The Hindu Business Line : It’s Elementeo!

“Well, here I am, sitting in Silicon Valley where I constantly see all these adults going about and creating products. I didn’t want to wait another 10 years to start something.”

Anshul Samar

D. Murali
C. Ramesh

For many his age, fun equals playing fantasy wizard games. For Anshul Samar, fun is thinking up an idea, creating a product based on it and selling it to the world.

Probably the youngest founder-CEO in the history of business, 13-year-old Samar was the cynosure of all eyes at the TieCon technology conference held recently.

A seventh grader from Cupertino, California, Samar was a surprise package at the event with his articulate manner and confidence.

He wants to “inject fun into education” by combining the elements of a fantasy wizard world with the textbook world, where fun and learning come together without clashing.

Speaking to eWorld, this young achiever of Indian origin says that he sees business as “a fun thing, not something I am being forced to do or have to do for a living. Just like other kids have many extra-curricular activities, I have my company!”

The company’s core idea revolves around a role-playing board game that uses a 66-card deck of chemistry trading cards. Each card contains the valency, atomic number and symbol of an element.

Every player gets a deck and the aim is to reduce the opponent’s IQ down to zero. The game is played in a rock-paper-scissors kind of style.

How did Samar get inspired to start the company? “Well, here I am, sitting in Silicon Valley where I constantly see all these adults going about and creating products. I didn’t want to wait another 10 years to start something, I wanted to do it now.”

People are already evincing interest in what Elementeo does. “Many people came to our booth at the TieCon saying that they were interested in funding us. We have also gotten some e-mail messages with interest as well.” He has plans to extend the game in many ways, including an online version.

Samar’s parents have been in the US for 20 years. His father is a Vice-President at Oracle.

“My parents have been very supportive of me throughout this business adventure,” he says. “They have taught me that it is okay to fail but it is important to try things out.”

Another source of strength has been the Art of Living. For someone his age, Samar gets surprisingly philosophical when he states: “The knowledge I learned from the Art of Living Courses has helped me to be happy without a reason and stay in the present moment.”

He has signed up with Art Excel, the programme for kids, which has taught him “meditation and breathing exercises that help me focus and keep my mind calm and peaceful at all times.” Despite these adult preoccupations, Samar loves skateboarding and playing the electric guitar, keyboard and drums. And he maintains strong ties with his roots, which is manifested in his love for Indian food. “Besides, I speak Hindi with my grandparents and visit India as often as I can.”

dmurali@thehindu.co.in

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