Amit Bhardwaj. Tenacious. Focused. In for the long haul. 6Degree.  At one of our first conversations Amit and I got into a long drawn out argument on how to grow our businesses. Over the course of three nights and very vociferous conversations, we finally found an equilibrium. Amit is one of those rare souls who is willing to argue and discuss all aspects of a point of view before settling into a more comfortable well thought out stand.

I met Amit at the Beach House Project in march last month at an idyllic week long residency in Fort Kochi. You can read about that trip here. Late nights over good music and even better conversation can get people to bond pretty fast. And that is exactly what happened. Amit is next in my series of Effortless Friendships. Read on to find out more about him.

What did you study in college?

I did my MBA (Telecom) from Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management, Pune. I finished in MBA in 2008.

How did the jump to fashion happen?

We started 6Degree for the Music industry initially but there were lot of IP issues in this industry. Following advice from a few mentors we decided to explore the Fashion ecosystem. After a 3/4th survey and meeting a lot of fashion professionals, we decided to apply our 6Degree concept to the fashion industry. Since the fashion industry is very unstructured, the concept of bringing the ecosystem on a platform made perfect sense.

What is your company called and why?

My startup is called 6Degree. Six degrees of separation is the idea that all living things and everything else in the world is six or fewer steps away from each other so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. The idea behind naming our startup as 6Degree was because we want to connect the entire fashion ecosystem.

What are some of the challenges you face?

There were lot of challenges we faced in our initial phase, but I would like to mention few:
– Not being from the industry: It took us a lot of time to fully understand the industry and thus our time to market took a long time.
– Building trust: The fashion industry is very flexible & value driven and as we were very new to the fashion industry our prospective/new clients took a lot of time to trust us.
–  Funding: As our concept was unique & there are very few companies like us in the world, it look time for investors to understand our business model & believe that it is an investment worthy startup.

Could you share a typical work day with us?

Well we are a very flexible startup which is driven by goals & values. This reflects in my typical work day. I generally reach office by 10AM & start with green tea and checking mails. Next thing I do is checking our previous day’s social media performance of our posts. Work continues till lunch. We generally have lunch together as a team & have a lot of laughs over it. Post lunch its a routine to have a 10 min walk to get fresh air. I close my day by 5:30/6 PM & take an Uber  home 😊

What is your process/thinking/philosophy?

I am a free thinker who believe in equality for all. All my product thoughts are around usability & multi-operability.

What is the next step you see for your business? Expansion plans?

We plan to launch an app that will form the “digital backbone” of the entire fashion ecosystem. We also plan to build an international footprint. One line answer – “Be the Google of Fashion the Ecosystem”. Thus all of you looking for your fashion business – 6Degree is the answer.

Favorite  drink/ movie/book/go to place?

Drink: Scotch
Movie: Invictus & The Terminal
Book: The Prodigal Daughter
Place: My village

Amit

amit@6degree.co
www.facebook.com/amit.bhj
www.twitter.com/bhardwajamit

Rishi Kartik. Quiet. Unassuming. Wild card! Musician and Film Maker. My introduction to Rishi was unassuming and of no seeming significance. He came across as a young man still trying to find himself. Till the introductions happened. And he told us of his history. That first evening with all of us sitting together late into the night really brought out his personality to the fore. And may I say he is one WILD card. But absolutely adorable and charming. That is one lethal combination. Oh! and he termed the phrase “Best Mom Ever” for me. The reason that came about may not be appropriate to share so publicly but suffice it to say. He thinks and my kids just have it made with such a cool mom who is a little unaware shall we say…? 😉

I met Rishi at the Beach House Project in march last month at an idyllic week long residency in Fort Kochi. You can read about that trip here. Late nights over good music and even better conversation can get people to bond pretty fast. And that is exactly what happened. Rishi is next in my series of Effortless Friendships. Read on to find out more about him.

What did you study in college?

