Interesting Startups in Nepal Discussion on Sijan Bhandari, Tech Startups in Nepal, tech scene in Nepal, Being involved in Nepal’s startup ecosystem, Sijan Bhandari very passionate about listening to entrepreneurs talk about the Innovative ideas and thoughts.
Tell us yourself
I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Pulchowk Engineering Campus Since 2014 and started my mission for entrepreneurship with our first product FlipKarma.com. Currently, I am Co-Founder at Phuka Technologies.
What motivates you?
The startup is a risky journey of building something worthy/useful from nothing.
And, you have to from the scratch. My motivation always starts with the problems I face in my daily life. Along with this, the daily experiential learning, connections and the responsibilities that I now have which, I think, were not possible to this extent if I was working with other companies also motivate me.
And the main root of my motivation is that I am very passionate about the fact a that we are working on our own concept.
Have you anything to say about ICT Community in Nepal?
I fully support the idea that ‘Transportation and Communication’ are the de-facto for the development of any nation. Once, We get connected physically and virtually, then We can think of other aspects of development.
At the current Scenario, ICT community has a vital role in spreading the messages, new inventions, new ideas and the recent discoveries throughout the country so that people will be guided towards new changes and development.
How far are you willing to go to succeed?
In my experience so far, I have realized that working on your own idea and making it happen so as to satisfy everyone is a tough job to do. But, making up to this point, I feel that we have created something worthy to work hard for.
And about success, isn’t “success” something that everyone wishes to achieve? So, obviously, I am Details ermines to work hard to achieve it. But along with this, being an entrepreneur has made me realized that, learning when to let go is also a part of success.
What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
For me, the fear of failure is what I considered to be the biggest. I hope that is what makes me strive continuously to achieve.
I would better say ‘risks’ rather than ‘fear’. Risks in terms of financial and social aspects.
In my way, financial failure means the inability to pay my bills, rent, or pay tuition fee. Luckily, I have several good friends who are always by my side to support.
I used to have thoughts of ‘What will people think about me, my social and professional life? What will my parents think? Are they disappointed with me?”. I had lots of conversations with my family over the last year about my doings. I try my best to convince them, and I focus on setting low expectations.
You can find lots of people out there who try hard and fail and you have to face different things on the way to your success and failure. But in my definition ‘not to succeed is always, not to try’. Failing is painful for everyone but I am sure that working hard to achieve something that you really care about making you feel very proud.
I try to surround myself with like-minded people and the very important thing is that ‘The people who really matter in your life will never judge you by your failures.’
How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
My dad is a businessman. He is running a hotel business for a few years in Pokhara. During my vacation in college, I rushed to visit my family and look around the hotel. I love the idea of my dad that people should keep themselves busy, no matter the outcomes. He used to work day and night during the starting phase of the hotel, and we were anxious about him. But we are always by his side and always supportive. I hope my family feels the same way for me.
Working for long days and nights and not being in touch with family is crucial for me. And at the same time, I should be prepared not to have pay-check at end of each month and my family gets worried about the way I am doing.
What are your ideas?
Working hard towards goals but never wait for consequences.
Always accepting the change
How do you define success?
I can remember the day when one of the users of Meroanswer.com came to our office and share his experience about using it.
It was really a matter of big success for me.
Working on some interesting ideas and launching them to see the impact is always a key point in my work. So, the difference I created with my product in my community measure the height of success for me.
Do you have anything to share through ICT FRAME?
Everyone has accepted that the leading agent through the world is experiencing change is technology. ICTs are always credited for their ability to transform and make big impacts to the development of society throughout the world.
In the context of developing countries like ours’, people are more concerned with improved health and education, eradication of poverty, increased participation of the community in the development process. So, I think ICT should take part to make it happen through local communities and move forward.
Making people aware of benefits derived from the use ICTs and offering new real opportunities to improve their people are the real challenges so far.
