Life in a Startup- With Iyer PremKumar, The 'Awesome Startup Employee' from Gozoop

As a part of our ‘Awesome Startup Employee Series',YourStory talks to a startup employee, who’s in love with his job...

Gozoop is an internet marketing agency that deals with professional consultation and management services across multiple sectors of online marketing. Fresh out of B-school Bhartiya Vidyapeeth, Premkumar Iyer was determined not to settle for anything less than the right job. After a tireless job hunt, suddenly, Gozoop happened. The association, so far, has been exciting, to say the least.

Why a startup?

“The basic drivers were to work with people my age, those I could relate to and an environment full of energy. In a startup, you get to learn the most.” Besides the job profile that one is hired for, at a startup you end up doing lot more. Exposure to all the organizational functions teaches you to take smarter risks. “Not to forget, that awesome feeling when you see the startup grow!” says Iyer.

Challenges

“Coming from a typical South Indian, Iyer family; my father's obsession with bank/government job lives on till date.” But other than that Iyer is thankful for a supportive family. He adds, “I do get compared to others my age, who work in banks or government offices, but I know my father is proud of me!”

Work profile

Iyer’s profile includes taking care of the online marketing executions in India, planning and resource allocation, execution of processes and implementation, mentoring the account management team and supervising account managers and online marketing team.

Motivation

The three things that motivate him at Gozoop are:

• Not being able to do justice to the trust that has been entrusted with makes him strive harder each day.
• “For Gozoop, it’s always people first”, says Iyer. He says the seniors of the company always stand by the team no matter what. A team that stands together performs better.
• And of course they have the Happiness Officer. “We have a designated member for this. At work, we are treated with random chocolates, cupcakes, Saturday fun time activities. Once in a while the whole office is forcefully vacated at 6.30 pm so that we guys can go home early, Thank you letters and sweets to parents and the list go on,” says Iyer.

His Message

“A lot of guys join startups and then start comparing it to their previous organizations. Remember, a startup develops with its people, so instead of cribbing, we need to adjust, take charge and get things in place. You need to be prepared to put in extra time, may be even days at a stretch. In a startup, you will have to first prove yourself worthy and then expect returns. This can only happen when you work selflessly. Owning up to the duties assigned to you, working under constraints and making things happen, come what may!”

Know more about Gozoop.