Ram Garg: Devoted Businessman Nurturing Budding Entrepreneurs with Money & Wisdom Date:   Monday , December 28, 2015 Entrepreneurship is not just an adventure, heirloom or money making machine for Ram Garg, CEO, Software Assurance (SPA), but the almighty itself that should be worshiped with complete devotion. As evidence, look no further than the fact thatit has been more than eight years since has travelled for pleasure. Hailing from a family that has business inextricably intertwined in its DNA, naturally Ram was not hypnotized by the promise of easy money when he left his high profile job in U.S. to instigate his entrepreneurial journey. 20 years of experience in setting up offshore centers from ground up for companies in India and U.S. that didn\'t have technical or project management experience helped him immensely to embark on his own venture in 2008 in U.S. Ram\'s multimillion dollar international company that today employs over 80 people and operates with full-fledged departments, was initially stumbling with a stumpy overhead ratio. His partners drifted away and cash was burning out quickly, forcing Ram to wear almost all hats, work round the clock and sacrifice basic needs akin to medical insurance & air conditioning, but he was determined not to let go of his dream. When he hired the first employee in India, Ram was working directly with him in a hole-in-a-wall office with little facilities. \"Entrepreneurial journey is at least nine-fold harder, takes longer and consumes more money than you could imagine. On contrary to the perception of most techies, entrepreneurship is more about sales & marketing, user acquisition and revenue generation; building software is a very small part of it,\" remarks Ram. Be Ethical, Work Hard & Deliver An active member in Dallas Startup Communities, forums and accelerators, Ram invests and mentors budding startups with his far-sighted wisdom. He is also a published author and international speaker who has been interviewed by Fox Group, ABC, Clean Channel and America Tonight. Devotedly pursuing the philosophy \'Be ethical, work hard & deliver, results will follow\', Ram acts as a trusted advisor, who even helps his early-stage startup customers to survive by deferring payments/taking equity position to help cut cost on their payments if necessary, instead of just taking money out of client\'s pockets. Ram keeps the price points reasonable and invests heavily to preserve a mature environment in terms of technology, people and processes, which helps SPA to surge ahead of the competition. At SPA, the Sales and Marketing department has occupied a very little space, since most of Ram\'s business comes through customer references, owing to SPA\'s successful delivery rates. However, now Ram is in the process of building a strong Sales team which in 2016 will help SPA grow multiple fold. Ram has developed a habit of discussing business situations with his kids, who carefully listens to his challenges and helps him with surprisingly great ideas from newer perspectives. As the company has been stealing most of Ram\'s time, his wife had to take up all the pressure of household activities. \"Without my family\'s support, I wouldn\'t be here,\" says a gratified Ram. Beginning to make some lifestyle changes with SPA\'s astronomical growth, Ram plans to reserve time for morning walks, gym and even exploring the world with his beloved family - for pleasure this time. Being an integral part of startup community, Ram hopes to keep learning from each other and constantly train not just himself but also his team with innovative methodologies.