http://www.happiestminds.com
Ashok Soota, founder chairman of MindTree, who recently left the company he co-founded in 1999, is preparing the grounds for his new venture. The new company called Happiest Minds, which is targeting niche businesses like R&D services, software product engineering, infrastructure management is bullish of achieving $100 million revenue within six years. Soota, chairman & MD of Happiest Minds Technologies, spoke to Pradeesh Chandran about his plans. Edited excerpts:
Its been just five days since you left MindTree and you have announced your new venture. You must have been planning this venture for long? For the past six months, I was planning to move out of MindTree. As mentioned, the reasons are personal. Now, I believe all that happened was for good. I never thought I would become an entrepreneur, but then MindTree happened. Then, I became a late-stage entrepreneur and finally now, I have become a serial entrepreneur. I will like to leave behind all that happened and focus on the future, since that is my destiny. The name of the company is Happiest Mind, and our new mission is happiest people can make happiest customers. As early as possible, we will open office in the US, Europe, in the UK, Singapore and also in India in the next five months. We will build the infrastructure and teams in these locations. We will start with sales and marketing and also some onsite customer services.
How do you plan to get a team in place? Have people from MindTree approached you?
Source : Pradeesh Chandran, http://www.business-standard.com
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Q&A: Ashok Soota, Chairman & MD, Happiest Minds
'I don't have any non-compete or non-poaching clause with MindTree'Ashok Soota, founder chairman of MindTree, who recently left the company he co-founded in 1999, is preparing the grounds for his new venture. The new company called Happiest Minds, which is targeting niche businesses like R&D services, software product engineering, infrastructure management is bullish of achieving $100 million revenue within six years. Soota, chairman & MD of Happiest Minds Technologies, spoke to Pradeesh Chandran about his plans. Edited excerpts:Its been just five days since you left MindTree and you have announced your new venture. You must have been planning this venture for long? For the past six months, I was planning to move out of MindTree. As mentioned, the reasons are personal. Now, I believe all that happened was for good. I never thought I would become an entrepreneur, but then MindTree happened. Then, I became a late-stage entrepreneur and finally now, I have become a serial entrepreneur. I will like to leave behind all that happened and focus on the future, since that is my destiny. The name of the company is Happiest Mind, and our new mission is happiest people can make happiest customers. As early as possible, we will open office in the US, Europe, in the UK, Singapore and also in India in the next five months. We will build the infrastructure and teams in these locations. We will start with sales and marketing and also some onsite customer services.
How do you plan to get a team in place? Have people from MindTree approached you?
I have just announced the company. We want to build a strong team that can focus on business and can achieve our target of $100 million in the next six years. We will get into multiple geography as early as possible. I have not spoken to anybody about building the organisation. By the time of the launch, I am sure we will be strong enough to compete in the market. When I announced my plan of starting a new venture, many people mailed me and expressed their interest to join me. I am planning to kick off the hiring process tomorrow. My second employee (his secretary for 18 years) will join on Wednesday.
There was speculation several employees in MindTree have approached you. Are you planning to hire any of them?
There was speculation several employees in MindTree have approached you. Are you planning to hire any of them?
Do you have any non-compete clause signed with MindTree?
Those are speculations. When I decided to resign, I received more than a 100 mails from people showing interest to join me. There were employees from MindTree and ex-MindTree employees. For building a skilled team, I need people with expertise in certain domains. I will look for talent from all over the industry and it does not matter from where they come. In fact, my intention is not only to hire from MindTree but from other companies as well. I have not spoken to anybody in MindTree about my plans of starting a new venture. We are looking for skilled employees now. Later next year, we are planning for campus hiring. When I resigned from MindTree on March 31, all my commitment with the company also got over. I don’t have any non-compete or non-poaching clause with MindTree.
Happiest Minds will focused on six major areas of business. These are also the key focus areas for MindTree also. Are you planning to give a direct competition to MindTree?
In the IT services business, all broad-based mid-size companies compete with each other for deals. Our plan is not only to compete with MindTree but others as well. Another thing is, we are focusing on energy and utility and healthcare, which MindTree has decided to move out of.
Are you planning to raise funds for the company? Any plans to liquidate your shares in MindTree?
I am in talks with two venture capitalists for raising funds and it may take four to six weeks to get the funds. For the initial part of the funding, I am using my personal finances. In future, after raising the VC money, I can raise money by liquidating some part of my shares in MindTree.
