Those who think of security….
… even in their twenties can never achieve much in life,’ says Sasikanth Chemalamudi, the 23-year-old CEO of Habits

When Sasikanth Chemalamudi passed out of BITS-Pilani, he had a job offer from Infosys with him. But foregoing the security and the prestige the high-profile tag provided, he chose to take the risky path of entrepreneurship. He started Habits, a learning resources company in Hyderabad. At the age of 23, he has already been listed in the BusinessWeek’s Asia’s Best Entrepreneurs Under 25. In an interview to Educare, he blasts the idea of gaining experience before taking an entrepreneurial leap. Excerpts:

As a school student, did you have entrepreneurial aspirations? What ignited the entrepreneurial spark in you?
Not exactly aspirations. But, I always knew that I would never be able to work under someone else with all possible restrictions and the bureaucracy. I feel I am made of sterner stuff for better things. I was clear about those aspirations and could pin-point my interests during my IIIrd year at Pilani. I feel it should have been even earlier.

With what objective did you join BITS-Pilani? Do engineering colleges, or for that matter other institutes of education, really nurture the enterprising spirit of youngsters? What was the mood in your batch even as you were planning to do something on your own?
I just wanted to gain from the diverse culture and experience that BITS Pilani is renowned for. Exposure — a higher level was what attracted me.

I wouldn’t say ‘engineering colleges’ alone do that. Any institution that gives quality learning experience to its students sows the seed of entrepreneurship in youngsters. But yes, engineering colleges give that much required technological edge. And the top rung colleges definitely help better through entrepreneurship cells, alumni contacts and events. From my experience, I notice that we youngsters grow aware of entrepreneurship mostly after the age of 20 (degree final year or MBA or MTech). I feel educational institutions can and should play a key role in making this happen at an even earlier age.

What was the reason for going for campus recruitment process (we suppose that’s when you were given an offer by Infosys) and rejecting the Infosys offer. What was the reaction of peers and family?
I hadn’t registered for campus recruitment. I was never interested. Infosys was one of the first companies that visited the campus and almost every companion of mine was attending the test. I just didn’t like the thought of sitting alone for three hours and feel bored. It was my final semester and the philosophy is to enjoy to the maximum in the Psenti (final) semester. So, I just went and gave the test with all others.

The reason I rejected that offer or the subsequent offers was because I knew that two years of experience doing things on my own would anytime be far greater than even six to eight years of experience with a corporate (unless you are involved with the corporate in proper administrative and managerial roles).

Do you feel that youngsters today can do without the security and learning that big corporates can provide and make a straight headway?
Like I said, two years of experience doing things on our own would anytime be far greater than even six to eight years of experience with a corporate (unless you are involved with the corporate in proper administrative and managerial roles). Starting up and struggling with the subsequent challenges in itself are great learning experiences. Coming to ‘security’, people who talk and think of security even in their twenties can never achieve much in life. Of course, there might be a few exceptions.

As a youngster, what are the advantages and drawbacks you face, which an experienced person won’t?
I have nothing to lose and I have nothing to fear. Everything that I do is a learning experience. I can see more of life and network with some wonderful people at a very early age. On the other side, I have very little domain knowledge or the experience to deal with people and situations. But for me, this is beatable — thanks to the wonderful support from experienced alumni and gurus from my Alma mater. A still impending problem is that very few people take me seriously because they feel I am too young. I ask, when did ‘23’ become too young!

Habits provides an edutainment experience. How did you conceive the idea? What is the clientele of this idea? And how do you rope in more youngsters to this platform?
The idea started with being a ‘book club’. It matured first into a ‘knowledge sharing forum’ and finally into ‘edutainment’. I just look around at the hectic pace of today’s urban life and think about how few opportunities people have to really relax or get refreshed in the right way. There are no alternate career options or passions. There’s no time to think beyond the horizon and rear like-minded company to share thoughts with. That is how and why Habits came up with the concept of edutainment.

Kids, students, parents and corporate employees — anyone who seeks a quality break and an outlet to his/her creative urges and alternate pursuits are my clientele.

How have you come to involve people with expertise on this platform? How does the whole setup function? Also, how does the website sustain financially?
Experts always felt that the concept was interesting. They also concurred with me when I said, ‘What’s normal anyway?’ and just extended their wholehearted support. The whole model is to set-up edutainment lounges all over Hyderabad (first) and (then) in Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Noida, Trivandrum, Chennai, Calcutta, Gurgaon and Chandigarh.

What interests youth about the site the most? Is it more of career concern or do youngsters get involved in larger issues that you take up?
For youngsters, career is obviously the first priority. Proving your capability to yourself first in the field of your interest in a must to give you the confidence to go ahead with larger things and bigger issues.

What are your future growth plans?
Edutainment lounges in Hyderabad and then, all over the country. Then, culture lounges in Singapore, the US and the UK. This is the plan for the next five years. We are still hunting for investors who share the same vision, to get things going in a big way and faster.