How Career Launcher spread his business

He first dropped education to pursue a career in cricket and then cricket to pursue education. “It was when I feared failing, I thought of securing my future by studying further,” says Career Launcher group chairman Satya Narayanan.

This self-effacing alumnus from IIM-Bangalore started his business from his New Delhi home with an initial investment of Rs 360, a table and four chairs for a classroom.

Hailing from a lower-middle class family, Narayanan did his initial education in Hyderabad, and then shifted to Meerut along with his family. “It was then that my father brought me a pair of slippers, as north India was known for chilly winters. I went barefoot to school in Hyderabad,” he reminisces.

When his family later shifted to Delhi, his passion for cricket took over and Narayanan dropped his Class 12 exams to participate in an under-15 cricket tournament. But soon enough, he realised that reaching the pinnacle of the game could be a very long and risky journey. Narayanan eventually took his class 12 exams and sailed through with 90% marks. That got him through St Stephen’s College in Delhi where he opted for a degree in computer science.

The next stop was IIM-Bangalore, where he was hired by pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy on campus. It was here that Narayanan’s interest in training began taking shape. “I used to find ways of getting into training. I realised that it was something that interests me and decided to start Career Launcher,” he says. He began with a post-CAT personality development programme (PDP), and found a helpful assistant in James, a student of DCAC College at Delhi University, who got posters and pamphlets for the programme printed and distributed.

Finally, in January 1995, Narayanan quit to start full time training of PDP batches from his home. The numbers began to swell and with 80 students enrolling into the programme, he approached his IIM and non-IIM friends for assistance. “Initially, they scoffed at the idea. But I finally convinced them to conduct classes in their flats. I used to buy them beer during weekends to compensate for the trouble they took for me,” says Narayanan.

Those days, mock-tests for CAT had just been started by St Stephen’s, SRCC, IIT and the Delhi college of Engineering. Narayanan proposed to these institutions a common mock CAT for Delhi students. This clicked, and 425 students took the common test in the first year. Thereafter, he also managed to convince other institutes across India for a national mock-test.

“We roped in a leading magazine and tied-up with a watch brand to give away watches to the top 25 test rankers. I also took into confidence bus drivers who delivered our material to smaller towns,” says Narayanan.

In the second year, close to 4,000 students across 22 cities took the mock-test and 300 students enrolled into his PDPs. “I made my first million in 1996. My friends and I went on a holiday to Nimrana, Alwar and Bharatpur Sanctuary. That was a remuneration to my friends for helping me so much,” he says.

Career Launcher is now a Rs 70-crore company with a presence in the US and the Middle East and an expanded portfolio including school, higher education and overseas test preparation services. And Narayanan is aiming higher too, “We are expecting a turnover of Rs 100 crore this fiscal,” he says.