Mr. Slick Presenter!

Since the media explosion, India has been able to produce quite a few great journalists. But very few have combined their great journalistic flair with a sharp business acumen and entrepreneurial gusto. Meet Rajdeep Sardesai, the man who’s been able to walk his talk literally! In a career spanning more than two decades, this man has gone on to become one of the most popular faces of Indian television. Son of the former Indian Test cricketer, Dilip Sardesai, and social activist Nandini Sardesai, Rajdeep graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai in Economics, and moved on to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Sardesai bid farewell to the Times of India and the print media in the mid 90s and joined hands with Prannoy Roy of NDTV (New Delhi Television) fame.

And then came the big opportunity! After more than 10 years of association with NDTV, Rajdeep created a flutter in the industry when he quit NDTV and started a company of his own, Global Broadcast Network (GBN) along with TV18’s Raghav Behl and Sameer Manchanda. A tie-up with global newscasters CNN, gave shape to CNN-IBN, which within a year of launch has created a niche for itself among the select English TV news channels in India. As editor-in chief of CNN-IBN, Sardesai is giving tough competition to his one time bete noire NDTV. GBN has also bought a stake in Dainik Jagran’s Channel 7 and Rajdeep is these days busy altering the face of Channel 7 in its new avatar IBN 7. It’s obviously time to call Sardesai a winner in this Big Fight. Guess he has all that ‘whatever it takes’ to be a winner!

Company (GoAir). Though born into the prestigious Wadia family of Mumbai, with vast business interests, Jeh built up his business acumen by first working in various capacities (Spinning Manager and Weaving Manager in the Textile Mills, among other positions) at Bombay Dyeing and then by founding the Incubation Corporation in 1998, to promote start-ups. Here, he attracted investors like Rupert Murdoch and Ratan Tata, and then slowly, but strategically, led the restructuring process of the Wadia group (which also gave birth to GoAir), apart from strategic investments in financial services, retail and real estate. Now Jeh wants to be able to “commoditise air travel; making & allowing everyone to fly in India.”

As part of a group, which has a portfolio of some of the oldest companies like Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation (the second company to be listed on Stock Exchange) and Bombay Dyeing, the pressure of carrying forward an impressive legacy is obviously lying heavy on Jeh’s shoulder, a pressure that literally needs to be carried out gracefully. And his leadership mantra? “Leadership is how efficiently you drive the people, your people need to be given freedom,” says the handsome entrepreneur. And no... he’s not just a shrewd businessman, but also a philanthropist. He is working towards making 600,000 villages self-reliant and has, in addition, adopted 2000 villages under the Deendayal Research Institute. It’s not just a joyous flight for this Wadia!

Mr. Head on Wheels

Here’s yet another red-blooded, driven entrepreneur, who has much more to his credit than just a legendary surname! A mechanical engineer from Pune University and Masters in manufacturing systems engineering from the University of Warwick in 1991, Rajeev Bajaj joined Bajaj Auto first as an officer on special duty and streamlined the manufacturing systems to improve the production quality and profitability. Since then, this bold Bajaj has concentrated on completely refurbishing the image of Bajaj Auto from old and ugly scooters to stylish and sleek two-wheelers! His role in this successful transition is applause-worthy, thanks to the manner in which he conceived and executed a realistic and result-oriented plan that focused on a few significant issues and delivered results! Rajeev is now steering Bajaj Auto towards the future with twin engine (petrol and LPG/CNG) two wheelers! That’s youth power for you!

Ms. Kinetic Energy

She’s young, enterprising and vivacious! Sulajja Firodia Motwani is the 35-year old Managing Director of Kinetic Motor Company. When she completed her MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, US, Kinetic had a somewhatuntenable product portfolio of the Luna and a gearless scooter. But, ever since Sulajja took over the reins, the company has transformed into a dynamic producer of stylish two wheelers. “I feel I am a participative leader. I like to listen a lot and want to work with the team as part of it,” says the dynamic lady. With a series of automatic scooters in the offing, beginning with the freshly-launched motoscooter, to be succeeded by a second vehicle which, in Sulajja’s reckoning, “will redefine the executive way of driving scooters with its Italian style and never-seen-before lighting system”, Kinetic’s future looks extremely exciting! Innovation is clearly the lifeblood at Kinetic today, and Sulajja reiterates her commitment to the cause, “In Kinetic there is a great legacy in terms of reputation, and now we are positioning Kinetic in a new light for the new India.”

Fanatic Fun in Food
What began as a fortuitous venture, is now a must for your palate

(column by Angshuman Paul)

You’ll find them, err, rather taste them, at your favourite hangout. Hadn’t it been for this company, you would terribly miss the yum factor in your food. Be it a burger or a pizza, this company has tantalized the taste buds of many Indians – to be specific, all the frequenters of Barista, Pizza Hut, KFC and many other cafés and eateries. Thriving on the boom in quick-service restaurants, hospitality industry and the growing obsession of India towards fast food, this company has surely cashed-in on the opportunity. The name is Fun Foods! With a whopping growth rate of 50% for the past five fiscal years – which resulted in a turnover of more than Rs.20 crores for this quarter – and commanding an institutional market share of 70%, the company is scaling newer heights.

From starting production in a meagre 300 square feet unit, the company has grown big enough to add a gigantic 50,000 square feel production plant in Uttaranchal. The beginning of the company was also fun-filled, informs the founder and Managing Director of the company, Rajiv Bahl, who initially was a Captain in the Indian Navy. The idea of Fun Foods occurred to him at a casual talk over dinner and drinks with his colleagues, when one of them pointed out a fact that no Indian company was present in the processed food segment. He elaborates, “Estimating the potential of the western processed food market – where no big players from homeland ever dared to foray – was adequate to enter this domain.”

The initial product was special yoghurt with western flavours (Indian Airlines being the end user). Today, the company’s portfolio comprises 66 mouthwatering products, ranging from yummy mayonnaise to rocking shakes. In a high cost market segment, mostly dominated by international brands, Rajiv says, “Pricing was the key to success,” and here’s how they’ve done it. “Our products are priced at one and a half times lesser than the imported products; and we deliver fresh products,” he informs. Moreover, given the country’s climate and the perishable nature of products, international players found the going hard.

The company’s product innovation is customer driven. From just a single client to start with, the company today has an impressive list, including almost all of the Yum restaurant brands (Pizza Hut, KFC etc – the company has twice won ‘Supplier of the year’ award from Yum restaurants), Barista Pizza Corner, Dominos Pizza, Taj Air Caterers among others. The company has also entered the retail segment to make its products available at common households. To effectuate the retail plans, the company has tied up with Pantaloon.

The vision, Rajiv avers, is to “reach every household of the country, with...affordability.” Viraj Bahl, CEO of Fun Foods, discussing the company’s future plans, tells us, “We want to emerge as a global company having fun in all our operations.” Towards this end, the company is planning to go global with launch of products like spreads. Even as outsourcing increases across industries, Fun Foods is looking for newer markets and charting out effective market plans for its retail venture... Here’s hoping the best for Fun Foods!

(End of Angshuman Paul column)