How UPES is nurturing students to become business leaders

A young celebrated author, quiz champion and now an entrepreneur, Tushar Dauthal, an alumnus of UPES, is carving out a niche for himself by taking the road less travelled

We are living in an era of entrepreneurship, where new-age start-ups are coming up rapidly with innovative ideas and business models; each holding its own unique story. One such endeavour is Cerebrati, which strives to bring in tech innovations in products and services. The brain behind this unique idea is Tushar Dauthal, an alumnus of UPES School of Business. Today, his enterprise has been gaining huge traction for its customized and new-age models of technology and consulting services, which are proving to be highly beneficial for businesses across various sectors. Tushar shares his insights about his life as an entrepreneur and how UPES played a significant role in this journey.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?

For me, entrepreneurship is about doing things innovatively such that they add value to society. I began my entrepreneurial journey as a teenager during high school with a small web-oriented model of business. I have been truly fortunate to receive encouragement from my friends, family and mentors. My parents always gave me the liberty to make my own choices. During my BBA, I participated in many business competitions and boot camps. I fulfilled my dream of penning a novel, “The girl I never met”, which managed to enter the under 500 Amazon bestsellers ranking in the Indian romance genre. I won quiz competitions like Bournvita Quiz 2015, Sarla Birla Memorial Quiz Championship 2016 and Tata Crucibles 2018. I have been the student convener of UPES Business Conclave, a two-day fest celebrating business ideas, business leaders and innovations. These learning experiences ignited a spark within me. Working with a huge team, managing the organizational tasks and developing the concept over the years helped me grow as a leader. This exposure gave me the confidence to start my venture.

As a young entrepreneur, how has your journey been so far?

Cerebrati works as a tech and consulting service provider, where we assist businesses in their digital transformation, strategy, marketing and growth hacking. As a new business in the market, we too had our share of hiccups. The competition was already rigorous and in its full swing, so we had to struggle hard to position ourselves. Financial constraints never relieved us for several months initially and soon after the operations were stabilized, the COVID-19 pandemic had created a new challenge for us. It has been a tough time for us managing our operational activities. Currently, the company employs about a team of 20+ people and a huge base of interns and freelancers, focussed to deliver services like marketing solutions, IT development, market research, analytics, and data-driven services. We have been continuously driving innovations, which have led us to high tractions in such a short as well as a challenging period.

We have rolled out several new services like data annotation in collaboration with a tech lab. We are working with some of the leading global giants namely Predictly, Callbox Inc and Televerde. Several students from UPES are part of these projects in various roles. Cerebrati is growing fast and we are continuously making our team proud through our achievements and results. Our clientele talks highly of us and we are happy to have built trust in the market.

Message for the alma mater

UPES gave me a strong foundation and the platform where I found my calling to take this plunge. The role of a business school is to nurture us with the right values and skills. I am thankful to UPES for doing it so wonderfully. There are numerous opportunities in the business world for skilled people. Conceptual know-how, managerial skills and a progressive outlook surely helps in making it big. Problem-solving ability and out of the box thinking is a must for people who aspire to join the consulting industry. For all my juniors, I would say that make the most of your time in college by participating in extra-curricular activities like business plan competitions, elevator pitch, workshops, seminars, industrial visits and fests. They help you to develop the essential skills to succeed.