable menstrual educators. The team also works with government organisations; just last week, they shipped over 20,000 comics to Punjab. Their comics are also printed locally in US, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Uruguay, Hungary and China. “Currently, we’re working on a huge project in Jharkhand with an aim to reach 50,000 girls through workshops. And focus on enabling menstrual educators to spread the word,” says the entrepreneur, who loves to read and paint.

As the team gears up to take the business online, and build a one-stop platform, Aditi says they couldn’t have done it without mentors Ketan Rawal, Uday Akkaraju, and Sunil Handa. “From pointing us in the right direction, helping us transform as human beings, instilling a sense of discipline, pushing us to win, and working towards our aim of achieving global domination as period educators, they’ve been with us right through,” says Aditi, who also won big on Shark Tank India recently.

Follow Aditi Gupta on LinkedIn and Instagram

Reading Time: 8 mins

Overcoming odds: Entrepreneur Bipul Sinha’s tale of perseverance and innovation

(May 1, 2024) "If I fail, how will I go back." This thought kept venture capitalist-turned-entrepreneur Bipul Sinha up for many nights after he co-founded Rubrik, a cloud data management and data security company, in January 2014. There hadn't been a single hiring in the company for the last 45 days. “If there is nobody to write the code,” the IIT Kharagpur alum would ask himself, “How will the startup kick-off?” In just over six weeks, the entrepreneur may have conducted interviews with numerous potential candidates, yet none managed to meet the final requirements of the company. "There was nothing to work, nothing to begin, and nothing to show," the entrepreneur shared in an interview, whose company is currently valued at $6.67 billion. About a decade since its inception, the cybersecurity unicorn backed by Microsoft is poised for its initial public offering. "One of the biggest challenges earlier on," shared the entrepreneur, "was striking the balance between knowing when to get involved and when to step away from decision-making. As a founder CEO a company is your “baby” and it can be easy to become a bottleneck as a result. Early on, I tried to mitigate this risk by stepping

the balance between knowing when to get involved and when to step away from decision-making. As a founder CEO a company is your “baby” and it can be easy to become a bottleneck as a result. Early on, I tried to mitigate this risk by stepping away too fast – and found that more hands-on input was still needed. The company is now past that stage and is doing very well."

As per its IPO documents, by January 2024, Rubrik boasts over 1,700 customers with an annual contract value of $100,000. Nearly 100 customers were paying Rubrik over $1 million annually. While the tech unicorn witnessed a moderate revenue increase from $599.8 million to $627.9 million within a year, the most notable growth came from subscription revenue, soaring by 40 percent from $385.3 million to $537.9 million. This significant rise indicates a promising shift towards a recurring revenue model for the company.

Humble beginnings

Born and brought up in Darbhanga, a city in northern Bihar, Bipul Sinha experienced a childhood marked by poverty and financial struggles. His father, an entrepreneur, faced numerous challenges, and the initial venture in the pharmaceutical sector couldn't be sustained. With financial difficulties mounting, the family moved to another small town in Bihar, yet misfortune continued to shadow their path. “My father was a failed entrepreneur,” he shared, adding, "We grew up in a lot of poverty. We were always moving because we couldn’t pay the rent and one had to even live in a basement with no running water for a while. Our shack was in an area which always used to get inundated during the monsoons If one is born and brought up in poverty the only thing that one becomes good at is maximising opportunities."

Entrepreneur | Bipul Sinha | Global Indian

But, not the one to be deterred by the situation, the entrepreneur spent numerous hours studying under the small lamp that his family-owned. For me, it was one day and one opportunity at a time. All I could think about was how to maximise whatever I had. Education was my only road to salvation," the Global Indian adds.

