Ambition and experience
While Kripali was studying for his PhD, Silicone Power Co. was looking for a Chinese-speaking Indian to open up the market in India. Although Kriplani had no working experience at all, through his efforts, Silicone Power’s position in India’s memory card market was driven from zero market share to number one among Taiwanese vendors.
In 2011, Kriplani’s boss left Silicone Power and took Kriplani with him to ASRock, a Pegatron subsidiary. At that time, ASRock had a market share of less than 2% in India. In talks with distributors, Kriplani found that the brand suffered from underexposure, leading to poor back-end sales, and after-sales service was inadequate. Kriplani solved the problems one by one, motivating distributors with generous incentives, and sales skyrocketed.
At the outset, distributors doing business with big-name companies wouldn’t take Kriplani seriously. He says, “I came to understand a sales representative’s most important mindset: First, don’t fear failure; second, don’t give up. If you don’t succeed today, it doesn’t mean you won’t succeed tomorrow.” It was three years before some of the distributors he called on placed orders with him. Later, Kriplani expanded his sales activities into seven other countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even South Africa.
Three years ago, Kriplani switched to a new career path, moving to Century Development Corporation, an enterprise primarily involved in construction and in developing industrial parks.
Owing to the many business contacts Kriplani had accumulated over the years in India, Century wanted to station him there, offering him an exceptional package, and one of his old employers even tried to poach him back. Kriplani says that a lot of Indians who speak Mandarin are lured to Chinese companies by high salaries when they return to India. “I chose to stay in Taiwan, not just because I wanted to give something back for the scholarships I’d received, but because I love Taiwan.”
Motorcycling around the island is Kriplani’s way of relaxing. Here he’s enjoying the scenery atop Mt. Hehuan. (courtesy of Manoj Kriplani)