Pranav Arora (born Aug 2, 1995) is an Businessman, Entrepreneur[2], Philanthropist[3], Investor, and Venture Capitalist.[4]
Arora currently serves as the Chairman and a Board of Director of multiple, multinational companies. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for JMTD Holdings[2] and Vice President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of a non-profit organization called “The Just Funky Foundation“.
Pranav is involved in a vast number of different industries including consumer goods, investment management/wealth management, real-estate and franchise industry
Pranav attended Wooster Highschool, graduating in 2013, after graduation, he attended University of Akron for less than a semester before deciding to leave school to focus on “Highly Educated” which he started in high school, before selling his shares for undisclosed amount. The company sold containers, and officially licensed products for brands like The Walking Dead, Bob Marley, TMNT, Sons of Anarchy, and MANY more which items were sold at Spencer’s Gifts, Hot Topic, and over 5,000 mom and pop stores across the country,
Pranav is “Head Of Division” at Just Funky LLC, Just Funky is a premiere manufacturer of licensed and private label merchandise for the mainstream retail market. Our executives have combined 44 years’ experience in manufacturing, licensing, retail and creative development in such areas as beverageware, impulse/novelty, decor, and apparel.
Just Funky’s main goal is to create the most innovative product with unmatched quality.
Just Funky sells its originally designed, licensed products to over 30,000 stores and chains, and licenses product uses from hundreds of video games, musicians, TV shows, movies, cartoons, anime and more.
Just Funky currently holds more than 200 A-list licenses in its portfolio including Rick and Morty, Walking Dead, Pokémon, Breaking Bad, Supernatural and many others. The company’s products and merchandise are distributed through major retailing partners around the world including Spencer’s, Hot Topic, FYE, Think Geek, and Gamestop as well as through more than 15,000 independent stores and online platforms.
Pranav also serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for JMTD Holdings aswell as a manager at the firm.
JMTD Holdings is a boutique private equity fund which is focused on creating superior long-term returns for shareholders through a unique structure of diversified public and non-public holdings.
JMTD Holdings have a powerful network of investors, transaction intermediaries and domain experts that give it significant advantages in sourcing and closing deals. JMTD Holdings unites an entrepreneurial vision with the experience to turn opportunities into realities.
JMTD Holdings has interest in multiple company’s including consumer goods, manufacturing, wealth management, and has invested in Intellectual Property portfolios constant of patents and trademarks which generate royalty’s.
The above are just a small insight on Pranav Arora, and some of the company’s he is involved in.
What do you do?
That is a hard question to answer, and I think most entrepreneurs will agree when I say that everyday I find myself wearing a new hat, or playing a different roll depending on what my vision and goals are for that day.
But, I think the majority of my time is spent managing, and explaining my vision to my teams to help them understand “the dream” and listening to their pitches on how we can achieve it.
What led you to your current business?
I think what lead me into starting JMTD Holdings was my love for entrepreneurship, and love for solving problems across different industry’s. I love the fact that I’m able to be apart of, and have financial ownership in multiple company’s including consumer goods, manufacturing, wealth management, and has invested in Intellectual Property portfolios constant of patents and trademarks which generate royalty’s.
Could you walk us through your process of developing your business?
I wouldn’t really say there was a “process” necessary of developing my company’s, but I think the most important thing is to write down your plan on some paper, and create a “plan” in which your team members and investors can understand, and relate to. Create a “map” or “road plan” your team can use to help you achieve your goals
Did you encounter any particular difficulties in the beginning and how did you overcome it?
I think the biggest difficulty I had, and still have after all these years, is finding the right members for your team. You will only be successful if you have people working for you who have the same goals and aspirations as you. One bad hire or teammate can ruin a beautiful painting, its like one person throwing black paint over your beautiful mural, the artist spent hundreds of hours painting it in such great detail, and It only took one person , 5 seconds to ruin it all by splashing black paint. So make sure you only have the “positive” people in your team, and make sure you remove the “negative people”
What are some important lessons you’ve learnt about entrepreneurship/business?
I think an important lesson I have learned about entrepreneurship and business is the value of honesty and integrity. The most important thing is being fully transparent and honest with your clients/customers because it is the ONLY way to be successful in the long term, Being honest might not make you the biggest company today, but it sure will in a few months when people have been burned by your dishonest competitors. My customers would much rather pay me a little more than my competitors to know they aren’t being mislead and lied to. Many of the customers I had originally lost to my competitors months earlier, have come back knocking on my door begging me to help them get out of the hole the dishonest company’s had dug them into.