Sanjeev Bhikchandani, “Different people measure success differently”

Sanjeev Bhikchandani needs no introduction, his being one of India’s brightest success stories and his journey, one of the most remarkable. When he launched naukri.com, it was still ahead of its time. And it was years of financial struggle that success finally came to him, along with the realisation of his dreams.This maverick entrepreneur is the founder of — in addition to naukri.com, which is foremost in the minds of most job applicants in India —

benchmark enterprises such as 99acres.com, jeevansathi.com, naukrigulf.com and Quadrangle.

As he speaks to K Venkatesh for YourStory, on the sidelines of the TiEcon 2009 in Chennai, Bhikchandani shares his thoughts on his journey, which now serves as an inspiration for young entrepreneurs venturing out on their own.

YourStory: What was the motivation for you to be on your own?

Sanjeev Bhikchandani: I wanted to be independent, to create something, and I wanted to do something different.

YS: Which was the moment of greatest impact?

SB: There were many. One was when we launched naukri.com and had traffic. Then we raised venture capital and people said it is a big company. The third was when revenue began trickling in, that is over a two- to three-year period. But the biggest for me is when a person says he or she got a job though naukri.com. That is a real high.

YS: The venture capital myth…

SB: That you can’t be an entrepreneur if you can’t raise venture capital is the myth. One must remember that most companies that went on to succeed did not raise any. You should pursue an idea even if you can’t raise venture capital.

YS: The measure of success for an entrepreneur…

SB: Different people measure success differently. For us, it is how useful we are.

YS: The measure of your success…

SB: Around 34,000 companies recruit through us, and one of every 50 Indians is registered on our site. We now feel we have done something useful.

YS: The delight of becoming an entrepreneur…

SB: Actually, we struggled a lot for 10 years. After the meltdown, we struggled for two to three years. But once you decide that this is what you want to do, you become happy. Though we struggled financially, we were happy.

YS: You advice to young entrepreneurs…

SB: Talk to customers and try to understand their unsolved problems. Then take these up and create solutions that will benefit a large number of people.