Siddharth Deshmukh

Where did the idea to start something like this come from? Please also talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur;

I bring 18+ years of progressive & diverse Business Commercialization experience across early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies in the US, Europe, and Asia having worked across Banking, Education, Healthcare, Entertainment, Media & Consumer Internet, and Sports. After spending over a decade across the globe in IT Consulting for the Companies to build brands & get partners to outsource, I have founded Arimaya Management Ventures (www.arimayaventures.com) with a vision to provide management consulting with a twist. Assisting Sports and Technology companies with Sportertainment Consulting & Brand Management as-a-Service model.

With my passion for my profession in Sports Industry, I started a talk show “Sportsy - #LetsTalkSports with Sid Deshmukh. This talk show hosts athletes, administrators, coaches, and corporates from the sporting industry.

Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?

I feel that Entrepreneurship is the way to find yourself, and it gives you a platform to do things that one may not be able to do in restricted corporate life. Yes, nowadays, things are changing in the corporates as well where a lot of intrapreneurship is encouraged. And it’s a great combination to follow your passion inside a corporation to grow. I have had the opportunity to work on both.

On inquiring from him about what was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur? Mr. Siddharth replied that;

I feel that “When my passion became my purpose, I combined it with my profession and that” was my driving force to choose to become an entrepreneur.

Can you please share with us your source of motivation for becoming an Entrepreneur?

My career journey has been exciting over last 18 years due to closely working with leaders like Dr. Anand Deshpande (Founder & CEO, Persistent System Ltd), CP Gurnani (CEO & MD, Tech Mahindra Ltd.), Peter Harrison (CEO, Global Logic), Subroto Bagchi & Krishnakumar Natarajan (Founders & Chairman Mindtree Ltd), Navneet Sharma (Ex IMG & Sports Marketing Consultant) & most importantly Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD / Mahi) (most successful captain of Indian Cricket team) and I keep learning. These personalities I feel are my source of motivation for becoming an Entrepreneur.

On inquiring, How many hours a day do you work on average? Mr. Siddharth replied that;

It all depends, I am focused on finishing the work than measuring the hours I put in. The work needs to be deliverables based and not timesheet based. I work till I get bored :) and since I love my work, many times I end up putting far more hours than usual.

What is the uniqueness of your start-up?

I love sports and I love to talk about it. “Sportsy” is a unique platform for talking about sports with athletes to administrators to corporates to coaches. This platform brings together the complete ecosystem of sports for the benefits of aspiring athletes, students as well as parents.

It’s a YouTube channel and social media pages towards making sports a revolution in India.

As an individual, How do you handle the pressure and manage stress which comes in your entrepreneur life?

Since my profession is my passion, the pressures and stress is not something I worry about as Sports is one of the best ways to get into a zone (like meditate), I either play a game on the court or watch kids play on the playground. And sports being the best stress buster, it helps me manage any work-related pressure.

On inquiring how do you generate new ideas? Mr. Siddharth told that;

I just try and solve problems rather than create new solutions that are not required. The idea is worthless unless executed and hence I focus on executing ideas.

How did you come up with the name of your company?

My primary company is Arimaya Ventures, it a combination of my kid’s names Arin and Mahi J, and Sportsy is because I find “Sports” sex”y”.

Having spent more than 18 years in this field, what piece of advice would you like to give to college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs?

Follow your passion. Entrepreneurship is passion and not fashion. Follow your heart and build something that the market/user needs and not something that you want to build and even if you want to build something that you believe in, make sure you do market validation before taking it too fat you should focus on building a sustainable business rather than a fashionable / investor driven business.