Finally serious

ICE PEOPLE/JASJIT SAWHNEY

Jasjit Sawhney

From the days when he didn't know where he wanted to go, and worked for free, Jasjit Sawhney, CEO of Net4, has had quite a dramatic life.

A law graduate from University of London, Sawhney started his career in 1994. He tried his hand "for a short while" at the family steel trading business, but left it for a foreign exchange firm in London.

He needed a challenge. Indeed, he was restless for one. "The family business did not give me any scope to innovate," he says, almost shrugging. "I tried my hand in the real estate sector for few months and eventually joined Onet, a London-based ISP company that could not even pay me."

After a two-year stint with the company, Sawhney decided that it was time to launch his own internet services company. That was 1999.

So with all the grand experience of a man of 26 (this is cyber-time we're talking here), he was the owner of Net4, an ISP company. Yet, starting up by himself was no fairy tale. "I was lucky to get the right people to work for Net4 and funding from my family," he recalls.

He struck lucky in other ways too. And? And Net4 is now one of the few ISPs that survived the dotcom bust. That's not all. The company boasts of a turnover of Rs 41 crore, with some 11 offices across India.

From web hosting to e-mail services and now .IN domain names, Net4 has its hands full.

When he is not brainstorming, he takes a break to play golf. Or for an occasional game of squash. "It's exhilarating to take a break here and then, but being a bachelor, I can take the liberty of working late without feeling guilty," grins Sawhney, ready to challenge himself again.

He's still restless "" and this time for one within Net4space.