It has been just five days since Ashok Soota, co-founder and chairman, bid adieu to MindTree. However, Soota, who quit Wipro 12 years ago to set up MindTree with nine others, has already launched a new venture — an information technology (IT) services company called Happiest Minds Technologies.
As he talks about the future, observers get the sense that he is working to directly take on MindTree. The absence of a non-compete clause and a non-poaching pact between Soota and MindTree seems more than just a coincidence.
Take Soota’s plan to make Happiest Minds a $100-million company in the next six years. MindTree had achieved a revenue of $100 million in six years of operations.
Will he be able to repeat that performance is the question the industry is asking. What is missing this time is the nine others who were with him when he left Wipro. “The company is doing what everyone else is doing in the industry. Is this the reason he wanted to quit MindTree and do something new? This is hardly new,” said an analyst, on condition of anonymity.
To make his venture successful, Soota is open to dipping into MindTree’s resource pool. “When I resigned from MindTree on March 31, my commitments got over. I don’t have a non-compete or a non-poaching agreement with that company,” he said.
Soota said when he announced his plan to quit, hundreds of employees approached him. “They included both MindTree and former MindTree employees. To build a skilled team, I need people with expertise in certain domains. I will look for talent from all over the industry,” he said.
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Asked why it did not insist on a non-compete clause, MindTree said: “The company cannot comment on account of the ongoing silent period ahead of its annual earnings announcement on April 21.”
Analyst say such clauses have become the norm only recently. “The company was formed in 1999. Then, such agreements were not common. That is probably one reason,” said an analyst of a leading consulting firm, on condition of anonymity.
When asked if he will compete with MindTree in getting business or look at its client base, Soota was clear that for him MindTree would be just another company. “Another thing is that we are focusing on energy, utilities and healthcare, from where MindTree has decided to move out,” he said.
Does this mean he may tap MindTree’s clients in these areas? “The energy and utility businesses we are planning to focus on are only a small portion of MindTree. We don’t have any plan to bid for MindTree’s clients as it has moved out of these verticals. I am entering this market with my strength and my company’s competency,” he said.
Soota’s new venture looks similar to what MindTree focuses on. The venture will have six lines of businesses — IT services, R&D services, product engineering services, remote infrastructure management, testing and consulting. Happiest Minds will also focus on new emerging technologies such as cloud, social CRM, unified communications, mobility, and business intelligence & analytics, something that MindTree also does.
According to Soota, the company will be operational in the next five months. He plans to open offices in various cities of the US, Europe, the UK, Japan, Singapore and India.