I did my graduation in Computer Applications but I finished my Masters of Mass Communications from Symbiosis Pune.

What made you pick music and film making?

Music has been an inherent thing since our childhood. I’ve grown up listening to Vividh Bharti as well as the Cassette and CD’s phase. My brother and I used to perform locally at a Kids Garba (EDM for Gujarati’s) and that’s where my love for Beats and Performance started. As I grew, my voice started to change and I couldn’t sing anymore, but it just opened up another window of possibilities. I use to fidget around with DigiCams around 10 years back and I made some films and even a sent off video dedicated to my brother. I loved how 2 different pieces of audio and video came together and evoked an emotional response. It was power of an unprecedented kind uncovered by him. I listen to a lot of western classical music and imagine epic war sequences, even now. This is where it comes from. To be able to manipulate people’s emotions, that’s the best part of it.

What are Bombay cab sessions (BCS)?

In one line.’ It’s a Music Series inside a cab, shot live with one take’. In the current scenario where technology has overtaken a lot of the aspects of Music Making, I am willing to go a bit old school in terms of making the music. Music doesn’t need a confined space. It can come from anywhere. And the main reason is to support Independent Music. We use to have an era in 90’s where a lot of artists came out of the independent music scene. That got completely diluted and it’s almost dead for a decade now. I want to bring the Era of Pop Culture back.
At BCS, we want to break these barriers and bring out these artists on a much bigger platform. And it’s the one chance, one take which is all it takes. The artist and their creation are the core of every episode. It not only gives them a chance to showcase the song but also to talk about the story behind it.

How did the idea come about??

Like how all good things happen post 12 am, this one happened in a pretty similar fashion. More than the idea what fascinated me was the possibility of being able to achieve a product of a decent kind without big moolah. We experimented with the Bombay Taxi, but couldn’t fit more than 2 people with a guitar and the noise factor of the car. So we tried a couple of iterations before we found the best possible way to shoot and record the audio and video live.

Could you share a typical work day with us?

Generally I try to finish all mundane tasks and the tasks which will keep me outside by sunset. I prefer to work at night. It’s much peaceful, lesser distractions and I have found a sweet spot after many years of permutations and combinations. Whether it’s writing or editing any video, I find the night to be extremely important. I make sure to watch at least one film  everyday. It’s an exercise I’ve put myself through to make it a habit.

What is your process/thinking/philosophy?

Every project is a different challenge and has different approaches. I tend to get involved in all the departments. More than involvement is the curiosity to know more. I used to get carried away by success and the failures would make me go crazy and have sleepless nights. This is something I still have to adapt myself to and find a middle road.

What sets your work apart from another musician/film maker?

I feel as a film maker I’ve the power to manipulate emotions and people around me. I want to be remembered for those 2 lines or 3 words which will leave an impact for a long time to come and that is what makes sets me apart.

What are some of the hurdles you face as a young business?

Being taken seriously was my first hurdle, I founded Noah Productions to start Bombay Cab Sessions as my first independent project as a producer at the age of 24. So to start from there, it has taken a lot of patience and time to be given an equal platform.
I also feel that in this day and age when things happen at such speeds, our system and the people running those systems need to upgrade. Solutions do not get implemented even with the right resources.

What is the next step you see for your business? Expansion plans?

The immediate plan is to bring the Cab Sessions Part 2 which will feature 10 artists from all over India.  I also want to start a platform to create very short format content. I am also in the process of writing an Independent Feature and directing it by the end of the year.
I would love to get into producing features and web-series as well.

Favourite drink/ movie/book/go to place?

Drink: Thums Up.
Movie: The Secret of Kells
Go to Place : Goa

Rishi Kartik

www.facebook.com/rishikartikk
twitter.com/rishikartik
www.facebook.com/baycabsessions
www.youtube.com/channel/UCq13aVOZ5i0f6YEjkvFnWBw
www.instagram.com/rishikartik/
rishi@noahproductions.in

Vanshaj Kapur. Film Maker. Creative director. The Bold Creative. I met Vanshaj in 2013 on a trip to Sydney. He was working on a project for my husband. My first thought on meeting him was that he is always hungry. And somewhat scattered. Till he got into work mode… Driven.

