Charanjit Kohli
Owner, YOYOTech
Career so far For the past 10 years, it has been a 100 per cent focus on YOYOTech.
Do you care about green IT? It's essential. We're fully focused on conservation - from suppliers to packaging materials and even the store/warehouse/production line environmentals.
If you could be in a rock/pop band, which one would it be and who would you be? Prince. The guy is a complete genius without ever spending too much time in the limelight. Isn't that the perfect experience?
What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? Staying at the Burj Al Arab, but I can't tell you who with! When an airport opens a special passport queue for you, has a white Rolls Royce standing by outside and a helipad on the roof - you know that something is different! Also, quad biking in Dubai is fun!
Has 2009 been as bad as everyone said it would be? I decided long ago to write off 2008 and 2009 - and look only to the future. YOYOTech's announcement that we will be partnering with SharafDG, the largest electronics destination in the Middle East, shows exactly where our focus lies. Sure, you can continue to develop sales in the UK, but when you're making the fastest systems on the planet - you need to be where the most demanding customers live. Right now, that's so obviously the Middle East.
Have any of your predictions come true this year? Yes! I predicted that YOYOTech would finish 2009 on a high - retaining our top spot on the SPEC list of the World's Fastest PCs. It looks like I'm right!
What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2010? Everyone has to look at the distributors and wonder what role they play. I've run distribution companies and I saw my role as finance and logistics. Right now, too many distributors are scared to hold ample stock and let their bank managers set credit limits. It's hard to see any kind of serious recovery while that is the case. More power to companies like M2M with their real-world-business-orientation.
What is the best part of your day? I admit it, I am an addict. I love buying technology and always have. On Monday mornings I'm allowed to turn my BlackBerry back on and that's when the deluge of buying and selling starts. I live for it!