|
It is very rare to come across someone who is a successful programmer,
despite not having even a college degree. Having experienced his share of ups
and downs, Kesavardhanan is today a man of substance in the true sense
None except J Kesavardhanan could have imagined that he would emerge as a
successful programmer, immediately after completing his schooling. Hailing from
a middle-class family, studies were not something he wanted to pursue seriously.
He wanted to get our of school as soon as he could and get a job.
While his school friends were busy filling out application forms for the
colleges they would like to go to, Kesavardhanan joined a computer course, which
he found more interesting.
“As soon as I stepped out of school, I joined a computer institute. There I
learnt COBOL and FORTRON computer languages with great passion.
My quest for programming motivated me to study C and C++ on my own through
various reference books,” said Kesavardhanan or Kesavan, the name by which he
is well known in the industry.
To say that his parents were shocked would be an understatement. To add to
their dismay he had chosen computers as his career. This was at a time when the
IT industry was at its embryological stage. However, this didn't bog down
Kesavan. He moved ahead towards his chosen career with determination.
 |
|
J Kesavardhanan CTO and CEO,
K7 Computing : The diehard programmer and entrepreneur |
The turning point
After gaining some programming knowledge, Kesavan started his career as a
developer in a company called Edicomp in 1984. “It was a small software firm,
where I implemented all my knowledge. Gradually, besides programming, my
interest inclined towards the hardware side too, which upgraded my computer
knowledge,” he informed.
His next employer was an auditing company where he joined as system
programmer for their project. The search for more skills and challenges placed
him in Codi Computers, where he was a part of the hospital management system
development. This job gave him a lot of insight into the coding part and also a
fair amount of knowledge about the computer viruses.
“This was a turning point in my life as it was when I happened to encounter a
lot of viruses. By 1990, these viruses started affecting the industry and it was
really interesting to counter them by merely writing codes. Though that was not
an easy job, I loved doing it, since I felt it was more challenging and a
knowledge provoking exercise,” revealed Kesavan.
His first development product was VX2000, which went as a free subscription
along with his friend's magazine 'Sys Reader' for programmers. The product got
good feedback from readers, and buoyed by this response he developed more
confidence on his ability and started a new company of his own.
The K7 saga
In 1991, this man, who had complete confidence on his product development
ability, started his own company called 'K7 Computing'. The venue for his
company was 200sq ft room in his home with rented computers from his friend.
“Along with the VX2000, I developed two more products and launched all of
them in the exhibition conducted by CSI in 1991. Since then, there was no
looking back. I started developing more antivirus solutions and supplied it as
a freeware,” Kesavan recalled.
As he started developing more solutions, Kesavan cut down all his other
activities and started focusing more on the development part alone. Though, he
had no interest in commercializing his solutions and was content with what he
received through his business, but that turned out to be a major difficulty for
him at a later stage.
His family was upset with him initially, but they slowly began to understand
him. “I started earning immediately after I left school. I never wasted my time
sitting idle at home and always spent my time reading computer books. I was also
teaching a lot during that time on product developments and was earning through
that part too. They were happy after learning that I am on the right track and
stood by me during all my difficult times,” Kesavan said with a smile.
Growth and expansions
Though K7 Computing didn't get enough appreciation for its work when it
started, Kesavan continued his efforts. He opened branches across the country
through the income that came from the products he developed. Slowly the company
started getting recognition in the industry and it spread its wings overseas as
well.
“A company called Cybermedia from US approached me. I presented them a demo
in two days. Being impressed by us, they took me as a part of their product 'PC9
11', which was a diagnostic product for DOS. We earned in dollars at that point
of time. I increased my company's presence at every corner of India. That was a
very bad decision I took and it cost me heavily,” informed Kesavan.
A bigger company later acquired Cybermedia and it grew a lot. However, K7
Computing was not able to match that growth. “I myself handled all the
operations of the company, from developing the software to marketing it. We
started losing a lot as we were unable to combat the growing market
single-handedly. The competition was huge and due to the lack of marketing
tactics, we had to close down our offices at other places,” Kesavan recalled.
Sheer confidence
Though his business faced several bad times, this didn't render Kesavan
hopeless. “By 2000 (which was also the starting of dot com era), I developed a
solution called 'Virtual desktop', with which one can login to their desktops
from anywhere. But as the product started getting established, the market
crashed, and we could not cope with that. It was a huge blow to our
expectations,” said Kesavan.
After this loss, he shifted his complete focus on the security division and
started developing different antivirus solutions and total security products. “I
never lost hope and never looked back at my defeats. Instead, I started focusing
more on my core area of interest, ie antivirus domain. With the confidence I had
in my ability and technical skills, I developed several total security products
that countered the viruses. Again, my products started getting acclaimed in the
industry, and at that point of time, I got an opportunity from McAfee for being
acquired for around $20 million,” claimed Kesavan.
Even though the amount was a huge one, he declined the offer, as he wasn't
attracted by the amount and wanted to deliver a purely Indian product out of
India. “Many of my friends called me a fool for rejecting the offer for
acquisition, however, it never bothered me. The confidence I had in me provided
me another lease on life. Then a Japanese company named 'Source Next' approached
me for marketing my antivirus product after evaluating it and understanding its
capabilities,” said Kesavan.
But he knew that he was never going to compete with major giants like
Symantec and McAfee. K7 Computing has approximately four million installed
Japanese users till date. Kesavan always wanted to comeback to the Indian market
and after establishing the company's total security products in Japan, he did
that. “This feat in Japan gave us a lot of confidence and maturity. Coming back
to the Indian market has always been my wish, and I have been able to do that by
building a strong team. The previous experiences have given us a lot of exposure
and maturity, and a good learning,” Kesavan asserted.
He doesn't want to repeat the same mistake he did last time by directly
involving himself in marketing his products. He is moving through channels by
keeping his complete focus on the development part alone. “My friend John
Devasahayam has been a part of the development in big software companies, and
looks after the marketing and other portfolios. Till date we are strong in the
desktop security alone, however, we want to
enter the enterprise and mobile sectors security division too.
We propose to do so in another six months time,” Kesavan asserted.
Kesavan hardly regrets the various turns his life has taken. His
self-confidence and never-give-up attitude has always been a part of his
personality, and has played a major role in his success. He attributes all his
success to Pulikesi, who taught him the basics of programming in the institute,
where he learnt all the fundamentals of programming immediately after stepping
out of school.
While Kesavan does not advocate that students drop out of college and imitate
his success story, he has made a point in life. Degrees do not decide the
temerity of success nor can their lack affect the determination of a die-hard
entrepreneur.
NR SETHURAMAN
sethuramannr@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
| 
