Faisal Farooqui

Faisal Farooqui
Born	23 April
Education	Binghamton University, State University of New York
Occupation	CEO, MouthShut.com
Website
MouthShut.com

Faisal I. Farooqui (born: 23 April) is an entrepreneur, best known as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MouthShut.com, a user-generated consumer review and feedback service.^[1] Faisal is a recognized advocate of free-speech and freedom of expression on the Internet- he challenged India's restrictive IT Rules in the Supreme Court which resulted in the Supreme Court striking down India's draconian Sec. 66A and reading down of many other sections. (MouthShut.com & Faisal Farooqui v/s Union of India) ^[2]

Farooqui has been featured in Fortune, Entrepreneur magazine,^[3] New York Times blog, UK's Financial Express, CNBC, NDTV, Zee, Economic Times, The Times of India and other magazines, newspapers and TV channels.^[4][5]

He has been invited to speak on entrepreneurship, social media, youth culture, marketing and technology related events at international symposiums as well as colleges such as American University in Dubai, IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Mumbai,^[6] NITIE Mumbai and tedX. Faisal is a TiE charter member and mentor.^[7]

In 2012, Entrepreneur Magazine named Faisal among the Top Business People in India and was included in a list of Entrepreneurs who have created History.^[8] Earlier in 2009, Farooqui was named as a Youth Icon India's national TV news channel (Doordarshan)^[9]

The British High Commission (British Embassy in Delhi) announced Faisal among 50 Indians to its list of Young Leaders who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and symbolize optimism of the country.^[10]

Education and early career

Farooqui attended the State University of New York at Binghamton, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems as well as Finance. At the University, Farooqui was elected to the Faculty Senate and the Student's Assembly, and was the Technology Editor of the campus newspaper, Pipedream.^[11]

Farooqui was recruited from campus and worked in the Telecoms consulting practice of American Management System, now acquired by CGI Systems, in Fairfax, Virginia. He later quit, to launch MouthShut.com in 2000 ^[12]

Farooqui received the Manthan Award for Best Youth website in 2006 from India's IT Minister Sachin Pilot.^{[3] [13]} He speaks at conferences concerning Social Media, Internet technology, branding, Entrepreneurship and youth empowerment etc.^{[14][15][16][17]}

In May 2013, Farooqui was awarded the Top 100 Powerful Digital Icons in India by Impact Magazine.^[18] Outlook magazine recommended Farooqui as among the Top 5 people to follow on Twitter from Tech/New Media ^[19]

MouthShut.com

In an interview with CNBC, Farooqui said that the inspiration for MouthShut.com came to him while in a media class at Binghamton University.^[20] MouthShut.com won "Best Portal Award 2009" at the first edition of the IDMA (India Digital Media Awards) held on March 11, 2010.^[21][22]

The Wall Street Journal-Mint states websites such as Mouthshut.com and YouTube are alternative channels for brands to get consumer feedback.^[23] MouthShut.com was founded four years before US-based popular consumer review site Yelp.com

Auto-Rickshaw Advertising

According to the Economic Times, India's largest business newspaper, Faisal Farooqui pioneered auto-rickshaw advertising in India by painting the logo of MouthShut.com on the back of the hood of rickshaws of Mumbai in 2001^[24][25][26] This was later extended to the entire country.^[27] Auto-rickshaws (or their hoods)

Other Business Ventures

In 2002 Faisal co-founded Zarca Interactive, an enterprise feedback company based in Herndon, Virginia. As CEO of Zarca Interactive, Faisal presented at the Technovate seminar of European Society for Opinion and Market Research (ESOMAR), held in Cannes, France in January 2003^[28] Faisal argued for an effective integration of Market Research and CRM systems.^[29][30]

In 2011, Farooqui launched Dealface.com as part of MouthShut.com's offering. Dealface offered daily discount deals on spas, dance classes, health checkups, car service, restaurants discounts etc.^[31] It was the first deal site to offer SMS coupons, thus eliminating the need for paper printouts of coupons.^[32][33]

References

External links

• Official homepage