At BrilliantRead Media, our aim is to bring to our community some of the unique and compelling stories from the start-up ecosystem. As part of this endeavour, we invited serial entrepreneur – Ramkumar Thirumurthi, for an exclusive interview with us. Ram is a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with 20+ years of experience in scaling multiple companies and consistently building great teams predominantly in the Financial Services space. He has successfully built and scaled many ventures before founding Actyv. Let’s learn more about his inspirational journey and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
We are aware of all the successful ventures you have built, please tell us a bit more about you and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I completed Computer Science Graduation, and immediately started work due to constraints at home. I have a very supportive Wife (Vijayalakshmi, She is an Entrepreneur too) and a 12year old son (Chandramouli). Initially, I worked for about 1.5 years before setting up my own company in 1998. It has been a great journey to date.
Entrepreneurship is about the capability to challenge yourself to do better every day.
Along the way, the most cherishing part has been the great relationships formed with Customers. Have gone through all the stages in my entrepreneurial journey and that has added massive learning.
Build, Scale-up, Recession/Social challenges, Scale down, Build again. Now, building a Neo-Bank for the MSMEs of the World.
Raghu Venkat – Co founder – is a Techie, graduated from IIT Madras, believes in “Story Telling” and Raghunath Subramanian – Investor/Tech evangelist are driving the Build journey again. With experience, learning, support of the team and enthusiasm, we are well poised to march forward in our new venture.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
The power to empower is Entrepreneurship. Responsibility and Accountability to the society have been at the core of my thought process always. This role helps me empower a whole lot of people.
How do you find the industry/niche that you’re in?
It is competitive now but at the same time, the scale of Opportunity is massive. It is a necessity that is served effectively. Good thing is, we have a great team capable of delivering great value.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
Good Question. The intense urge to create something unique/make a difference that can be of great value to the society at large gets me out of bed. I usually keep this mode on all the times and it serves as the source of my motivation all the time. By GOD’s grace, have been able to do that as well.
I am currently in the process of developing something niche which can empower the most underserved segments of society across the Globe.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
Every business has risks. Being in the Financial Services industry, you need to be on your toes.
Putting together a team of passionate members who can align with your vision has been the biggest challenge. Once done, every challenge you face is a breeze.”
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
I am an emotional person. Passion is at the core of all emotions. Business needs to have emotions, not personal, obviously, but business ones like concern for quality deliverables, client satisfaction, targets & roadmaps. Money is obviously a priority but I believe if your value creation process is right for others, the money will automatically come as an outcome of it.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
By being calm and composed. Entrepreneurship is a huge responsibility. Pressure and Stress are better not handled, instead, spread positivity.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/startup?
Transparency and total commitment to delivering value is the one strategy that has helped me.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Conviction in one’s vision and perseverance are the keys to success.
What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
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Put together a team of passionate members who can align with your vision.
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Be Transparent.
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Be Fully Committed to your venture.
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Empower others as much as you can.
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Entrepreneurship is a responsibility, being calm and composed always helps.
Follow Ramkumar At:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramkumar-thirumurthi-7a9b2799/
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