A number of migrants who fail to get a job either because they are considered ‘over-qualified’ or because their names are difficult to pronounce, would consider themselves fortunate in later years.
For, they become self-employed, expand their operations to become global operators and provide employment to many others.
The Indian community is replete with several successful stories of people who cursed their fate in their early years of migration and later laughed their way to the bank or the stock exchange.
Among them is Manas Kumar, founder and chief executive of Optimizer HQ, which created a record of sorts on November 30, 2011 listing the company on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, within 47 days of its application.
Trading began with the company’s share price at €0.10 but rose to €0.40 in less than six hours.
According to reports, at 31, he is the second youngest chief executive in the world to be listed on the Deutsche Boerse, behind Puma’s Jochen Zeitz.
Impressive growth
Established in 2003 as a web development company, Optimizer HQ has grown to provide a wide range of products and services, including groundbreaking technologies to businesses.
Mr Kumar is proud of his growing list of customers, among who are Harvard University, Burger King, Pfizer Footlocker, New Zealand Police and New Zealand Post.
“In the last 18 months Optimizer HQ has grown to the point which I could never have imagined eight years ago when I set out on this incredible journey. Just last year, we were delivering about 300,000 emails per month. Now we are sending more than 400 million emails and expect to hit the one billion mark by next June,” he said.
The man who began his life in New Zealand with a series of disappointments has certainly arrived.
He would remember vividly how hard it was to get employment in a ‘strange country of strange people.’
His primary aim was to become a professional cricketer, like so many of his compatriots from his native Kolkata. When that ambition ran out, he opted for a job at a fast-food company.
“I had no money and worked every hour I could. There was little point in going home and hence I would sleep somewhere in downtown Auckland before my next shift started,” he said.
Determination delivers
Like many other successful people, it was determination and the will to work hard that kept him going. He invested all the money he had (NZ$ 10) in setting up Optimizer HQ in the bedroom of his modest apartment, with an email marketing solution that allowed businesses to communicate with their customers and grew their relationships.
Growth over the years has been steady and the entry into Deutsche Boerse is the beginning of a new chapter in the company’s quest for showcasing its technologies on the world stage.
With an unquenchable thirst for innovation, he constantly seeks new channels, challenging ‘best practice’ ideology and trail blazing with his thinking around online marketing practices.
As a pragmatic idealist, Manas not only dreams in large scale high definition, he actually delivers his visions in the form of easy to use, high value technology platforms to help his customers succeed in business.
