November 06, 2012 / 19:17 IST
N V Subramanian, Co-Founder, Sharedcab.com
Founded in: October 2011
What is Sharedcab.com all about?
Sharedcab provides regular commuters, especially people travelling from home to office or home to college, the comfort of a chauffeur-driven AC taxi at a price that is less than taxi or auto fares. To make it viable, we pool three people per car.
How did you hit upon the idea for Sharedcab.com?
The biggest problem in Mumbai is the daily commute. We wanted to improve the experience by offering an AC ride at a reasonable price. It’s a platform to change people’s perception about commuting. You are an entrepreneur because…?
Value-creation for society and oneself is the heart, and entrepreneurship is the best way to do that. I have spent a lot of time with corporate companies in senior positions but entrepreneurship offers a far richer experience and the scope to create value for everyone.
Most valuable lesson
We had hired someone who was very senior in a very reputed company. But he found it very difficult to adjust to the challenges of a start-up. The perception that big designations mean big performance isn’t always true.Favourite quote
“Leadership is the art of getting someone to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”Pet peeve about starting a business in India
It takes a long time to start a business in India as there are a lot of unnecessary formalities. Even minor things like setting up your company’s bank account and getting a small credit line takes an age.Biggest blessing for Indian entrepreneurs
India is a land of contradiction and hence there are lots of opportunities. We can take a lot of lessons from the West and develop solutions for India. If you are able to answer what value your company is adding to the customer and what problem is it solving, your business is likely to be successful. In India, concepts that conserve resources are a hit.N V Subramanian launched Sharedcab.com a year ago. Before that, he was a senior Management and Business Development head in companies like the Futures Group. He has rich experience in managing large-scale, fast-growing consumer, retail and private equity in premium and value domain businesses.
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