, 28, chief executive officer of Mouthshut.com, has a bone to pick with the Zee- "Dainik Bhaskar" groups. Referring to their ads in Mumbai showing people with their mouths covered urging them to 'Speak Up,' he says: "Our members think it is a Mouthshut.com ad because that's what we have been encouraging people to do for the last five years." Incorporated in 2000, the website is the first comprehensive person-to-person information exchange on 67,000 products in over 117 categories.
In 2000, Farooqui quit his lucrative career with American Management Systems to start something on his own in India. Internet start ups were quite the rage then.
He says: "I wasn't particularly fond of the American corporate life, plus the desire to do something back in India was greater than anything else." But Uncle Sam did teach him a lesson or two about the internet.
He used to be a regular visitor to websites like Amazon.com to buy books and he found the reviews on the website quite useful. And this gave him the idea to start a portal that could be one place where consumers could write candid opinions of any product under the sun.
Today, the website lists different ways in which a consumer compares prices and product reviews written by other consumers. Mouthshut.com uses a proprietary tool called SORT. Says Farooqui: "SORT takes people's preferences and ratings into consideration; so no two Mouthshut members would find the website the same."
According to him, human nature is such that even while listening to suggestions we choose to rely on certain people for them. That's what the websites also does. Mouthshut members can add a list of people (trusted circle, as the website calls it) whose reviews and comments they value the most.
The website was up and running at a time when the term dotcom bust was common. So Farooqui had to ensure that he had a sound revenue model to sustain the site over a long period of time.
He explains that the site never relied on banner ads but depends on market research which manufacturers and advertisers use for their products and services.
Says he: "Marketers find this website extremely useful, as they have access to informed consumers across different demographics which enables them to test their products and services."
As a hands-on CEO, Farooqui knows that he is only as good as the services that his portal offers. So he makes sure that he is always listening to what consumers have to say.
In 2001, Mouthshut introduced dial-the-CEO and in 2004 asked consumers to design the company's logo. He knows that simple things work best and that's what he did when it came to advertising his website.
The website used auto rickshaws in Mumbai and Delhi to carry stickers of Mouthshut.com. This was hugely successful and won the company an award for innovative marketing in New York in 2001.
Meanwhile, the next time you want to speak up about something, you could say Mouthshut.