Over the years Vanshaj has continually surprised me. With his focus and his meticulous attention to detail. With the vision for what he sees his company The Bold Creative grow into.  For walking the fine balance of running a business/agency with out compromising creativity. For building an office environment that big companies would aspire to…

It was at the Beach House Project in march last month at an idyllic week long residency in Fort Kochi that I got to spend some quality time with him. And I find that I like him!  You can read about that trip here. The next in the series of Effortless Friendships is my friend Vanshaj. Read on to find out more about him.

What did you study in college?

I went to Symbiosis Institute of Design, and did a course on Communication Design with a major in film and video design. That is what I studied as a pupil, however what I learnt was that to truly communicate with anyone, you need to read people not books.

What made you pick film making?

As a child I was always driven by creation, and was constantly looking for ways to express myself. I danced back in school, and performed at international competitions. I tried to sing, and failed miserably. I acted in theater too, and continued doing so till college.
The realization that film had so many multiple layers to express emotions and tell stories really intrigued me. While I watched a Shahrukh Khan film, “Kal ho na ho” I was draining tears and realized how they could so easily manipulate my emotions. I knew then that this was a skill I wanted to learn in order to tell better stories. The rest is then history.

What was the Big Film about?

The Big Film  was named so because I personally have always loved making productions massive, and earning a lot of attention via them. During the first few years of college, I would often tell my friends, “I want to make a big film man. These short stories are just not cutting it. I want to do a feature.” The same thought carried with me till my graduation project and I put all my eggs in this basket. We crowdfunded the film successfully, and had a crew of over 40 people making the film. This was the biggest production college had seen till date.

Now, with all these hopes and dreams of making a massive production while in college. My story had to be personal. The Big Film, or how we later named it ‘He Who Chased the Train’ is a story about how society conditions you in a manner that you cannot tell your morals from right or wrong. All the characters in the film are inspired from my own experiences and I can easily say that I know each of them from under their skin. The film does have a lot of narrative flaws, but I think the film is also a major mark of achievement for me in not only story telling, but also making a BIG film.

What led to the shift to Bangalore?

After having realized that I wanted to work for myself, I’d first approached an old friend Sankhalina to co-found this new venture with me. She was in Bangalore then, and it would’ve been a lot harder for her to move to Mumbai then for me to shift.
Bangalore also happened to be a lot cheaper and economical for starting something on my own. It didn’t take much thought before I’d packed and moved.

How did the idea of The Bold Creative come about?

At first when I’d shifted to Bangalore, the idea was to just do work that we liked doing. We didn’t know if we would be a design studio, a production house or an advertising agency. But as our hair grew white, and we realized the kind of work we had been doing. The agency model seemed to fit just right, and then the vision of being a large agency came about. That was really how it started, and was rather organic.

Could you share a typical work day with us?

A typical work day starts with me waking up and squinting to check my emails and messages on my phone. I then spend my morning at home making a list of ‘to do’s’ for the day, and then heading down to office.

Our help at The Bold, Kamrul starts my day with his amazing coffee, and I get to sending off emails first thing. I then break into either brainstorms with the team, or meetings, or shoots. Depending on what the day has in store. The major chunk of my day is never typical really. There is always a new schedule. So I guess the coffee and the ‘to do’ is what always remains constant.

My work day usually ends very late, and I head back home only by about 11pm or later. That’s something I’m trying to work on, but the thought of leaving office kinda freaks me out. Probably cause I wouldn’t know what else to do if I did leave office early.

What is your process/thinking/philosophy?

