Consulting

This Consulting Company, THEV Helps Businesses Overcome Challenges, Scaling Their Growth Considerably

• BySheetal Sidhu     |    July 8, 2021

“You just have one life: Being clear on what you wish to spend your time on, distinguishing your own interests and strengths from others, and working hard and smart for the long term will help you achieve your goals.” Monce C. Abraham, Director, THEV, said in an elaborate interview sharing his journey and building THEV from ground up with Startup Story.

About The Co-Founder

Telling Startup Story about his education and schooling, Monce told us that he had completed his schooling from St. Columba’s School in Delhi, and he further got a degree in engineering from a college under Anna University in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He landed his first job with Infosys, an Indian IT company and found channels to further apply his knowledge and understanding in the real world after becoming amongst the youngest Infosys Pune hub employees at 23 years of age then to crack one of the young leadership panels called Voice of Youth, post a written screening test and a 7 minute interview with the Infosys Pune Hub leadership. As part of the panel, Monce was part of the select 10 member team which synced up between the Pune hub leadership and the then 16,000 strong workforce in Pune, and was also part of the team drawing and brainstorming the Vision and Mission of Infosys, Pune. He was then invited to join the India Sponsor Foundation (ISF), a non-profit started by the NASSCOM co-founders after a short volunteering stint working directly with the organization leadership. From his observed work over the 4 months at ISF where Monce improved upon some of the monitoring and tracking processes of the funding NGO as also built partnerships, he was offered the opportunity to interview with the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and at 24 years of age, Monce became the youngest person to head Marketing at Research function for the IVCA in the role of an Assistant Vice President. At IVCA, he became more well-versed with hands-on operations and became part of the first teams of many first initiatives in the history of the organization including the IVCA’s first elections, first publication, first international conclave, first database, first secondaries marketplace etc within the odd 2.5 years he was there. Monce also learned the importance of working with hard-working, talented and sincere individuals and teams, within and outside the organization, to deliver on the visions and goals set by the organization. Collectively, all these experiences over time helped Monce realize he had the potential, work ethic and certain skill sets which would be of value to businesses. On turning 25 years old, he experienced continued growing restlessness and the urge to search for more ways to realize his potential. He had conversations regarding the same with trusted friends and advisors and came to conclude that he could work on a venture where he could serve more than one organization at a time towards helping them achieve their goals of growth and scale.

Monce added that he also had the confidence and support of his family members, and he set up an official company with his savings. However, given he was just 25 years of age and this was his first venture, it was not easy to get organizations to take him seriously without an established venture track record nor any distinguished clientele. Quick to feedback from his first meetings, Monce furthered into building a foundation for the company by moonlighting over the next 1.5 years juggling between two jobs: While continuing to do well by his day job, Monce started using his spare time in the evenings and weekends to build on his venture and clientele. The thought of helping his clients overcome business challenges and scale growth plateaus, and creating more case studies where THEV had helped companies, excited and motivated Monce to keep working on and growing his venture. Monce continues to enjoy working on business challenges and growth with some truly reputed leaders and organizations globally.

 

 

THEV, A Working Model

On describing his journey further about his venture THEV, Monce told Startup Story that the name THEV comes from a combination of the two words ‘Think’ and ‘Evolve’, an idea around which the venture revolves. The concept of THEV is simple and basic, Monce said that the firm has a definitive purpose to help trusted and promising ventures who have achieved product-market fit with solving their business and growth challenges, helping understand the market and landscape better, working with them on their strategy and positioning, helping grow the product in the market, providing access to well-suited firms in THEV’s global network for potential B2B or B2B2C business, amongst other value adds. THEV works with companies with product-market fit across company stages, and assists clients which include early stage ventures with less than USD 1 Million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) as also established leading global ventures with ARRs in excess of USD 200 Million. THEV Consulting continues to create value for entrepreneurs and business leaders, with backgrounds which include Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, Cambridge, World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders (WEF YGLs), Fortune 500 CEOs, IIMs, IITs, RECs, non-profit founders and top level management.With 10 plus years of experience in leading organizations through their Marketing, Branding, Strategy, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Business Development and CSR efforts, THEV Consulting has helped its clients overcome some of their biggest business challenges, surmount growth plateaus, improve efficiency, build innovation capability and achieve thought leadership.

Growing The Network

Looking at the extensive network Monce has built over the years, Startup Story asked Monce to give an insight about how he had managed to maintain a quality network of business leaders to which he replied, “people have been kind to me,” and that the trust and leap of faith people took on him, including his earliest friends, well wishers and clients who believed in him has helped him go a long way. He also believes that as long as a person is perceived to be an individual of value, people will always be open to connect with the person, whilst one also needs to ensure that he/ she is bringing something worthwhile and noteworthy  to the table to ensure he/ she is respectful of the time, energy and goodwill of others. Monce does not believe in networking with a motive and has never been very particular about attending events unless he has been invited to speak or his presence serves a mutually meaningful purpose to the organization inviting him. He also pointed out that for anyone starting out, one should always be mindful of the connections being formed and also have the right kind of agreements in place when working with others.

Launching The Company And About The Team

Monce told us an interesting story about first starting out. As a restless young man who was out to realize more of his potential, after deciding on the name and initiating the company registrations, he bought the domain name one of the evenings and built a basic 5 page website using a website builder over the next few hours, and by next morning 3:30 AM, he started approaching potential organizations from his then network. Since the venture was still fresh without much to show for, people diligently told him that they would be happy to connect back once the venture had more clients. Quick to feedback, Monce took the advice and without quitting his day job, he moonlighted over the next 1.5 years to build a small foundation. THEV has now grown as a venture and has some good things to showcase in terms of clientele and work done. After a decade plus of service in India, THEV is now looking towards expanding in the UAE and UK in a small way. COVID has also been a reality which has impacted and affected markets and businesses worldwide, and the world might return to normal only after a few more years. Aware of this, THEV plans to take small conscious steps with the intent to partner and create value for some of the trusted leaders and organizations in those regions, amongst others, over the long term.

THEV has a lean but strong able team under the leadership of two directors: Monce, and his father Mr C. M. Abraham who holds decades plus experience and leadership especially in the satellite communication and broadcasting domain for India and other prominent parts of Asia. For specific functions such as their legal, accounting, design and speaking requirements, THEV is taken care of and well represented by leading organizations in India and Asia.

Business During Pandemic

For the pandemic, Monce told Startup Story that he was already on alert and prepared given updates from his friends across the globe and he even put out a word of caution through his official site, which has visitors from 105+ countries. Being a consulting company, not being able to meet personally with clients posed some issues during the initial 6 to 8 weeks of the national lockdown in India and there was considerable uncertainty around regulations, travel and impact on businesses. However, they were able to make it past the uncertainty post those initial weeks, and with complete cooperation and understanding from their clients with respect to the new environment and landscape, they were able to adapt to and accommodate remote working most of the time. Travel and meetings are still required with certain clients in important cases, but it’s undertaken with utmost precautions and care.

Setbacks And Managing Stress

“Some problems are good to have” Monce C Abraham, Director, THEV. Monce believes working slightly outside one’s comfort zone is necessary for growth.  And while building the company there have been certain setbacks along the way however, he has now become quite accustomed to handling these problems. Overtime he has come to understand and learnt to manage the business, clients, scenarios and setbacks better. Monce is a firm believer of progressive and thoughtful meaningful growth that comes by planning for, avoiding, and where required, facing obstacles head on.

Advice For Entrepreneurs

“If you require motivation, then you are probably working on someone else’s dream. Work on your own dream,” Monce C Abraham, Director, THEV

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