Kavin Bharti Mittal got Hike idea over 'gol gappas, chaat' in Connaught Place

The word trendsetting doesn’t mean much to Kavin Bharti Mittal. For the 29-year-old founder and CEO of Hike Messenger, the focus is on “building some great products and hoping for the best”. And so far, so good, he says.

That’s modest, considering that Hike attained the celebrated unicorn status recently. It took the startup less than four years to break into the hallowed club, becoming the fastest Indian company to ever do so.

Mittal has come a long way from a naive 24-year-old CEO, learning about framing HR policies and reading balance sheets. “What does a 24-yearold know about running a company?” he says during a phone conversation as he commutes to work.

He has had some help in the form of mentors that include his father, Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chair -man, Bharti Enterprises, and Masayoshi S on , CEO, SoftBank. Butkey to his success has been a steep learning curve. That, coupled with his ability to surround himself with an excellent team, is what makes him the ETPanache Trendsetting CEO.

What was the inspiration for your big idea?
It was 2011 and I had just returned to India from the US. I was hanging out with my friends at Connaught Place when the idea of Hike struck me. I saw three street food vendors serving gol gappas and chaat and the one thing that kept them busy was a Nokia 1100 phone. At that time, I had an iPhone 4 in my pocket. I realised that there were a billion people in this country who had no idea about the internet and what a phone can do. I felt there was an opportunity to bring all these people online.

Your guiding principle as a CEO...
I believe that people will never remember what you told them, but they will always remember how you made them feel. Human beings have an ability to sense when there is care and if the people building the product have paid attention to the finer details. So, when I’m building things at Hike, it is very important that everybody in the company pays attention to all the details.

What trend has influenced you?
I think it’s the smartphone internet trend. In 2007, I got my first iPhone and it changed the way I looked at the world. So much is possible now with this small little device. And with the services and apps that you can build into it, you can almost double the impact it has on life.

An insight that has impacted your approach to work and life…
The one thing that I have learnt is that people tend to fall into this trap of leading their lives like it is a glass halfempty. And they are never satisfied with what they have. It is important to have the glasshalf-full perspective and to be grateful every step of the way. It is very subtle, but it’s had a big impact on my thinking and how I approach work and life.

What books would you recommend for future trendsetters?
I think anyone aspiring to build a company must read The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. I believe that if you want to build something incredible, it starts with the way you think. There is a book called Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. It is a light read on Zen Buddhism. It has really shaped the way I think about work and life.