Interview with Dr. Pranjan Mitra | Denta Mitra
I hope this can inspire you to become a successful entrepreneur too! Why is it important to hear the story of a successful entrepreneur?
Having the vision to become an entrepreneur is great. Making it happen is another story!
In that frame, I had the pleasure to interview Dr. Pranjan Mitra, founder of Denta Mitra. Denta Mitra is an artificial intelligence-based virtual dentist app which brings dentistry to home. People can scan, diagnose, track their oral health status from anywhere anytime, and shall be reminded of their daily oral hygiene actions which they might miss or ignore. The app would also help patients find nearby dentists for booking appointments. Denta Mitra’s state-of-art Ai Scanning and Teledentistry i.e Virtual Oral Consultation with Dr.Pranjan Mitra is a revolution in Oral Healthcare, and have proved highly efficient during this COVID situation. This Virtual Dentist App track, measure and assist people on their oral health.
Denta Mitra ensures that the user understands the importance of oral care based on app recommendation.
The name Denta Mitra means the friend or buddy of Denta i.e Teeth. And secondly, my surname is also Mitra, it was an added marketing leverage.
1. What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e what’s your source of motivation?
As per Sri Dr. AP J Abdul Kalam Sir- “DREAM is not what you see in sleep, DREAM is something which doesn’t let you sleep.” My Dream is that someone wakes me up one day and there are smiles everywhere especially cavity-free smiles of children. I know that we are far away from achieving it however we are on the right track and on the phase of revolution through technology. That’s what keeps me motivated!
2. Why should people choose your product/services?
Denta Mitra is an artificial intelligence-based state-of-art virtual dentist app that brings dentistry home. People can scan, diagnose, track their oral health status from anywhere anytime, and shall be reminded of their daily oral hygiene actions which they might miss or ignore. The app would also help patients find nearby dentists for booking appointments. Denta Mitra’s state-of-art Ai Scanning and Teledentistry i.e Virtual Oral Consultation with Dr.Pranjan Mitra is a revolution in Oral Healthcare, and have proved highly efficient during this COVID situation. This Virtual Dentist App track, measure and assist people on their oral health.
Now to add further to the situation, the recent COVID has brought social distancing into the picture and many would avoid visiting dental clinics unless it is an emergency. So we decided to build a virtual app-based solution to help track, measure, and assist people in their oral health.
Denta Mitra solves the problem of social distancing and large queues at dental clinics post-COVID.
Denta Mitra app comes in handy for patients who might get an initial assessment of their oral status and could try homemade remedies as per app till they visit dentists. Denta Mitra shall also ensure that people understand the importance of oral hygiene and take care based on app recommendation.
The name Denta Mitra means the friend or buddy of denta i.e Teeth. And secondly, my surname is also Mitra, it was an added marketing leverage.
3. What’s your competitive advantage and why can’t it be copied?
Firstly this app is from an awarded Dentist, and thus the app includes the best practices in dentistry and oral care that only a dentist could suggest. Denta Mitra is the world’s first Ai Virtual Dentist App. The oral health scanner based on artificial intelligence is a novel feature. We at Denta Mitra have a highly skilled Medical and Technology Research and Development team. Our tech support team is highly qualified and comprises one of the top brains in the AI domain. We have a very precise and professional hiring process to select the best talents and motivate them to deliver the best.
4. What risks are you facing?
They say –“ No risk, No Gain”. Every step is a challenge, to be honest. Firstly, I am from a non-business family and with very little understanding of technology. That’s where my good old buddy Satyajeet Pradhan, who is also a well-recognized techpreneur, Co-founder and CEO of Bizydale Nets helped me and has been the driving force of Denta Mitra from day one. Also arranging finances or initial investment is still a challenge however that has not stopped us from building Denta Mitra further. We have already secured seed Funding from Prabir Mitra and Satyajeet Pradhan who is also the Board Member, Advisor of DENTAMITRA HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED. We have started looking for further investment.
5. Have you considered any alliance/partnership?
Not thought of any strategic partnerships as of now. However, BIZYDALE INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED has been our tech, Media, and creative partner since ideation and have been the best-outsourced team that a startup could have.
6. What are your cash flow projections? When will you break even? How much will you need in investments?
We have just started, however, we are looking to be a 100 Cr, company in the next 4 years, break-even in 2 years. Currently, we are looking out for an investment of 2Mn USD for the next 2 years.
7. What comes first for you money or emotions?
Always Emotions. Since I am a doctor I have to connect emotionally while treating a patient and also as a person I believe that duty has to be performed with excellence, success and money shall follow.
8. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
My strengths are communication and domain skills, passion for my work. I have a habit of being positive even in the worst scenario. I have gained a lot of patience over the years. My shortcomings are my decisiveness to jump to conclusions fast which can be prolonged for betterment.
9. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
It was a privilege to receive the Winner’s award in the category- Excellence in Public Health Dentistry at the Indian Health Professionals Awards 2017 from my childhood inspiration Honorary Captain Sir Milkha Singh who is popularly known as “The Flying Sikh”. It was a dream come true.
10. How do you handle the pressure?
Listening to Music, Bollywood songs, and playing Keyboard. Travelling is also a stress buster for me. Whenever I feel that I am losing out, I pack my bags and travel to any serene places. Due to the COVID situation, I am not able to travel much so I engross myself in reading motivational books about great achievers of our present time. Meditation and Yoga also helps a lot in managing my high emotions.
11. If you sold your company today, what would be the tone of the conversation? What would you want to gain? What would you want to avoid losing?
First of all, Denta Mitra is my baby. I have worked hard and fought difficult times to give birth to it. I can never imagine to part away with it. It’s my lifeline!
12. What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Don’t follow the masses. Think something out of the box beneficial to society. Don’t focus on money, focus on effectiveness and excellence of the product. Money is always a bi-product.
13. What’s the one question you were expecting most and I haven’t asked you?
I guess you have asked most of the questions which I expected. Well, I thought you may ask what may be the key to success. To answer that I would state that there are no short cuts to success. It depends on your skills, hard work, determination, and smartness. One must have passion and hunger to succeed. It’s a well-known adage that aims for perfection, success will follow.
Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dentamitra
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dentamitra_app/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dentamitra/
