Sumeet Anand

Founder

i-nable Solutions Pvt. Ltd

Short Description

I am the Founder and CEO of Kreeo (i-nable Solutions Pvt. Ltd.),

Company Profile

For companies and institutions who need intelligence enabled information discovery by removing information silos and by tapping into the collective intelligence of its employees and the ecosystem, the "Kreeo Enterprise" is an Enterprise 2.0 Solution Framework that offers packaged and customizable solutions for in-enterprise social network, KM, social learning, knowledge centered support and other social computing use cases. Unlike rigid legacy systems and in-enterprise social networks replicated from popular social networking, Kreeo, built using contemporary technologies based on open standards, provides real-time content re-organisation with privacy, confidentiality and security.
The company was founded in November 2007 after I made several failed attempts at starting up after finishing college, after my first job, after completing my MBA leaving my first Job and a couple of more attempts.

Leadership Qualities

Each mentor brings a different valuable insight but advice and constructive suggestions on simplifying the message, focusing on key aspects, taking a solution approach etc from some key friends and mentors was invaluable.Most valuable motivational statement that I can recall from a mentor was,"Failure is not an option, strive for success at any cost".

Getting first customer

The first customer, AppLabs, was an easy acquisition if you compare it with how it generally happens for startups in the industry. We were still at the prototype stage and were testing our ideas when someone at the very top not only appreciated our idea but willingly gave us work. I have absolutely no hesitation in believing that this leader’s eagerness to support a startup also played a role.I think startups have an extra bit of challenge for they are unknown. But if you are able to talk about your product and problems it solves with the required conviction, things start on a successful note. But remember it doesn’t stop there. There would be many hurdles before you have a contract signed up.

Choosing People

Since we are a bootstrap startup with a rather tight purse, we select people very carefully. Most of it happened through references and often when people willing to become part of a startup like Kreeo approached us. I have also gone and taught in professional and technical institutes and picked up people who I found good and who liked us and Kreeo. People should have fire and willingness to learn. The rest can be taken care of and honed.

Thoughts for management

"Like a child an idea cannot have two fathers. It germinates in a solo mind but needs a team to give it shape and make it a reality. "– Sumeet Anand.An entrepreneur must focus on success whether as a team or alone! One should start up and get into execution mode than wait for a perfect situation (team, funds, prototype, and customers). None of your dreams will come true if you just keep dreaming and planning. You can’t learn swimming without getting into water.About the dilemma of starting up as a team (very important factor to attract funding) or a single entrepreneur, I feel it has no impact on the success of your venture. You will need a leadership team for sure but it’s not important to have it in place right from the start (VCs will tell you otherwise), a team can be formed as you move on (only if you don’t need VC money that is).