A Session With Farrhad Acidwala moderated by Omar Hafiz
Author: Ipsita Sarkar
On 3rd August 2020, the Scholars at the Kashmir Education Initiative (KEI) met Mr. Farrhad Acidwala, a Lawyer, Entrepreneur, and 3 times TEDx Speaker, featured by CNN, MSN, Vogue Magazines as the Top 10 Young Entrepreneurs in India. The 26-year old guided the young scholars sometimes like an affectionate big brother, and other times like a veteran speaker, who had motivated crowds at IITs, and IIMs to name a few. The Webinar session gently moved from the golden ABCs of becoming a successful entrepreneur to following one’s choice of career or passion, based on his own eventful experience. His entrepreneurship journey started at the ripe age of 13 at a hobby class where they were taught to make model airplanes. Apart from the fat paycheque that his parents had almost dismissed as fake, his first project had some vital learnings- that content was more important than design and it was necessary to reach out to at least a 1000 people to get the support of at least a 100. His second project took shape while balancing it with his Grade 10 Board Exams preparation. He set up a Blog on how to make a sustainable income. The biggest learning of this project was that it was essential to always work along with people and pay attention to what they had to say. His third project was a culmination of his earlier 2 projects- a website on how to build a sustainable income online. The most important learning here was that number of people did not matter, what was of value was the quality of content that those people were bringing. He spoke about the gradual rise of his business models and receiving media coverage from internationally reputed news agencies, getting featured three times as a Ted Ex-Speaker and emerging as one of the youngest global entrepreneurs. Sharing secrets of his rise with the Scholars, he said that it all lay in the optimum utilization of the 24 hours in a day and pursuing a hobby in a holistic way, instead of chasing money. Positive habits played a decisive role too, as they eventually shaped personalities. The secret to finding a business idea on the other hand was to lend a listening ear to other people’s problems and think of solutions. For that, it was also necessary to cultivate curiosity beyond education and try your hand out at developing solutions without the fear of failure. Ultimately to sell the idea in the market, Mr. Farrhad mentioned a trade trick! He revealed that appealing to people’s emotions could be useful. However, what mattered the most was to keep working hard at your passion- whether it was entrepreneurship or a calling. The attitude mattered more than talent and education. The Scholars’ interest in the Session could be measured by the intense volley of questions by them! The questions were deep and dealt with local issues to technical know-how to the broader subject-based questions to one even being about Mr. Farrhad’s unique surname. He calmly and enthusiastically addressed them all- from how to advertise a business online to gaining parents’ approval on starting a business. When asked what his source of motivation was, he answered that there was no substitute to persistence and tenacity that always fuelled motivation from within- the most lasting and effective form of motivation. When Shimayal, one of the Scholars posed a question about luck versus hard work, he wisely answered that luck would always favor those who worked hard with 1000 attempts. Only then would a few lucky doors open. And giving up after some unsuccessful attempts was not an option. Keeping in mind, the struggles and problems that were unique to Kashmir, he motivated the students to always think of entrepreneurship solutions that did not rely on heavy internet usage and ideate on services, products, or skills that could be high in demand in Kashmir but low in supply. That could be a great way to boost traditional businesses as well. In the end, he applauded the intelligence and eagerness of the KEI students, having been bowled over by their bright questions and happily invited to host them all in Mumbai, his hometown!