THINKING BIG

The Economic Times

Manthan Systems is the fourth successful venture of Atul Jalan, managing director & CEO of Manthan Systems who believes that for him entrepreneurship is a way of life. “I need a lot of freedom and space which could not have been possible in a typical job kind of scenario. And also the thrill of taking an idea to reality and creating something made me an entrepreneur.”

MicroTrack, a software design and communications company, which pioneered anti-virus software was the first venture of Jalan. The success of MicroTrack inspired him to start another firm Cybertrek Technologies that specialised in the areas of intranet, extranet and digital communications was started in 1995.

Later, Jalan also founded Net Kraft, a provider of outsourced software development, systems integration and application maintenance services to businesses across globe.

Jalan says that though being a serial entrepreneur has its own sets of highs and lows, all you need is the ability to deal with ambiguities and should be ready to take risks. “Also, must have a strong belief in the value that one’s business proposition brings to the table,” he adds.

Out of his experience he says that the business assumptions, critical success factors, and other ingredients for success or failure are not easily or completely transferable from one venture to the next. So the primary challenge a serial entrepreneur must face is to grapple with the new reality. “Past successes and learnings seek to increase the comfort zone for the entrepreneur, which affects the entrepreneur’s susceptibility to new ideas, or acceptance of change.