Your Name and nice Photograph of yourself/your Business/ etc
Rohan Bhansali
Your E-mail id
rohan (at) gozoop (dot) com
Your Social Media links (delete which you don’t have)
Facebook – www.facebook.com/gozoop
Twitter – @gozoop
Linkedin – https://in.linkedin.com/in/rohansbhansali
If you have a Company/Start up, its URL –
www.gozoop.com & www.zozolo.com
Your therodinhoods.wpengine.com page link (compulsory) –
https://www.therodinhoods.com/profile/RohanBhansali
What exactly do you do?
I head Gozoop, wherin we love the web and the potential it offers.
We are a digital services and products agency and are helping a lot of ecommerce players across India, Singapore and Middle East with their online presence.
My role at Gozoop is ever-changing (whatever needs to be done) but HR, Finance and Sales are functions that I love.
Having found my passion in the people side of business (HR), my goal is to create and maintain a happy workplace where the team comes before everything.
Of course there are certain realities that business brings up but we have been planning our growth and ventures with the underlying value of “keeping our team happy”.
Why do you do what you do? Is it to make money, to become famous, to run away from something, to retire, to kill boredom?
It all started just for the fun of a venture – creating something out of nothing. As I have grown through experiences (life and work), making a livelihood for the team and myself provides good motivation.
Is there anything unique in what you do?
Innovation wise: We launched India’s first social commerce product – Zozolo.com, which was shortlisted for Mashable’s Fast Pitch 2010.
Culture wise: These are the things we do. All may not be unique but they make our culture unique.
1. Every Saturday the team comes together (no matter how busy they are) and we do crazy things – Idli eating competitions, back to school drawing competitions, ragging new recruits, dancing to 90’s Bollywood tunes, Dumb charades, etc. Last week we played passing the parcel.
2. Gozooper of the Week – Every Thursday, an email is sent to the entire team mentioning one odd (or weird) fact of a team member. The team then has to guess who the person is. Great way to get to know each other.
3. Every year we write a hand written letter to the parents of our most dedicated and earnest team mates highlighting their achievements. There is no prouder moment for parents than hearing about their child’s success.
4. We have weekly Foosball mash ups where we bring together as a team, the people who don’t work together on a day to day basis. The winning team gets a Bournville ‘cause you can’t buy it, you have to earn it!
5. A certain percent of our profits our committed to our CSR. The team together decides the cause or foundation that we donate to.
6. We definitely have an open door policy but once every 4 months we choose a random set of 10 people who are literally “forced” to speak up and suggest at least 2 improvements or suggestions to our work, culture or process.
7. GZ Good Times – Every month, the guys who consistently reach office on time are treated to something nice. Last Saturday this set of guys went for The Dark Knight rises.
8. Our HR head Bansi is our “Happiness Officer”. She sometimes surprises a randomly picked team member with a cupcake on their desks when they are back from lunch.
9. While hiring, the focus is first on soft skills. We constantly ask, “Will he/she add to and fit into our culture and happiness?”
10. Our FB page speaks more culture and less digital marketing.
What happens if this fails?
We already have a great team. We love the web. We start something new on it.
Any one or two incidents that make you shiver or feel proud of your journey so far?
Proud
1. When 2 of our key developers (Kiran & Rajesh) decided to stick with us despite being offered more than double the salaries from big IT names (let’s not forget job security vis a vis a start up)
2. When one of my team mate offered his personal savings to us when we were facing cash flow problems before salary time. I obviously didn’t take it but the gesture is engraved in my memory
Shiver
Nothing really…Not to say we haven’t gone through tough times but things have always worked out. Infact we have always evolved better through our tough times. So now when things are not as rosy, I secretly expect a miracle. Something always works out.
State one really bad habit and one good habit (if you actually have one)
Bad – The excitement of starting a venture sometimes outdoes my ability to think pragmatically.
Famous last words to the readers?
Hit the road Jack. (And if you feel like hearing the song, go to our website – www.gozoop.com)
Finally, say YES below the next para:
I solemnly put my hand on my religious book/favorite novel and swear that what I have said above (including my photos) is the truth. So help me, Rodinhood
Yes.
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