MBA ENTREPRENEURS … Rishabh Chopra

MBA ENTREPRENEURS … Rishabh Chopra

Putting His Trust In God 

After working for several years in the corporate world, 28-year-old Rishabh Chopra wanted to do something more challenging. “I thought entrepreneurship would provide me with the opportunity to have no limits on my creativity, and I will get a chance to deal with new challenges continuously,” recalls Chopra. He wanted to create value for the different segments of society and he wanted to do it differently.

It was in 2010, while still interning with MindValley, a leading online publisher in the personal development space, in Malaysia, that he learnt how to track demand for different content online. After spending a lot of time researching and hunting for something that had high demand, he realised that web searches related to Indian mythology were one such untapped space. “Lord Ganesha alone has some 2 million Facebook fans,” Chopra explains.

“I came across the fact that there are about 3 million ideas in ancient Indian mythology but only 22 are popular online or on social media,” he adds. The idea of creating personal development programmes based on Indian mythology was seeded in 2010. Chopra realised there was massive pent-up online demand for information on Indian mythology, especially from places outside India. Chopra tapped this opportunity and approached professors and filmmakers to develop content, and then marketed that through online channels around the globe. 

Chopra’s venture offers content (through e-mailers, DVDs and other online media) that draws from Indian mythology and other ancient Indian teachings to help people with their issues. He has been able to rope in 26,000 users across 20 countries in just 12 months, the most being from the US. His customers include a senior executive of a US-based chipmaker who sits in Africa, and a former minister in Mauritius. 

While, the emailers are free, paid programmes cost $47-97. Chopra is constantly looking for new ways to monetise content.
 

Transformative Learning Solutions got its final shape and face when Chopra joined ISB in 2011 and the venture incubated at the Wadhwani Centre of Entrepreneurship Development there. He received the initial funding of about Rs 10 lakh in cash and kind. Chopra has recently got a fresh round of capital from angel investors, both in India and abroad. Most of this investment is focused on customer acquisition, and when television goes local since the company is expanding, Chopra says breaking even is still some time away.

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