Naveen Jain: Setting a Vision into Motion
Naveen Jain is a brilliant innovator and businessman. His credentials include an undergraduate engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from XLRI School of Management. His career includes seven years as project manager for Microsoft Corporation and the foundation of his own company, InfoSpace, in 1996.
Naveen Jain had a vision of leveraging the Internet as a medium where people can access relevant information to make intelligent decisions every day. That vision was set in motion in January 2003 when he, along with other visionaries from former company InfoSpace, founded Intelius, an Internet-based information and security provider that supplies consumers and businesses with on-demand background checks and verification services that they need for making wiser decisions.
In an increasingly complex world, transparency has diminished. Our fast-paced lives often lead us to make whimsical decisions in personal and business affairs. Naveen Jain and his co-founders conceptualized the company after having unfortunate experiences working with individuals who defrauded them. One hired a contractor who only did one job and left carrying a down payment, dissolving his company thereafter. It was later learned from a background check that this person had a history of fraudulent contracts.
Recognizing that people and businesses can be empowered to avoid risks in their decision-making only if they are supplied with accurate and up-to-date information, Intelius came into being. The company believes in predictive information to ensure that people and businesses are protected from physical and emotional harm, as well as from financial losses.
At present, Intellius’ services have expanded to more comprehensive background checks, people search services, pre-employment screening solutions, and identity theft prevention. Service applications to real world situations are diverse. People are able to locate long lost friends and loved ones. Consumers use background checks to investigate online chatmates, tenants, and nannies. Its employment screening services are used by small and medium-sized business to manage human resources. It is among the 100 most trafficked commerce sites on the Internet and caters to a unique customer base of six million people.
