Hot Seat

Game for it?

We get the privilege to download everything—from Archie comics to high-tech games, wallpapers to songs, sports games to puzzles, and entertainment masala to sacred mantras—all thanks to one of the leading players in the online gaming zone. Nitish Mittersain, CEO, Nazara Technologies, tells Renuka Vembu how it all began

Mittersain, one of the young achievers of the present fast-paced and exceedingly ambitious generation, started his entrepreneurial mission when he was merely out of college, at the age of 19. He was born in a business family, his father and grandfather being in the textile industry. This business-friendly atmosphere facilitated for his early self-learnings.

The business acumen was imbibed naturally, which later in life came in handy at the time of shaping up, starting and operating his own company. By Mittersain’s own admission, these lessons were never taught but were the ones he learnt through shrewd observance. Business knowledge for requisites like risk-taking, being patient and fighting it out, the strong will to not accept defeat and the courage to survive, working thoughtfully and prudently, maintaining cost-effectiveness, etc., that are the pillar-stones for embarking on a self-financed venture, came in at no price.

Starting young

A glance at his tech savvy childhood days and the direction in which his career has taken form does not come as any surprise. It is said that ‘Books are a man’s best friend,’ perhaps, they are the best teachers also. At the age of six, his father gifted him with a ZX Spectrum computer. By the time he was all of eight, Mittersain, inspired by the heap of books around him, and awed by the functions of technology, programmed his own small game. He was thereafter regularly involved in programming and coding, and by the time he reached his teens, he was at ease starting a Bulletin Board Network, almost like a mini-Internet.

Pursuing a commerce degree meant ample time for extra-curricular activities, and he made every use of the time and opportunity that lay before him. As much as technology intrigued and involved him, the textile business bored him. Thus, was born Nazara.com, a result of the business genes he inherited and a passion for technology he nurtured.

The game begins

Nazara was an online gaming website equipped with localized content that was aimed at the Indian user market. Though it was a successful business model, it could not survive the dotcom collapse phase largely because advertisers were unwilling to advertise on the Internet. Mittersain felt that they were very early entrants in the online gaming zone market. After gauging the situation for two to three years, they decided to capture the mobile market which was still in its nascent stages.

He said, “Since we had expertise in gaming and the mobile space was coming up, we moved from the Internet to the mobile phone. The business has been very successful in the last four years, and we have established ourselves as a brand. This is a good period for growth since the 200 million mobile user market is expanding and people are no longer reluctant to pay money for the content they download.”

A roller-coaster ride

Thus, Nazara.com was transformed into Nazara Technologies. In 2005, they were a small self-funded company. Today, in a span of just about three years, they claim to be among the top three players in this field. Their work was highly appreciated and sought after and they obtained a funding of approximately Rs 8-9 crore from Sequoia Capital. Nazara is an independent venture now; its business growing well, so is its relationship with mobile carriers. For Mittersain and everyone associated with the company, it has been a roller-coaster ride and he felt that he finally “got out of the woods” after having scraped through the initial stages. Besides Archie comics, they now have business deals with and specialized zones of top-notch cricket players like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virendra Sehwag and the Australian fast pacer Brett Lee.

Mittersain, with no prior work experience, pursued his passion. Though his father provided him with the initial investment, it was made clear that Mittersain would make Nazara Technologies a profitable enterprise and “not burn money.” In the course of seven years, he learned to grab the ropes of the trade—dealing with employees, customers and investors, and accepting failures and striving for success. His belief in himself and in what he was doing, and invariable perseverance, has taken him through all odds. He has learnt a bit and has to discover a lot. He is part of a jazz band and plays instruments like saxophone, piano, etc., at least twice in a month in places like Not Just Jazz By The Bay and the Bombay Gymkhana. An age-old axiom says, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” but what more can one ask for if one’s work itself involves games.

renuka.vembu@expressindia.com