INTERVIEW OF SAURANSH (FOUNDER OF PROTON AND MY COVID GUIDE)!!!!

Hi Sauransh So, welcome to the interview Sauransh thank you so much for agreeing to join us today.

So to begin with, we'd like you to give our audience a little introduction about who you are and where you're from and what you do.

All right, so Hi, everyone. I am Sauransh. I'm currently a high school senior based in Gurgaon. And my subjects of interest at school are physics chemistry, math and computer science. So I am a stem oriented guy, I love technology. So I have previously made many websites. And currently also I'm working on many projects. And the theater is one of my hobbies. So yeah, that's a bit of background about me.

That's amazing. Okay, so before moving on to the most serious questions I'd like to ask some fun trivia about yourself. So Sauransh what are the three words you would use to describe yourself?

Okay, so it would be Explorer, dreamer and Hustler Yeah.

Oh, good. Okay. In your LinkedIn profile, you have described yourself as a food nerd. So if you had to eat only one food for the rest of your life, which one would you pick?

I think being a food nerd I'll not just restrict myself to one food. But yeah, if I were to choose, it would be Indo-Chinese cuisine. I would say, I will not let myself restrict to one particular food item.

A great choice. Okay, now we move on to our next questions. So Sauransh What do your parents do and has it at all affected your interest areas?

Okay, My father is a lawyer and my mother is a teacher. So they have always supported me. So they always support me. And like I took non-medical stream I took science stream as I am from a CBSE school here in Gurgaon. So like, there was no pressure from them. Should I take commerce? Should I take humanities or like they didn't pressurize me to take science stream? Because as you might also be knowing that Indian parents pressurize their children to take science stream to become doctors and engineers. But yeah, being an engineer was my interest. So I think their job hasn't affected me.

Wow, that's great. So you must be in high school right now. So what are your plans after you're done with high school? Okay, so I'm not pretty sure what I would be doing. But I will be applying abroad and I'll be writing my JEE exam next year. And I will be pursuing computer science with entrepreneurship.

That sounds like a great plan. Good luck with everything. So during the pandemic, you've developed two startups, the first one being Proton, and the second one being My COVID Guide. So could you tell us a bit about both of these and what was your initial vision while starting them?

Okay, so I will just talk about My Covid Guide, first of all, so, like, it was just a random idea. And I think one day one of my teacher`s father was not well and like he just put on a status on WhatsApp that I need some Beds in Gurgaon. So I was searching for some beds if we would get any, that you might be remembering that during the second wave, oxygen cylinders and hospital beds were not available , like it was a scarcity for people who wanted it. So I was just trying to help him. And during that time, I was awake up till 2am in the night. So after the Late on the next day, when I got up, I realized that while I was searching for websites and resources online, so the problem was, what I encountered is that, I had to go to different different websites and search for different different stuff, maybe sometimes oxygen cylinders, or hospital bed. So I thought to create my website where I would not like, I will not search resources, but I will accumulate all the reliable and credible resources there. So that one particular person, if he's in need of COVID resources, so he can come to our website, and he can get every kind of resources there. So also, I started a short podcast there, I interviewed some doctors, some teachers to showcase their viewpoints, like how education has been affected, or how the medical industry has been affected, and like what were their thinking during that particular phase. And for Proton. So this idea of creating a platform for STEM enthusiasts pose in my mind since many years, but it took me three years to, like, make something out of it, because I didn't know how to create a website till I was in 10th grade. So from 10th grade after my board exams, I was just ideating. Okay, how will I go about it? Shall I code my website? Or shall I design it from a website builder? I was learning that techie part of that, but the idea was, in my mind from eighth or ninth grade. So what we do right now at proton is we write blogs and soon we'll be starting podcast and we are just about to collaborate with three- four organizations. And we are in talks with some schools as well. So yeah, we are expanding a bit. And currently, like, besides me, 15-20 students are working on this project. And we are like making out and devising more plans and strategies to make interesting content for for our juniors because our school curriculum has restricted our science syllabus, technology syllabus, computer science syllabus, to just basic sciences and stuff. But I think coding, astrophysics, astronomy, they're really interesting subject biotechnology, neuroscience, the list is endless. So I think we just want to help our juniors so that they can gain exposure on these particular topics so that they would not miss out on these surveys we had done in our past. So yeah, that was a bit.

Wow, that's really commendable Sauransh. So Protons mission revolves around engaging more and more young people in STEM, right? So what is your favorite part about STEM and what attracts you the most to it?

So I thought to write only blogs and curate content out of astronomy and astrophysics, because that is what I love the most in science to be specific. And, yeah, astronomy is something that I love the most. And from my primary school, I have been into astronomy. I had done many camps. And I was the astronomy head at my school for three years, from grade five to grade eight , so and I also got the opportunity to meet Miss Sunita Williams, when I was in grade seven. So yeah, I think astronomy is one thing which I think every student loves, because everyone loves to watch the night sky, watch moon and stars. So I think yeah, that's where my interest also developed in STEM to be specific.

That's really amazing. And honestly astronomy is something that I'm interested in myself. So that's great. And besides these, could you tell us a bit more about some other projects that you've worked on?

