No one could have imagined what Avinash Gautam, a perfectionist, with a 200-member team reporting to him, was planning to do next. Searching for a larger purpose, he decided to move beyond his well paying job and its perks and comforts and began a voyage of self-discovery. Along the way, he co-founded Silvan Innovation Labs in 2008, where he and his team work to make Indian homes safer. They aspire to re-invent the concept of home automation through the use of smartphones and IoT and making it more affordable for the public at large.
His quest towards excellence started during his school days, continued at IIT Kanpur, and gathered momentum at Texas Instruments. This streak continues with Silvan, where his efforts are bearing fruit and the company is currently ranked in the highest echelons in the home automation space.
“Both victory and defeat are self-fulfilling prophecies; whatever we prophesize for ourselves, our life becomes just that. Believe in your future, believe in yourself.”
However, this recognition has not come easy to Avinash. A consummate corporate leader, it took him time and considerable unlearning to reorient himself to the demands of the startup world. For his startup too, it was not smooth sailing. He and his team had to toil hard to engage large realty companies (their primary customers), who were generally averse to working with an early-stage startup. Macroeconomic changes too did not help their cause. Events such as demonetisation and GST implementation have contributed to the making this journey a lot more adventurous than he would have wished for.
Avinash credits his team for persevering through the challenges and they have emerged stronger than before after each setback.
Avinash reminisces about the tough times as much as he does about successes. He credits family, friends, and colleagues for keeping him grounded. The 50 year young entrepreneur ensures that he finds time for sports and plays soccer with players less than half his age. He feels that entrepreneurship is the answer to his quest towards a larger purpose in life. This quest and its many vicissitudes allowed him to learn and become a better person.
Silvan Innovation Lab’s contribution towards improving the lives of many differently-abled and elderly citizens, through smartphone controlled products, gives Avinash utmost joy. He believes in self-fulfilling prophecies, and he has successfully proved that they exist, with Silvan. Such was his conviction that his venture would triumph, that its success happened on its own steam!