Janeeva: From Idea to Business

I consider this business, and its founder, to be an extremely interesting story in success. With his background in business, and as a professor, Vinay Gupta had all the tools to take an idea and create a business, but what caught me off guard about him was that he understood and appreciated the difference between taking an academic view and an involved view of the market. When taking a business from idea to reality, there are a couple important steps that need to be taken. First, a feasibility plan is a necessity. During the feasibility plan, looking at the industry and market, his product, as well as the financial opportunities that may be out there. This plan would inform him of rivalries and the threat of new entries on the competition. A big part of the feasibility plan has to do with whether or not his product would appeal to the market. I am sure this was difficult, seeing as though his market was initially the mid market (companies with revenues of $100 million to $1 billion annually). Nevertheless, through whatever primary or secondary research took place, Vinay continued to the financial feasibility analysis. During this part of the feasibility plan, he would have determined what kind of capital he required to run the company. As well, he would have estimated both his earnings, as well as his return on investment. Once the feasibility plan was in place, he would have taken things a step further, and developed a business plan. Vinay mentioned in the interview that they established a business plan as one of the initial steps. This is where he would have determined his mission and vision; he would have determined any competitive advantage that his company may hold. He would have done an industry profile help get an understanding of both the industry and the potential market. Vinay would have set goals for the future of the company, and done a SWOT analysis to determine any internal or external weaknesses or threats. As well, he would have looked at the competition in the industry, and their effect on the industry as a whole, as well as any trends that are going on. There were several interesting parts of the interview I wanted to comment on. First and foremost, I was impressed when Vinay talked about sharing his idea with others. My initial reaction would have been to keep it to himself, hoping no one else would get into the industry. However, after thinking about it a bit longer, I agree with his point. There are many ideas in the world, but its execution that makes one business successful, and another one fail. Look at MP3 players, Apple was by no means the first company to come out with the device, but I cannot tell you one person I know that has an MP3 player that isn’t an iPod. Secondly, I was impressed that he used only angel investors on the project. Often, especially in high tech companies, large amounts of capital are needed to get off the ground, usually more than angel investors can contribute. Luckily for this group, they didn’t have to go to VC firms that would have taken a large percentage of the business. As well, I was impressed with his idea about finding a single company to validate the idea. Often, the best jolt for a business is that first customer. As said in the interview, it wasn’t about the money, and his software wasn’t even ready yet, but the time he spent consulting with this customer gave him the ground level experience that he could not get in the classroom. Last, but not least, I’m sure there is no disappointment in the fact that he has changed from the mid level market to the “Global 2000.” He has done an amazing thing by tailoring his product to take advantage of the collaborative powers of Web 2.0 and still have the security these companies require.

Chief Executive Officer and founder of Janeeva Vinay Gupta, is living the American dream. He is the true definition of an entrepreneur because he took a risk to fulfill his dream. Most people in the world can not say that they had a chance not alone say that they achieve their dreams, Vinay Gupta can say both. He started the company for small businesses, but it turned out to help Forbes Global 2000 companies. A lot of entrepreneurs fail because they do not have a good plan on how to succeed. I do not agree with the idea of outsourcing for American firms. I agree that it makes sense from a business point of view on the ground that it will save money. But it takes away jobs from people here at home. The soft ware was a genius idea especially in today’s society when everyone is looking to make a buck. I do respect Mr. Gupta for doing what he dreamed and making it come true. If there is a model of how to go about starting a business this is the one. He took an idea then did research covering every corner of how the business could be successful. Then he research an investor (Angel Investors) then gave them an offer they could not refuse. If there was any thing I would take from this interview it would be that we all can be successful entrepreneur, if we work hard.

Vinay Gupta gave the best example of the work it takes to start a company that I am interested in. from starting research, to starting your core group of advisors. Vinay had great advise to not hold your idea secret and get out and tell people what you want to do. "a B business idea and an A team look better to potential investors than an A plan and a B team. Yinay is my new inspiration, I have been in a holding pattern for months trying to figure out how move forward. When he said get an Cheif information officer a light bulb went off.

Janeeva seems to have the potential to be one of the fortune 500 companies that are currently your customers and or future customers. I think it is very interesting that when thinking about outsourcing you realized that it was a new trend, made sense for companies to do, and that it was a growing market. This seemed to grow into reality from an idea very quickly. I have heard from many innovators that talking to people is very important for you to really know what people think of your idea. It's also great to hear that you had a business plan and that you were positive that you could execute your idea before jumping in and running with it without researching first. I am a student at EMU and we are currently learning the importance of business plans. How large is your company now in 2008? Have you accomplished the goals that you set forth early on? - Crystal Bray

I am very pleased to have viewed this interview with Mr. Gupta. He took his idea to execution in just over one year. His planned approach is something to be commended. By breaking the plan down into doable steps, he developed Janeeva, a Software as a Service company that manages outsourcing service providers for mid-market companies, those with $100 million to $1 billion in sales. He was on sabbatical from his teaching position at the University of Michigan when he came up with the idea for his company. He started with researching the idea and attended conferences to work on his idea and to share his idea with others to see if the idea was workable. Next he put together his core team of 3 or 4 people. He chose one Chief Technology Director, then two other people to be on the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors were also initial investors in the company. These investors were Angel Investors, people who want to help a new business grow from idea to company. The total investment from these Angels was under $1 million. After getting the investors, Mr. Gupta found one customer to commit to purchasing the software, and he was ready to launch his company. He worked on combining the consultative service providers while actually writing the software. Writing the software took several months. He dream for his company is for Janeeva to become the standard for companies to manage all of their outsourcing needs. I think Mr. Gupta's example of an organized approach to business start-up is one every entrepreneur should examine before starting up their own new business. I am a student now, but I can see that with my life experiences and education, I will also be able to create, launch and grow my own small business by following the simple steps laid out in Mr. Gupta's example. I had not previously considered using Angel Investors, but am now considering seeking this type of investor for my company. Thank you, Mr. Gupta, for sharing your inspiring story with others who hope to live the dream of owning their own small business.