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An enterprising lot

Seven students set up their firm in Technopark and are raring to further innovate

BUSINESS MINDED Displaying entrepreneurial skills PHOTO: C. RATHEESH KUMAR

While their peers feverishly swot for Common Admission Test and GRE, seven tech-savvy students are into a different kind of swotting. They discuss their firm's target, marketing strategies and do a SWOT analysis. Proprietors of Torque Incubation Technologies, the first technology incubation firm in Kerala, the seven technocrats count Mammootty, Kairali channel and IT companies in Technopark, Thiruvanathpuram, as their clients.

Anil K. Antony, Sony Joy, Pranav Kumar, Jose Luke and Sanjay V, all from College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET) and Vishnu Gopal and Vivek Stede from Sree Chitra Tirunal College of Engineering, Trivandrum (SCT), are the proprietors of Torque.

Why Torque? "Why not?" asks Sanjay. "We were trying to think of a suitable name. I came up with Torque as it is the force that moves other things. Everything revolves on a torque. The others could not come up with anything better and so it is Torque."

Unhappy with the present system of education and evaluation in Kerala, the seven wanted to travel down the less-travelled path and were on the lookout for something different. Explains Sanjay, "The problem with the present education system is that they provide good employees, but the many talents of students are not utilised or given a chance to blossom. When you go for an interview, they ask for your Curriculum Vitae, if you have something substantial in that, your chances of doing well increase. However, that opportunity to do something substantial is lacking in our system. To make a difference to this, Torque was started."

Partnership

Prior to Torque, Sanjay and Vivek used to make money by freelancing for BPL mobiles. To spread their wings, they decided to form a partnership and thus Torque was born, about two months back.

"It is a partnership and seven of us have equal shares," says Vishnu.

But these technocrats aver that they plan to continue as CEO's of their company and not seek employment elsewhere. "Vishnu has already got admission in New York. He is the core tech person in our lot and so it is vital to the company that he be exposed to the best in the world," Sanjay sagely adds. Vivek plans to pursue business management so that the friends are not found wanting in marketing and finance.

The post of the managing director post keeps rotating. Their aim is to give all the seven members a chance to feel what it is to be on the hot seat. It was the success of Mammotty's `Rajmanikyam' that made their company the talk of the town. Sanjay, who is all praise for Mammootty says, "Mammootty is the most tech savvy person I have seen. He has a laptop with 24-hour connectivity and is up to date with what is happening in computers. So, when we approached him with our plan to do the promotions for his movie and give him web support, he agreed and it was a big hit. We got more than 25,000 calls."

Torque is powering Kairali's People channel and are deeply involved in Triple IT's effort to integrate police stations in a district. While the upbeat entrepreneurs agree that there has been an upswing in their lifestyle and spending capacities, what is not publicised is their decision to donate five per cent of their revenue to charity. To make this altruistic motive a reality, they have started an organisation called `Fast Blood' that supports blood donation using technology. The seven acknowledge the generous help they have received from R.C. Dutt, senior adviser at Technopark and the Chief Executive Office of Technopark. Says Sanjay, "Dutt sir is our mentor." Studying and examinations? "Yeah, that is a problem. But we manage," is the cryptic reply. However, Sanjay avers that their future is Torque. "It is not as if we would not get employment elsewhere. In fact, two of us got selected for the Indian Navy. We could have opted for a job in a multinational company. But we want to make a difference to our country. Something that has to do with technology."

ARUN JOHN

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