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Driven by excellence

24-year-old Sachin Duggal, CEO of Nivio, has achieved in life what many professionals twice his age can only dream about. The young entrepreneur shares his dreams and inspirations with Neeraj Gandhi

Sachin Duggal

At 24, Sachin Duggal does not come across as any other young professional. What sets him apart is his passion, energy and vibrant personality. An environmental campaigner at 12, a youth representative who contributed to the Declaration of Youth Rights before entering college, and the founder of the SMX Corporation at 15, Duggal today is the Chief Executive Officer of Nivio.

“Overall I am in a hurry; actually I am sprinting. I feel there is so much I need to do for myself and hopefully for the betterment of society that I want to complete it all in my lifespan or start the stubs that then grow forward,” quipped Duggal. Driven by a passion to excel in his work, he has played all these roles to perfection.

Born in London, he studied a stream focused on science, mathematics and computer science. After finishing school, he pursued a degree in Information Systems Engineering from the Imperial College. At the age of 17, he joined Deutsche Bank as their youngest employee.

“Working with the Deutsche Bank was a very valuable experience. I realized that business is all about and the speed at which it can be done,” he said.

It was during his stint with the bank that the idea of creating a Windows-based Web desktop, Nivio, struck his mind. He was on leave to think of ideas in the online consumer space when it happened. Things happened just twenty minutes before he was supposed to make a presentation of the ideas collated by him. “The way it happened was serendipitous; 20 minutes before a presentation the idea sprung to mind and it ended up taking up the entire 2 hour discussion,” stated Duggal.

Leading from the front

Under his able leadership, professional attitude and approach, Nivio has created a brand name for itself as the world’s first Windows-based desktop environment accessible via a Web browser. In a short span, Nivio has achieved a considerable number of milestones, successful alpha, successful beta, venture capital funding and a partnership with AMD.

He, however, does not take the whole credit for the success. “In a company there is never mine or his or her contribution—it’s a team contribution. Without our “family”, the team that is, we are unable to deliver what our customers expect,” pointed out Duggal. He also believes that being the founder is nothing and Nivio would not have been where it is now without his team comprising people like Iqbal, Jon, Indrani, Manoj, Prabind and Saurabh.

Duggal had to face many challenges in the process of establishing the company. But his determination helped him cross all hurdles. “Convincing people about something that they could not see or feel at a time when we didn’t even have a proof of concept, selling a vision and a dream to partners and funders was indeed very tough,” he said. His aim is to make Nivio a billion dollar enterprise and bring about a real change to the industry.

Duggal was honoured with the PricewaterhouseCoopers Leader of Tomorrow Award, the BBC Young Asian Achiever of the Year Award, and he was nominated for the UNEP Global 500 Youth Award.

Motivating factor

“My mother has been my pillar of strength and my rock. Unmovable and forever strong, I’d not have been able to get anywhere without her,” asserted Duggal. “Her courage, determination and persistence are something I admire. Her limitless love and limitless cushion to absorb all my catastrophic disasters is just unbelievable,” he added.

He also believes that it has been very eventful 24 years of life, full of many learnings. He has come across people from varied backgrounds and lifestyles and learned a lot from them.

“I am influenced by many great individuals—I have been fortunate to meet so many of them,” he said.

A self-confessed geek, Duggal makes it a point to take out time and indulge in some simulated fights at his Play Station. He also likes playing tennis and does jogging to stay fit. Austin (in Texas, US) and Sydney are his favorite travel destinations, and he can be spotted there at least thrice a year.

Besides these, he is strongly committed towards youth rights and the environment. He is also in the process of creating his NGO, MakeEducationPriority, to impart education to underprivileged children.

neeraj.gandhi@expressindia.com