In 2010, I decided to come to Goa and set up my startup venture in the media space.
Goa to many in my circle of corporate players was a great place to unwind from a busy schedule but most did not see it as a destination to set up a media business. Their thoughts were simple and could be considered to be logical: ‘Nobody wants to go to Goa to work. You go to Goa to unwind’.
Personally, I often take the road less traveled. I saw Goa as a destination where I could work hard and party harder. More so, the roots of my family are in Goa.
I have never regretted that decision I took 10-years ago. It has been one of the wisest business decisions I had taken in my life.
Of course, Goa is not like a metropolitan city, bustling with business opportunities but it is a state that has varied business opportunities if you have the patience to understand the businesses and different sectors that have a business and economic growth potential.
I decided to open my business in the media space because I came from a journalism experience and believed that with my young team from Goa, I could create a new brand of journalism that could impact not only Goa but India also, and eventually it would be respected as a global media brand.
Let me be brutally honest that surviving in a media business especially in the online space in Goa, ten years ago was an arduous and near-impossible task. Even today media, while a respected business in the state and it does find many readers locally, nationally, and internationally, it does not garner adequate advertising revenue to sustain the media business for a long-time.
We, however, did not work our business model on an advertising revenue model, instead, we focussed on getting our journalism appreciated and thereby gaining popularity and respect.
After ten-years of toil, I can say that we have now seen the value in our brand GoaChronicle, which recently received an offer of Rs 5 crore for 5 percent equity in the brand. Thereby, getting a Rs 100 crore valuation.
Goa is a place for creative people. Goa is the place for young entrepreneurs who want to explore their ideas and set up a strong foundation for the next steps of their business across India or internationally.
Goa gives you the opportunity to blend work with leisure. That is just the right combination for a young startup at an Incubation stage.
Every idea has potential. Young ideators need a place that can inspire them and stir their creative thought process and business minds to create next-generations products for the world.
It is my personal belief that Goa must position itself as a Global Startup Hub because it has all the right combinations to foster creativity and next-generation business ideas.
The most important boost to creativity is an ecosystem of leisure and unwinding. This is the prime reason for many tourists coming to Goa.
The next-generation business will be driven mostly through AI, Robotics, and Advanced Automation. People will prefer to work from the confines of their home office or co-working spaces. Technology will bridge the gap of communication and it will change the dynamics of business methods.
The new-age business will be one that will balance creativity, hard work, and leisure. And in India, Goa fits the bill perfectly.
Goa can become to India what Palo Alto is to America.
You can still come to Goa for the beaches, booze, and green hills but next time try out its creative potential for business, you never know the high you can get from it.
Get started in Goa. You can check-in anytime you want but you would never want to leave.
