Interviews

Jay Katariya: Teen Entrepreneur and Innovator

Rashi Pajwani catches up with a 17-year-old business entrepreneur driven towards innovation — Jay Katariya. His non-profit start-up, MindCord, is all set to educate the masses, especially the underprivileged, about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the finance and business sector.

Jay Katariya of MindCord

TTT: Hello Jay. Welcome to The Teenager Today! Would love our readers to get to know you more. So, let’s get down to it! You mentioned that the seed for this venture was planted in your mind at the young age of 13, and you designed a complete framework draft for your website by 14. So how, at the age when I remember merely knowing that a stem is a part of a plant, did you acquire the knowledge about STEM and develop the start-up idea?
Jay: I have always had a natural inclination towards the sciences and mathematics. Textbook knowledge wasn’t enough for the scientific geek within me, thus I started researching to know more about science and familiarised myself with the concept of STEM. However, I very soon realised that my companions had little to no knowledge about the same. That was when I started thinking of designing a website which would be a go-to source for knowledge for not just my friends but for the entire world. Initially, the website was more of a blog page focusing on imparting knowledge about finances, economics, business news and entrepreneurship. Later, I focused the content on topics of business, finance and STEM.

TTT: What is MindCord? When was it launched and what is its current viewership percentage?
Jay: MindCord is an open-to-all blog page, not just for readers but also for writers who wish to express their thoughts or share their knowledge about STEM, business or finance. The website was launched in January 2020. For the first two years, it was just an informative blog site for readers to gain knowledge. However, in March 2023, we launched a monthly competition called The Next Frontier with an aim to enhance and boost our readership base. Currently, we have 60,000 active readers on our website with 50% viewership from India and 50% coming from the rest of the world.

Cover of the August 2023 issue of The Teenager Today featuring tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full interview.

Rashi Pajwani is a student pursuing her BAMMC at Mumbai University.

Rashi Pajwani

Rashi Pajwani is a student pursuing her BAMMC at Mumbai University.