Okay, so besides Proton and My COVID guide, I have been working on some feminist clubs like I'm working with them. One is Girl up shine, it is a newly created feminist club. And I'm also working with Come for change. Also, I'm working with Stimulus. So all of these are, like most of them are, feminist oriented, some are stem oriented. So yeah these are some of the projects which I'm working on.

That's great. And you're a programmer, and you've extensively well engaged in several coding projects. So how was this skill useful to you when you were working for your own organization and startups?

Okay, so yeah, I think every one of us like each person or every student should know how to code because it really helps to create your own website or if not, but definitely you would be knowing it beforehand, because you don't know at what time you need a website or an app. So I think Programming has really helped me because like I previously mentioned, it took me three years to curate this thing . So if a student would have known coding, like if I would have known coding from ninth grade, like how to develop a website or an app, so I would have started Proton a bit earlier. But I think, programming has really helped me because in tenth grade, when I started to code It took me a year to learn everything, like different programming languages and stuff. And then in just two months, I created my website, and now it's in front of you.

That's great. That makes perfect sense. And what was your constant support system during this entire process?

So there are like, first of all, it has to be my parents, because without them, we are nothing because they are the reason we are here. And to be honest, while I was creating all these stuff, so the financial support has been from my parents. So yeah, they are my first supporters. And after them are some of my friends who have helped me, like when I was learning to code, there were two friends of mine, who helped me to collect some resources like, "hey, just look at this. Look at these lectures on YouTube. And you can learn to code this particular programming language". And yeah, family and friends have always been my supporters.

That's really sweet. What according to you are other areas that one must be skilled at to have a successful startup.

While I was working on these projects, what I feel like what I lacked was marketing skills. And because I am a Stem oriented guy working on backend of a project. So with time I have evolved because when I was interviewing my first set of recruits at Proton, so I was a bit nervous. I was, like I wasn't able to talk to them properly, because it was my first time talking to people who I don't know, I've always talked to my teachers, friends, family. And yeah, I was feeling a bit shy, but I think communication skills are must for you to be an entrepreneur. Besides that, you need to be a good marketer, because if you don't believe in your product or service, nobody else will.

I completely understand that. How do you manage a healthy balance between your academic and your social life and all of your projects?

I think I will call myself a procrastinator because, okay, so for example, if I'm working on my project today, so I just procrastinate all the other works to tomorrow, and I have some of my assignment pending at school. But I just request my teachers, hey, I was busy at something. So please give me some time. But yeah, I think with time, if someone is starting out a project apart from their school work and other commitments, with time, you will definitely be able to adjust it. One thing is you have to sleep less, because I remember the days when I was sleeping 9-10 hours daily, but now it has been sometimes 6, sometimes 8 hours. So I think Yeah, I generally get up in the morning around 8am. And I'm up till 2am. So yeah, that's my sleep cycle. I know it's really bad. But working on so many projects at a single time you need to sleep less definitely because like I am saying this particular sentence because most of the entrepreneurs say this, you need to sleep less and work harder for your dream. So that's what I believe in.

That's honestly very relatable. So moving on, who is your major inspiration in life?

I have been a Marvel fan since my childhood. So Tony Stark is who I really adore. So yeah, he's my real inspiration. And I also want to be a tech enthusiast. I am a tech enthusiast, but I want to curate something like what he has done in his life. I know it's a science fiction, but yeah, maybe someday, I would be able to create some things sort of that.

That's honestly So sweet. So before wrapping up the interview, what tips would you give to anyone who has a startup idea or is looking to start an initiative?

If I want to say something related to this support, I would be saying is, if you have an idea in your mind, just go on the web and implement it, no matter you might do bad, but it will be there in front of people, okay, people would say he has done something. Don't look at the negatives of it, just try it. I would say just try. I have not seen the numbers right now but They're not that well on Proton To be honest, they are just in 1000s, their total views on the websites are in 1000s. They're not that great. They're not reaching heights. But what I say to myself to keep me motivated is that while other people are working on their Instagram profiles, I'm working on my LinkedIn profile. I'm working on these projects. I connect to many people, many students to be specific on LinkedIn. So I see their profiles, and they are doing something amazing. So I get motivated from them. I see people who are trying, like, who are like me, and they're trying and they're reaching great heights. So I feel motivated from students , But in particular entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg, or Elon Musk, they have worked really really hard for a couple of years. Like they're really doing it right now as well. But to be in the practical world, you need to compare, I think you don't need to compare yourself first of all, but if you are, so you should compare yourself with people of your age, and also who are doing great. So you should feel motivated from like your some of your friends for an example are programmers. So, I felt motivated from them. And then I started programming and they really helped me there. The only advice I would give to my juniors is that you should try, at least try, you will fail but No problem. Entrepreneurs even say that failure is just a lesson to your life, at least what you are. Like, if you are failing today, you are learning something out of it, and you will not regret it after 10 years. Okay. So if I'm failing today, I'll learn something out of it. And I will not repeat that next time. So I think you should fail First, because the lesson you will get out of it is really fruitful.

Thank you so much for the amazing advice. And with that, we'll end our interview now. Thank you so much for coming in. You were amazing with all the answers. It was my pleasure. Thank you and I hope you had fun and the interview went well for you as well.

Yeah, definitely, definitely.

Great. So I guess we'll take a leave now.

Sure. Thank you. Have a great day.

Thank you. Bye Bye.