Kapil Raj, Virat Khutal, Founders, Twistfuture

“Adding a twist to the mobile experience”

Mobile phones are more than just communication devices, they have everything from games to cameras, surfing the net and providing endless distraction to the user. The mobile experience is made much more profound because of the mobile applications which improve the before mentioned features. Kapil Raj and Virat Khutal are all about enhancing and adding a twist to the mobile experience with their company “Twistfuture” which is a mobile content publisher.

The two entrepreneurs revealed more about their company saying “Mobile is not just about making calls and sending SMS anymore. It plays an important part in everyone’s life from making calls to exchange of data. Mobile forms an integral part of the virtual world that we live in today. We as a company have been working on mobile content development and aggregation for 3 years. We develop mobile games, applications and IVR content which are distributed through operator channels in Indian subcontinent.”

Business Idea- The duo expounded on the latest product to come out of the Twistfuture stables saying “We have recently launched a new product www.twistcontent.com. Twistcontent.com is an innovative product for delivering mobile Wallpapers, games, animations and ringtones directly to your mobile phones. We at Twistcontent have developed a unique system, which directly sends SMS to user’s phones to download mobile wallpapers, mobile games, mobile animation and mobile ring tones. User has to simply click twice to get content. Generally it takes 5 to 10 clicks and lot of frustration to get content from other download websites.”

Target market – The products they develop are not just released for their own direct users. The duo told us how they target other businesses as clients saying “We make mobile games and applications which are used by everyone. Also we provide end to end solutions to other businesses selling different products and services as to how they can reach their target customer with the help of mobile applications and can make their customers to understand their products in a better way.”

“We have launched www.twistcontent.com with the aim of delivering mobile content and applications to the user in the easiest and cost effective way. As the usage of mobile is increasing in India and with the arrival of 3G technology in near future we feel that we have huge user base who can benefit from our applications and content, and can enrich their mobile experience.”

What sets them apart- We asked Kapil and Virat what makes them unlike the lemmings of their industry and they replied saying “...our style of thinking. We think mobile content should not be charged 10 Rs per wallpaper, which is very expensive for general user to download and consume. We think operator should be like broadband connection provider in GPRS rather than content selling company.”“The margins for Content supplier to operator are not more than 10% if production is done through developer or through supplier. Operator keeps 70% of content price and pay 30% to content developer or content provider. Generally payments of 30% to Content providers take more than 60 to 90 days, which is too much of a delay for content providers.”

“We would like to change this equation. We have reduced prices to 70% to 80% and played with margins through Content providers. Content providers would be paid every month without delay. This makes content providers very happy. We have removed operator as billing solution. We are organizing a cyber café network to get payment solution.”

Future Plans – Twistfuture will be launching their Cyber Café network in 10 cities by June 2010. They told us what steps they are taking toward this goal saying “We have already built our network in Indore 200 Cyber cafes. We plan to expand our payment solution as well as market penetration program through lowest marketing cost.”

“Growth had been constant for us. We have developed healthy professional relationships with organizations of repute and we regularly work with them. Now with the launch of www.twistcontent.com B2B into the B2C model and our aim in coming future is to reach more and number of people and to change the way they use their mobile phones.”

Entrepreneurial journey- Kapil and Virat were not intending to be entrepreneurs per se but their desire to make something led them on their journey. “It was not about doing a job or being an entrepreneur. It was about producing what we want to produce and doing that at our terms and conditions. Developing ideas that our own and the freedom to do that. We did job for many years and felt that this can only happen when we leave our jobs and start something of our own.”

“We had an idea of developing a mobile content portal of our own. We wanted to do that from the time we started working as a mobile content developers and aggregators. We started the production of the portal in August last year and finally launched www.twistcontent.com on 6^th Feb 2010.”

The finances for their venture were a big barrier that caused them much grief. They told us “The biggest challenge that we faced after quitting our jobs was money. Because when you have a lot of ideas and no way to earn money then it becomes difficult. We exhausted our savings and when it became difficult to survive then one of the two of us returned back to job. But things changed and finally both of us were fully involved in the company.”

“We received our Seed Funding from IPS Academy Group. It is more like organic investment and planning.”

They pinpointed what they felt is a sticking point as far as Indian entrepreneurship goes saying “Cost of marketing. India is very expensive in terms of marketing. Cost to reach people, explain to people and make them usable is very high. This is due to our slowness in adopting solutions.”

Recognition gained- The duo from Twistfuture has been acclaimed for their entrepreneurial vision. They have found that many seek to know what they have learnt. “We were invited for E- Summit 2010 at IIT Powai, Mumbai on 7^th Feb 2010 to showcase our product www.twistcontent.com at the startup showcase event. The response we received there was very good. We met students, professionals and investors and their response was very encouraging.

We were one of the only 15 companies called for startup showcase event.”

Entrepreneurial lesson- Kapil and Virat seem to have their ideas in place and their objectives in clear sight. To fellow entrepreneurs looking to learn from them they advise “Solve problems which matter to you. Talk to your customer directly. Don’t wait for somebody to pay to PAY – Cheque. It can be salary or B2B cheques.”

We hope that Kapil and Virat remain undeterred on their journey and continue to launch their products. Yourstory wishes them luck and fortune as they continue to twist the mobile experience with “Twistfuture”