In this interview, Sonal Chandna sits down to chat with Debjani Deb, Chief Executive Officer of ZineOne about her exciting career journey.
Q. As a serial entrepreneur, what led you to taking the first step and setting up your own business? What excites you about entrepreneurship?
I have been in the corporate world since 1991 and have worked for companies like AT&T and Booz Allen. For me, these companies provided an inspiring corporate environment in which to start my career. After following my career path for almost a decade, I felt I was losing excitement in terms of ‘what’s next for me’. Somewhere in my heart, I felt the desire to start something of my own. Eventually, I gave up my job and started a company. It was radical at that time. Even my family members, who have been believers in the progress of women, asked me if this is what I really wanted to do. I didn’t want to fight the battle for the next VP role or the next SVP role. I wanted to create value and this inspiration drove me to become an entrepreneur.
Q. What do you think are the most common mistakes novice entrepreneurs make? How can they avoid making them?
I have a fairly strong view on this one. Fundraising to me is a necessary evil, especially because, in most cases, you have to raise money to have your product built. But it is not a sign of true success in an entrepreneur or a company. Success for an entrepreneur depends on one factor: the ability to convince customers to use your product. The mistake new entrepreneurs make is to get very caught up in the whole idea of fundraising and therefore all their attention is on the money, whereas their attention should really be on the market they are going after or the product they want to build. Is this the right product? Talk to prospective customers. Get their buy in. Get their feedback. Evolve. When you’re ready with the idea, that’s when you worry about the money.
Q. Do you have any insights or advice for founders in the tough times we are experiencing?
Certainly! It comes back to the fundamental belief of customer centricity. In these difficult times, it is imperative that your focus be on your current customers, how they are doing, and how you can help them grow. Your primary stakeholder is ultimately your customer. If you can keep your customer happy and make sure you’re doing what is necessary in order to be lean and efficient, you don’t need to worry about too many other variables. When we went into this pandemic and the world shut down on March 15th, cash was king. One singular thought on most entrepreneurs’ minds was, how do I conserve cash to service my customers? Customer centricity and conservation of cash is what is needed in the current economic climate.
Q. Please tell us about ZineOne and the problems your company solves.
In the past 10 years, I have been interacting with various brands like Nordstrom and BOA. They have increased their customer base remarkably through email marketing. Although email is a very basic marketing methodology, it has proven to be very powerful. Today’s generation has a very different mindset. The youth of today don’t really read emails. It’s more about being on a device such as a smartphone, tablet, or even a smart watch. They believe in interacting with vendors and products directly with the help of these devices and they prefer to be well-informed.
Now brands have understood the need to engage their consumers in this real-time scenario. If you see Uber’s interaction with the consumer, it’s all about the value they can add to you in that moment. For example, go to Spot 8 and your cab is the color black and the driver’s name is xyz. So this is about using AI and location intelligence to your benefit as a company and for your customer. This is what Zineone facilitates.
Q. Women in technology are a minority. What is your perspective?
What you study and what you pursue as a career has to come from within. It is very important to follow your passion because that’s where you will see success. Trying to fit into a profession because it’s ‘cool’ doesn’t work in the long run. One of my early beliefs that has served me very well, evolved at a time when I was at AT&T Bell Labs. It was considered ‘the’ place for research. I was a 21-year-old at my first job. At that time, they used to have luncheons with women groups to discuss how women could do better. I didn’t want to attend these luncheons to discuss how women progress because it was very clear to me that I was as good as any man out there. If I am going to add value to the company, I am going to progress and If I don’t add value, then I will not progress. To this day, my fundamental belief is that you have to fight your own battles not as a ‘woman’ but as a human being. Identification to gender actually holds people down rather than promotes them. You have to believe in yourself and the value you are creating.
Q. How would you describe your leadership style? Has it evolved over time? What attributes do you seek when building a team?
Despite being in the corporate world for close to 30 years, leadership is still a learning process for me. I read a lot of books. I follow a lot of people. I certainly have evolved as a leader. When you start on the journey of leadership, you feel that you possess some powers as a leader, but actually, you don’t. You are honestly more beholden to your employees than they are to you. If you recognize that and consider yourself as one of them, and that your role is to motivate everyone to align themselves to a team goal, you have done your job!
When leaders complain that they are so busy, they make it about themselves when it’s not. Your job is to make the people around you more comfortable and align them to the larger goal and essentially to empower them. This is my strong belief and has worked for me over the several years.
When I am hiring for my team or even outside the corporate world, what I look for in people is for them to have a point of view. I don’t want everyone to say yes to me but rather, to express what they actually believe in or think. I look for empowered people who can move mountains if they believe they can do so. People don’t empower you; you empower yourself with your own strong belief.
Q. Do you experience resistance when you are leading men?
When I am leading, I don’t look at it from the point of view of whether I am leading men or women. It goes back to my belief that if you can show ‘value’ in leadership, people will follow you. I remember a moment when I was at Booz Allen Hamilton. It was at a client meeting; I was in my early 30s and the youngest in the room. There was a question asked – I was seated in the back and a junior associate – but I had a point of view about that question. I remember thumping on the table and telling them what I thought, and the partners on the other side of the table looked at me with such surprise. But in that moment, it shaped who I am today. All I knew was “I know the answer to this question, and I must make a point here”. I have fundamentally believed all my life that if you know your stuff, say it and if you are headed in the right direction, they will follow.
Q. Did you ever find yourself hitting a wall? Were you ever in a bind? Was there a time when everyone around you told you that your idea wouldn’t work? How did you deal with it?
That is the definition of entrepreneurship. Talk to any entrepreneur and you will hear stories; what we call the scars of our journey. For years, I knocked on many doors, and heard “No” every time. It is a true test of your belief system – if you believe in your idea, you will get up again and pursue it repeatedly until it is achieved. So, every time I hear no, I learn a lesson but continue to get up again.
Q. What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership?
I think it is ‘self-image’. It’s the self-image of what you perceive yourself to be. Visualize yourself in whatever field you wish to be in. Affirm to yourself that “this is who I am and I can break down walls.” The self-defeating thought “I cannot do it” is the one that holds you back.
Q. Tell us something about your family background and what your childhood was like.
I grew up in Shillong,India, a remote town in India. I was blessed with strong family members who believed that I could do anything from the time I was in kindergarten. The men in the family were treated the same as the women. It was all about how to educate the next generation and how to push them to the next level. My aunt was the head of mathematics in the university at the time and my mother was applying to medical school. I was surrounded with strong females who were highly successful and professionally oriented. I am eternally grateful for that focus on education and the internal belief system that was built into all of us as children irrespective of our gender. The belief that we can do anything we set our minds to. My family members helped me be that person as I have traversed my career.
Q. Do you have any advice for women entrepreneurs or women professionals in general?
I would say that a strong educational background is helpful. When you walk into a room, you have immediate credibility when you are highly educated. It is important to have those credentials and it helps to propel you. Additionally, don’t worry about what others are thinking. Know your stuff and express it assertively.
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Author Bio:
Sonal Chandna has worked in Strategy and Operations at Pitney Bowes Inc in India for five years. Aspiring to be a digital marketing professional, she is looking forward to advancing her career with an MBA degree at CSU East Bay. Sonal is also a PADI certified scuba diver, a resilient traveler and an avid animal lover.
