I strongly agree that formal education is not a necessary requirement for anyone’s professional growth, but they do add a lot of value in setting up the right foundation for the future and prepares you well to take on any challenges for the future.
I was born and brought up in Patna (Bihar) and I grew up in a typical lower-middle-class family. I did my schooling till higher secondary in Patna itself. Later I did my engineering from NIT Trichy (Tamil Nadu) and MS from BITS Pilani. Furthermore, I worked for a couple of MNCs for 4 years and then co-founded Navriti Technologies in May 2012.
Navriti is one of the leading skill assessment companies in India today and I am currently serving the company in CEO role. The family setup and the surrounding where I was brought up had a natural impact on the development and growth of my inner strength and willpower since childhood itself.
My family had to struggle a lot financially in my early days. Yet the never-ending willpower to tide through all struggles and challenges; and the spirit of living happily even amidst constraints – these were some of the biggest traits that I learned from my parents and over time, these learnings helped me mature faster and grow mentally stronger to aspire for more than what anyone in my family had then thought of.
My parents always supported me with all my dreams to the best of their capacity, even if they lacked the means to fulfill my dreams. The reason, why I am referring to these incidences, is that they have had an immense impact on me To date, and even today, they continue to guide me in my entrepreneurial journey.
When and how did you get clarity on what you wanted to do?
Back in 2004, when I got admission into NIT Trichy, I secured a seat in the Chemical Engineering based on my all-India rank at that time. Within a year and a half, it became clear to me that even if I manage to complete my engineering, I will certainly not become a good chemical engineer for sure.
When and how did you get clarity on what you wanted to do?
Back in 2004, when I got admission into NIT Trichy, I secured a seat in the Chemical Engineering based on my all-India rank at that time. Within a year and a half, it became clear to me that even if I manage to complete my engineering, I will certainly not become a good chemical engineer for sure.
That is when I started looking for other opportunities within the campus itself where I could find satisfaction and joy in what I was doing or learning. That is
when and how I first discovered my areas of interest. I found my interest in working with computers and programs.
when and how I first discovered my areas of interest. I found my interest in working with computers and programs.
Actually, NIT Trichy was the first place for me where I got access to the computers and immediately fell in love with the potential of this machine. I also found working on extra-curricular activities quite satisfying and thanks to my alma mater for giving me so much exposure and opportunities despite my poor academic record during my B. Tech. program.
Out of my desire and constant effort to keep doing something new, I ended up starting a new club with the name Aayaam, one of the first few Hindi literary
societies in the southern part of the country. Perhaps, that can be called my first
enterprise in which I tasted the feel of an entrepreneurial venture.
societies in the southern part of the country. Perhaps, that can be called my first
enterprise in which I tasted the feel of an entrepreneurial venture.
The learnings I got through Aayaam and my exposure to computers and programming helped me a lot while starting my formal venture and start-up named Navriti Technologies.
In the beginning, I just wanted to do something for the education industry as I could clearly see the system broken wherein despite securing a good all India rank, I ended up doing something (Chemical Engineering) where I could not perform well in academics.
In the beginning, I just wanted to do something for the education industry as I could clearly see the system broken wherein despite securing a good all India rank, I ended up doing something (Chemical Engineering) where I could not perform well in academics.
On the other hand, thanks to my rich experience during my college days, despite my poor academic performance I could make a mark for myself on the campus through my extra-curricular and co-curricular achievements. This was a big problem statement as well as an idea for a business that led to the start-up of Navriti.
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What does your typical workday look like?
My day typically starts with one hour of exercise (brisk walk and stretching). I want to mention this particularly, as most of the entrepreneurs that I have come across don’t give enough importance to their health while following their passion.
Even I used to be one among such entrepreneurs. Over the last 2 years, I am glad to have changed my schedule and have now started working on my health.
My workday normally starts at 9:30 – 10 am and the next 2 hours will typically go into reviewing the work done and discussing various problems and issues within various functions.
My workday normally starts at 9:30 – 10 am and the next 2 hours will typically go into reviewing the work done and discussing various problems and issues within various functions.
The next 3-4 hours will generally be my most productive time of the day as I get time to clear all my mails and manage the various tasks pertaining to different functions. It is during this time when I get to work on chalking out plans over different items and think about the future of the organization.
4 pm – 8 pm is the time when I get down to attending various meetings or taking interviews or interacting with teams/members helping them resolve different issues.
