Q. Having a zeal to develop things has led you to set up two startups till now. What inspires you for this approach in life?

I realized pretty early that 9-5 jobs aren't my thing, and I would prefer to be my own boss and develop things because the potential for self-growth is much higher. Initially, I started participating in hackathons which led to Analyticware, my first venture, which was focused on developing chatbots. We deployed one on the TIET website and the website of a GoI initiative ArogyaPrahari. Still, unfortunately, that journey didn't go as expected. After this, I set up Cruxe, a content summarization platform, and things seem to be progressing well.

Q. What makes you believe that your latest venture, Cruxe, has much better growth potential than your previous ventures?

Earlier startups failed because I was pretty naive about their whole idea, my inexperience in setting up, target audience, and vital things like that. The idea was present but lacked proper execution, which eventually led to their failure. Evolving and learning constantly has led to a smooth ride for Cruxe in these initial phases. The team involved in this new venture is of a higher caliber than before, not to mention my knowledge of financial aspects, which has improved profoundly.

Q. Running a startup often involves reaching out to potential clients and investors. What are some of your principles and procedures behind such an approach?

To get a work opportunity, we have to approach potential clients, and it involves a lot of cold calls and emails. The crucial part of such an approach is to grab the person's interest in the first few moments of interaction. My preferred way of doing this is to introduce myself in a line or two then inform the person about the issues I observed in their work and how my startup can help resolve them. For seeking investments, startups follow a principle that if profit is there, it is shared equally, but in case of a loss, it’s burden has to be borne by the startup alone.

Q. Your Trash Collection Boat won the first prize in Hacksagon. Please give us some insights into the inspiration behind it and the technicalities of the project.

Our project was about developing an autonomous Trash Collection Boat inspired by the failure of the Namami Gange Programme of GoI. We were a team of 4, in which I looked after the technical aspect of the project. The boat's job was to identify the surface trash, propel itself using the motors towards the object and then collect it. We trained the AI involved in the boat on about 5k images of surface floating trash. Our project depicted a modern-day problem and thus helped us gain an upper hand in the competition

Q. What are some of the lessons that you have learned from your past internships which you would like to share with all the students venturing into the professional fields?

I once worked as an intern for two months where they promised me a certain amount of money but didn't even pay me a single penny. From this unpleasant experience, I learned that work must always be honored with credit and it must be given to the person who worked for it. My company’s aim is to provide timely payments to all the workers.

Q. You have shown a lot of interest in the fields of AI and ML. What excites you about these domains, and what are your plans for the future? In my opinion, AI and ML are the tools that help me build my vision. Generally, people learn a skill and then find ways to implement it. I believe in thinking of an idea and then looking for the suitable skills to accomplish it. That is how I got into AI and ML. I got placed in Paytm and now I have my own company too. As far as the future is concerned, I will put my heart and soul into making Cruxe successful, but if I’m proved wrong, even then I have my job and I know that I’ll never run out of ideas.