As his family couldn't enroll him in a private school, the entrepreneur received much of his formal education in Hindi. Unfortunately, the educational disparity grew too wide to overcome. "The idea of engineering was seeded by my father, who looked upon it as a silver bullet to end the family woes. But there was no money to afford coaching," shared the entrepreneur, who then came up with an ingenious idea. He purchased 30 postcards, each costing 15 paise, and dispatched them to coaching institutes nationwide. “I wanted to have a look at the prospectus, and syllabus and then prepare a rough framework of how to prepare for the exam,” shared the entrepreneur.

Testing times

However, the plan didn't work, and Bipul Sinha failed to get to any college in his first attempt. While he was dejected, the entrepreneur's father had a lot of confidence in him. "I couldn’t clear any exams, even the engineering exams conducted by the Bihar state government," shared Sinha laughing, adding, "But my father asked me to prepare for one more year. And look at the silver lining. Had you cleared the state exams, you would have lost an opportunity to make it to IIT."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIjkX2gfzmE

Despite his initial aversion to math, engineering became a necessity for Sinha. In his second year of preparation, he adjusted his exam strategy. Collaborating with another engineering hopeful, they pooled resources — the entrepreneur's mother even borrowed money from relatives — to purchase coaching materials, eventually securing admission to IIT. "In my last year, I landed a job at Tata Information System (a Tata-IBM joint venture) via campus placement. And that wasn't less than a miracle for my family," shared the entrepreneur.

From Bihar to Silicon Valley

While he had joined a good company, he had realised that he had to go abroad to pull his family out of the financial crisis. "I was racing against time. I wanted to upgrade the life of my family as soon as possible. And America was the only hope," he said.

The entrepreneur spent eight years working for Oracle, polishing his skills and securing several patents in distributed systems after training as an engineer before the entrepreneur “got the confidence that I won’t slip back into poverty," he said. After securing enough funds, Bipul Sinha founded Rubrik. "As a venture capitalist, I always believed in going after a market that the cool kids were not paying attention to, which essentially means that you want to bet on a non-consensus market. If everybody knows that this market is going to be lucrative, there will be a lot of companies getting started, which means that the value creation will get diluted. The cool kids were not thinking about backup and recovery. And there was an opportunity to reframe, re-platform backup and recovery into a data security platform to deliver cyber resilience," the entrepreneur said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fplnGavQlhw

Talking about his company further, Bipul Sinha added, "The traditional cybersecurity industry almost earns $200 billion per year selling 60 to 80 different tools across hundreds of vendors for prevention. And they have not been able to prevent anything. Ransomware was a reckoning for our industry," shared the entrepreneur, adding, "Rubrik counts Whirlpool, PepsiCo, and Goldman Sachs among its long list of clients." Proudly, the company announced its recognition as a Leader, positioned furthest in vision in the 2023 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup and Recovery Software Solutions.

Follow Bipul Sinha on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 7 mins

From Raja Sweets to Mahatma Gandhi District: Yogi Bhai’s vision for Houston’s Little India

(September 11, 2024) Had Joginder Singh Gahunia been alive, he would have turned 80 this year. Though he passed away in 2002, he left behind a sweet legacy — Raja Sweets, the oldest North Indian fast-food restaurant and sweet shop in Houston. Almost every Houstonian has either heard of Raja Sweets or been a customer. Yogi Bhai, as he was popularly known, founded the shop in 1985 during a time when affordable fast-food options were scarce. Affectionately calling Houston’s Hillcroft area "Little India," Yogi Bhai played a significant role in having it officially designated as the Mahatma Gandhi District. He is remembered as one of the founding fathers of the district. [caption id="attachment_55742" align="aligncenter" width="1081"] Late Joginder Singh Gahunia and Resham Kaur Gahunia with their son and daughter Sharan when she was 10-years-old[/caption] Raja Sweets, located at 5667 Hillcroft, is still run by his family, with his wife Resham Kaur Gahunia and daughter Sharan at the helm. “Our dream is to keep going as long as we can. The business will hit 40 years in about a year,” Sharan shared with Global Indian. “I aim to make it to 50. I think 50 years at one location would

Raja Sweets, located at 5667 Hillcroft, is still run by his family, with his wife Resham Kaur Gahunia and daughter Sharan at the helm. “Our dream is to keep going as long as we can. The business will hit 40 years in about a year,” Sharan shared with Global Indian. “I aim to make it to 50. I think 50 years at one location would be quite an achievement.”

