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Gurudatt Shenoy

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Gurudatt Shenoy

Founder

Easy secured & Services Ltd

Gurudatt Shenoy is a member of:

- Expert

Company profile

I am serial entrepreneur and started my first venture along with four other partners in 1991.The name of the venture was Marvel Soft and we developed system and application software for other companies. This venture lasted only 6 months due to stiff competition from newer ventures that undercut our pricing.
Thereafter, I worked on a few private projects (help4india, itcazy, lookupthis.com, iTravelSoft, CamtoWork, etc ) that did not see light of the day. Finally, in 2009 I started working on a project called EasySecured that promised to bring an end to hacking of online accounts.After 2 years of intense research and development, I formed my first second company, EasySecured Software & Services Ltd in 2011.This has been the most successful ventures in my entrepreneurial journey where different technologies were developed and marketed
by this venture. The company and myself won four international and national awards for the technology developed by me and the products. The products catered to both consumer and enterprise sector. However, due to insufficient funding, the company closed operations in April 2011 exactly after a year of operations. Later, I and a US based professional working in a senior position in prominent media company have been working an a stealth project in the realm of enterprise security.

Company profile

Leadership qualities

This 20 year long journey has taught me many lessons and I still consider me a learner. Let me highlight a few.1. Being an entrepreneur is one thing and a businessman another.2. Choose the right partners.3. Do not start a venture by investing only your money.4. Research, Research and Research before Startup.5. Get funded for next 3-5 years.6. Spend capital wisely and prudently.
7. Grow and expand faster before the competition catches up.

Reaching potential investors

I have had a very frustrated experience in reaching out to potential investors. Most investors I talked to wanted to know how much the venture would make 6-7 quarters down the line.
They did not want to invest small money and wanted a higher price (equity) which was not acceptable to me. Sometimes I found investors just pinging for gaining knowledge about our
products/technology.And even if a investor agreed to fund your project, the process was to lengthy where competition can drive you out of business within a year.Therefore, it is very necessary to first get the money and then start the venture and not the other way round.

Work Culture

The first company was a private club with five team members and each one of us worked from our residences. We used to meet once in a week to discuss and brainstorm over the project on hand and assignment of responsibility. The second venture that saw incorporation of a formal entity with a board and directors and a small team really gave me a first hand experience in running and managing a Startup venture. The best part was the intense feeling of being your own boss and I translated this feeling to all my other team members. However, this was not practical as some team members could not ensure self discipline and then the culture of the company shifted to the normal corporate culture.Thus in any company, the initial few months or years are full of fun and freedom and as the company grows and expand, the culture becomes more formal.

Company I admire

I do not think such a company exists. Maybe I will found one. Jokes apart, globally I find Apple as the most admirable.<br />
This company started in a garage and then has seen a slow but steady rise over the years at times on the verge of closing down<br />
and then rising up like a phoenix all due to the efforts of it's late CEO, Steve Jobs.I also admire the company for the way it develops and launches its
products. They make their customers feel special about owning their
products.<br />
<br />

Advice to young entrepreneurs

I am not yet any level to give lasting advice to my fellow entrepreneurs. Most of my ventures have been partly successful or complete failures.However, I have one advice and that is to never, never give up. If you are an entrepreneur by hear, you will realize your dream one day and found one of the greatest ventures.Another suggestion that is very important for all entrepreneurs is that to be realistic about the scope of your venture and not have very high expectations. Keep yourself rooted.A venture cannot be successful only because it has great technology. Execution and Team is very important.