At Venture Intelligence, we recently did a podcast with K.V. Ramani, Founder of Future Software and Co-Founder of Hughes Software Systems - both of which were acquired by Flextronics in 2004. KVR’s story is a fascinating account of the tribulations and success of an early mover in the Indian software industry, who chose - in the mid-1980s - to tread a different path than the common “body shopping” route.
Some highlights from the podcast:
# KVR’s story emphasizes how the founding idea - especially for an IT product company - should be based on something that is likely to become popular 3-5 years ahead. He believes the founders should focus on the vision for the company in the next 5 and leave the job of managing the next few quarters to the operational managers.
# The podcast has an interesting account of how KVR converted the huge problem of its largest customer, Hughes (which accounted for 30% of the business), wanting to set up its own shop in India, into an opportunity.
# KVR also highlights how Flextronics acquired and stitched together what is today Aricent by acquiring 5 Indian communications software companies (including Future Software)
You can view more highlights and download the full podcast from http://www.entrevista.in