Those are speculations. When I decided to resign, I received more than a 100 mails from people showing interest to join me. There were employees from MindTree and ex-MindTree employees. For building a skilled team, I need people with expertise in certain domains. I will look for talent from all over the industry and it does not matter from where they come. In fact, my intention is not only to hire from MindTree but from other companies as well. I have not spoken to anybody in MindTree about my plans of starting a new venture. We are looking for skilled employees now. Later next year, we are planning for campus hiring. When I resigned from MindTree on March 31, all my commitment with the company also got over. I don’t have any non-compete or non-poaching clause with MindTree.
Happiest Minds will focused on six major areas of business. These are also the key focus areas for MindTree also. Are you planning to give a direct competition to MindTree?
In the IT services business, all broad-based mid-size companies compete with each other for deals. Our plan is not only to compete with MindTree but others as well. Another thing is, we are focusing on energy and utility and healthcare, which MindTree has decided to move out of.
Are you planning to raise funds for the company? Any plans to liquidate your shares in MindTree?
I am in talks with two venture capitalists for raising funds and it may take four to six weeks to get the funds. For the initial part of the funding, I am using my personal finances. In future, after raising the VC money, I can raise money by liquidating some part of my shares in MindTree.
Source : Pradeesh Chandran, http://www.business-standard.com
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Happiest Minds Signs 25 Customers in Its First Year
365 Days, 9 Locations, 500 People and Counting
Sharp Focus on Disruptive Technologies Validated by the Market
Happiest Minds Technologies, a next-gen IT solutions & Services Company, celebrated the successful completion of its first year of operations. In a short span of one year, the company has gathered substantial business momentum with customer wins in US, UK and India with its sharp focus on disruptive technologies. Happiest Minds has also scaled its operations to 9 locations with plans to enter two additional geographies.
Milestones Achieved in the first twelve months
- 25 Customers, 500 People, 9 Locations
- Series A funding of US$ 45 million
- Finalist in Red Herring’s Asia Top 100 list
- Youngest company to receive ISO 27001 recognition
- International industry experts as members of the Advisory Board
Ashok Soota, Executive Chairman, Happiest Minds, said, “Although it seems just like yesterday when we started Happiest Minds, I believe very few organizations could have done so much in the span of one year. We have created a Values driven organization, built a team of 500, won prestigious customers and laid the foundation for our future to fulfill our Mission of Happiest People. Happiest Customers.”
Vikram Gulati, MD & CEO, said, “Over the last one year, we have made tremendous progress and have been able to leverage the disruptive technologies like cloud, mobility, analytics, social computing and unified communications to create transformational solutions for our customers. Today, customers are looking for business benefits and quick results from IT. Our agility plays a significant role in meeting these requirements.”
Happiest Minds customer portfolio ranges from start-up companies to Fortune 500 organizations across industries such as Retail, Travel, Transportation, Hospitality, CPG, Manufacturing and Banking.
Some of the projects using disruptive technologies to deliver business impacting solutions include:
- Mobility solutions for one of the largest retailers in the US resulting in better In-store customer experience and operational efficiency.
- Analytics and Big Data solutions to a leading online travel portal to provide deeper understanding of customer preferences and behaviours.
- Social and Gamification solutions for a leading consumer products company resulting in increased user engagement.
- Web and Mobile product development for a leading US based loyalty solutions provider to create and manage marketing campaigns.
- Mobile application developer kit for a leading consortium of Telecom Majors resulting in increased developer participation.
- IP risk assessment and Business activity monitoring solutions for an innovative clean renewal energy provider in the US.
- Innovative web based customer interaction solution for a Personal Emergency Management Services company enabling rapid market entry.
Along with its existing offices in the US, UK and India, Happiest Minds is set to expand its sales offices in Singapore, Toronto, Continental Europe, Delhi and Mumbai. Happiest Minds will also open its second delivery facility in India.
About Happiest Minds Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Happiest Minds was launched in August, 2011 by Ashok Soota and a team of industry experts, with the mission to create Happiest People and Happiest Customers. Happiest Minds is a next gen IT solutions & services company, enabling organizations to capture the business benefits of emerging technologies of cloud computing, social media, mobility solutions, business intelligence, analytics and unified communications. Happiest Minds offers high degree of skills, IPs and domain expertise across a set of focused areas that include IT Services, Software Product Engineering, Infrastructure Management, Security, Testing and Consulting. Happiest Minds focus industries include Retail, CPG, Technology, Banking and Financial Services, Travel & Transportation, Manufacturing and Media & Entertainment. Solution focus areas are Multi-channel commerce, Demand driven supply chain and Social Media Analytics.
Headquartered in Bangalore, India, Happiest Minds has operations in the US and UK. It secured a $45 million Series A funding led by Canaan Partners, Intel Capital, Ashok Soota and is supported by its founders.
For more information visit www.happiestminds.com.
Source : http://www.happiestminds.com
