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Kris Poria

 Kris Poria

Not having the best situation but seeing the best in your situation is the key to success. This phrase aptly captures Kris Poria’s rise to the top.

Kris Poria hails from a family of farmers in a rather remote village in India. While most teenagers are hesitant to attend a school in which they are not familiar with the first language, Kris knew that he needed to learn the language.

Instead of complaining about his situation or giving up as many do, Kris took it upon himself to ensure that he mastered the English language. After much hard work, with sheer resilience and determination, he succeeded. This was one of the earliest signs that Kris was a man of strong character, although he is fluent in the English language today, “giving up” and “defeat” are two words that do not exist in his dictionary.

Fast forward to a few years later, by the age of 21, when most of us are focused on our careers, Kris was juggling two businesses, his studies, and had recently been married as well. It was during this phase of his life that he learned how to manage his time and money efficiently.

Kris had a keen interest in software due to the infinite number of opportunities that it has, Kris decided to become a Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer and for the first time, he left his country and family to travel abroad to work in Europe and America.

This gave Kris a chance to get an idea of the possibilities available outside India.

After garnering much-needed experience, Kris decided that Australia was the perfect spot for him to not only raise his family but also to start his ventures.

Kris moved to Sydney; a city filled with opportunities ripe for the taking.

Kris decided to start his media publication, ‘Invest in Australia’ which took off almost immediately as he had readers from all over Australia. The media publication was going well, while any other individual in a similar scenario would attempt to solely focus on the magazine, Kris had other ideas.

If you happen to be passionate about your job, you do not work a single day in your life. Kris had not yet been done in the IT sector, he found his calling and decided to step back into his dreamland.

While he was pursuing his MBA from Macquarie Graduate School of Management, he worked with some of the largest IT production companies and system integrators, familiarizing himself with how they work and analyzing if there were any untapped needs that he could fulfill.

In the midst of this, Kris realized that there was a void which he could fill. Big companies were looking to work with startup with innovative solutions, however, there was no intermediary to connect them both.

This was his Eureka moment! Kris along with his Co-founder and confidante Jeff Penrose decided to start EarlyBirds, a platform that connects tech innovators, disruptors, budding startups, and independent experts to share their expertise and knowledge as per their needs to ensure the growth of their business.

We interacted with Kris Poria to find out his success mantra and to what lies ahead for him, and EarlyBirds.

  • What are the aims and ideals that guide you as an individual and a professional?

Kris is of the strong belief that with the increased technological prowess, our society is on a path to completely switching over to machines in most areas, this is a revolution that you can either be a part of or end up just witnessing from the sidelines.

His goal has always been to add more value to society through his business, even with EarlyBirds, Kris emphasizes that his priority is how he can add value to your existing capabilities and essentially help you improve your efficiency and capacity.

  • Enlighten us about your greatest strength. How are you different from others in your field?

We are not surprised that Kris mentions his passion for the industry as one of his strengths. With true passion, no matter how many hardships arise, you will always rise to the occasion, Kris in addition to being passionate about the work that EarlyBirds does also cites his capabilities and his customer-oriented approach as his strengths.

That explains why EarlyBirds in a short period has earned a considerable amount of goodwill and is functioning in four continents, multiple industries, and has become the go-to technical and business solution provider for many startups.

Kris is not satisfied either, he is still looking for ways to innovate and ensure that EarlyBirds is constantly progressing. His primary focus has always been on customers and the benefits that they can derive by working with the organization.

  • Please tell us about your organization. What are your primary roles and responsibilities? Can you please walk us through the major accomplishments throughout your journey?

EarlyBirds purpose is to Engage Society in Actionable Innovation. It is an open innovation ecosystem that helps Innovators such as startups, scaleups, and mature companies connect. EarlyBirds aims to exponentially accelerate the capacity, speed, and culture of these organizations by providing business and technical solutions to their challenges.

Kris currently leads the commercial, product, and innovation strategy for EarlyBirds. Since its launch in September of 2019, over 600 organizations have realized what EarlyBirds brings to the table and have registered themselves along with over 100 Subject Matter Expert consultants from Australia alone.

EarlyBirds monitors over 4 million innovators globally to find relevant partners for early adopter organizations. Their work has gained the attention of prominent media outlets globally.

  • How did you respond to the challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic? What measures did you incorporate to surpass the challenges?

 The pandemic was a challenge for us all, we were curious about how this unforeseen event impacted EarlyBirds.

Kris is of the belief that the pandemic hit their core strategy as they wished to primarily focus on the private sector in Australia and New Zealand but due to travel restrictions imposed, they were helpless.

Although Kris was based in Canberra and Co-founder Jeff Penrose was also near him, they decided to divert their focus onto public sector customers as they were able to travel in and around Canberra.

During the last two years alone, they have signed multiple public sector clients and have also expanded their team in Sydney to come up with strategies to engage private sector clients throughout the country. They have begun operating virtually and this has led to them being able to work better with clients globally. EarlyBirds now caters to multiple tier-1 private sector clients.

  • Who in your life inspires you the most?

Kris is a man driven by a higher purpose, he believes that he is here to serve the stakeholders that have put their faith and resources in him. Apart from this, Kris has surrounded himself with positive team members who always deliver their best, a supportive and innovative co-founder, and finally, his constant support system, his family.

  • What advice would you give to the next generation of aspiring and budding Business people?

Kris is of the firm belief that business has to be done to serve society and as an entrepreneur, you should always prioritize your customers and your stakeholders.

He also tells us that you need to align three key elements

  1. What are you passionate about, if you are willing to work for it day and night?
  2. How can you bring your capabilities together to make your business successful?
  3. How can you innovate and deliver solutions to customer problems?

It comes as no surprise that Kris has achieved so much success in his life, he and EarlyBirds still have a long way to go. Kris Poria is truly a self-made man.