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Business Profile: Sanjay Singhal, Founder Of Audiobooks.Com
The CEO Of Audiobooks.Com, Sanjay Singhal, Takes Reading Books To The Next Level
In the 21st century, reading books hidden among the long shelves of libraries or bookstores is no longer the only option. With digital technology and the cloud, more people are reading books through the Amazon Kindle, the Nook and Scribd. Sanjay Singhal, who is a former columnist for ANOKHI Magazine, is currently the CEO of audiobooks.com, an app accessible to iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android users. The application allows users to download more than 150,000 titles. You don’t even have to read the book. You can listen while you're at the gym, at work, or even doing household chores. Now aiming for the stars and for becoming Canada’s “next big tech story,” according to the Toronto Star, Sanjay Singhal had humble beginnings as an entrepreneur.
Humble Beginnings
Currently residing in Mississauga, Ontario, the India-born Singhal was raised in New Brunswick, Canada. He's a family man and a father of three. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from UNC and UBC, respectively, and he holds an MBA from Cornell University.
Singhal faced a number of challenges in the business world before he became the CEO, co-founder and owner of a company. In the 1990s, he had two failed businesses. One was a VHS home delivery service and the other was a pre-Blackberry mobile email device.
While there are many entrepreneurs who would have seen these failed businesses as a sign to quit their entrepreneurship, Singhal did not give up. Instead, he kept on trying to find opportunities and eventually bought out his last partner for his current private company in 2014.
The Future
The company is now releasing a new app called Recordio, which lets users innovatively create their own audiobooks.
With its service available for $14.95 a month, the business model of audiobooks.com is similar to that of Netflix. To take innovation to another level, Singhal is currently working with Jaguar Land Rover and General Motors to create software that will essentially turn the car into a moving library through software. While Jaguar Land Rover will integrate the audiobooks app into its infotainment systems for new cars, General Motors will use its OnStar technology to stream books to users in North America in cars equipped with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Ford’s all new SYNC, according to Autonet.
How It Works
Users can choose from 2,500 free titles, but if they choose to subscribe for $14.95 a month, they get access to over 40,000 books and can choose a book. After that, each books is $14.95, while children’s books are between $5 and $7. Once you've selected a title, you can then enjoy your long drives. The car device also picks up from where it last stopped.
Users can also access books from any of their devices, including laptops and phones.
The average novel is about 300 MB and takes 20 minutes to download. You can stream it to your car right away without having to store it in your car’s hard drive.
Advice To Future Entrepreneurs
In an interview with Mi6 Agency, Singhal was asked if any startup business had only one chance to make it big. He responded, “I think any investor would say no to this question. If I encounter an entrepreneur who thinks he only has one shot, then that’s not someone I want to invest in. If the initial idea is good, then there’s almost always a related idea that might work if the initial one doesn’t. The only problem is if you run out of money, but hopefully you either have some left, or the new idea is good enough to be able to raise more money for.”
Feature Image: The Toronto Star
Nidhi Shrivastava
Author
Nidhi Shrivastava (@shnidhi) is a Ph.D. candidate in the English department at Western University and works as an adjunct professor in at Sacred Heart University. She holds double masters in South Asian Studies and Women's Studies. Her research focuses on Hindi film cinema, censorship, the figure o...
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