EP #117: Sujan Selven - Australian-Based Serial Entrepreneur Creating Opportunities For Villages In Northeast Sri Lanka With His Social Enterprise The Tamil Creator

Sujan Selven (@sujanselven) is a serial entrepreneur with his latest venture, Space Group, focused on the telecommunications industry. He is also a founder of social enterprise Upcycled Tech (@upcycled_tech), which provides upcycled tech devices to improve the lives and well-being of those in need, starting with remote villages in Sri Lanka.

He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss how Jack Ma influenced him to think about positively about problems, how COVID led him to create Upcycled Tech/giving back to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka through this social enterprise, future growth plans for his business Space Group, wanting to be known for taking action instead of just talking, the importance of facing challenges head-on, and so much more.

Follow Sujan:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sujanselven/)
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sujanselven/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Sujan Selven
00:40 - What led Sujan down an entrepreneurial path
02:07 - Being born in Sri Lanka, migrating to Australia
04:08 - Admiration for Jack Ma; problems create solutions
06:18 - Upcycled Tech; what it is and why he started it
10:18 - Transforming Upcycled Tech to a social enterprise
13:12 - The Upcycled Tech team; how it came together
14:34 - Space Group; what prompted him to start this
16:09 - Space Group’s purpose; civil, electrical, and telecom services
17:09 - Initially not knowing where Space Group would take him
19:19 - How he secures sales (contracts) for Space Group
20:49 - How he finds talent; setting others up for success
22:38 - Reducing role with Space Group to focus on Upcycled Tech (to help enable connectivity to remote villages in Sri Lanka)
25:08 - Learning about the importance of good accounting
26:15 - His sources of learning; reading, short courses, etc.
27:35 - Balancing personal and professional obligations
29:13 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self
30:40 - The personal legacy he wants to be remembered for
30:56 - Creator Confessions
35:08 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan   
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