July 28, 2023
Employee Spotlight - Anurag Jain
Prepay Nation and Elemt’s Founder, Anurag Jain, had a vision long before launching these two companies. This vision involved connecting family and friends from anywhere on the globe.
Anurag moved to the US from India in the early 2000s and right away he realized that communication and contact in general with loved ones back home was difficult and expensive. Anurag then started working with a company called giftstoindia.com to help bridge that gap, since the service allowed the Indian diaspora living in the US and Europe to send gifts to their family.
In 2005, Anurag started a company called MagicPins which was primarily a reseller of mobile airtime in the form of pin vouchers. Most of the prepaid airtime sold in the US was in the form of physical cards. So he thought to himself, at the end of the day it’s just a pin number, why not make it digital? This is how MagicPins came about. He began to make connections with mobile operators who would send in digital versions of pins on the scratch off cards, they would store it in their databases, and sign up dealers that would sell those pin vouchers via their online portals. This company was very successful and eventually, in 2010, Anurag decided to move onto his next and greatest endeavor yet… Prepay Nation (PPN).
If you look at Prepay Nation, it’s nothing but a combination of both of these previous businesses that he was involved in. Sending airtime, as a gift, to friends and family back home. Over the last 12 years, Prepay Nation has developed various partnerships with mobile operators around the globe. During this period a specific need developed from the perspective of these operators, which was the need for state-of-the-art back bones to run their businesses, distribute their airtime, data bundles, and services. That’s where Anurag’s background, experience, and technology came in handy and eventually how Elemt was founded through PPN as an extension of the technology and SaaS side of their business.
Anurag’s vision, once carried out in the form of these businesses, became a lifeline for the diaspora, nurturing a sense of belonging, love, and togetherness. Anurag's initiatives not only connected hearts but also provided a space for cultural exchange, preserving traditions, and strengthening the bonds that make us who we are. It was a testament to the power of technology and the immense value of staying connected with our loved ones, no matter where life takes us. He quoted a book called “Give and Take” by Adam Grant and a study that was run on 3 different types of people and which of those are more successful business individuals. The three individuals are: 1. Aggressive Person (meaning a shark that is aggressive with every business approach and forces the issue) 2. Transactional Person (meaning someone who works under strict transactional conditions in every aspect of their businesses.) 3. Giver (The person who is constantly willing to give themselves, their support, and knowledge in business regardless of conditions, transactions, or aggression. The study shows that the latter of the 3 is statistically the most successful. Those individuals tend to attract other individuals with the same mindset and traits, and form a connected community that propels itself forward exponentially. This results in groups of highly successful people who are always going the extra mile for one another.
This mindset and lifestyle is one that Anurag has shown evidently since the beginning of his journey, and the success has undoubtedly followed him.