YOUNG & LOVING IT! Suhas Gopinath

Mehru Jaffer Vienna
His love for Mozart is not the only reason that Suhas Gopinath keeps returning to Vienna. Apart from turning over every stone here in his search for more music by Mozart, the 23-year-old, who is one of world's youngest CEOs, also looks upon Austria as a very special work environment that Indians have yet to discover.

Gopinath was back in Vienna recently to receive the Make a Difference award from Brainswork, a Viennese consultancy boutique that celebrates individuals whose unique talent and creative ideas have made a positive contribution to the world.

After several visits to Vienna and after much thought, Gopinath chose Maya India, an Austrian IT consultancy company, as the local partner for Globals that has been providing software solutions to clients since 2000.

Son of a defence scientist MR Gopinath, he belonged to a middle class family. He learnt to be a web developer at a cyber cafe in Bangalore. At the age of 14, he was already offering software services online.

Gopinath founded Globals when he was 14 from a cyber cafe in Bangalore. As Indian laws did not allow a minor to start a company, he was forced to register the company at San Jose, California in 2000. An American friend helped him with this. He continues to operate out of Bangalore. The average age of employees at Globals is about 25 years today. By the time he was 16, he was recognised as the world's youngest CEO by the world media including BBC, Washington Times and the Limca Book of Records.
Meanwhile, the reputation of Globals continues to grow as a multinational IT company with representation in at least 11 countries and serving more than 200 clients including the Government of India, UNICEF and the European Business School in Germany. More from Gopinath in an exclusive interview at the Vienna Hilton with Hardnews:

Globals already has an office in Bonn, Germany. Why Vienna?
Vienna is neither Bonn nor Zurich. We make the mistake of bracketing Austria together with Germany and the German speaking part of Switzerland when in fact Austria is unique. There is a much more traditional and conservative work environment here. I find it an exciting challenge to work out of Austria. Now, Maya India will act as a bridge between Globals and Austrian companies. The focus will be to support IT companies here to improve their cost structure and to look at R&D and innovation. I would like to attract Austria's attention to India as a cost-effective destination for outsourcing.

What is it like to be an entrepreneur at the age of 14?
It is exciting. It is very adventurous to think of an idea and to have the courage to put it into practice.

At the age of 23, do you look back on your teenage years as a lost childhood?
I do have some regrets that I did not play a little more but I was so overcome with passion for the Internet that I also look back on that time with great joy.

Do you do wild things like getting drunk or dancing all night at a discotheque like many people your age?
No (laughs). I can't afford to do that. Besides, that is not my idea of having a good time.

Tell me, what do you do when you are not working?
My work is my joy. But, to beat stress I listen to music. I spend time at animal shelters. What gives me most pleasure is to see young people working in my office. I feel very happy at the thought that I have made a difference to the life of another by providing employment and to have added value to human lives.