Sometimes you need to have a rebellious character to become an entrepreneur. “My dad never wanted me to go into business. He gave me an education hoping that I will get a nine-to-five job and lead an easy life,” recalled Mohan Belani, CEO and cofounder at e27 (Optimatic). Instead of following his dad’s desire, he went to start e27 even before he had completed his studies.

e27 is a media organization focused on the Asian technology startup industry. It is devoted towards Silicon Valley-style, community-driven advocacy of technology innovation in Asia. e27 was born in 2007 with a clear aim to “inspire and connect the many people that work hard to put Asia on the global map of technology innovation.” Before starting e27, Mohan got plugged into the whole internet ecosystem when he was at Silicon Valley for a one-year stint in 2006.

e27 is very successful with another product, Echelon, the largest yearly tech conference in Asia. The most flagship conference, Echelon 2012, saw over 3,000 people attend the 6 satellite events around Asia and the main conference held at the University Cultural Centre in Singapore. The events and participants have been featured in global technology media outlets such as The Next Web Asia, BusinessWeek, TechCrunch, Venturebeat and more.

While things seem to be going swimmingly for Mohan now, there was a time when he admitted “I felt I couldn’t grow the company any further”. That was in July 2010, when he left to set up his own gaming company, Gokil Games. Yet, deep down, the lure of his e27 "baby" proved too strong and he rejoined the company in December 2011 after being inspired by his staff.