40 year-old-entrepreneurs Gautam Singhvi and Prasanna Shetty have been inseparable friends since their schooldays in Mumbai. Joining the same college, they started organising events, and, realising their flair for management, wished to do something big on their own.

Gautam’s family was in the jewellery business, and the friends thought to leverage the family's expertise, knowledge, and connections. In 1999, the friends started supplying gold coins, chains, and small orders to wholesalers and retailers.

But Gautam wasn’t initially fated to be an entrepreneur.