At the age of seventeen, Suhas Gopinath established his own company, Global Inc., and attained the status of youngest CEO, while schoolchildren are only concerned with their homework and grades. His motivational tale reaffirms the value of pursuing your passion wholeheartedly.
Suhas Gopinath’s Background:
Gopinath was from Bengaluru, where his mother Kala Gopinath was a homemaker, and his father MR Gopinath was a defence scientist in the Indian Army. He attended Bangalore’s Air Force School for his education.
Gopinath also had a great deal of passion for the new computer trend that was popular at the time. However, the issue was that he did not have a PC at home. After that, he went to a nearby internet café and started improving his skills.
But he could not afford the internet cafe’s rent, so he made an arrangement with the owner and agreed to take on the extra duty of running the business from one to four o’clock. At the age of twelve, this was his first job.
Gopinath started putting in a lot of effort at the cafe to learn how to build websites, and over time, he became an expert at it. He began by registering as an independent web designer, after which he began to receive clients. At the age of thirteen, he then used the money he had saved to purchase a computer with an internet connection. At the age of 14, he became the youngest certified professional web developer in the world with his project, ‘coolhindustan.com.’
Journey Towards Success:
After that, Gopinath’s talent spread throughout the nation, and he started receiving good job offers, one of which was from a major American IT company that was funding his studies through his part-time work. Nevertheless, Gopinath’s dream was to become as successful as Bill Gates. Thus, he turned down the offer.
At the age of 14, he founded Globals Inc. in 2000, offering web and mobile solutions as well as relevant research data.
He had originally intended to call this business ‘Global’ or ‘Global Solutions’, but because of his age in India, he was not allowed to establish a business. To register his business, he travelled to California, USA, and gave it the name ‘Globals Inc’. He then registered in India. Then, at the age of 17, he was appointed CEO of his business, making him the youngest CEO in history.
The company’s first year revenue was Rs 1 lakh, and its second-year revenue was Rs 5 lakh.
But in his quest to become an entrepreneur, he encountered several challenges. As he was still a teenager, no one was prepared to invest in his company. Recalling his early days, he said, “People never took me seriously. Even my clients or bureaucrats used to tell me they wanted to meet my dad for project discussions. And honestly, my dad had no clue on what I was working.”
Gopinath is the recipient of numerous honours, such as the European Parliament’s “Young Achiever” award and the Rajyotsava award from Karnataka. He was also given the distinguished title of “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum for the years 2008–2009. At the age of seventeen, he was listed as the world’s youngest CEO by international media outlets such as the BBC and the Washington Times.
The business is now present in 14 nations, including the USA, Australia, India, Spain, and the UK. Today, his company is valued at Rs 100 crore. His network is around 5 Million.
Therefore, Gopinath’s tale supports the idea that age is merely a number and that what really counts and determines your destiny is unwavering passion and determination.