Techno Star

Anand Pallegar calls himself a "pescatarian", meaning he eats no meat or poultry but does eat fish. It's part of his philosophy to stay young, stop being foolish and live life to the fullest, the serious young man tells me. At almost 30 (his birthday is in June), Anand has the pristine manners of a proper English gentleman, being raised in Preston, near Manchester. A product of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn, he learned to play the piano and violin, daw and painted and become fluent in Spanish, English, French, Latin and in Indian dialect called Kannada (his parents are from Goa in Southern India). Anand is what you'd call a deep thinker. He completed 4 A levels (intensive courses) in biology, chemistry, geography and general studies, and likes to talk about the historic, anthropological and social implications of things. He can't remember the last fiction book he has read, but just give him something science-, business- or technology-related to chew on and he's happy. "It kind of goes with my territory I guess," Anand says sheepishly. "I'm a nerd."

The founder and president of atLarge, Inc., an ad agency specializing in online branding that weaves technology, design and cutting-edge strategic marketing, is currently reading "The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science," by Norman Doidge. What interests him, he says, is the notion of "neuroplasticty and ho you can change and evolve your brain to actually change. Cognitive resurgence in the brain through thought really fascinates me."

Along with science and medicine, Anand has a probing curiosity about the arts and geography, which he calls "an all-encompassing science; a very wholistic and vast science that pulls from all other disciplines." Beyond the study of rock formations, topography, maps and such, Anand is jazzed by the "social side" of the discipline, the forces that make populations grow and cities succeed or falter. "Why does one side of Fruitville Road develop or gentrify more than the other side, regardless of the amount of development dollars pushed into it?" he muses. Geography is kind of a metaphor for Anand's rich intellectual and social interests. "Looking back," he says, that wholistic view of looking at everything to form an opinion, that is what helps in what I do today with science and the digital and the artistic side, because there's the human element, too.”

Anand left England with his family when he was 16 and settled in Detroit, where his physician father did his residency in order to practice medicine in America. Anand followed a cousin to the University of Michigan, and entered with sophomore standing because he had the equivalent of more than 40 advanced-placement credits. Planning to become a doctor, too, he dove into biochemistry and organic chemistry. 

At the time, he was a "complete neophyte in technology," didn't own a computer and turned in a hand-written paper for his first college assignment. By the age of 18, however, Anand was running a Web-hosting company out of his dorm room. It was the height of the dot-com boom, he says, and he was surrounded by successful young entrepreneurs who didn't appear to be all that brilliant. "They were just in the right time, right place." Anand taught himself the hardware or architecture side of computer technology, and discovered that he was very intuitive. Programming and coding made a lot of sense to him, as well. He figured out how to make Macromedia flash animation talk to databases very early on (helpful for blogs, shopping carts and other Web applications). A German interactive marketing company saw what the young student was doing and offered him a job as technical director in its new Detroit office. At age 20, he cast off his Web-hosting clients and dropped out of college. 

"It lasted about eight months," Anand says. "I realized that I loved what I did, but not the culture or the guys I was doing it with. It was the height of the time that created a trough of disillusionment in the Internet economy. People were spending massive dollar amounts on these Web sites that never did anything." By 2001, the Internet economy collapsed, and with it went the dot-com boom, which Anand characterizes as "a house of cards with no real value proposition."

For about six months, he freelanced around Detroit and thought about going back to college. Instead, in 2001, her started the first incarnation of atLarge, Inc., which he calls "my own little interactive shop." By staying small and "incredibly nimble," the company "navigated through the collapse" of its bigger competitors and things were going quite well. "I was having the time of my life," Anand recalls. 

Then one morning in 2003 on the way to work, "everything came to screeching halt," he says. Anand fell asleep at the wheel of his SUV and suffered a terrible crash. With 18 fractures in his face, he could barely see and couldn't speak because his jaw was wired shut. After multiple surgeries and "in pretty bad shape," he moved to Bradenton to recover in the embrace of his parents. 

That was in 2004, and, except for some scars that are invisible to most people, Anand is fully healed. "Luckily, as fate would have it, everything turned out OK," he says. "I look different today than I did before, but unless you knew me then, you wouldn't know." He is, in fact, handsome beyond belief in a dark gray pinstripe blazer, crisp white dress shirt and blue jeans. With his spikes black hair and shy smile, it isn't surprising that Anand has more than 860 friends on Facebook. It seems as if everyone who works at Libby's Care and Bar knows him by name, and, as we walked to our cars, a steady chorus of "Hey, Anand!" Rang out. 

The young businessman has been called a "serial entrepreneur." In 2005, Anand created, and then sold, Sarasota's first free, online daily business newsletter, the S2 Report; he also owned and then sold a coffee shop called Le Cafe du Jardin in Towles Court; and tried his hand at a fashion boutique. Now he's at the helm of the second incarnation of AtLarge, with 11 employees, all under 35, and a growing cadre of clients, including Cheverolet, Ford Motor Company, IMG Academis and JD Powers and Associates. The company is know for successfully revamping Web sites and creating measurable e-commerce solutions that provide a return on investment. The adrenalin rush of a challenge definitely keeps Anand on his toes. "Being in technology, you are always searching for what's next. What's new? How do you raise the bar? Where's the paradigm shift that's happening?" he says. Anand also champions new ideas and strategies to help position Sarasota and the Gulf Coast of Florida as a place where technology companies thrive and where young talent is encouraged to live and work. His vision is to recruit and retain the brainiest of the country's techno grads, including our own Ringling College of Art & Design students. He understands that just like him, young people are asking the question, "What's my place?" more than simply seeking money or status. "Young people want a vibrant city and surroundings they can connect with" Anand says. 

In the past couple of years, he has won many accolades, including the Emerging CEO from Tampa Bay CEO Magazine, Tampa Bay Business Journal's Up & Comers Award and Florida Trend's 50 Floridians Who Will Change the World. Anand founded the Young Technology Alliance, and helped develop the first Sarasota/Manatee Technology Conference and the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce's TechFast BreakFast Forums on business and technology innovation. The Chamber presented him with its Premier Volunteer Award for his leadership, volunteerism and special achievements. 

Anand likes a mental challenge, but doesn't shirk the physical, either. He enjoys the intensity of Bikram yoga and mountain biking, while photography and travel are especially high on his list. And he is competitive. "I wouldn't say I exude it or wear it on my sleeve, but, inside, yeah," he says. "I think you have to be as an entrepreneur. If you want to succeed, you have to set the bar and continue to raise it and push yourself continuously harder and harder."

Single for now, Anand says he'd like to settle down and have a family some day. In fact, he specifically wants to have three children. Like others of his generation, though, he has "an innate desire to change the world in some way, shape or form...so it creates this drive and this passion that I see in a lot of other young entrepreneurs. They will find the ways and the methodology to do that without taking a traditional approach." Pursuing risks and finding your true calling are themes that resonate with him. He has thought about getting back into medicine, but he may continue to follow a totally unpredictable path, like his hero, Bill Gates. "The story is always the starting point," he says, thinking about the trajectory of his life. "Being young and successful. Losing it all. Starting over..." Who knows where the next chapter will lead.