Ashish Agarwal, Solutions Infini: Be open to failures and adapt to changes faster

Rapid Fire with Ashish Agarwal, Founder & CTO, Solutions Infini

Originally from: I was born and brought up in a small town called Jaigaon which is located on our country’s border with

Bhutan. It’s a small valley where Bhutan uses Indian roads due to lack of domestic roads linking all of their towns.

Studied at: I did my schooling from St. Augustine’s School at Kalimpong in West Bengal. Later I moved to Banglore for my graduation. I graduated in computer applications from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bengaluru.

Company: I am the founder and CTO of Solutions Infini. I founded it in 2007 when I was still in college. In 2009, I created the messaging Infrastructure at my startup and four friends joined hands and we registered Solutions Infini as a

private limited company. In 2016 we launched our Voice platform too. Today we are one of the fastest growing Cloud Telephony companies across the globe with 8000+ clients. Our Cloud platform handles 2.5Billion SMS and 600 Million voice calls per month. What started out as a 5-member team with one small office, has now grown into 150+ employees across 10 offices around the globe.

What is your ideal day? An ideal day for me would be where I feel challenged to solve complex issues at work. Often the

solutions are quite simple, which sometimes we tend to overlook by concentrating on the bigger picture. I feel most contended on the days when I get the sense of achieving something productive.

What inspires you? Anything that revolves around technology grasps my attention and inspires me. It brings out the

inner childlike enthusiasm in me to know how the newly released technology can change or improve the living conditions of people around the world. I strongly feel there is a solution to every problem, and it’s just a matter of time before some person comes along and solves it.

What’s your favourite place on earth? My work schedule gives me limited time to travel, and if I do it’s mostly for work. Volendam, a small town in North Holland, Netherlands and Prague are my most favourite places. It was a very serene experience.

What’s your favourite food? Favourite food often sums up as comfort food for me. Pav Bhaji and Biryani are two of my

all-time favourite food.

What’s the thing you can’t live without? Choosing one particular thing would be a tad bit difficult. But the things I can’t

live without are actually not materialistic ones. I would have to say I love being surrounded by family and friends. I cannot imagine living without a good, positive attitude.

What is the best thing you like to do alone? I like my ‘me time’ a lot. So, if I’m alone, you’ll see me pondering over my

thoughts and possibly in the process of finding solutions to any complex issues that I face.

Last book you read: Who moved my cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson. Instead of naming it as the last book I read, I would

like to name is as a book which motivated me a lot.

Which letter of the alphabet describes you the most and how? A and D describes me the most. I call this my strength

which has got me through in every situation faced. The 3D model: Desire, Dedication and Devotion. It has helped me

achieve my goals. With 'A' I would define something similar in three words which have made me up my game very often. A: Aim, Ambitious and Algorithm.

I never get tired of: I never get tired of anything that’s even remotely connected to technology. And well if it’s not connected to tech, then I would prefer creating a tool so that it’s now aligned with technology.

What’s your motto in life? Do what you love the most, so that it helps you achieve greater heights!

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently? I once wore a mismatched pair of shoes to office in a hurry, but nobody noticed it. I noticed it once I was back home. But now everyone knows about it because am mentioning it here! (laughs)

How would you rate your memory? I have never used a scale to measure it or I cannot say on what terms I would rate my memory. I think memory is all about what you want to remember or how important is that memory for you.

Advice to budding Entrepreneurs: Be open to failures and adapt to changes faster. It’s important to develop a positive

approach and not just blindly follow norms. Believe in your potential and break norms. Always aim higher to reach your goals!