Hard way up
This was published on Friday, 20th August 2004 in ‘IT Herald’, the IT supplement of ‘The Maharashtra Herald’ – Pune
| A BE in computers from MIT in 1997. Ashish Annachhatre, 28-year-old CEO of Internet Swami, a web-hosting and domain registration company and Ashtech Digital Concepts (ADC), a web designing and development services company, remembers his college days with the fondness one normally associates with the ‘best days of ones life’. Ashish, was in fact, awarded the ‘Computer Freak of the Class’ award in 1997. | |
 Ashish Annachhatre | Winner of the 1998 PC Quest quiz and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), he says, “Technology and computers are my best friends. I am not a very social person and don’t have many friends.” He adds, “But I am trying to change myself. As CEO of a company, I have realised the importance of people skills and communication skills that are necessary for success.” Annachhatre’s tryst with computers began when he was in the class XI when he saw his first computer. Completely fascinated, he became consummated by a desire to understand the machine and its prowess. A self-professed geek, he spends all his waking hours with the machine. Says he, “I read all computer related magazines and technical journals.” |
| A typical techie, he switched companies and jobs frequently before becoming an entrepreneur at the age of 24. His career began with Sun Technologies, an Indore-based company. He worked for couple of months and then switched to Indiaproperties.com after which he worked with IMC India as a consultant. During his stint with the company, he was posted in Germany. He says, “I was offered a five-year offer to stay but I refused, because I wanted to come back to start on my own.” Starting with the incorporation of a designing company ADC in 2000, Annachhatre says, “The dotcom bust wasn’t an issue. I was working on small projects in the local market.” A year later, Annachhatre started his second company, Internet Swami. There were requests from my clients to start my own domain hosting services, as the players in the field were not up to the mark,” he says. The company has since established and even received offshoring projects. | |