Everything yields to intelligence, hard work and a systematic plan

Gourav Jaswal, the founder of Synapse, on the key challenges he faced

Nilofer D'Souza

Gourav Jaswal is a Goa-based entrepreneur who founded his flagship company Synapse a decade-and-a-half ago. Since then, he has set up eight companies that cater to 170-plus clients and have almost 100 employees. He defines himself as a parallel rather than a serial entrepreneur, as he has stayed involved with all the businesses he has started.

In Part 1 of this podcast, he talks about how he came to Goa, a place where siesta is part of the way of life, not to retire but to start a business. And why he feels that people wanting to ‘retire at 40’, or taking up engagements that are not centred on contribution, is a trend where we all lose. As a counterpoint, he gives the example of Shoppers Stop’s BS Nagesh who has founded a non-profit, trrain.org. This is not a commercial source of opportunity and employment for him, but he is making a meaningful contribution by devoting his time, energy and focus to it.

In Part 2, Jaswal talks about how small steps across a period of time led to major milestones in his journey as an entrepreneur, and the beliefs that drive him: everything yields to intelligence, extraordinary hard work, and a systematic plan. So, if you have the motivation, you can succeed at anything.

In Part 3, he shares his experiences as a first-generation entrepreneur and the factors that have helped him build a high-trust workplace: authenticity, integrity and transparency. Even though he makes mistakes, these attributes are valued and have helped his companies attract brighter, more capable and experienced people than companies their size deserve.

Turning Point

Turning Point features conversations with entrepreneurs on the key challenges they faced and their learnings

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About the author

Nilofer D'Souza
Nilofer D'Souza

Podcaster

Whenever people ask me "what do you do for a living?" I always quip back saying, "what do I not do?" In my career as a journalist and now at internal communications, I've had the privilege of seeing both sides of the coin: an external and internal environment. I have also moved across various platforms like radio, print, television, the Internet and social media in both environments.

It's been an interesting journey as it has deepened my understanding of what works and how you can leverage the learnings in both to maximize your reach as a storyteller. Ultimately, as a communications professional, there’s no greater high than having your communication effort reach the right audience.

My favourite platform has always been radio, and it is here at Founding Fuel that I will anchor their podcast offering. I will work with the influential contributor network to build out distinctive world-class audio shows. I will also anchor my own show based from my perch in Bangalore.

I have an M.A. degree in audio-visual communication from COMMITS, a mass communication institute in Bangalore and a B.A. degree from Mount Carmel College in Psychology, English and Communicative English.

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