LIVING THE DREAM
Mint Chennai|December 21, 2024
The co-founder and CEO of Dream Sports talks about the correlation between academic mediocrity and success, setting the culture at the organisation, and the boom in fantasy sports in India
Arunjanardhan

A common trait among many successful entrepreneurs, says Harsh Jain quoting a study, is that they were average academic students.

"When you're an entrepreneur, you can do your market sizing, research, etc. and yet, it (the venture) may not survive. The only thing that I can guarantee you is failure. They (the entrepreneurs) learnt how to deal with failure early. You have to just keep evolving and pivoting."

Jain, 38, the co-founder and CEO of sports tech company Dream Sports, which includes the fantasy sports platform Dream11, admits to being a terrible student in school. This only provides ballast to his theory about successful founders: Dream Sports was last valued at $8 billion in 2021, having come a long way from what began as a failed start-up.

Founded in 2008 by Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports has over 250 million users, a workforce of 1,200 employees in Mumbai and a diversified portfolio of companies that includes Fancode for sports content, Dream Set Go for sports travel and Dream Sports Foundation to work at the grass-roots of sports. Post-acquisition by Dream Sports in 2021, Rolocule Games, a mobile game developer, was rebranded as Dream Game Studios, which launched Dream Cricket for a free-to-play mobile game.

"Sports content, sports data, sports gaming and sports commerce, to a small degree, are the four businesses that we are really keen on. But out of this, sports content, gaming and data are the things that we see still under-tapped in India," says Jain.

He is seated in a conference room named Manchester United, after his favourite football club, in the Dream Sports office at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Their offices, on two floors, are filled with sporting symbols, photographs, and rooms named after Real Madrid and Kolkata Knight Riders, among others. Having just come from an office football game, dressed in a lavender shirt and white sneakers, Jain tucks into some home-made food as he chats.

Bu hikaye Mint Chennai dergisinin December 21, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Mint Chennai dergisinin December 21, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MINT CHENNAI DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Mint Chennai

Adani foray into cement drives deep discounts

Competition in India's cement sector heated up with the entrance of the Adani Group in September 2022, top manufacturers bumped up discounts to maintain market share, according to a report from British wealth manager Investec.

time-read
1 min  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

Capex flexibility tops states' budget wishlist

Kerala, Punjab call for special financial packages, higher borrowing limits

time-read
2 dak  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

Tata Steel's Dutch plant gets warning

Tata Steel Netherlands will face fines of almost €27 million if it doesn't take measures within eight weeks

time-read
1 min  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

Leave a movie midway, and get some money back

PVR Inox's move is part of efforts to widen audience base and improve movie-going frequency

time-read
2 dak  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

Banks win SC relief on 30% credit interest cap

The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC)'s 2008 decision to cap interest rates on late credit card bill payments at 30% per annum, bringing relief to lenders that had appealed the consumer forum's ruling.

time-read
1 min  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

Claims of Reliance Infratel's indirect creditors upheld

The apex court upheld ₹10,952 crore claims by four indirect creditors of Anil Ambani-led RCom's tower biz

time-read
1 min  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

Pushpa 2 most-watched film of 2024, Coldplay hot

Nostalgia also took centre stage with re-releases like Kal Ho Naa Ho, Rockstar and Laila Majnu still drawing viewers

time-read
2 dak  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

LIVING THE DREAM

The co-founder and CEO of Dream Sports talks about the correlation between academic mediocrity and success, setting the culture at the organisation, and the boom in fantasy sports in India

time-read
6 dak  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

TKIL in talks with oil, steel cos for green hydrogen plants

TKIL aims for 100 MW electrolyser capacity by 2025 and has allocated ₹1,500-2,000 crore

time-read
2 dak  |
December 21, 2024
Mint Chennai

From Swindon to the by-lanes of Bandra

In a stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's book, Atul Kumar re-imagines the characters in Colaba

time-read
1 min  |
December 21, 2024