As part of our relentless pursuit to identify and share some of the compelling stories from the startup ecosystem, this week we invited passionate entrepreneur Rakesh Vij for an exclusive interview with us. He is the founder and CEO of Truminds Software Systems; a Product Engineering services and solutions company focused on 5G, IOT, AI/ML, Digital Applications and Analytics. Prior to Truminds, he has served as the Chief Business Officer at Aricent and was responsible for communications business which involved working with leading equipment providers and service providers.
He is an industry veteran with over 25 years of global business experience, who has held various management positions in the technology industry across Communications and Hi-Tech Software. Having built and led various cross-cultural teams towards high goal alignment and value creation, he proved himself to be a dynamic business leader.
His track record not only involves scaling up the businesses to multi-million dollars but also helping his team members grow strong in their careers with his extensive support. Let’s read more in detail about his journey and his advice for our community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Rakesh:
Having spent more than two decades in various corporate management roles, how do you feel starting your own venture?
I was pleased to announce the start of my new venture, a year and a half ago, along with the founding team, who are seasoned professionals and industry stalwarts. We came together to leverage each others’ areas of specialization and knowledge to create a world-class organization –Truminds Software Systems.
Truminds as the name suggests Tru to its customer and Tru to its employees.
Truminds Software Systems is a global product engineering services and solutions company focusing on next-generation technologies like 5G, IOT, Industrial Automation, AI/ML and Analytics to begin with. We always aim at helping organizations gain a competitive edge by leveraging these latest cutting edge technologies to drive innovation and manage scalability.
To keep it simple “We aim at creating an organization which foster growth through innovation”.
So, how different is your company from some of the existing leaders in this space?
While such comparisons are bound to happen, I would say, a small, but a hungry team can move mountains faster. We aim to create something unique in the Product Engineering Services and Solutions arena. We would want our clients to experience us walk the talk on our core values – customer centricity and a culture of innovation. These are not just words for us. I and my team believe in these two values and are the reason we have come together to make a difference.
The current situation because of COVID-19 outbreak has become very challenging. Can you share with us how “The Digital Next” company like Truminds adapted to the situation?
Challenging! Yes, I completely agree.
In the last few weeks, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. But please don’t be surprised if I say that our productivity isn’t much affected because of the outbreak and on the contrary has increased with no commute. I’m proud to mention that our best workplace practices helped us adapt to the current situation with ease. Our cloud productivity tools immensely helped us work effectively with no fluctuations in the output. We also don’t have desktop culture at Truminds; Each of our passionate-MINDS has their own Laptops.
We quickly invoked our BCP policy and ensured we are up and running in this time of crisis in no time. I also want to thank each and everyone one of our employees who rose to the occasion and ensured Work is not affected at all due to this crisis.
We are just LockedDown but not KnockedDown!!
Wow! You’ve referred your employees as passionate-MINDS. Very Inspiring and interesting. Can you please tell us more.
Passionate! Yes, we all are.
I have started this venture with my co-founders, who complement each other in their specialization, and are the best of the breed in the industry. However, we’ve sustained the competition and been doing absolutely great work because of our pool of engineers, whom I proudly call them as “Passionate MINDS”. I have always believed that a person is as good as the Team with him and luckily I have leaders in my organization who lead without a title. Every Trumind is a leader in himself. We work towards a common vision, supporting each other. This brings the much-needed collaboration that creates breakthroughs, and positivity that takes away the Monday morning blues.
We work hard and party harder. All in all, we are always together.
Great! This could be a common question but we would love to know your opinion on success?
Yeah! Common question it is. Defining this magical word is not easy. Generally, when we talk about “success”, we usually think about someone who has a bank account reaching into the billions, a prominent historical figure, or a world leader. But, Success to me is not just about making money; it is something beyond.
I believe to be successful when our clients appreciate our work and refer us to their contacts. I believe to be successful when the utmost to the least employee of my company are happy and are proud of being a TRUMIND working for TRUMINDS. This is when I feel accomplished; “TRU-Success” I call it.
Undoubtedly, your words have some magic to say. Maybe this is how a leader speaks. Motivating! So, what is that motivates you, as a leader?
There is no bigger satisfaction in this world than to touch the lives of people globally, on a daily basis. We are on a mission to solve the real-world problems with the latest cutting edge technologies and this is an assurance I have from the experience and expertise of our team, and the state of the industry in which we play. My greatest motivation is to do exceptionally great work every day and inspire young MINDS at my organization to become rockstars in their work they do. Their success keeps me moving.
So how is your team geared up for “Engineering the Digital World”?
Technology Industry is at an exciting stage with dreams, opportunities and business impact to be made. Known for our software-powered innovation and world-class technology execution we are helping businesses Engineer their Digital Future. We are looking forward to partner with leading players globally to make an impact on how people live, experience and operate in this technology-driven world.
I think COVID-19 crisis has also show how important it is to be Digitally connected. I believe there is going to be more and more emphasis now on Digital once the #LockDown opens.
TRU WORDS from a TRU LEADER are always inspiring. So, what advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship is a mindset and the formula here is simple. “Be true to your customers and your employees”. Money is obviously the priority but I believe if your value creation process is right for others, the money will automatically come as an outcome of it.
Wow! That is TRUly a brilliant way to put it forward.
We wish you all success and wholeheartedly thank you for your time, Mr Rakesh Vij. It was great interacting with you.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
