Gravity:

Whether leaders born or made is an ongoing argument in all circles – business and academic. This argument extends to entrepreneurship as well, especially in today’s context. Can you give us a little background on any influences that have helped shape you into the successful entrepreneur you are today?

Srinivas Balasubramanian:

I guess there are several factors that shaped me. My mother imbibed in me a strong will to succeed and a work ethic. My maternal grandfather and father were entrepreneurs themselves, so there were no surprises in terms of the pressures that came with running a business. I was also lucky in terms of the exposure I got in the 2 years that I worked in the Financial Services industry. I ended up responsible for the largest institutional trading desk in the country at CKSA (Credit Lyonnais Securities) by age 23. I had a great boss who was very demanding yet taught me a lot. I probably learned as much about business in those 2 years from him that most people learn in 15 years.

Gravity:

Most entrepreneurs consider their ventures to be their babies. How closely attached are you to Photon and what are your dreams and aspirations for the company?

Srinivas Balasubramanian:

At this point, my personality is very closely intertwined with that of Photon and I am very attached to the company, it is probably one of the most important things in my life. I have a good day when we do a big deal and vice versa. I guess that would be true of any entrepreneur who has seen the birth of the company and seen it grow. We do hop to make Photon one of the world’s leading Internet Consulting firms bringing the most innovative technology solutions to our customers. Rewarding and creates opportunity for everyone-customers, shareholders and employees.

Gravity:

Before setting up photon, you were the founder and CEO of Infravio Inc. What lessons did you learn from there and how has it changed the way you deal with your current job as the Chairman and CEO of Photon?

Srinivas Balasubramanian:

I was involved with the founding of Photon back in 1999. Subsequently, I left to the US where I founded Infravio which was based on my brother’s Stanford Research project. Infravio was a company with different economics. It was an enterprise software product for an emerging evangelical technology called Web Services. I ended up selling Infravio for a $40 Million price which was a good win but the company went through several ups and downs. The most important learning probably is that the market timing is the key. You may have a great product or a service, but the market needs to be ready to accept it in our case at Infravio. We were too early into the market and had to wait until Web Services became an accepted technology, which took time. The other thing I learned was to never be overly reliant on capital markets and institutional investors for survival. Since we were building a product at Infravio, we had to invest heavily upfront to reap the benefits later that is the nature of product economics. In order to invest, we had to raise capital at some of the worst climates for tech financing. This put us in near death situations several times. I would never put myself at the mercy of the capital markets once again. These are probably the biggest learning from Infravio.

Gravity:

Photon was founded in 1999. It’s been close to eight years. How many of the goals that you set have been fulfilled and how much more is there to be achieved? What are your future plans for the company, in view of the projected IPO in 2008?

Srinivas Balasubramanian:

The primary goal I had in mind when I started it was to create value for all stakeholders’ customer, employees and shareholders. The offerings and business models have gone through numerous changes along the 8 years. Looking back today, we have had on liquidity event at Infravio that did well for all these stakeholders. Photon has over 450 customers, 1000 employees and is doing very well for the shareholders so at a high level, we continue to do well by the goals we set but it is early days in the journey and the IPO does not mean the era rather it is the beginning of a new era and an increase in accountability. We continue to be focused on the same basic philosophy of growth and opportunity for all stakeholders.

Gravity:

The Information Technology domain that Photon is in is highly competitive. What challenges did you face initially while setting up the company and what challenges are you facing now? How have they changed and how better do you think you are able to cope with them now?

Srinivas Balasubramanian:

We literally started out of a single room apartment with one computer so the challenges we faced then was more about survival than anything else. Today, the challenges are competition and ability to scale from where we are to a multi billion dollar company. We have always thought of ourselves as the underdogs who are fighting the big incumbents, knowing that we have the capability to win and take on the next big competitor. That is how we think of ourselves even today and that has always been the culture of the company. Grows a thousand fold and we are a log more experienced today. We know when an opportunity presents itself and has a chance of reaching fruition and when it is not and that helps prioritize on the best opportunities at any given time.

Gravity:

How has the entrepreneurial journey been for you and is there anything you would like to share with MBA’s of today?

Srinivas Balasubramanian:

The journey has been hard and I have had amazing fun. I would not trade these years for anything in the world. The sense of fulfillment that you gain out of seeing a venture succeed is something that cannot be compared. My only advice to anyone starting up today is “stay the course”. It may not all work out all the time, but if you stick to your plan, you have a much better chance of getting to where you want to be.

Gravity:

Finally, is there anything you would have done different if given an opportunity?

Srinivas Balasubramanian:

Well if I could, I would have started up in 1994-1995 which is the best time in history for Technology. That would have meant I did not go do my MBA which was a tough call. I would have been 20 years old and it would have given me more time in the real world. But other than that, there is nothing I would change.