This has been a question that has been asked by seniors and freshers alike at each institute I traveled to during my last 50-day trip across India. It’s interesting to see the choice of words these students use, and I had to quip in one recent conversation, “Are you asking about my age and why a startup now? 😊”

This was asked of me at 2 AM, standing outside the Students Activity Center at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur when there were 64+ participating teams in the room. I spoke to many of them 1-on-1 while waiting for the 12-hour hackathon to start. The trip had just in August 2024, and Trumio Inc. was a title sponsor of this event. Needless to say, I was severely jet-lagged and had been on my feet since 9am.

This was asked of me sitting in the canteen at RP Hall at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur late in the evening on the day we signed the NDA. It was an exciting day for us at Trumio Inc. , and we couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to sign our MoU than at the first-ever VP Conclave event at my alma mater. This was my 3rd hop to IIT KGP this trip and the 5th this year.

This was asked of me by a 2nd-year student in the canteen at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati , where I was parked after a talk with students from their coding club. This was my last stop during this trip, and it was time to head back as the holiday season was around the corner.

I typically answer this question in two ways. Please let me know your thoughts below in the comments section.

I believe it’s the “comfort zone” thing – humans always find their comfort zones and can find 100 different excuses to justify it any day. I had my own. First, the usual: life happens, early in the career and not enough money, young kids and need for a stable corporate job, and so on.

But, to me, it was also the type of opportunities I had - I have been a technologist all my life, writing code for the longest parts of my career, building complex architectures irrespective of the scope and team sizes I supported. I always had the opportunities to work on the latest and greatest of the technologically transformational trends, starting right from my first job in Kolkata. I was part of many founding teams including Cortana, Founded Azure Cognitive Services before it got this name, and so on.

I learned not only how sausages are made but also how to build a lot of myself. This also included my Microsoft journey and since. This was my comfort zone.

“Comfort zones are where dreams go to die. Step out, and you’ll find life waiting for you.” 🌟

And why now? The short answer is there is never a better time, and you will find your own.

As Ronnie Ray called out during Trumio Inc. talk time with students at the same event at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur – the first two most important things about any startup are “who is your team” and “who are your customers.”

I was not looking to do a startup until I met Ronnie in July of 2022. He had just left Cisco at the time, and that discussion turned into what is Trumio Inc. today – call it serendipity. There were many activities since including meeting with our 3rd co-founder and CNO, Raghu Venkatesam . This was my first team and can't ask for anything better. This is how my Trumio Inc. journey began.

“Serendipity is the universe’s way of saying, ‘You’re on the right path.'” 🌍

Ronnie is one of the best product minds I have ever worked with – yes, that includes my 20+ years at Microsoft, where I had the opportunity to work with the best. He is always grounded in business principles, knows how to count pennies, which is important for any startup.

He is one of the best salespersons I had the opportunity to learn from. Look, he is letting me run around the country visiting the top leaders at so many top-tier institutes across this country, and I would say fairly successfully. I think he agrees I always had a knack with the students, how they always feel comfortable around me 😊.

He is a solid marketer and one of the best content producers. I believe he would agree I have been able to make some inroads into some of the modern marketing principles – hey, aren’t I on social media so much nowadays and I think I have moved the needle?

Lastly, he allowed me to build one of the best teams from the ground up – Go Team Trumio Inc. !

“Great teams are built on trust, respect, and a shared vision.” 🤝

Coming to the point - I have been able to not only learn and do so many new things which I would not have done if I was at one of the places like Microsoft !

They ask me if I will ever go back to a corporate job, and my typical answer is - I do not believe in never-say-never, but I know it will be difficult. Being able to speak with you, the leaders at these institutes, and interfacing with customers on a day-in-day-out basis. I am just having too much fun! I believe I am successful already!

“When work feels like play, you know you’re in the right place.” 🎉