As far as process goes, it varies from medium to medium and project to project. Considering we do branding, advertising, UI/UX, films and so on. There is a unique process for each of them.
My personal thinking for any project always starts with an insight. Which could be a dialogue that I’ve heard someone say, a behavior, an emotion or anything that a human being really expresses. I’ve always felt that design or communication needs to hit the spot. Hence it’s very important for me to be able to relate to the work I do, else it just feels like making plastic.

What sets your work apart from another agency?

Not really sure how to answer that question, because I do look up to a lot of agencies and their work. But if there was a unique thing that sets us apart it is our confidence in our team. We have an average age of 22 in the company and these youngsters make a killing on big projects too. Being a young leader, I know the importance of giving young thoughts and ideas a chance. So we try not to rely on traditional work or templates that have worked in the industry so far, but give everyone regardless of their years in the industry a confident chance to bring new things to the table. That for me is truly unique, cause most young designers lack confidence in their ideas and their approach. Finding a way to tap that potential is what we do best, and hence are able to make a mark for ourselves.

What are some of the hurdles you face as a young business?

Most hurdles we face are common to people in our business, like money, team, taxes, administration etc. But I think what we’ve combated a lot is a pure perception issue, being a young agency that was once lead by a 22 year old was a bit difficult to sell to clients. We were perceived as a bunch of kids, and changing that perception of being a serious and relevant agency has been the toughest. We still face that, but maybe only with bigger clients.

What is the next step you see for your business? Expansion plans?

We’ve been thinking of starting another branch in Mumbai for a while now. Given that the film industry is there, our films department could work a lot faster if we situated ourselves in Mumbai. Our revenues are doubling year on year, so we are trying to keep that constant, and hopefully set bigger targets in order to achieve the new branch expansion.
However, my ultimate vision of the agency is to be a worldwide agency, which has its office at NYC. TBC NYC as we casually joke about it in office.

Favorite drink/ movie/book/go-to place?

This is the hardest question of them all. I can’t figure between coffee or beer as my favorite drink, I also really love whisky.
A movie that has moved me a lot, and I look up to for brilliant storytelling and characters is Monsoon Wedding by Mira Nair. I think I’ve probably seem it over a hundred times.
My favourite place to visit in Bangalore is a bar called Toit. I’m usually there every weekend drinking a brew, and cribbing about my week.
But if I have to find a place that I truly love visiting, it is Dili Haat in New Delhi. As children my father used to take us there for chicken momos and fruit beer. That place always brings back tonnes of nostalgia and emotion.
As an adult I’ve read plenty of books ranging with various subjects. But my favorite has to be ‘The Room on the Roof’ by Ruskin Bond. He as a writer just knows where to tickle me, and my film ‘He Who Chased the Train’ takes its protagonist’s name from the book ‘Rusty’.

Vanshaj Kapur

www.instagram.com/theboldcreative
www.instagram.com/vanshajkapur
www.facebook.com/vanshajkapur
www.facebook.com/theboldcreative
www.theboldcreative.com

Ishaan Prakash. Truly one man up. Stoic. Brooding. With a quiet sense of purpose… till he opens up! And then he is just a whole lot of fun. A barrel of laughs and yes! He’s got a few moves for the ladies but I am going to let the single ladies discover those for themselves 😉
For the young men out there he has just the tricks for you too to be One ManUP. And lucky for you, he is happy to share!

I met Ishaan at the Beach House Project in march last month at an idyllic week long residency in Fort Kochi. You can read about that trip here. One week together can get a bunch of people quite close quite fast. And that is exactly what happened. The next in the series of Effortless Friendships is my friend Ishaan. Read on to find out more about him.

What did you study in college?

I studied Architecture at the University of Liverpool in the UK.

What made you pick architecture?

Architecture struck me like lightning post reading Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead. I was always inclined towards the creative arts since childhood – be it sketching, painting or constructing make-believe structures out of lego.

What made you give up architecture?

The amount of creative liberty we were predisposed to in the UK brought along with it quite a work culture shock when I decided to work in India. Sitting for 12 hours in an office, in front of a computer and taking orders from someone I didn’t know, was most definitely something I wasn’t built for.

