Now a social networking platform to connect based on your passion – PassionBeats

It all started with the lecture of Chetan Bhagat on a bright afternoon in the packed hall of ISM Dhanbad. Many notable speakers are routinely invited to ISM Dhanbad to ignite young minds to the various opportunities life has to offer. For Mahasish Shome and Subhadeep Purkayastha, the lecture by Chetan Bhagat on patriotism provided that spark to stand out, to do something on their own. Chetan Bhagat asked a simple question -- that how many Indian companies are among key internet global giants -- and obviously there were none for the crowd to name. So with a zeal to do something and prove to themselves and to the world, that Indians are no less, was born PassionBeats.

Passionbeat is creating a platform where users can freely share resources of all kinds -- resources, knowledge, experiences -- beyond their present horizon of friend circle. They are trying to simulate the concept of open source software and apply the same concept to nurturing passions. Mahasish says that they are trying to build a network which will help people discover their hidden talents and help them connect to like minded people.

Mahasish is currently pursuing M.Sc Chemistry at ISM Dhanbad while Subhadeep is doing his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering at SMVDU, Jammu and Kashmir and Aftab Jamal is learning in Environmental Engineering at ISM Dhanbad.

Though he is not sure how he wants to make it big, Mahasish is adamant about making it a success and that drives him to try different things. One how he got the they got the idea of naming their venture, Mahasish says: “It was all of sudden, from the movie ‘Wake Up Sid’ where actor Ranbir Kapoor worked for the magazine called “Mumbai Beats” and that was how they decided upon “PassionBeat” as the name.

So how is PassionBeat different from other social networking platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram etc. Mahasish says just as LinkedIn enhances one’s professional contacts, PassionBeat is to help enhance one’s passion contacts. So while Facebook has dedicated groups for each and every passion, it is not always that people join the correct group and that is where PassionBeat can make a difference.

Passionbeat.com has groups for hobbies like football, dancing, singing, painting, gadgets, music and more. Also listed was cooking as a passion and pictures of finger-licking-food and their detailed recipes were enlisted too. Being a photographer, I checked out the pictures listed in the groups and there were good a few good ones listed there. The user interface is also simple to use and you have the option of signing up only if you want to or the visitor has the option of only checking out various options on the site. The site also has no advertisements – another differentiator from the usual sites. Mahasish says they are presently focused on getting enough traction among customers as well as working on the technical development of the website.

They also have plans to venture into a new field called ‘Passion counseling’, which is targeting school and college students. Students have immense talent but they are sometimes is not recognized. So through the platform they can help identify such talents students and help them connect with people who can take their passion forward. The site currently have 2000 users and also have plans to launch a customized Passion apps for iPhone and Android users soon.