Founders’ Fiesta – Anand Edward D’Souza
If Defying Odds had a Benchmark, It’s This!

Success stories are the ones that go from 0 to 100. But our latest Founders’ Fiesta saw one that started from 0 went to –90 and now well above the 100 mark! This was the story of Mr. Anand Edward D’Souza, Director, Dawn HR Solutions, his journey through the downs, and finally the ups. We had an early start at St. Joseph’s Institute of Management on 12th July 2025, where we assembled for a good breakfast and networking session before we headed up for the session.

The story took us through an intriguing story, one which was way off from the usual entrepreneurship stories we hear. As a teenager from a family of farmers, Edward found himself ploughing the fields and in the coconut fields, balancing his family’s farm works and school. He went on to explain his studies sarcastically as a bright journey! As Edward puts it “I was a bright student. I used to come second out of 33 students!

As fate would have it, he shared that his birthday coincided with Labour Day, as his working journey started off in Bangalore in the late 90’s as a HR officer. This was a base for his journey through Industrial Management and going above and beyond in his field, tackling the challenges and dangers of labour management in a rural industrial area. Edward had found his niche, a skill that companies went beyond bounds to retain him. He shared a hint of his farming background, his fathers words to manage any work on his own, was the defining moment to get into entrepreneurship with his goal of running multiple companies in multiple fields.

While we were settling ourselves in to see the rise in his entrepreneurial journey, his story took a steep turn into sharing with us the worst that can happen to any business. From taking businesses at face value to the deep end of handling a company that racked up crores in debt, he shared the treacherous path he faced. Just as we thought we had heard the lowest of lows, Edward went on to share the endless challenges he faced in every step he took in doing something to get out of the situation. While sharing how all turns led to a dead-end, he highlighted how we could face any situation if we are not doing anything wrong. His background of legal and compliance from his HR firm ensured he could get out of the challenges step by step.
The session ended with an audience beyond intrigued with questions on how he overcame his challenges. Mr. Anand Edward D’Souza was honoured for his Founders’ Fiesta session. Fr. Prashant was honoured for the immense support SJIM towards hosting KE at their facility for such sessions where we see the amazing, insightful journeys of brilliant entrepreneurs.