Proudly carrying forward the legacy

Whether it’s Eid, Diwali, Karva Chauth or Ganesh Chaturthi, the already busy restaurant and sweet shop sees an even greater increase in visitors.

"Our strength is quality and consistency," Yogi Gahunia often said. The family has worked hard to maintain that consistency, not only in the quality and taste of their products but also in keeping Raja Sweets’ prices reasonable for the past four decades. After Yogi Gahunia’s passing, the family even received a $1.5 million offer to sell the restaurant, which they quickly declined. Sharan could not see the place she had grown up in getting sold. She was in her early twenties then. The legacy had fallen on her shoulders, and she proudly took on the responsibility alongside her mother — as her older sister suffered from cerebral palsy and her brother chose a different path outside the family business.

[caption id="attachment_55741" align="aligncenter" width="746"] Indian Entrepreneur | Raja Sweets | Global Indian Carrying forward the legacy: Resham (second from left) and Sharan (centre) during Raja Sweets' 25th Anniversary[/caption]

The community leader

Her father was a strong supporter of the community and often provided packaged snacks for events of Houston’s India Culture Centre or Indian student functions at a very nominal cost.

There has always been a warm, welcoming atmosphere at Raja Sweets that has drawn people in for years. Under Yogi’s tutelage, the shop became a popular gathering place for workers from various organizations to exchange ideas and plans. Many meetings of officers from the India Culture Centre (ICC), the South Asian Culture Centre (SACC) and numerous other groups have been held at Raja Sweets.

[caption id="attachment_55722" align="aligncenter" width="762"] Indian Entrepreneur | Joginder Gahunia | Global Indian Former Mayor Lee Brown campaigning at the Mahatma Gandhi District, in front of Raja Sweets[/caption]

Houstonians still remember the dynamic founder, who was an active member of the local Indian community. He played a significant role as a founding member of the South Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Asian-American Political Caucus, served on the Board of the ICC, and was a member of the South Asian Political Action Committee.

A devoted member of the local Sikh community, Yogi Gahunia also served as the President of Gurudwara Sahib of Houston. His community involvement extended to supporting and contributing to numerous political campaigns, including those of President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senator Phil Gramm, Governor Ann Richards, Mayor Lee Brown, and City Councilmen Michael Berry and Gordon Quan.

[caption id="attachment_55738" align="aligncenter" width="510"] Indian Entrepreneur | Joginder Singh Gahunia | Global Indian Joginder Singh Gahunia giving a taste of India to one of the locals[/caption]

Creating Houston's Little India

Yogi Gahunia paved the way for hundreds of South Asian businesses in Houston’s Hillcroft, now known as Mahatma Gandhi Street, after he took the initiative to work with the local government to give the area its own identity.

He, along with fellow immigrant entrepreneurs like Aku Patel of Karat 22 Jewellers and Ramesh Lulla of Sari Sapne clothing store (and later Shri Balaji Bhavan restaurant), set up their businesses in modest retail strips in the Hillcroft area during the 1980s. Together, they dubbed the area "Little India."

[caption id="attachment_55737" align="alignnone" width="950"] Houston's Little India | Global Indian Mahatma Gandhi District, Houston[/caption]

“He just knew that having a business was the way to go, if you had a family. Both my parents said that working regular jobs wasn’t ideal. So, they wanted to own a business from a get-go,” Sharan mentions.

Yogi and Resham chose to open a restaurant because they wanted Houstonians to enjoy freshly made mithais, and get an authentic taste of India.

