Saurabh Gupta is the CEO of Phonethics, a Mumbai-based digital-content-creation company that uses a rich blend of technology and human creativity to bring to life character-led content for commercial distribution, suitable to be aired on the Internet, wirelessly or via any other emerging media.

Sourabh Gupta CEO, Phonethics

Phonethics tells stories. Frankly, there is nothing new about that. From the bard to Bollywood, they all do. The difference is we tell stories which are consumed on evolved mediums. Does that make it really new? Is a book that's read on Kindle not a book any more?

Is a song on your iPod, more or less precious than the LP (long playing) record you inherited from your collector hippie uncle?

Is it enough to create content for one platform? Is it good enough?

And that is the dream I have for my company, to continue to ask the most daring, foolish, intelligent, absurd and insightful questions.

Hopefully, we'll find the answers to some; and some of those answers will lead us to the right products and services. Hopefully, we'll never be (or feel) too big, busy or informed to ask and seek, as opposed to 'knowing'.

Some years ago, after I'd finally finished 'Ctrl + Alt + Del', a short film that took considerable time and effort to produce, I was sitting with my colleagues and wondering how to find an audience for the film. I wondered (and asked), if it was going to be possible someday for people to be able to watch the film using a small personal device that helped them project it on a surface of choice. A sympathetic audience informed me that I was speaking from the desperate point of view of a 'creator' who'd like his work to be seen and appreciated. Some openly laughed and mocked at the idea.

The film finally was distributed on mobile phones and was viewed by more than 40,000 paying consumers on their phones!

A far cry from the 'dream' of a device that allowed folks to get one-up on their peers by projecting the content and sharing it with their friends, but nevertheless a well-documented and hailed first in India and perhaps the world.

So, another dream, closely linked to the first, is that I would hopefully be able to build a company that is not afraid to dream - the most ambitious, impractical, crazy, heartfelt dreams.

And finally, when we're on the subject of vision, here's something that I've tried to implement as a CEO - a flat organisation. Hierarchy prevents free flow of information, ideas, questions and dreams. This is the most difficult to implement. As we grow older/smarter (hopefully) and richer (well!), people build walls around themselves that exclude new people simply on the grounds that they are 'new' --to the company/idea/industry/whatever. Bureaucracy disguises itself as meritocracy.

I've begun the implementation of this very difficult vision already because I know it will be the most difficult one to execute -- I don't sit in a glass cabin nor in a corner. I sit and work on the shop floor. I thrive on the conflict, opportunity and demands of my team. Everyone/anyone can walk up to me or anyone else and share their problems/ideas/opportunities/jokes!

{quotes}I envision an organisation that rewards and punishes NOT on the basis of years spent on the bench but for initiative and innovation, at every level.{/quotes}

While dreams (and what else is it, but 'vision'!) for an organisation should be inward looking I can't resist a vision that I have for the market, especially since Phonethics today occupies a small but solid space as an innovator. My vision for the space we operate in is that as content begins to move to digital delivery, a 'paid content' model as opposed to one that is 'ad supported' only, will evolve.

Advertising too will begin to move to 'measured consumption' models where the content and ads would be suitably matched (which they already are, in some cases) and advertisers would know (for once, and this time for sure) the consumer and their preferred content.

My last dream relates to 'scale'. It is my vision to never scale to an unmanageable level or build a company simply to sell it. Look back at folks who've achieved anything today. They didn't build a succession of companies to auction! They went after ideas that they believed in and followed them through. The glory, riches and rewards find you sooner or later, as long as you're committed. My vision is to build an organisation that grows, or as the older adage goes, (as if it were a snake) scales!, I dream of a company that lives on, beyond me and my vision, and without artificial support and orchestration, goes into every new challenge as a new company with fresh ideas and original takes.