Faisal Farooqui is an Indian technology entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder and chief executive officer of MouthShut.com, a consumer review and rating platform launched in 2000.[1][2][3]
Farooqui's career has included work on user-generated content platforms in India, particularly in relation to privacy, encryption, and infrastructure challenges. He has also co-founded Zarca Interactive, the parent company of Sogolytics and K12Insight, a Virginia-based enterprise survey and feedback company,[4] and was an early investor in the agritech platform DeHaat.[5]
Faisal Farooqui was born in Mumbai, India, as the youngest of ten children to Idris Farooqui and Tahera Farooqui.[8] His father, originally a famer, came from a land-owning family whose ancestors had rebelled against British colonial rule in 1857. He later established bakeries in Mumbai, expanding the traditional joint family business.[9]
He later moved to the United States, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Information Systems and Finance from the State University of New York at Binghamton.[12] During his time at university, he was elected to the Faculty Senate Committee and student government, and served as technology editor of the campus newspaper, Pipe Dream.[13]
Farooqui developed an interest in computing during his school years. In 1988, he encountered a computerized railway reservation system at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, which encouraged him to explore programming. He began experimenting with BASIC on a Casio SF-3500 digital diary, later gained access to an IBM-compatible PC at school, and worked with database tools such as dBASE IV while developing a system to manage surgical records for a family member. He also used MS-DOS and Unix environments and learned COBOL and other early programming languages.[11]
Career
After finishing his undergraduate studies, he started working at American Management Systems as a telecommunication consultant.[14] He moved to India in 2000 and established MouthShut.com as a platform for reviews of products and services.[14][15] MouthShut popularized the concept of advertising on rickshaws for marketing purposes.[16][17]
In 2001 Faisal started the dial-the-CEO program on MouthShut where consumers could directly call the CEO. The program was later adopted by many businesses for interaction between CEOs and customers directly.[18]
In 2011, he beta-launched Dealface.com which connects consumers with local businesses. This was the first website that provided SMS-based coupons.[19][20][21] Later Dealface was integrated with MouthShut.
He was also the official spokesperson to Indian actor Dilip Kumar.[22] His family has a long-standing relationship with Kumar.[23][24] During the last days of actor Faisal released all his health updates to the media.[25][22][26][27] He received a 2006 Manthan Award for Best Youth website.[28] In several interviews in 2015, he stated that he supports net neutrality.[29][30][31] In a 2017 interview, Farooqui stated his preference for shifting India's time zone by 30 minutes.[32]
Faisal is credited with introducing the concept of using auto-rickshaws (also known as rickshaws or tuk-tuk) as a medium for advertising and mass media. He used the back of the hoods of autorickshaws to advertise his startup Mouthshut.com in 2001.[34][35]
Freedom of expression
As an advocate of Freedom of expression on the Internet, Faisal filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court for challenging the Information Technology Rules, 2011.[6] The Supreme Court in its verdict directed striking down the Section 66A and reading down of many other sections of the Information Technology Act of India terming it was unconstitutional.[36][37]
Farooqui, Faisal (2022). Dilip Kumar: In the Shadow of a Legend (A Biography). India: Om Books International. ISBN978-9392834660.
Research papers
Application of market research towards proactive customer relationship management[42]
Controversies
Pune-based Kumar builders sent a legal notice to Faisal and MouthShut.com and demanded Rs.2000 crore damages for fake reviews appearing on MouthShut.com about them.[43][44]
Institute of Management and Technical Studies sent a legal notice to Faisal for fake review post on his website MouthShut about the institute. It alleged that the reviews were intended to bring the institute's reliability down.[45]
IT Act/Section 66A
Faisal was among the lead petitioners who challenged the sections of IT Act section 66 A through a petition in the Supreme Court of India in 2013.[46] In 2015, the court struck down 66A, holding it unconstitutional and diluting many other sections.[47][48][49]
Faisal's firm MouthShut has received 790 takedown notices, 240 legal notices, and 11 court cases against it.[50][51] Hence, Farooqui and Mouthshut.com decided to challenge these notices by petitioning the Supreme Court of India to read down the Intermediary Guidelines Rules 2011.[52][53][46]
In 2014, Beam Fiber, an ISP in Hyderabad and Bangalore blocked access to Mouthshut.com.[54] Farooqui challenged this illegal block and Beam Fiber later unblocked its access with an apology.[55]
Philanthropy
Farooqui is a founding trustee of the Tahera & Idris Farooqui Foundation, a family-run charitable organization that supports initiatives in education, healthcare, clean water, and rural development. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation distributed medicines and essential supplies to communities with limited access to resources.[56]
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