A friendship formed while studying business at the University of Pennsylvania led two students from India to co-found a start up business. The pair, now seniors, say they’ve learned a lot about themselves in the process.  

Pranshu Maheshwari, from Chennai, and Yash Kothari, from Mumbai, first met before the start of their freshman year at a reception in India for newly accepted Penn students.

They had a mutual interest in technology and data and wanted to learn more about these industries. Each will graduate this year with an economics degree from the Wharton School, and Maheshwari will earn a degree in international studies from the School of Arts & Sciences through the Huntsman Program.

Their experience at Penn, both in and outside the classroom, has provided a great testing ground for their professional lives.

“When I came to Penn I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Kothari says. “Then I started to read about tech startups. A class I took on entrepreneurship was incredible. It analyzed the strategies of successful tech companies ranging from HP to Palm to Apple.”

Maheshwari was admitted to the Class of 2015 as a Penn World Scholar. Initially he was interested in Indian politics and social entrepreneurship, but he says that each course that he’s taken has led him closer to the decision to launch a business. 

Last year he chaired the Wharton Leadership Ventures undergraduate student advisory board.

“One key thing I learned is not to let go of any opportunities and to be conscious of the fact that the time as an undergraduate at Penn is limited,” he says. “We only have a short time to enjoy everything, like life itself.”

In his sophomore year, Maheshwari had the chance to direct the play “Robin Hood” while working with the Stimulus Children’s Theater.

“Through directing the play and putting creative vision to work, I realized a passion for creating things. That manifested itself in the startup,” he says.

Two years ago during spring break at a Wharton Leadership Venture expedition to Utah, Maheshwari and Kothari spent hours talking about the power of data. Two weeks later they decided to start a retail analytics business.

In the past year and a half, the startup has evolved from a serious part-time project to a full-fledged, and growing, five-person company, Prayas Analytics. The word Prayas is a verb in Hindi meaning “to work very hard” and also a noun meaning “a great endeavor.” Coincidentally, Prayas is also a mash up of the first three letters of each of the student’s first names P-R-A and Y-A-S.

As members of the Wharton Venture Initiation Program, the two get a lot of support. They have office space; access to an entrepreneurial community of Penn students, faculty and alumni; monthly advising sessions; educational workshops; and networking opportunities.  

Starting a company, Maheshwari says, seems like the perfect thing to do at this point in life. 

“Yash and I realize that we’re starting off at zero. It gets harder to take risks as you get older. Imagine starting a company with a family, but we’re both 21 years old, with not much to lose.”

Learning to lean into uncertainty and risk is among the biggest lesson Kothari says he’s received at Penn.

“Most of the times where I’ve surprised myself and learned something new about myself is when I’ve taken a risk.”

He chronicles his experiences on the blog “Mind Mentos.”

Kothari has served as a Wharton Ambassador, been involved with the Wharton Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Board and been a teaching assistant for a “Management 100” course on leadership. In his role as a TA, Kothari says he learned another important lesson. “People are at the center of everything,” he says. “Whatever definition of success you might have, relationships — with friends, classmates, professors — are what keep the world going.”

Although both Kothari and Maheshwari come from families with business backgrounds, their parents were slightly skeptical when their sons announced plans to balance work on a startup with a large course load. However, as Prayas Analytics has gained traction, the parents have come around.

Kothari and Maheshwari look forward to graduating and continuing to expand their company. They recently added three new members to the team: Penn senior Ashu Goel, an engineering major from McLean, Va.; Mac Cordrey, a Wharton junior from Summit, N.J.; and Joshua Lee, a freshman in Penn Arts & Sciences from Boston.