Gagan Banga,
National Sales Head, Indiabulls

His first name means infinite sky. And that?s exactly how he perceives the world of financial services. Starting out as a sales and marketing executive, he has scaled the ladder of success in just four years.

At 29, he is a millionaire, and ?serious wealth? is what he wants to create all the way. Meet Gagan Banga, national sales head of one of India?s largest online trading brokerage houses ? Indiabulls. Banga?s rise in the financial services world has been remarkable. Son of an Indian Air Force officer, he grew up in a middle-class family with a strong family value system.

?My father retired from the air force and joined the private sector. My brother is based in the US and runs a technology company of his own,? says Banga, chatting at his Nariman Point office. Banga completed his MBA after graduation and joined NIIT in its sales and marketing department.

?I was always interested in sales and marketing. I had a deep interest in financial services as well. But, I never thought I would be running a financial services outfit one day,? says he.

But Indiabulls was not just happenstance. ?It was a well-thought-out and focused plan. We worked hard to create wealth for all stakeholders. It has been a steady climb since,? says Banga. The idea to start their own outfit on a technology platform was born in 1999 when Banga joined three IIT-Delhi engineers who promoted the company.

While Banga handled the sales and marketing, the other co-founders were chief executive officer Sameer Gehlaut, chief financial officer Rajiv Rattan and director Saurabh Mittal.

They managed to stitch together an initial seed capital of Rs one crore to start Indiabulls, an online trading brokerage firm, in 2000. Indiabulls was the second brokerage firm to be granted permission to conduct online trading on Indian stock exchanges. The challenge was to change the mindset of investors to move from the traditional form of stock trading to a completely online interface.

?The bigger challenge, I would say, was to create an organisation that could deliver the goods. There are nearly 7,000 intermediaries with less than one per cent market share. To do business through the intermediaries and ensure that the shareholders get returns was a huge challenge,? says Banga.

Indiabulls used three rounds of funding to start and expand the business. It raised Rs 10 crore from venture capitalists like L.. Mittal?s proprietory fund and Transatlantic Corporation in 2000.

?In November, Infinity Investments bought into Indiabulls. We did a third round of funding in 2004,? Banga says. Indiabulls has created an infrastructure to provide investors from all over the globe with real-time, 24- hour access to all information and products. Called the Indiabull Professional Network, it offers real-time prices, details data and news, and provides intelligent analysis of trading trends and electronic trading capability. It is aimed at the smart investor. From just five employees when it was launched in May 2000, Indiabulls has grown to 1,200 employees with 82 offices across the country.

?We are one of the largest retail brokerages in the country with daily trading volumes of Rs 800 crore,? says Banga, with pride. An estimated 70,000 trades take place on the Indiabulls online network and it has an estimated customer base of 43,000 clients. Banga attributes his success to the whole Indiabulls management team.

?To be on my own was my decision, but at Indiabulls one is not alone. Hundred per cent of our success is attributable to the team and its joint contribution,? he says. He feels that one major reason for the success is also the fact that the Indiabulls team has stuck together since inception.

?The whole team had faith in me. Our original management team has remained the same from day one. Today, our second level of management also has people who have been with us for the past four years,? Banga says. Banga believes that his never-say-die attitude has helped shape his success.

?My biggest strength is that I never give up. I think that has helped me through the way,? he says, two years after he made his first million. For Banga and others at Indiabulls, creating wealth is a serious business.

?Our endeavour is to create a one billion dollar organisation,? he says. The aim is to grow five times in the next two years. Even the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex is not as ambitious.