I must put a disclaimer here that it is difficult to adhere to a fixed schedule while you are working on your entrepreneurial venture. Yet I always try my level best to stick to this schedule, unless in case of any urgency.
I must put a disclaimer here that it is difficult to adhere to a fixed schedule while you are working on your entrepreneurial venture. Yet I always try my level best to stick to this schedule, unless in case of any urgency.
Several global companies have come out and thrown their support behind not needing a formal education. What is your opinion about this?
Well, I partially agree with this. While I strongly agree that formal education is not a necessary requirement for anyone’s professional growth, but they do add a lot of value in setting up the right foundation for the future and prepares you well to take on any challenges for the future.
Well, I partially agree with this. While I strongly agree that formal education is not a necessary requirement for anyone’s professional growth, but they do add a lot of value in setting up the right foundation for the future and prepares you well to take on any challenges for the future.
However, to succeed in a profession, formal education alone will not be sufficient. The same amount of importance and effort should go towards acquiring skills
even and along with domain skills, behavioral skills are equally important.
To summarize, in my opinion, both formal education, as well as skills, are equally important. But in the current world where the issues of access and equity in education exist in abundance, not having a formal education cannot be a hurdle in one’s professional growth.
Even with prevalent issues of access and equity, one can still acquire skills as per one’s interest and aptitude and achieve success professionally. I must acknowledge the contributions from the various Governments, regulatory bodies, social sector, and the corporate towards creating such an enabling environment for the same.
even and along with domain skills, behavioral skills are equally important.
To summarize, in my opinion, both formal education, as well as skills, are equally important. But in the current world where the issues of access and equity in education exist in abundance, not having a formal education cannot be a hurdle in one’s professional growth.
Even with prevalent issues of access and equity, one can still acquire skills as per one’s interest and aptitude and achieve success professionally. I must acknowledge the contributions from the various Governments, regulatory bodies, social sector, and the corporate towards creating such an enabling environment for the same.
How do you handle someone who has lied on their resume?
In my honest opinion, any piece of document which is legally not binding upon the parties involved cannot be taken seriously. A resume is one such piece of document. In fact, the onus is always on the organization to find out if claims made by the candidate are true or not.
However, post joining of the candidate, if you get to know about any such lie unless and until it raises the serious question(s) over the candidate’s integrity (ex. Changing the academic qualification to become eligible for the post or mentioning the wrong experience to score higher in the selection process), I personally won’t have much issue with this and may choose to ignore this and rather focus more on the candidate’s performance on a day-to-day basis.
In my honest opinion, any piece of document which is legally not binding upon the parties involved cannot be taken seriously. A resume is one such piece of document. In fact, the onus is always on the organization to find out if claims made by the candidate are true or not.
However, post joining of the candidate, if you get to know about any such lie unless and until it raises the serious question(s) over the candidate’s integrity (ex. Changing the academic qualification to become eligible for the post or mentioning the wrong experience to score higher in the selection process), I personally won’t have much issue with this and may choose to ignore this and rather focus more on the candidate’s performance on a day-to-day basis.
What are some of your typical challenges and how have they evolved over time?
On the professional front, almost every day goes into crisis management or resolving problems. But broadly speaking, I have regularly faced 2 key challenges over the past few years which are:
On the professional front, almost every day goes into crisis management or resolving problems. But broadly speaking, I have regularly faced 2 key challenges over the past few years which are:
1. Collection issues due to increased exposure to the Government or Government-backed clients. They have continuously increased in quantum with regular increases in the business that we do with them.
However, over the last 1 – 1.5 years we made concerted efforts and invested in a major way to bring in diversification in our business and further strengthened the product portfolio to continuously bring down the exposure to Government based business to a reasonable level.
I am glad to inform you that our efforts have started showing their positive impact in this calendar year and it’s getting better every month.
2. Talent acquisition has been another pain area. In our ecosystem, financial viability will be put under stress if we go for candidates falling under the high salary bucket.
However, the requirement in terms of aptitude and domain/technical skills remain extremely high. Hiring new candidates amidst these constraints has always been a challenge for us.
Further retention of the employees with the right engagement strategy has also been equally challenging. On the hiring front, I still face challenges in resolving
them particularly with sourcing of talent meeting the expectations.
them particularly with sourcing of talent meeting the expectations.
