Welcome to another edition of Billion Success entrepreneur interviews. Today we meet young tech entrepreneur Jeet Banerjee of JBMediaForce, and most recently of Statfuse. With more than 12,000 users on the first week of launching, this new startup venture is about creating an easier College transition for High School students by offering various online tools.
First, we thank you for speaking with us today we truly appreciate your time. Now, quickly tell us little bit about yourself and your business.
Jeet Banerjee: No problem. Thanks for taking out the time to interview me. I am a 19 year old serial entrepreneur, college student, and author looking to solve problems in the world with innovative solutions. My most recent startup company that has launched is known as StatFuse.
StatFuse is an online application that allows high school students all around the nation to make the transition to college much easier. We offer an array of tools that students can use that can help them calculate their chances to various colleges, find colleges that fit their needs, give them information about colleges, and much more.
What’s the technology behind this online platform and how does it work?
Jeet Banerjee: Essentially a website runs the whole application and students are able to use it from any machine that has access to the internet. However, we have patent pending algorithms that are deriving the results for our students. We have a highly accurate and proven algorithm that calculates the chances students have of getting accepted into various colleges.
This web application is completely free to use right now – so what’s the business model behind it, and why?
Jeet Banerjee: As of now we have decided to keep our website absolutely free. Our goal with this website has been to solve a problem that high school graduates face every year and in hopes of raising awareness, we have decided to keep this application free. Thus far, we have been monetizing the website by using advertisements to help keep the site running. However, this business model is in the process of changing at this time.
Quickly describe what an average working day is like for you?
Here is what an average working day looks like for me:
6 AM: Wake up, check my emails and take a shower.
7-11 AM: I am usually in my college classes taking notes or exams.
12 PM: Lunch and get settled back in my work station.
1 PM-4PM: Working on my startup companies, dealing with customers, or any other tasks that come up.
5 PM-6:30 PM: This is where I get my exercise for the day in. I usually go to the gym and play some basketball. Dinner also falls in somewhere after.
7 PM-11:30 PM: This is where I head back to the grind one last time for the day. I take care of any studying, homework, or other business related tasks that I need to take care of.
11:30 PM-12:30 AM: I usually fall asleep somewhere in between here.
What’s the secret ingredient behind your marketing strategy, what were some of the techniques you use for Statfuse and why were you able to grow so fast?
Jeet Banerjee: Honestly, there isn’t any real secret ingredient behind my marketing strategy besides trial and error. I look for creative ways to get my business in front of my target market and try to see which strategies work best. I always try to find ways to catch my audience’s attention instead of just getting my product in front of them.
For StatFuse we had no marketing budget at all, so my partner & I had to do it ourselves. We used the social media networks and were able to quickly gather a bunch of users in a short period of time. Lucky for us, a high school news outlet Channel One News picked up our story and gave us a bunch of publicity among high school students.
If I were to start my own version of Statfuse right now, what are the top three advice you would give me?
1. You have to love what you do. If you do not have passion for your business or idea, it’s going to be work. Work is never fun, but if it is something you really enjoy, you will not look at it as work.
2. Never give up. Part of being an entrepreneur is failing. If you can learn from your failures and come back stronger the next time, you are doing just right. Never get discouraged from your failures but instead embrace them and motivate yourself to do better next time.
3. Never underestimate the importance of the legal aspects of a business. Starting a business can be a lot of work, but be sure to never overlook the legal parts because they are extremely important.
What was the best and the worst piece of advice you ever been given and by whom?
Jeet Banerjee: The best advice I have ever received was from a friend who told me to never quit. It seems like fairly generic advice but I think the strength to continue through thick and thin is something everybody should live by.
The worst advice I received was actually from a lawyer who told me that technology businesses rarely ever succeed. Essentially he told me to think of ideas that do not have to deal with the internet because in his opinion they always tend to fail.
Can you recommend any good entrepreneurship books you read?
Jeet Banerjee: To be honest, I haven’t read any books about entrepreneurship. I did all my learning on the spot through the help of sources on the web, but I never really picked up a book and read it. A book I did recently read and enjoy was a book called “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell, which made an interesting connection to people and their reason for success.
Funny thing is, I am actually almost ready to publish a book about entrepreneurship that I have written myself. Using my experiences and expertise in the field of entrepreneurship, I provide insight and advice on entrepreneurship from start to finish.
What is your favorite success quotes?
Jeet Banerjee: This is a tough question because I have so many favorites. However, I would have to say my favorite success quote of all time would be: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Connect with Jeet Banerjee
Twitter@TheJeetBanerjee and LinkedIn/Jeet-Banerjee
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