In our latest interview this week, we invited Uday Shankar – Founder at TLRNOW, to know more about his journey as an entrepreneur and about his venture. He is helping a lot of people by leveraging his expertise. His passion for teaching is what drives him every day. He is on a mission to help reshape the lives of many people through his various initiatives and projects. Let’s read more!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Uday Shankar:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your startup please;
I am a telecom engineer who has spent more than 24 years in the technology space. ONGC, Bosch, Stock Holding Corporation, Satyam and Reliance are some of the companies I have worked, overseeing IT and networking. Even as I was working in the tech space, I always had a penchant for teaching. The training was a natural extension for me. Didn’t have to struggle much to make the transition. In fact, it was seamless. Other than my profession, I am a media aficionado. I have written columns for leading English newspapers- TOI, IE, The New Indian Express and Dataquest. Besides I was on the panel of Zee business and have appeared on TV.
About our startup TLRNOW Consultants Private Limited –
Three professionals, Udayan Trivedi, Pad Swami and myself met on the internet and a series of discussions later TLRNOW was born to address the areas of training, coaching and mentoring. Every year close to 1.7 million graduates pass out from Indian Universities and only third find employment. This gap can be addressed through training and skill up-gradation. Similarly, corporate executives need to upgrade themselves on a continuous basis as competition is increasing. We see an opportunity here.TLRNOW headquartered at Pune, India has close to eighty mentors across soft skills on the panel. At the core of TLRNOW are our directors Aruna and Ram & Aanchal our zonal transformer. TLRNOW offers its service both onsite and online. TLRNOW has a presence in Nepal, Sri Lanka, US and Oman.
How do you find the industry/niche that you’re in?
The training industry is a multi-billion dollar cake and in India, we are just looking at the tip of the iceberg. Training has evolved a lot in the VUCA world and there is an urgent need to upgrade skills to make the cut. Training programs are offered everywhere, but are you getting the right training with the right value proposition is the question.
For the discerning companies, they should view training as a driver with stated goals in terms of productivity and processes. It is no doubt competitive, but companies would do well to identify the right program with clear takeaways
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
When I get up, I look forward to a great day ahead of me; I want to do something new all the time, be it planning a niche program or preparing for our flagship ‘ TLRTALKS ‘ which will be the next big thing in India.http://www.tlrnow.com/tlrtalks.
The first thing in the morning is to write a post, an article or a story. Writing gives me a high. My day begins with messages, phone calls and conference calls. We have a very aggressive team that communicates very often. We evolve, visit and revisit our strategies almost on a daily basis. Passion drives everything and a committed team can do wonders
What is one strategy that you believe has helped grow your startup/person?
Try to be different. Before we offer a product, we need to have clarity of purpose with an idea of the goal/destination. As a techy myself, I believe in using technology like AI tools in measuring and evaluating candidates on a 360 degrees basis.
Building relationships and nurturing them has helped us to get to where we are now – early days still.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
Rather than inviting stress and managing, we believe in avoiding stress in TLRNOW. We communicate very often and exchange information. We are open to ideas and discussions irrespective of position, age etc. Stress is a result of not being well prepared. In other words, your customization has gone awry.
Another way of beating stress is to look at alternatives and not excessively depend on a single source. I am talking about plan B
Personally I beat stress by singing. I am a trained musician and play the keyboard. I like comedy and entertaining guests is my forte.
In your opinion what are the keys to entrepreneurial success?
Patience is the name of the game. Be ready for changes midway or course correction. Don’t be excessively consumed by your approach. They’re always better ones around the corner. The hunger to succeed takes you places. Be open to new ideas. Get them implemented and let the world know of your exploits.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
Dream big. Have confidence in yourself and talk about it to people around you. Break new ground. I always work on a tag line ‘add value to get value’. Don’t focus primarily on money or investments but keep your focus on making a difference to the lives of people. Come to think of it, your millions and billions are bank statements and nothing else. Create a sustainable venture & value creation. I believe, rest of the things will automatically follow with time. Also, if you are starting a venture, feel free to reach out to us. You will find in us a great partner or mentor who will help you break new ground through disruption.
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Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
