You heard it right!
Rohinton Soli Screwvala, A visionary Entrepreneur and a producer who has produced & co-produced top-notch Hindi Cinemas, Barfi(2012), Uri: The Surgical Strike(2019), Kai Po Che(2013) and many more is the newest member of the Sharktank.
Vision of Ronnie Screwvala
His clear vision and ground-breaking initiatives for innovation has changed dimensions in the entertainment industry. Established in 1990, UTV pioneered into the cable television building a conglomerate that partnered with News Corp, 20th Century Fox, the Walt Disney and Bloomberg .
It developed as a television software company and gradually held it’s firm ground in various entertainment domains. We can see him named on Esquire’s Most Influential people of the 21st century list in 2008, 78 among the 100 most influential people compiled by Time Magazine 2009 and was listed amongst 25 Asia’s Most Powerful people by Fortune Magazine.
His Early life
Born on 8th September, 1962 into a Mumbai-based middle-class Parsi family, he spent his formative years imbibed with hard work and perseverance.
His financial constraint never weighed his entrepreneurial spirit. After completing his elementary education, he pursued his Bachelor degree in commerce from Synenham college of Economics, Mumbai. His entrepreneurship started during his college days when he exhibited his innate ability in identifying opportunities and taking calculated risks.
Upgrade through Upgrad:
Ronnie’s ventures extend beyond the entertainment industry. He is the co-founder of the educational platform that we all know today, “Upgrad”. His vision towards changing the entire learning experience in today’s world has bought exposure and collaboration with different Universities to create an efficient learning for the students.
This helps them to interact with highly-qualified mentors and industry experts to guide them through. The digital platform provides the experience of interacting and building “Network”. As Ronnie says in an interview, “Valuation is only a chest-thumping moment, focus on creating value”. Upgrad focuses on “personal branding”, let me tell you, with the innovative learning techniques it also encompasses on personal development , confidence building and shaping you to showcase your talents.
UpGrad primarily focuses on providing online courses and programs in collaboration with universities and industry professionals. Its offerings include courses in areas such as data science, business, technology, marketing
Three keys of communication
In an interview Ronnie talks about the importance of communication skills. He has an insatiable thirst of upgrading and learning skills which he believes the power of communication can help to forward one’s career in this first paced world. The three mantras that he suggests are;
1. Keep it simple.
2. Maintain eye contact.
3. Keep your charm.
Making people comfortable and the conversation un-assuming , voice modulation can add feathers to one’s cap.
Learning plays a crucial element in Ronnie’s life. He has been enthusiastic and determined towards his vision. A young boy of 25 with a vision of creating opportunity, he embarked on the journey of building a cable television UTV.
It’s immense growth led to the rooting of various entertainment channels including UTV movies, sports etc. His zeal of doing something of his own writes his success story. He is humble, focused and truly an inspiration! Not only with building business, he also focuses of building high- graded individuals to perform and achieve their vision.
He is a philanthropist and works towards the development of our society creating a web where people can communicate, build network and grow!