What led to ‘One ManUP’?

Post quitting jobs at two of the best firms in India, Chapman Taylor and Archohm I realized something obviously wasn’t right. I resigned myself to a month of introspection (amidst all the chaos of fulfilling my “ supposed “ duties, I never got the time to stop and think). I decided to play on my strengths, which were  not contrived and something I would happily do 24/7/365 days of the year. Those were – writing and speaking – essentially communicating.

I started writing a manuscript with an idea that had been tossing around in my head for a while – I completed the book in 1 month and 18 days. I named it ‘One ManUP’. It was a fictional piece about the evolution of a male protagonist over the course of 30 years. Next thing I know I had built my own website for Men’s Styling, and I was operating it like a machine with new content day in and day out. Before I knew it, ‘One ManUP’ very organically turned into India’s first Men’s Styling Service.

How did you come up with the company name – One ManUP?

As controversial as it may sound along with the immense scope it carries to be misused, the idea behind One ManUP was pretty straight forward. It stood for men wanting to level their game up in any area of their lives. When they had done the needful and put in their due diligence to level up, they had evolved into a Man higher than their former self. Hence, One ManUP.

What is the objective of One ManUP?

The primary objective of One ManUP is to make fashion, looking good, and self care accessible to the average man. By average I don’t mean bad. I’m average. But the endeavor to want more is something that makes us extraordinary. Fashion & Self care as an industry is still very much considered for the elitist. I am going to change that. You don’t have to break your wallet or give up 2 months of your life to improve yourself – but you do have to put in the work to see what life has to offer you – so much more than you see right now.

What is the main issue facing young men you think?

Lack of awareness. I would love to be proved wrong, but men are either too careless when it comes to themselves or too cautious of it. One ManUP doesn’t strive to just improve you aesthetically, it challenges your core beliefs and way of operating.

What services does your company provide?

We’re a Men’s Styling Service. Depending on your need, we make over your wardrobe accordingly, tailoring it to your fit, needs and budget. We also specialize in Fitness, Grooming and Lifestyle for Men – each segment is led by their respective experts. They deal with a range of issues – right from obesity, endurance training and bodybuilding; to functioning and making an impression on everyone you meet in a social setting and to overcoming anxiety.

How do you handle issues of privacy?

We have a confidentiality clause when clients sign up for a service. Their privacy is of utmost importance to us. For the purposes of a Client Testimonial, we only use clients who want their examples to be used.

What is the next step you see for your business?

Lots actually ! We are in the middle of tie ups with brands ranging from retail to designer. We’re working with MNC’s and Study Abroad Consultants on providing Styling and Grooming Seminars for their employees and students respectively, to minimize the culture shock and maximize their capabilities.

What about expansion plans?

Like I said, my endeavor is to make sure not a single strata of man are left behind. Be it a boy studying to give his engineering entrance in Tamil Nadu, or a graduate adjusting to a new job in New Delhi, a working professional looking to improve his dating life in Mumbai, or a grandfather celebrating his golden anniversary in Gujarat. Now it’s all about whatever it takes to getting there – and doing it.

You favorite drink/ movie/book/go to place?

Favorite Drink – Black Coffee
Favorite Movie – Too many to name – Home Alone, Rocky series, Dil Se, Swades, Lootera, Karan Arjun, Cast Away, The Terminal, You’ve Got Mail. List can go on and on.. I’m a proper Cinephile.
Favorite Book – Currently I’m reading the Immortals of Meluha – GEM of a book !
Apart from that I read Jackie Chan’s Autobiography a few years back. It’s a must read even if you aren’t a fan.
Favorite Go To Place – Perch , a Wine and Coffee Bar in Khan Market, with really good music.

Ishaan Prakash

www.facebook.com/ionemanup
www.instagram.com/one.man.up
ish@onemanup.com
www.onemanup.com