To challenge any section of the Indian Penal Code in the Supreme Court or to create a website for review of various products; Whether changing the popular way of giving coupons and discounts, or devising a new way of advertising, this person made everything possible. Faisal Farooqui Is a very underrated name among entrepreneurs. He is not as famous as other Indian entrepreneurs like Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Sachin Bansal, but when he comes to know about the achievements and awards, he has a deep respect for his success and his struggle.
Faisal did his graduation from Binghamton University in New York in Information Systems and Finance. He always knew that he had to make a place in the field of entrepreneurship and also that he could not spend his life working for someone else. While studying, he thought of the idea of Mouthshut.com. It is a review site for customers in which buyers can view first reviews before purchasing products and availing technical facilities.
In the year 2000, Faisal returned to India and established his own company. He was also honored with the ‘Best Portal Award 2009’ under the Indian Digital Media Awards.
As they say, an entrepreneur once made is always an entrepreneur. Once the company was set up, Faisal adopted a unique approach to promote the company. He saw the rear part of the auto-rickshaw empty and then got his brand name and logo painted on the exterior of the auto-rickshaw and thus pioneered his unique publicity style. Like their website, this style of publicity kept attracting everyone towards them. But Faisal was not going to stay in this nor was he comfortable sitting. And then they started looking for another big thing.
Faisal wanted coupons and deals to be distributed to customers digitally and not through paper cutting. And with this, his next venture ‘Deal Face’ came out. Faisal was new in this field as earlier both approaches. Through Deal Face, they provide goods and services to customers in lieu of coupons and their discount code is received by the customer through a message.
Being the first of its kind in the market, it gained a lot. But the conflicts were no less. He recalls that being the first entrepreneurs of the region, people did not pay attention to him. But he never deviated from his goal. They always knew that they had to fight their own battles and the biggest fight of their life was Section 66A of IPC. Which had strict rules and laws against the rights of citizens. Faisal realizes that his fight is with the government and changes are necessary. Luck supported him and after a long fight he won the case from the Supreme Court.
Mouth-shut has been over a decade and is now outdated. Many companies are trying to copy their business model. But Faisal does not bother with all this. Rather they feel happy that people are moving in this area by following the path they have made. They are currently busy building people’s buying guide guides. If anyone wants to gauge their innovative approach and their expertise in this field, remember that a well-known review website like Mouth-Shut.com, Yelp.com, existed four years before its arrival.
Faisal made a different name in the country’s IT industry due to hard work and foresight. With their success, the new generation of youth gets to learn a lot.