Vishal Jain’s daily diet went through a radical shift over a year ago. From crunching financial data as the Chief Investment Officer of Goldman Sachs’ mutual fund, he moved to measuring the nutritional values of fruits and vegetables.
The change may have appeared sudden, but after spending close to two decades in the financial sector, his system was crying out for it.
The result was JusDivine, which he started in Mumbai in May 2014 to offer cold pressed juices.
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Jain, 42, joined the financial sector in 1997. He started with Crisil before moving to Benchmark Asset Management Company, which was taken over by Goldman Sachs.
“I wanted to do something on my own. I was looking at various concepts in the market — not specifically the food or beverage sector — but this one caught my eye. I thought this was a good opportunity to start something new, and take it to the next level with the experience I have,” he says.
The idea for JusDivine came in 2013. With Nidhi Sharma, who brought food sector experience with her — “She concocted the combinations and flavours. I brought the rest to the table” — he worked on the product, imported a cold press machine, studied fruits and vegetables, and conducted sample tests with different segments of the audience. “Every month we would come up with different concoctions and test them on friends and family,” says Jain.
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Eventually, they came up with 10 to 12 combinations that people liked. They subsequently got the website ready, and worked on the branding. The initial investment was Rs 2 crore, pooled in by the two partners and friends.
To begin with, they had half the city covered; they now deliver across the city and have added Pune to the basket. The company is looking at moving pan-India, and for now, is privately funded. Headcount has grown from an initial of 15 to 16 people to about 35.
A 250 ml bottle costs Rs 150; these are available at retail outlets like Foodmall, Westside, Gourmet, Haiko and Hypercity, while the 500 ml and 1 litre bottles are available on the website.
Jain has made the shift seamlessly, and his passion for his new calling is evident. “Juice is a different kind of animal,” he says, “It has to be handled very carefully. Every fruit has its quirks and idiosyncracies.”
Cold press technology, he explains, helps preserve the nutritive value of fruits and vegetables. “A fruit has a delicate cellular structure, and when subjected to torture from a blending machine which churns raw produce with blades, it dies. Therefore, they say, have it immediately. If you leave it for 15 to 20 minutes, the pulp comes on top and water settles at the bottom. It defies the law of gravity. What use is it to drink something that’s dead?” he says.
The best way to consume fruit is by squeezing it. But you can do that to oranges and lime, not apples, pineapples, spinach, celery and broccoli. Technology helps them derive variations and mixes without compromising on nutrient quality — “it’s four to five times more nutritious than churning in a blender,” he says. “People think they’re paying Rs 150 for a 250 ml bottle, but there’s half a kilo of produce going into it.
That’s two-and-a-half apples at one shot,” he adds.
No regrets
He admits that the road was not always smooth. Jain’s greatest challenge was that he was getting into a nascent industry. It was a concept that had started picking up in the US, and no one knew how well it would do in India. “We were creating a consumer brand, not an app or a technology platform. The work involved convincing people to pay for this, when, for instance, a 1 litre pack of Tropicana costs Rs 100. It took nine months for us to get some traction,” he says.
Was the prospect of failure scary when he started? “Of course, it still spooks me,” he says. The scary part was not so much in changing sectors; it was in the risk being taken. The big difference is, in an organisation, you are protected, he says. Whereas now, “anything related to the environment, any regulatory change or risk related to the business comes directly on you.”The way he dealt with setbacks was to “hang in there.” Keep talking to people, modify plans, try something new, and if that failed, move to the next thing, pick yourself up. Jain counts his family and friends as his greatest support systems. His family, particularly, has supported him right through. The fact that he has a good team helps, besides other entrepreneurs sharing stories of their cycles of pain and success.
Two worlds
Does Jain miss the churn of the financial sector? This is a different ball game, he says. “It’s exciting, more than anything else. You get a thrill at having created a product, seeing people come back and give you rave reviews of the product.” When they run out of stocks, people come back and say they didn’t find it on the shopfloor; that’s what pushes them to reach higher, he says. “When you look back, you see that you have created something nutritious for people, at an attractive price point.”
He outlines two fundamental differences between the financial sector and the one he’s in right now: “First, you interact with a different set of people. Second, here, you’ve built something from scratch.” In the world of finance, the expertise is different. “I’m typically speaking to a guy who’s a nerd versus one who’s an artist. For a finance person, it’s numbers, Excel sheets, stock market, valuation. For a chef, it’s taste, love for food, innovation,” he says.
Jain says he was mentally prepared for the transition. His aim is to “see a bottle of healthy juice in everybody’s hand”, as against catering to a premium segment.
“I looked at myself as a manager, not a finance guy. I have the energy and resources to create my own company and see where I can take that,” he says. Besides, the world of startups wasn’t new to him; his previous employer Benchmark was one after all. “Only, we didn’t understand the risk being taken and didn’t put in money. In this case, we did.” It may well be worth the understanding.
Forty plus plus
At first glance, startups seem to be the exclusive domain of the young. Not surprising: it takes a certain brashness, loads of optimism and energy to take the plunge. Not to speak of comparatively fewer responsibilities, and many years of working life ahead to recover, should the new venture sink without a trace.But there's a lot to be said for older first-time entrepreneurs too. By the time you hits your forties, you've usually accumulated experience, contacts and goodwill. And a chunky bank account. The fire in your belly is still burning strong, you still want to change the world. Starting this week, The Hindu will profile middle-aged entrepreneurs who have changed track, often from established careers, to chase a dream.