Since then, the area has expanded from just three Indian-owned businesses to over 300 Indian and Pakistani-owned clothing stores, jewellers, salons, markets, and restaurants, with Raja Sweets standing as a cornerstone of this vibrant South Asian community.

Indian Entrepreneur | Raja Sweets | Global Indian

The immigration story

Born in 1944 in the small village of Sujjon in Punjab, Yogi moved to London in 1966 where he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Isleworth College in Hounslow. He got married in 1971.

Always inclined towards entrepreneurship, in 1973, the late entrepreneur opened his first restaurant in the United Kingdom. “It was in Chesham, England, and he named it ‘Take Away,’” informs Sharan.

Yogi and Resham later immigrated to the United States in 1979, where they established ‘The Front Row Restaurant’ in Cleveland, Ohio. Two years later, they moved to Houston, and in 1985 they opened "Raja Sweets", the first North Indian fast-food restaurant and sweet shop in the city, naming it after their son whom they lovingly called Raja.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Raja Sweets (@raja.sweets)

“In the beginning, it was hard to find chefs in Houston who could prepare Indian delicacies, so my father brought people from India to cook," Sharan explains. "Later, my mom’s two brothers migrated from India to the US. Over time they had honed their skills in preparing mithais and North Indian food by going back and taking culinary lessons in the villages. They are still in charge of the kitchen," she adds.

Maintaining the impact

While the front team at Raja Sweets consists of women, including Resham Kaur Gahunia at the counter, her brothers' wives, and a Gujarati employee, Sharan remains the ever-smiling face of the business. Raja Sweets is popular not only among South Asian community but also with local celebrities and others, enjoying significant coverage in media.

[caption id="attachment_55745" align="aligncenter" width="511"] Indian Entrepreneur | Raja Sweets | Global Indian With male chef in the kitchen Raja Sweets is run by the ladies at the forefront[/caption]

“Apart from being Houston’s oldest Indian restaurant, we serve fresh, made-from-scratch food - that’s what sets us apart,” says Sharan, proud to carry her father’s legacy forward.

Follow Raja Sweets on Instagram and Facebook

Reading Time: 5 mins

Pratik Thakker: Israel’s tech ambassador to India

(September 17, 2022) His first day in Israel was a disaster. He felt so overwhelmed and homesick that he landed in an emergency room following an anxiety attack. "My first few months in Israel were very challenging. I longed to go back to Mumbai, but I knew that I couldn't give up," shares entrepreneur Pratik Thakker. Starting his journey as a young kid, who sold firecrackers and pickles in India, Pratik has come a long way to starting two tech-based companies - Webzoly and Testlify, in Israel. Often referred to as Israel’s tech ambassador to India, Pratik is Israel’s top LinkedIn influencer with over a hundred thousand followers. [caption id="attachment_29516" align="aligncenter" width="549"] Entrepreneur Pratik Thakker[/caption] "I have seen many failures in my life to understand that without falling you cannot expect success," shares the entrepreneur as he connects with Global Indian during an interview, adding, "My companies have been helping Israeli tech companies grow in India and Asia-Pacific (APAC) by providing the local team, capital and drive the marketing, sales, and growth. India and Israel have a very long and deep relationship and I am quite proud to be a part of this journey." An entrepreneurial kid Born in Kutch,

entrepreneur/">entrepreneur as he connects with Global Indian during an interview, adding, "My companies have been helping Israeli tech companies grow in India and Asia-Pacific (APAC) by providing the local team, capital and drive the marketing, sales, and growth. India and Israel have a very long and deep relationship and I am quite proud to be a part of this journey."

An entrepreneurial kid

Born in Kutch, Pratik grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. A mischievous child, he studied at a boarding school till Class 4. "That was a difficult time. Staying away from your family at such a tender age can have a very deep impact," shares the entrepreneur, "In the middle of IV standard, my father shifted me to a convent school. It was a bit difficult for me to adjust and frankly, it took about three years to match up to the education level of the students my age. Eventually, I was able to top my class and even got a scholarship from the school."

