Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Swarna Ananthan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Swarna, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
My son is eight years old and he loves stories! Like many immigrants – our families are overseas and we try so hard to engage them in my day to day son’s life. They tried reading him stories and having him talk about his stories. But just holding a book over Zoom or Facetime does not have that same magic, connection, or conversation. It was hard for a 3-year-old to concentrate and not lose interest.
During the pandemic, with remote learning, it is clear that a screen is not engaging enough for a child. I have seen teachers struggle to engage and keep their student’s attention – and it is a losing battle for them as well.
While telling stories to my son, I realized that storytelling has an important aspect – the teller’s perspective and style.
Stories can be the same, but the perspectives are different.
It got me thinking – what was the magic of storytelling that my son couldn’t get enough of via the screen? Was it the voices? The pictures that he could ask about, the different versions of the same story with different perspectives that his Dad and I would make up or he would.
Never the same story. It was moments of pure love, connection, and creativity – they just weren’t carrying through the screen.
So I decided to change the screen – Founded MagicPolygon!
Swarna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an Entrepreneur and a Software Engineer as well. My specialization is mobile applications. I have worked for 24 years in software engineering across various companies like Motorola, iHeartRadio, Samsung, and The New York times. I was one of the very first engineers of the tech-based fitness company Peloton and played a crucial role in bringing up the product.
I am the founder of MagicPolygon. MagicPolygon is an app allowing children, their families, and teachers to create, narrate, record, share and live stream their own stories in an animated and fun way for an interactive and magical experience.
The app is available in the AppStore. We will be launching in the Google PlayStore soon.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The Lean Startup – by Eric Ries
Traction’ by Gabriel Weinberg
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Since MagicPolygon is an early-stage startup, all our team members are contractors/freelancers across the globe. Maintaining a fully remote team has many challenges. The following are the key aspects in our case for managing a team and maintaining high morale.
* Building trust is an important aspect of the team-building process.
* Transparent communication with the team. Keeping them informed about the company’s goals, progress, and any challenges we are facing.
* Fostering a sense of ownership and rewarding
* Last but not least, empathy plays an important role
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.magicpolygon.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magicpolygonkid/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magicpolygonkid
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/magicpolygon/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/magicpolygonkid
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@magicpolygon9640
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@magicpolygonkid