At age 13, Kunal Chandiramani took a look around a rural village in India and saw a problem – as well as an opportunity. Local artisans weren’t taking advantage of e-commerce. They were limited to selling to buyers within their geographic region due to lack of reliable internet service. If he could simplify their offerings to work over mobile devices and with low bandwidth, he realized, then they could sell their handicrafts to the rest of India and the world.
And so, at 14, Chandiramani harnessed the coding skills he had taught himself to launch his first company, KStar eCommerce. It was 2016. His company provided local sellers with the tools they required to set up independent marketplaces via his online platform. He also offered partnerships with leading payment gateways and delivery platforms, making it easier for sellers to scale. KStar quickly grew to serving small businesses in over 30 cities across India, and it was acquired for six figures in 2022.
But his success early in life didn’t stop Chandiramani from hustling. Retaining the company name after acquisition, he turned KStar into KStar Holdings, under whose umbrella he has launched several other businesses in mental health and marketing. The now 19-year-old also has delivered keynote speeches at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bhubaneshwar and Indore as well as the International Medical University in Kuala Lumpur and the University of Pennsylvania, and has spoken at three TEDx events.
Furthermore, Chandiramani started dToks, a podcast on mental health that has amassed over 100 episodes featuring renowned guests and a global audience, and operates a nonprofit foundation. Through this foundation, dToks has collaborated with more than 1,000 volunteers, providing them with training on psychological first aid through live cohorts. The aim is to empower individuals to offer support within their communities in matters of mental health – to both friends and strangers.
“Creating a brand that aligns with my life purpose has been an incredibly wholesome journey for me,” said Chandiramani in an exclusive interview with me. “I have always been driven by the desire to make an impact. Making the world even slightly better is good business practice.”
Chandiramani offers these nine pieces of advice to teens looking to make an impact, as he has:
1. Be curious about everything. Embrace the state of always wanting at all times to know more about everything and why.
2. Spend the time needed to explore the answers – and don’t settle with not getting the answer, even if it’s inconvenient. That, in and of itself, is rewarding.
3. Be kind. Be kind to everyone and be a good person.
4. Incentivize yourself into enjoying the journey. Don’t be embarrassed when you don’t know an answer or mess up. Learn to love the whole process.
5. Do what feels right to you. Be authentic,
6. If you have an idea for a company, then don’t wait. Start it.
7. Trust people. You’ll be wrong 1% of the time. The other 99% of the time makes it well worth it.
8. Read, read, read. Autobiographies and memoirs are the best, as you get to learn from real people.
9. Make friends as you go.
One of the greatest challenges Chandiramani has encountered, especially in the early years of his business when he was just a young teenager, was the constant barrage of small issues that would arise. “It often felt like there were countless moving parts, and something always seemed to go wrong. The firefighting nature of entrepreneurship can be daunting. However, I’ve learned to adapt,” he says.
The key has been understanding the value of compounding, both in the positive and negative. Chandiramani explains: “Even miniature steps lead to momentous movement in terms of founding a business. However, even small fires can also cause immense destruction. Remember that everything really does compound, so small things can end up having an incredible ripple effect.”
To aspiring entrepreneurs, Chandiramani says, “Being an entrepreneur is extremely fulfilling, but it also requires a lot of time and energy. It is important to have fun doing it. I enjoy the process of bringing an idea into reality. I really love it. That’s what keeps me going.”
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