Jancy Jose may be the first and lonely CEO of an IT company where no man at work, interestingly all employees are woman even CEO and MD too. Young Jancy Jose on her journey as an entrepreneur with her company, Strava Technologies Pvt Ltd.
‘She is a friendly CEO… more like an elder sister’; ‘She is our biggest inspiration’, ‘She is always ready to guide us’… As students of LBS Institute of Technology for Women (LBSITW), shower compliments on her, Jancy Jose can’t stop smiling. She is at her alma mater, as mentor of the Industrial Interaction Incubation Cell (IIIC) of the college.
Jancy, founder, managing director and CEO of Strava Technologies Pvt Ltd, “a fully woman-controlled incorporated/private company in the IT field in Kerala,” is an inspiration to the students. The petite 26-year-old does not quite fit into the image of the poised and savvy CEO.
“At one of the seminars I attended, I was directed to sit with the students. They were taken aback when I told them that I happened to run a company. After that I started wearing glasses with thick rims and formal attire, mostly saris, when I go for official work,” says Jancy, with a disarming smile.
It was in 2011 that she formed a company with two of her friends, a year after she completed her course in Computer Science from LBSITW.
Coming from a middle-class family in Thodupuzha, incubating a business of her own was never in Jancy’s scheme of things. And she has had no role models at home or outside. “Like many other engineering graduates, I too was supposed to enter the IT field. But a seminar at Technopark triggered that dream to start a company. Since I didn’t know how to go about it, I started a firm with my friends and when I felt sure of myself, I started Strava. It was one of the two companies incubated at Technology Business Incubator (TBI) under IIIC of my college.”
The going was never easy. Loans were difficult to come by. Then there were the usual concerns of her family about financial security. “But my younger brother Kiran gave me all the support. Recently I took part in a television talk show for women entrepreneurs. It is then that many in the family saw me as an achiever. Compared to other fields, not many women entrepreneurs are there in the IT field. And those who are there have start-up ventures or partnership ventures involving men. Fortunately, I have had great mentors, who still are my guiding force – N. T. Nair, former chairman, Institution of Engineers and editor, Executive Knowledge Lines, and Col. (retired) R.G. Nair, former director of Recruiting Directorate at Army Headquarters and Chief Instructor at Defence Institute of Physiological Research.”
Defining moment
Within months of its formal launch, Strava brought in Mozilla Firefox for perhaps their first ever programme in the capital city. Strava, along with Mozilla organised an event – ‘Makers Party’ at LBSITW with special focus on the empowerment of women to contribute, develop and build the web. “Nearly 60 students took part in the sessions and the Mozilla team was impressed by them. They weren’t confident about coding/programming and post the event many of them have become sure about what they have to do,” Jancy says.
Strava is now on a branding mode and will become fully operational within a couple of months’ time. Any advice for wannabe entrepreneurs? Proper market analysis holds the key, which eventually helps you to keep the business running, she says. “Unless you do enough research, you might be forced to wind up in a couple of years’ time. Also, seek professional guidance, for it helps you in decision making,” she says.
Before signing off, she adds: “I was 22 when I started a company. Call it maturity or immaturity, but I was sure that this was what I wanted to do. My ambition has been to make my presence felt in the industry and I am happy about my journey so far.”
On Strava
“We focus on emerging advanced technology and provide professional training, consulting and marketing of products. And a key component of Strava is mobiSTRA, a package for engineering colleges. It is based on Agile Methodology, which means the packages are tailor-made for a particular institution. Primarily it aims at supporting aspiring entrepreneurs to realise their business dreams. We have already launched it in LBSITW and two other colleges have approached us. Regarding professional training, we are taking it to arts and science colleges as well. The classes will start in April and we have formulated the course structure. It will be cost-effective so that even students from economically weak families can learn. Experts will handle the sessions and there will be personality development classes as well,” she says. Consulting covers providing backup support and suggestions in project management.
N.B: This article is written on the base of an interview of Jancy Jose which was published on national English daily "The Hindu".
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