Billionaire siblings in tech
Digital technology is controversial. The web enables access to instant information and entertainment, but indiscriminate gaming and thoughtless use of social media hampers focus, and at worst can lead to addictions.
The scion of a family business has fallen victim to online bets, which has led him to steal from the company. He is undergoing treatment, but the financial losses—and the erosion of trust—have left the clan in shock.
In 2010, our team of psychologists and educators conducted a large-scale study of high school students. Many young people prefer the virtual world to the real one, feel bored, and are often depressed. While we cannot target indiscriminate tech use as the cause (experimental protocols would be impossible), the correlations are significant enough for worry.
Well-meaning parents try to ban their children from devices altogether—an impossible and unwise move—since ultimately, self-regulation is what can truly work. What is happening in schools is also streaming over to the workplace.
We are a developing country, yet we are the text capital of the world. We often consume tech thoughtlessly instead of harnessing it to showcase potential and ingenuity.
Instead of being consumers, let us be creators. Instead of playing games, let us encourage our youth to make their own. Instead of bullying or trolling, let us create thoughtful blogs, creative pieces.
Turakhia siblings
Indian brothers Divyank and Bhavin Turakhia were exposed to computers in grade school, and instead of just playing games, they pored over computer books, frequented the lab, augmented their allowance by doing computer projects for classmates.
The brothers created their first business simulation game in high school: Your business partner cheated you, so you build a competitor company from the ground up, with the final goal of cornering the entire market. You are the sole owner and manager, so you need to do everything—from budgets to employees, from sales to research.
“Playing the game was educational,” Divyank tells Forbes Asia. “Creating it was an experience.”
With one computer at their father’s office, they began consulting for companies. Within the first month, they had repaid the initial investment. They majored in business, but after graduation, they immediately went back to computers, working together till 2005. Then they decided to individually create their own companies, with the assurance they would always cooperate when needed.
When Divyank got a bid for his advertising tech company Media.net from Beijing buyers, he got Bhavin on board to negotiate the terms, while he continued running the business unfettered.
When the sale was completed in 2016, the brothers joined the ranks of India’s wealthiest, with a net worth of $1.3 billion.
The siblings actively harness tech, rather than passively consuming its products. Consultant Avinash Raghava tells Forbes, “They really come from the hacker mind-set. They enjoy it when they break codes and build products … This is very different from today’s entrepreneurs who are very distracted by money and investors.”
