Kruti Kanojia (Questrom’20), A New Solution for Video Game Addiction
After watching video game addictions impact those around her, gamer and Questrom MBA student Kruti Kanojia (Questrom’20) set out to create a modern and effective therapy.
Now, she and her husband, a private psychiatrist and reformed gamer, are combining their skills to launch Healthy Gamer. Their goal–to build a platform and support program that young, disengaged gamers will actually want to use.
INNOVATE@BU: How do you create innovation?
KANOJIA: Focus on the best possible solution that directly addresses the problem. We focus on video gaming addiction, and we know the best possible solution is one that gamers will actually adopt. When we focus on what gamers will easily adopt, it drives innovation for the solution.
Who or what inspires you to create impact?
I see video gaming destroying lives everywhere. It’s an addiction that people don’t fully understand. Being married to an expert in video gaming addiction makes me want everyone impacted by video gaming addiction to have access to the knowledge and network that we do.
Tell us, how did Healthy Gamer get started?
My husband is a private psychiatrist and reformed gamer. He took an interest in video gaming addiction when he was doing his residency at the world’s top psychiatric facilities.
No one around him knew what to do with 22-year-olds with video gaming addiction. These are scholars and teachers at the height of their game. He created a body of knowledge after talking to hundreds of gamers. But, he’s only one person and there are millions of people with video gaming addiction. I wanted to package him up. Gamers respond best to other gamers. As we saw first-hand, there is no way someone two generations older will ever be able to empathetically treat this new generation disease.
What problem are you hoping to solve with Healthy Gamers?
I want to solve video gaming addiction, but really I’m trying to solve an increasing disengagement with reality.
What has been the biggest challenge or obstacle you had to overcome in your role or for your new venture? How did you do it? What did you learn from the experience?
I’m constantly strapped for time as a mother, wife, full-time student and business owner. A fellow MBA and business owner (Saeid Gholami, iCareBetter.com) saw me pulling my hair out and very gently suggested delegating things out. I’m learning how to document everything possible, so I can more easily delegate with a high quality of work coming back.
Who do you turn to for mentorship and advice?
Everyone! Everyone has something valuable to contribute. The BUild Lab has been amazing at pushing my presentation; my colleagues at Questrom are amazing at pointing out trends in the industry, taking a look at business models or otherwise pointing out opportunities.
What is one major accomplishment you’re most proud of?
I’m really proud of our ability to get things off the ground while working on the bigger solution. We do Thursday night peer groups, have a book drafted (shopping for publishers!), and have a sign-up page for a beta trial (healthygamer.gg).
What advice would you give to someone starting their own innovation journey right now?
Think of things in a quadrant for short/long term and important/non-important. Anything that doesn’t lead to a next step is non-important and you can and should table that half of your to-do list.
Two years from now, what do you hope to be doing? What keeps you motivated to get there?
I hope it’s a fully live site with hundreds of thousands of users that are getting quality recovery treatment. I stay motivated by breaking each goal into achievable, action items.
What’s next for Healthy Gamer?
Establish our platform and publish this book!
When you’re not working on your MBA or Healthy Gamer, what do you like to do?
If I’m not working, studying, eating or sleeping, I’m probably dancing with my two daughters (ages 1 and 3).
