Interview With Dilip Kumar Shrivastava - Founder & CEO of Kreiva Interactive

 

1. Describe about your Business and founders.

Kreiva Interactive is one of the emerging media entertainment houses that offers the entire range of entertainment design services like storyboarding, Animatics Concept art and Visual Development for Feature films, Animation movies and series, Video games and TV Commercials and we are transforming Kreiva into a full-fledged Computer Animation Studio with a strong art department for pre-production. Kreiva Interactive is having 2 founder members.

2. What is the biggest challenge of being a CEO and how do you overcome it?

The list is too high, obviously, it’s a start-up firm, not very much recognized. Vision is very different (in India). Not getting relevant manpower to multiply the productivity and serving more and more results is also a challenge but yes, we do have solutions too on which we are working.

If you are not getting the relevant manpower, “yes it happens when you start something which is the very new thing”, you have to generate the manpower by giving them training and providing them skills according to your requirement so it takes time also to bring that into shape. You have to wait with patience to transform them into productive individuals. And people are not much aware about this stream so we are promoting this particular stream rather than doing projects. So these kind of complications we are facing to make it saturated.

3. Where do you see the company in the next five years and how will you bring about the change?

In the next five years, I would like to see my company as a full-fledged computer animation studio with a consolidated art department in it, so that we can fulfil our own pre-production and design requirements along with the requirement of others. There should be an equal balance between creativity and brainstorming. Our company should be the ideal place for the artists and illustrators to work on. So if it happens, then obviously there would be a change in the stream of visual art.

4. Did you ever feel like giving up on being a CEO and what motivated you to pull this off?

Obviously Not, I never ever feel like giving up on being a CEO at least for the next 15-20 years, I should not think about giving up until and unless board ask me to do this. It’s not about giving up the Post, it’s about backing out from your responsibilities.

I know, being a CEO, it sometimes feels like chewing a glass. If you take your challenges and milestones as a burden, you will be stressed and there will be no treatment or solution for that. Why to give up when you have achieved whatever you aimed for so long. Indeed, intense deadlines and workload are there, but it is something that I have chosen. So I have to handle this as a challenge and not a burden.

5. Describe your biggest achievement.

I have milestones and I keep doing and completing it. Each milestone teaches me some new lessons. One thing which gives me satisfaction is, finally I started what I aimed for a very long time. We have done over 100 TV commercial projects in last 2 years, we have been steeped into animation projects, video game projects, so these are the milestones that keep on updating and we are yet to accomplish endless milestones. So after my retirement I can tell you about the biggest achievement.

6. From where you get the idea for business and what was your aim to start the   company?

“Necessity is the mother of Invention”. I dreamt about a job sector where creative people can build their careers and live without any inferiority complex in a society full of doctors, engineers, and administrative servants (proper growth with a handsome package and not so many exploitations).

However, I experienced that, creative streams are very limited in our country, both in education and jobs. Rather than grieving about it and having complaints in our mind, it’s better to put efforts and implement it on our own. On the other hand, Animation studios who are working on their Intellectual Properties, are in need of bevy of artists for their strong pre-production but cannot afford it, So I did!

After the establishment of “Kreiva Interactive”, concept designers and illustration artists like me who can’t afford to pursue the course from abroad, have a cheaper avenue to fulfil their dreams here and Animation studios may also fulfil their need of concrete Art department for production. Along with that, it’s my aim to make a rich creative brainstorming stream in India. People are highly creative in India. Just because they are afraid of risks and are worried about achieving stability in life, they compromise with their talent.

7.Tell us some of your failures.

Giving up is the only sure way to fail. If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original. So in every day, In every new tasks, we fail by performing and experimenting. Initially, due to lacking in relevant skilled manpower we lost lot of huge projects, we faced lots of failure, still facing and overcoming those problems. It’s a part of life.

8. What is the role of your family in your successful career?

My family never forced me to pursue a certain stream only like a stereotype family does. Rather my parents always motivated me to do whatsoever I want to do. My father only said to be self-honest that’s it. They always welcome “out of the box” ideas and concepts. My parents played a very important role for this, I think without their moral and motivational support, it was very much difficult for me to step into this stream.

9. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?

Intense hard work is good, but channelizing that intense hard work on the right track will give you results. It will help if you have a consolidated idea of what to do before starting anything. Once your vision is strong, then go for it. But before starting it out, perform proper analysis rather than going by trends and always believe in yourself and your vision. Once your vision for your start is consolidated, then go for it.