Gourav Jaswal is a Goa-based entrepreneur who founded his flagship company Synapse a decade-and-a-half ago. Since then, he has set up eight companies that cater to 170-plus clients and have almost 100 employees. He defines himself as a parallel rather than a serial entrepreneur, as he has stayed involved with all the businesses he has started.
In Part 1 of this podcast, he talks about how he came to Goa, a place where siesta is part of the way of life, not to retire but to start a business. And why he feels that people wanting to ‘retire at 40’, or taking up engagements that are not centred on contribution, is a trend where we all lose. As a counterpoint, he gives the example of Shoppers Stop’s BS Nagesh who has founded a non-profit, trrain.org. This is not a commercial source of opportunity and employment for him, but he is making a meaningful contribution by devoting his time, energy and focus to it.
In Part 2, Jaswal talks about how small steps across a period of time led to major milestones in his journey as an entrepreneur, and the beliefs that drive him: everything yields to intelligence, extraordinary hard work, and a systematic plan. So, if you have the motivation, you can succeed at anything.
In Part 3, he shares his experiences as a first-generation entrepreneur and the factors that have helped him build a high-trust workplace: authenticity, integrity and transparency. Even though he makes mistakes, these attributes are valued and have helped his companies attract brighter, more capable and experienced people than companies their size deserve.
