Vivek believes that an entrepreneur must have a philosophy and passion in life that can keep them going. And making money should never be their only aim, else they will feel burned out soon.

Vivek Prasannan is a computer engineer and co-founder of Polkadex, a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform.

Vivek started his professional career as a system administrator twenty years ago. After working for a short stint, he decided to venture out on his own. He started a remote server management company in Kochi. He started all by himself and with time was able to grow his company to twenty members.

Later, when he stumbled upon new technologies like blockchain and the mining of cryptocurrency, he too started mining crypto. Continuing his interest in crypto mining, he along with other co-founders, founded Polkadex, a decentralized peer-to-peer crypto exchange platform.

Talking about his student life, Vivek says that he was an all-rounder. He would balance both academics and sports. He was able to get admission into Model Engineering College, Kochi- one of the finest engineering colleges in Kerala.

Besides, he says that he opted for computer science engineering as it was a boom at that time and his interest in open-source software like Linux also made him choose computer science engineering.

Talking about his role models, Vivek says that his uncle inspired him to take to entrepreneurship. Besides, his father always supported him in his entrepreneurial journey.

Talking about his mistakes, Vivek says that he lacked the skill to manage his workforce and it had its own consequences. He feels that if he would have had a mentor by his side, he would have probably averted committing those mistakes.

Talking about his challenges, Vivek says that he had a smooth start to his entrepreneurial journey, however, he had to face some challenges later in the journey. Besides, on the personal front, losing his wife to cancer was a major setback in his life as it changed things upside down for him. However, realizing the importance of good health, he started working out on his well-being and doing activities like riding a bike, etc., that made him feel happy and connected to the outdoors.

To the youth, Vivek’s advice is that instead of running after fulfilling their dreams, they should work on their inner-self first and become aware of who they are. Besides, he advises them not to fear taking the unconventional route of entrepreneurship as their youth is the time when they have the most risk appetite to do what they want to do.