Alumini Interview of our CEO with Carnegie Mellon

Ankush Gupta, Master of Information Systems
Management, 2008 Founder, MOBOX Tech
Please describe your current occupation and industry: "Currently I am leading a startup called MOBOX Tech. Vigyaapan analyzes mobile networks to identify implicit social networks thereby helping firms deliver the right ad for the right person. Its unique value proposition is in being able to combine human intuition and sophistical analytics that mine social networks to identify and target customers for business value. We are currently working with one of the leading telecom operators in India."

How did your Heinz training help lead you to your current occupation and how does it support your work?
"My journey with MISM began in May 2007 when I landed in Pittsburgh, always wanting to return to India and launch a startup.

The first professor I met at Carnegie Mellon was Professor Ramayya Krishnan (now Heinz College's acting dean), who really showed me the way, giving structure to the dozens of ideas going on in my head. Over the summer I researched a little on mobile advertising, a topic of interest with his guidance. The growth the industry was experiencing in emerging markets made me believe that mobile advertising as a domain for a startup company was correct. This was followed by an Independent study in the Fall which was supervised by Professor Krishnan. Being the mathematician that he is, Krishnan gave the study the algorithmic side which resulted in a very good exercise. By the end of it we had a running algorithm with the need to find a telecom operator to test this out with.

(Two telecommunications firms) were kind enough to share their confidential data for our analysis. Over a period of five months we worked 16-hour days with more than half the time being invested in the project. The result was a mobile advertising platform with four to five different engines. These engines could slice and dice the data in different ways leading to interest for the telecom operator. I strongly felt that the idea and work we had done had legs and should be taken forward. I returned to India in June and started a company Vigyaapan (“Advertisement” in Hindi) Technologies. We are continuously moving forward trying to establish relationships with new telecom operators and extend relationships with already established ones.

So it all started at Heinz College and is now continuing. Carnegie Mellon gives credibility when you deal with big corporate companies. And, being the mecca of technology, the University gives you access to the latest happenings in technology, something which again gives us an edge over other competitors."

What was the most valuable thing about your Heinz experience?
"The experience at Heinz College has given me a lot of confidence to execute ideas. Executing an idea is key to success. Interacting with professors like Professor Krishnan and David Krackhardt was a terrific experience."