The New Old Thing - Vijay Chattha - Brief Article

Industry Standard, The, August 6, 2001 by Amanda Cantrell

The economic slump has sparked more than a few career U-turns, but Vijay Chattha is taking it to extremes. The 24-year-old hipster and DJ was co-founder and co-CEO of Urbangroove.com, a Philadelphia-based network of nightlife Web sites, when he took a summerlong leave to join the Smithsonian Institution's Sikh Heritage Project in Washington. The project helps restore and preserve artifacts, many of which have deteriorated after years of neglect.

Urbangroove is still grooving, but Chattha says the sabbatical couldn't have happened without the slowdown. And he says his startup-building skills have translated well. He's spending most of his time planning a huge fundraiser. We're guessing the backing won't come from VCs.