However, on the retention front, I see improvement over the years. In fact, as of today approx. 90% of my current team members have been with us for 3 or more than 3 years. That itself speaks volumes about our success on this front at least.
On the personal front, one of the most difficult challenges was managing and distributing time in dealing with my professional commitments, family commitments, and social commitments.
Honestly speaking, it remains the biggest challenge for me. But I continue to make genuine attempts at balancing it somehow. Thanks to the patience and perseverance shown by my parents and wife all this while, I manage to continue with my entrepreneurial journey despite this challenge.
On the personal front, one of the most difficult challenges was managing and distributing time in dealing with my professional commitments, family commitments, and social commitments.
Honestly speaking, it remains the biggest challenge for me. But I continue to make genuine attempts at balancing it somehow. Thanks to the patience and perseverance shown by my parents and wife all this while, I manage to continue with my entrepreneurial journey despite this challenge.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs or those eyeing the top job?
One generic piece of advice that I would like to give is, always love what you do and try to do what you love. For aspiring entrepreneurs specifically, my advice would be to make a conscious decision regarding getting into entrepreneurship by evaluating your decision carefully.
One generic piece of advice that I would like to give is, always love what you do and try to do what you love. For aspiring entrepreneurs specifically, my advice would be to make a conscious decision regarding getting into entrepreneurship by evaluating your decision carefully.
Don’t hesitate in taking outside help. Always helps to take calculative risk than taking risk blindly. While you can choose your role model and set your aspiration based on various success stories, always try to read more about the failure stories as that will prepare you better and stronger for your future.
For those who want to climb the ladder in your career faster, just remain focused on your strengths and mindful of weaknesses. Be confident of your own potential and don’t let others influence that.
For those who want to climb the ladder in your career faster, just remain focused on your strengths and mindful of weaknesses. Be confident of your own potential and don’t let others influence that.
Please remember that your best competitor is you and not an outsider. Remain focused and passionate about your work. Don’t get into any meaningless comparisons or criticism. Value your time carefully as it is quite precious.
Which is your favorite book and why?
Let me be very candid here. I am not too much into book reading. However, I love reading blogs and articles about the economy, technology, Indian History, and current affairs. Besides, I also enjoy watching movies (English and Hindi) in my spare time.
Instead of suggesting a book here, I would rather suggest one of my favorite movies to date. It is the Hollywood movie, The Pursuit of Happyness. This movie gives a lot of valuable life lessons which are extremely useful and relevant for almost all professions.
Let me be very candid here. I am not too much into book reading. However, I love reading blogs and articles about the economy, technology, Indian History, and current affairs. Besides, I also enjoy watching movies (English and Hindi) in my spare time.
Instead of suggesting a book here, I would rather suggest one of my favorite movies to date. It is the Hollywood movie, The Pursuit of Happyness. This movie gives a lot of valuable life lessons which are extremely useful and relevant for almost all professions.
Talking specifically about the entrepreneurs is even more inspiring and motivational. While following your passion is fine, but how to remain focused on your passion and how to keep yourself calm and strong during bad times and keep enduring pains, all in the name of the pursuit of that one moment which we call success in our mind.
That is indeed the moment of celebration, joy, and true happiness. This is what this movie teaches us.
Bio -
Thinker, doer, problem solver & solution provider. That can be the short description of Mrinal Kumar, the Co-founder & CEO of Navriti Technologies.
Mrinal is responsible for strengthening the product portfolio and furthering the leadership position of Navriti in the Assessment space. He is the designer & architect of the unique assessment platform for Navriti (a.k.a. Certiplate), best suited for skill-based assessments.
He has contributed immensely towards strengthening the skill assessment ecosystem in India by advising various committees formed by the GoI backed agencies such as NCVET & NSDC.
In the past, Mrinal worked with Actiance and Manhattan Associates as Software Engineer in varied fields such as supply chain management (logistics), compliance & network security. He won several awards and accolades during his stint with Actiance and Manhattan Associates.
In the past, Mrinal worked with Actiance and Manhattan Associates as Software Engineer in varied fields such as supply chain management (logistics), compliance & network security. He won several awards and accolades during his stint with Actiance and Manhattan Associates.
He has delivered several lectures on entrepreneurship to share his experience on different forums and participated in multiple panel discussions on entrepreneurship motivating the budding entrepreneurs.
He loves mentoring and sharing his learning and experiences with upcoming/aspiring entrepreneurs dreaming to change the world.
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