Anupam Mittal plays Cupid with Shaadi.com

Anupam Mittal founder Shaadicom People GroupThe turning point in Anupam Mittals life came when he attended his first lecture in Boston College where he was pursuing an MBA in Operations and Strategic Management in the year 1994 After the professor explained a theory a classmate raised his hand and said I dont agreewith youAnupam Mittal at the office of People Group which includes businesses such as Shaadicom Makaancom and Mauj Mobile at Tardeo PicBipin KokateI was sure that this student had landed himself in trouble as until that day I had been brought up to believe that the teacher is always right I had always felt that education in our country was really about reading from books says the founder and CEO of People Group that runs one of Indias leading matrimony sites Shaadicom Having bunked most of his lectures during college back home he took to the American system of education like a duck takes to waterEarly daysImpeccably dressed in black denims black blazer and a white shirt Mittals penchant for classy clothes is evident when we meet him at his office in Tardeo Reminiscing early days the CuffeParade resident reveals that he usually hung out on the campus as an undergraduate student in Jai Hind College Churchgate I could easily keep up with the pace of the curriculum by going through the textbooks and didnt need to attend class for it says the 40yearold who till the age of 14 was a really shy kid Once he turned 15 he became a sort of a serious troublemaker Stealing cars for a funride and threatening his college watchman made it to his list of pranks On various occasions my parents would be called to sort out issues I am not very proud of that phase today he grinsBusiness mindIn 1991 Mittal who was still in college decided to mend his vagabond ways and joined his fathers textile manufacturing unit in Dombivli I didnt have to undergo any training as I was the bosss son But I didnt quite take to it and gave up after two years After loitering around for a while I set up a business that exported jute bags says Mittal who even managed to bag an order for a million bags from a client in Germany I was pretty young and naiumlve then Instead of opening my own production unit I hired contractors for the job I believed people would keep their word Six weeks into the project I went for an inspection only to find that nothing was on track Overnight I opened a factory production unit and hired new contractors he recallsMittal managed to deliver before the deadline but incurred huge losses in the bargain I concluded that India was not the place for me I travelled around Europe and landed up in the US mdash where I decided to finish my education mdash after I ran out of money he says His experience at Boston University validated the ideologies he believed in I would raise my hand in class just for the pleasure of knowing I could disagree with the professor I worked hard and partied harder says the businessman who rode the dotcom wave when he joined a company called Strategycom with his friends in 1998 Overnight we had turned 100 million into 40 billion At 20 we were multimillionaires on paper says Mittal who says they went crazy once they were faced with this supersuccess We bought Ferraris and Porsches but soon lost the shirt off our backs with the dotcom burst in 2000 says the risktaker who luckily had another venture in India to fall back onNo one took me seriouslyTheres an interesting story behind the inception of Shaadicom While I was studying in Boston I had taken a few months off for a break and was in India in the year 1997 I went to my dads office and started a web development company with four team members says the entrepreneur who was contemplating on building a consumer portal when a matchmaker came to his office He was carrying a few biodatas of eligible women in his bag and had come to find a girl for me on my fathers behest He told me he was my fathers friend but I caught on thanks to his volley of questions about my personal life However I was really intrigued by his profession and told him to give me all the profiles he had to put them up on the Internet While the matchmaker got offended and left I continued to ideate says the unconventional thinker who continued to brainstorm with his team even after resuming his studies in the USBack in IndiaBy the time he returned to India for good in 2003 the company had already set upoffices in New York and London for Shaadicom Nobody took me seriously Some laughed some wrote it off Half the time I wouldnt tell people except a chosen few what I was up to says Mittal who had a tough time hiring people as no one wanted to join a dotcom set up thenMittal turned a deaf ear to the negative feedback and by 2006 almost every eligible single manwoman had created a profile on his matrimony website which has 40 million registrations today Alongside that his parent company People Group started businesses such as Makaancom and Mauj Mobile He also became an active angel investor with over 50 investmentsMittal doesnt like the term switch off nor the 96 lifestyle I dont like to know that I am boxed he says adding that now he doesnt get involved in the daily operations but attends every review meeting to brainstorm and plan the road ahead Weekends he adds are dedicated to interactions with angel investors You can call me a workaholic but its such a creative space to be in he grinsBut his wife model Aanchal Kumar often complains that he doesnt spend enough time with her We work out and swim together and spend quality time when we travel says Mittal who met his own match through a common friend in 2006 but lost touch later Our paths crossed again in 2011 and we knew we were made for each other says Mittal who had a destination wedding in Jaipur in 2013 The couple enjoys spending time with family over the weekends tooAanchal has three sisters and our weekends are often spent with them and their kids In the past yearandahalf we have taken five holidays including Turkey New York and Bali Thailand says the travel enthusiast I get enough adventure in Mumbai On vacations I just want to relax But not for more than eight to nine days mdash I crave to get back to routine then says Mittal who nurtures a passion for filmmaking in his free time I have made a few films too including 99 and Flavours My hands are full right now but I will get behind the camera one day says the film buff who dedicates 20 minutes for yoga 30 minutes for meditation and an hour of gym workout swimming or walking every dayPlaying MatchmakerBut for now he is content playing matchmaker Everywhere I go I meet couples who have met through Shaadicom Last month when I was returning from the US I got talking to a couple on the flight When they came to know I was the founder of the website they thanked me for bringing them together he says with prideIts good to see people happy It may sound like an arrogant statement to make but I often think how things would have been without this website There would have been so many people who didnt meet their right match and nor would they bear offsprings This means in some way we made an impact on the history of evolution of human beings he signs off