Herald: Do you come from a family of entrepreneurs or it was you who decided to start a business?
Rohit Barreto: I am a first generation entrepreneur. My father was a banker and my mother a teacher. Both of them are now retired. We were always based in Goa. I studied engineering in Dharwad and one thinks about the path one wants to take. I was very clear I wanted to have my own identity. I wanted to be known as a personality with a capability all my own. I was also very clear that i wanted to do things differently to help create an identity. It is just a like a big company like Apple which has created its own identity with its fantastic products.
Herald: When did you start your life as an entrepreneur?
RB: I started Foodlets in Goa in March 2011 along with two other friends. Tourists or anyone for that matter who has had a wonderful dish in a restaurant can upload a photograph of the dish along with their views on it. This would help people as a guide to good food in Goa. Restaurants could also create their own profile pages and foodlets of the dishes they served. We had a premium paid service where we created the profile we also went to Bengaluru with it. Users till upload photographs and it is an open source system. The three of us had very different ideas as to how we wanted to take it forward and we moved on from it. None of us made money from it but it gave me an idea of the challenges an entrepreneur would face.
Herald: What does Karbens Infotech which is a start up do?
RB: We develop products like the Goa Police Mobile App which is supported by Manipal Hospital. Users can help during an emergency or if they are in a dangerous situation. It helps the user source various emergency services depending on their location. It also helps reports offences and increases vigilance. Earlier we used to do a lot of service contracts for big companies. Now if it is very niche and helps us stand out in the market then I take them on. In short I would say we develop mobile and web applications with a social edge.
Herald: What are the other products in the pipeline or in the market?
RB: Well it is classified stuff right now. All i can say is that it is something to do with ecommerce.
Herald: What are the challenges doing business in Goa?
RB: I have a staff strength of six. I let go off people and now I am increasingly working with freelancers from all over the world. All Indian I might add. My work schedules are not regular. I work at 2 or 3 in the morning. The staff working with me is all non Goan. This is a very real problem that one faces with our people. The work ethic sucks and they all want to leave the office at 5 irrespective of the deadlines. They are not interested in listening to you or the challenges you face as a businessman. They want their salary on time irrespective of work done. In the long run the state will suffer if this attitude does not change.
Herald: what in your assessment is important in the market now?
RB: There was a lot of hype about big ideas, yes it is important but implementation and your response time is where the differentiator is. It will get even more intense as time passes.
Herald: What are the kind of clients you handle?
RB: We have pharmaceutical companies based in Russia and several companies in the US and UK. We are now of course moving towards a more product based future and we will be aligning with companies that are in sync with our philosophy.
Herald: Where do you see yourself five years down the line?
RB: A company notching impressive growth with products that have carved a niche in the market.
