Mark Skaggs
Co-creator of Farmville and Director, Moonfrog Labs
Veteran game developer Mark Skaggs has had a long and illustrious career, starting out in circuit design at Texas Instruments, working on acclaimed game titles at Electronic Arts and moving on to Zynga to become one of the brains behind the smash hit Facebook game, Farmville. Three weeks ago, Mark moved on from creating PC games and joined Bengaluru-based Moonfrog Labs, known for their popular Android game Teen Patti Gold, as their director.
“I came to India a few years back to speak at the Nasscom Game Developer Conference (GDC), and spent some time with the Zynga team in India. As a game developer, it was fun for me to see people with an incredible amount of talent and hunger to be in the space but not knowing where to go. When I returned for the same conference a few years later, I could see the second attempts, the sophomore efforts of these teams, and it was promising,” says Mark, on his decision to team up with Moonfrog, founded by ex-Zynga employees from India, adding, “The Indian market is in a unique phase, with smartphone apps and games still in their early phase but growing rapidly.”
Troy Erstling
Founder, BrainGain
The dream of wanting to live and work outside the US brought Troy Erstling to India in 2013. After realising that teaching English was the easiest way to work internationally, Troy spent a while teaching seven-year-olds English and music in South Korea, before applying to a fellowship in social entrepreneurship that brought him to Bengaluru. From there, he worked at Zoomcar and upon receiving requests about work opportunities besides teaching and volunteering, he set up BrainGain, which helps find local placements for international applicants and serves as a support system throughout their stay in India.
“We've brought about 25 people from seven countries for internships and jobs ranging from design to supply chain logistics. India's startup scene is poised in this stage where it's still a ways behind the US but at least five or six years ahead of the rest of South-East Asia,” says Troy, adding that he loves the easy networking that comes as a side effect of being in the country. “In New York or San Francisco, networking is very closed-door and transactional but here everyone is excited about what you're doing and it's incredible how all the disconnected people I've met have come full circle. I like to call it stories of Indian serendipity.”
Jackie Stenson
Co-founder, Essmart
Filling gaps in the supply chain for essential commodities in rural India has been Jackie Stenson's mission since 2012, when she and co-founder Diana Jue started Essmart. The duo work to procure and distribute commodities such as solar lights and water filters for local kirana store owners and educate them on their sales and service. “I've spent years working in villages across the world and most of the people living in those regions had no access to the things we distribute and lacked knowledge of how to repair them if required. That's what we've been working to solve,” says Jackie, explaining that she and Diana identified South India as one of the regions best suited for their work , owing to the large network of kirana stores. Essmart is currently active in most of Tamil Nadu and looking to start operations in Karnataka soon. “India, particularly Bengaluru, is a good place to be, since so many people are trying to innovate locally.”
Adam Walker
Founder, Hummingbill
“Getting businesses paid faster,” is how Adam Walker describes what he does. After a stint in Kenya with Vodafone's subscription billing service M-Pesa, Adam came to India and started Hummingbill, which is a web plugin that automates finance functions ranging from reminders to invoices. “I've been working at startups since graduation and when you start something it's best to be in a large market like India. Also, I wanted to work outside the U.S. while I'm still young, have healthy parents and no mortgage to pay,” he says.
For Adam, accessibility is the key word when it comes to the startup ecosystem in India. “In the US, these industries are decades old, but here the scene is nascent, so entrepreneurs are doing a lot of good work and meeting the right people is much easier. The only drawback is the stereotypical problems of regulations and tax laws. It took me around five months to get my company registered. That said, the work the Indian Government is now doing to promote innovation is unparalleled.”
