Ahead Of The Game

Serial digital entrepreneur Alok Kejriwal has a knack for engaging people and making a business out of it. Having surfed the dotcom wave and emerged a winner when it went bust, he experienced the highs and lows of building profitable start-ups from scratch. MARWAR picks the brains of the observant and forward-thinking entrepreneur, whose recently penned book Why I Stopped Wearing My Socks traces his rollercoaster journey as an entrepreneur.

- Beverly Pereira

MOST KNOW ALOK KEJRIWAL AS AN EARLY INDIAN INTERNET entrepreneur who continues to ride the wave of success in the world of digital start-ups. An inspiration for both young and established entrepreneurs, Kejriwal started Contests2win, an internet-based company that promoted brands through engaging online contests, in 1998. Having survived the dotcom bust, he went on to launch Mobile2win as an SMS voting platform for wildly popular reality shows like ‘Indian Idol’. Then came Games2win in 2006, an online casual gaming venture that he embarked on after noticing his daughters’ interest in online games and which he now heads as CEO.

Born in a Marwari family and brought up by his grandparents at Parel, Mumbai, Alok Kejriwal studied accounting and joined his father’s socks manufacturing business at the age of 21. But even before this, he had acquired some knowledge of enterprise, thanks to the experience gained at his grandfather’s transportation business. In his book titled Why I Stopped Wearing My Socks, penned recently, Kejriwal describes his entrepreneurial journey through a series of humorous, and sometimes emotional, anecdotes, relating to metamorphic moments like the time when he was bullied by a senior government officer, right up to the instance when he was offered a handsome sum of money to exit his own company, Mobile2win. It also details, through concise lessons, the manner in which Kejriwal navigated obstacles, identified solutions to problems encountered first-hand and cracked top-level deals to take his startups to new heights. It’s no wonder then that he is regularly invited to speak about his life’s experiences at important events and conferences, including places such as the Wharton and Harvard Business Schools, IIMs and IITs. He also mentors entrepreneurs through Rodinhood, his social network for entrepreneurs.