Role Entrepreneur | Name Faisal Farooqui Website MouthShut.com | |
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Organizations founded MouthShut.com | ||
Cnbc young turks faisal farooqui on being an entrepreneur in the dotcom industry
Faisal I. Farooqui (born 23 April) is an entrepreneur and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MouthShut.com, Farooqui is an advocate of freedom of expression on the Internet- he challenged India's restrictive IT Rules in the Supreme Court which resulted in the Honorable Supreme Court striking down India's draconian Section 66A and reading down of many other sections of the Information Technology Act of India (MouthShut.com & Faisal Farooqui v/s Union of India)
Contents
- Cnbc young turks faisal farooqui on being an entrepreneur in the dotcom industry
- Doordarshan names faisal farooqui as youth icon entrepreneurship
- Education and early career
- MouthShutcom
- Auto rickshaw advertising
- Other business ventures
- References
In 2012, Entrepreneur Magazine named Farooqui among the Top Business People in India and was included in a list of Entrepreneurs who have created History. Earlier in 2009, Farooqui was named as a Youth Icon India's national TV news channel (Doordarshan)
The British High Commission in Delhi announced Farooqui among 50 Indians to its list of young leaders who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and symbolize optimism of the country.
Doordarshan names faisal farooqui as youth icon entrepreneurship
Education and early career
Farooqui attended the State University of New York at Binghamton, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems as well as Finance. At the University, Farooqui was elected to the Faculty Senate and the Student's Assembly, and was the Technology Editor of the campus newspaper, Pipe Dream.
Farooqui was recruited from campus and worked in the Telecoms consulting practice of American Management System, now acquired by CGI Systems, in Fairfax, Virginia. He later quit, to launch MouthShut.com in 2000
Farooqui received the Manthan Award for Best Youth website in 2006 from India's IT Minister Sachin Pilot. He speaks at conferences concerning Social Media, Internet technology, Marketing, Entrepreneurship and youth empowerment etc.
MouthShut.com
In an interview with CNBC, Farooqui said that the inspiration for MouthShut.com came to him while in a media class at Binghamton University. MouthShut.com won "Best Portal Award 2009" at the first edition of the IDMA (India Digital Media Awards) held on March 11, 2010.
The Wall Street Journal-Mint states websites such as Mouthshut.com and YouTube are alternative channels for brands to get consumer feedback. MouthShut.com was founded four years before US-based popular consumer review site Yelp.com
Auto-rickshaw advertising
According to the Economic Times, India's largest business newspaper, Faisal Farooqui pioneered auto-rickshaw advertising in India by painting the logo of MouthShut.com on the back of the hood of rickshaws of Mumbai in 2001 This was later extended to the entire country. Auto-rickshaws (or their hoods)
Other business ventures
In 2002 Farooqui co-founded Zarca Interactive, an enterprise feedback company based in Herndon, Virginia. As CEO of Zarca Interactive, hehe presented at the Technovate seminar of European Society for Opinion and Market Research (ESOMAR), held in Cannes, France in January 2003 He argued for an effective integration of Market Research and CRM systems.
In 2011, Farooqui launched Dealface.com as part of MouthShut.com's offering. Dealface offered daily discount deals on spas, dance classes, health checkups, car service, restaurants discounts etc. It was the first deal site to offer SMS coupons, thus eliminating the need for paper printouts of coupons.