It was in Class 7 that Pratik began his entrepreneurial journey. Inspired by his father, who had a spice shop, and other relatives, the entrepreneur decided to test his business skills. "Diwali was around the corner, and I wanted to sell crackers - not the usual ones but the fancy firecrackers. After my father gave me about ₹3000, I got a friend on board whom I promised to share my leftover crackers with along with a treat at a Chinese restaurant," Pratik laughs.

Entrepreneur | Pratik Thakker | Global Indian

Excited about his first venture, Pratik took off to a wholesale market in the Masjid Bandar area of Mumbai with his friend and father, and picked some really unique stock for their stall. "But due to the festive season, we couldn’t find a spot for our stall. So I took a small stool, and placed my carrom board on it upon which I put my stock. People were very intrigued by two young boys selling crackers and we earned a good amount," he says, adding that the two friends continued to sell crackers for the next three Diwalis.

The land of Judah

Even during his college years, Pratik continued dabbling in entrepreneurial opportunities and even tried his hand in the stock market. Around the same time, he met his life partner, Nancy. "Nancy is a Jew of Indian origin. After our marriage, she motivated me to move to Israel. It was called the startup nation, and we thought it would be a great place to build our career."

[caption id="attachment_29518" align="aligncenter" width="716"] Entrepreneur | Pratik Thakker | Global Indian Pratik with his wife, Nancy[/caption]

But all was not rosy. Soon after the couple landed in Israel, Pratik struggled with homesickness. Unable to find a job and having a hard time adjusting to the high-tech ecosystem of Israel, Pratik took up cleaning jobs. To get the ball rolling, the entrepreneur decided to offer something of value for free to the people. "On a Facebook group called Secret Jerusalem, I posted that I will help the first five people who approach me, with building a website for free. I had about seven customers in the first three months, and their testimonials got me my first high-tech job as a webmaster at Masa Israel Journey," shares Pratik, who later became the Director of Digital Marketing in the same company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzmwUBsFckQ

Having gained much experience, the entrepreneur eventually decided to start his own company in 2016. "I was working as a freelancer on the side. One of my start-up clients requested if I could help them with sales development in India as they found it challenging to get the results. I immediately agreed and that's how Webzoly was born. The idea was to start a customer service-centered and results-oriented outsourcing solution for companies. Currently, my team consists of highly trained skilled experts. From the beginning, Webzoly had an organic extension. We look into what is important for our clients and work on it," he shares. Pratik's other company, Testlify, which he co-founded in 2022, helps recruiters find the best candidates with deep analysis that’s accurate, automated, and unbiased.

According to the Indian Embassy in Israel, approximately 12,500 non-Jewish Indians work in Israel, many of whom are students, employees in IT companies, or diamond traders. Speaking about Indians living in Israel and the opportunities there, the entrepreneur explains, "There are a few hundred Indians in Israel, who are pursuing engineering or MBA. Since Israel's focus is on innovation and technology, youngsters can benefit from the curriculum here. Many Indians are working as caregivers as well. However, a major setback is that once they complete their education or finish their work contract, non-Jewish foreigners are asked to leave the country. So, you can study here and learn a lot, however, you cannot get an Israel passport."

Inspiring millions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCYlIXpybgc

The young entrepreneur today is a LinkedIn influencer, with over a hundred thousand followers. However, building a brand for himself wasn't an easy job. "No product would sell if it is not marketed well. And that is true even for people. When I first started posting on LinkedIn, I hardly got any likes, however being consistent got people to notice me. Earlier this year, the LinkedIn team reached out to me to help them build a creator community. Through my posts, I try to inspire and educate people about scaling up their careers, business strategies, and much more. It is great to impart the knowledge that I have about the industry with people who wish to start something of their own," shares the entrepreneur.

Follow Pratik Thakker on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook

Reading Time: 7 mins