Rajgopal
Short Description
Brief Company biography
Our company was founded in the month of February, 2011. The name of the company Tareta itself is unique – it’s a fusion of words from 2 great civilizations: India and Greece that were fountainheads of knowledge in the ancient world. Tara symbolizing clarity and Eta symbolizing efficiency combine to form Tareta – hence the promise of our brand to our clients that through knowledge we deliver them clarity and efficiency.
We do this using what has come to be known as AIDC (auto-identification and data capture technologies) technologies – an umbrella term for things like barcodes, NFC, RFID, smart cards etc. As such we have 2 offerings – a standardized off-the shelf product which combines hardware and software targeted at SMEs and customized solutions for large enterprises which have more nuanced needs in areas like manufacturing, logistics, healthcare etc. where last mile traceability can help combat issues like counterfeiting, pilferages etc.
What do these offerings do? They help our clients tag, track and trace asset workflows across a number of asset classes – fixed, mobile and supply chain. It’s a nascent market in India unlike the West but with all drivers in place to take off in the near future.
Your experience with investors
We have talking to 2 kinds of investors – VCs and strategic investors. I guess it’s a question of fit as to who is better suited for a business at a certain point in its lifecycle. VCs have a greater risk appetite and hence more cash but the latter bring capabilities beyond money that can help you expand. We’ll have to wait and see which one works better for us. But we are keen on raising capital to fund some investment ideas that will help us grow this market.
We are a very young company and so many things are not yet set in stone, hence it’s hard to give it a definition but one thing is clear – there is a strong undercurrent of openness in problem solving. Be it, how to bag the next order to how do we market ourselves to what products we develop next? Everyone pitches in.
There are 2 companies I admire the most – Apple and IBM. Apple because as an Apple user, I get it that they get it – it’s the only company that believes that an integrated model of owning hardware and software is key to a best outcome – be that outcome is user experience or performance.
Our own philosophy as a company is the same – we don’t want to be seen as a pure play software company and are hence expanding our hardware capabilities as well because that is the best way for our clients to maximize value. Our SME product reflects this philosophy.
I admire IBM simply because of the fact that they have survived so long constantly re-inventing themselves pushing the forefront of what technology should look like at a scaled level. That in itself is a big thing in these times.
Apple is about technology in the hands of a person, IBM is about technology running our cities. It is funny that at one point in time, these companies were considered arch-rivals but I don’t think so. They operate at 2 ends of the technology spectrum and are doing a brilliant job of it.I don’t think I am seasoned enough to give others advice – I am still new to the game, so first and foremost I will give them my best wishes for the role of luck in entrepreneurial success is highly underestimated. Beyond that, the only thing I can say is that it’s a great time to be an entrepreneur – the economy is ripe for it, societal pressures are easing, Indians are loving more risk and more urban legends – so bring it on.