Sprouter talks…to Amp Idea

Sometimes the business idea you started with isn’t the one you stick with. No one knows this better than Praful Mathur, the co-founder of Boston startup Amp Idea. The company originally provided interactive digital advertising in taxis for business owners, personalizing the communication between businesses and their consumers. Now, Praful and his co-founder Sumant Yerramilly are in a very different business: the baby business. Amp Idea is now developing a web-enabled baby monitor. As they approach the launch date, Praful talks to us about how his business evolved, why Nike has the right idea for business, and why small steps can take you a long way.

Sprouter: Tell us about how you got the idea for Amp Idea and how you started it.

Praful Mathur: Initially, the idea for Amp Idea was to develop interactive television. I wanted to develop it as I was watching TV and wanted some clothing that Will Smith was wearing on the “Fresh Prince”. I wondered why it wasn’t possible to interact with my TV. As I pondered over these thoughts I met my co-founder and we brainstormed an easier implementation. However, we evolved that idea into cab advertising. Eventually, that led us into relationships with the City of Boston officials whom we helped pass the mandate for Boston cabs to have credit card machines and screens. We competed very hard and at one point beat Verifone with the 2nd most market-share in Boston cab market. We later sold the contracts to Verifone. Now we’re developing a next-generation baby monitor for some large manufacturers.

S: What were your biggest challenges starting Amp Idea?

PM: The biggest challenge at Amp Idea was competing head on with some of the largest corporations in the world. They had all the resources to crush us. We beat them purely on persistence and authenticity. Taxi drivers loved our passion and enthusiasm. More importantly, we respected them and they trusted we wouldn’t betray them. That’s why it was especially difficult to tell them we sold the company. In the end, we knew we made the right decision as we saw the fiasco that unfolded.

S: What are the top 3 tips you’d give to early-stage entrepreneurs?

PM: + Just do it. Nike had it right with the caveat you need to think through your actions. But act. Don’t just think as that’ll get you nowhere.

+ Remain persistent. You never know what you can accomplish unless you keep at it.

+ Passionate optimism is how I describe the entrepreneurial spirit. Statistically you should fail but the secret is “failure is not an option.”

S: What do you think can be a game-changer for an early-stage startup?

PM: When we received some positive feedback from the City of Boston and advertisers, we knew we had something. When we saw people get as excited as we were that motivated us beyond anything else. I think that small steps will take you a long way.

S: What’s coming up at Amp Idea?

PM: We’re heads down on developing on next product: baby monitor. At this moment, we’re working on some mobile apps to start testing ASAP. We’ll keep you posted as we get closer to a launch date.

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