Name: Nikhil “Nik” Kundra
Birthdate: October 4, 1989
Where were you born? Worcester, MA
What are your community activities? (church or faith-based involvement, local, regional and national professional organizations, non-profits, etc)
Present:
Startup Weekend Organizer for Gainesville, FL and San Francisco, CA
Startup Weekend Global Representative
U.S. Representative to the Global Entrepreneurship Congress
3 Day Startup Organizer and Mentor
Sponsor of the Gainesville Hippodrome
Member of the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce
Sponsor of Gainesville Restaurant Week
Manager of Not-for-profit (Tech) Startup Mentoring/Consulting (KundrNik LLC)
Teaching Entrepreneurship to Students at Santa Fe and at the Cade Museum (coming soon for being a 2013 Cade Prize Finalist)
Previous:
6-time Red Cross Blood Drive Organizer incl. the largest in Emory history
Clinical Researcher on the Effects of Novel Group Exercise on Mobility, Balance, Depression, Quality of Life, Memory (Alzheimer’s), and Fall Risk in Low-Vision, Elderly Patients at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Atlanta, GA)
Emory Cares Co-organizer for Grant Park Conservancy and Historic Cemetery Cleaning with Volunteer Emory
Co-founder of the Emory Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary (for Peer Advising/Mentoring in Residence Life)
Genetics/Cancer Researcher on Gold Nanoparticle Transduction into Cancerous Liver Cells
Medical Missions (Mission of Mercy, El Salvador)
- Head of Optometry, Clinician, and Surgical Scrub-In
- Hospice Patient Care Volunteer
- Hospital Volunteering
List any awards you have won for community service:
Distinguished Honors from El Salvador’s Ministry of Health
What is your definition of success?
Pushing the human race forward by executing goals and solving real-world problems that affect a critical mass.
What is your greatest professional accomplishment?
Founding and designing Partender, managing a team, and solving real-world problems that have made everyone who’s purchased Partender happily save a ton of money and have more control over their establishments and liquid cash.
How do you exemplify the spirit of a Forty Under 40 professional?
I believe I exemplify the spirit of a Forty Under 40 professional because, at the age of 23, I’ve helped Partender achieve international recognition from some of the world’s top bartenders, managers, owners, and investors as a business tool that will truly revolutionize the Food & Beverage industry. Our own paying customers have said “Partender is the best thing to have happened to the industry since the end of Prohibition.”
The same reason why you count the cash in every register at the end of every shift, even though each register tells you how much cash is in each, is why you do inventory—to discourage and prevent theft.
Currently, inventory is done the same long and inefficient way (on paper-and-pen) as it was done in the 18th century, which causes an average 23% shrinkage (employee theft and wastage). According to Nightclub & Bar Magazine, shrinkage causes 60-80% of bars and restaurants to fail within their first 3 years. Fortunately, Partender reduces the time it takes owners and managers to do inventory
Businessperson who has most inspired you: Steve Jobs
Best advise ever received: When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and you’re life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it… Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.
Greatest professional challenge: Management
First job: Medical Transferor (Patient Transport Systems) – Mease Countryside Hospital of BayCare
What color crayon would you be? Why? Cerulean. Duh.
Favorite after-work drink: Bombay Fashion by Julian Miller
If I had a magic wand, I’d: Take off like Iron Man.
What is your favorite Gadget? My iPhone
How long have you been in Gainesville? 2.3 years
What do you love most about Gainesville/Alachua County? Gainesville has some of the brightest people I’ve ever met, willing to challenge the status quo and work together to solve real problems that change industries. Everyone here is so helpful; Gainesville isn’t just a city—it’s my family.
Three things people would be surprised to know about you:
1) I was incredibly pre-med and deferred med school at UMiami to study entrepreneurship and start Partender at UF
2) I started Partender because my buddy, Troy Sultan, and I (with a few others) were trying to meet up with some female bartender/managers at Cantina 101, who were stuck doing inventory.
3) I’m an avid double-black diamond snowboarder.
Advice you would give a younger you: You’re a lot smarter and more able than you think you are. Don’t compare yourself to others. Grades are neither a reflection of intelligence, nor success. Know that you can do anything you want to because everything around you was made by someone no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it… Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.