Only a year late in meeting his goal to leave the corporate world by the time he was 40, Avijit Dutta is now excited by his new roles in the area of the Internet of Things.
What’s your story?
I started my career in the TV media industry with short stints in Zee & MTV, and marketing of LIVE sports broadcasts. At the turn of the millennium I moved to the telecom industry with PCCW India. My 2G & 3G experience continued with Tata Teleservices (India) and Bakrie Telecom (Indonesia). I had the privilege of taking to market the Indonesian Islamic phone, Hape Hidayah (a HBR case study), F button program with Facebook, SME-box in partnership with Google as some of the key disruptive innovations across my Telco career.
My plan to exit corporate life at 40 eventuated a year later when I founded Vocable as a mobile messaging platform company, and Godnearme as a spiritual oneness platform.
I am currently Managing Partner of TenX2, an IoT accelerator, and am a founding Partner of TenX Ventures, which is an “IoT meets AI” seed fund.
What excites you most about your industry?
It’s exciting to witness the evolution of a 5G ready, IoT meets AI ecosystem, creating impactful cases in verticals like smart city infra, health & wellness, precision farming and connected mobility.
What is your connection to Asia?
I was born in Kolkata & raised across 6 cities in India, studying in 7 different schools.
Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
Jakarta, as I spent 8 glorious years as a professional there.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
“I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece”
Who inspires you?
I am inspired by the quest to find a meaning to life. I have sought inspiration from thought leaders like Vivekananda and Anthony Robbins. I believe that every human is born with a purpose, and life is a quest to fulfil it.
What have you learnt recently that blew you away?
Over one-third of food produced worldwide is wasted. That amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year.
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
Temper my ego.
How do you unwind?
Meditation, music and cooking
Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
Bali. Serenity in the air, people, the food.
Everyone in business should read this book:
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY
Shameless plug for your business:
TenX2 is a growth stage startup accelerator, cascading UN sustainability goals to “IoT meets AI” solutions. We partner with startups, corporates with growth innovation mindset and ecosystem stakeholders across APAC.
How can people connect with you?
Email: [email protected]
Social Media Links?
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/avijitdutta71/
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Callum Laing is an entrepreneur and investor based in Singapore. He has previously started, built, and sold half a dozen businesses and is now a Partner at Unity-Group Private Equity and Co-Founder and CEO of MBH Corporation PLC. He is the author of three best-selling books ‘Progressive Partnerships’, ‘Agglomerate’, and ‘Entrepreneurial Investing’.
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