Spinning the web of success

MEET YOUR ENTREPRENEUR

To have learnt means to bring about a practical change "� an exemplification of this is a young city-based entrepreneur, Kusumba S, president and director of Vebtel Obconic Internet Protocol (VOIP) Private Limited.

This 32-year-old technocrat "� not by any qualification but by mere experience "� is raring to change the very contours of the fast-growing web telephony with the help of a handful in-house R&D personnel led by him.

Hailing from Karimnagar, Kusumba is only an intermediate in commerce. He first dreamt of creating "an enterprise with a complete difference" in 1990, during his brief stint as a marine radio officer.

Holding steadfast to that dream, despite trials and tribulations, and by gaining invaluable experience in multi-faceted networking technology in several organisations, he started Vebtel with an investment of Rs 40 lakh in 2002.

Today, his fast-growing web telephony company, which has some national ISPs keen on partaking its technical expertise, aims at joining the big league of global internet telephony companies in the next couple of years.

"Although I don't have a formal BTech or MBA degree, my nine-year work experience in several organisations has taught me more. Passion for knowledge and a desire to set up a totally unique enterprise are what spur me always. I am a voracious reader of books on technology and try experimenting on my own," says a beaming Kusumba.

The two-year-old Vebtel, recorded a revenue of Rs 4.5 crore during 2003-04, the first year of its commercial operations. It has already crossed last year's revenue in the first quarter of this year and is targeting a three-fold growth this year. It is strongly betting on its flagship product VebXchange, which will be launched shortly, to propel its growth.

Recounting his metamorphosis from a non-technical commerce student into a technocrat in a decade, Kusumba said he had his initiation into the world of communications when he set out on the high seas as a marine radio officer in 1989. A strong desire to test his mettle and pursue his dream to set up a communications company made him give up the career and return to Hyderabad in 1992.

"That's when I started working with various IT networking companies. Soon, I became one of the very few in Hyderabad to pass Novell Netware and specialised in various networking technologies and environments like LAN/WAN, Frame Relay, etc. I have learnt everything on my own without going for any technical training except for the radio officer's course," he says.

Kusumba was actively involved in bringing wireless internet and introducing cable internet to Hyderabad.

Describing the year 2001 as a turning point in his life, Kusumba said that he used to work on the blue print of his project in his spare time while working as a consultant to ISPs. At the same time, the central government was planning to throw open internet telephony to the public.

Certain that the government would come out with its policy on internet telephony by April 2002, he prepared a blueprint of his project by March. "After an extensive study, I saw a huge scope for the internet telephony market globally. I decided to start something of my own instead of being a wholesale or retail seller of others' services."

When the government announced the policy on April 1, 2002, Kusumba was already on the look-out for the funds to support his project. Having practically seen how organisations survived and collapsed during his job experience, he said he had to forego a few offers for his strong insistence on managerial independence. Help came in from MP Chary, the founder-managing director of Dr Reddy's, who was looking around to fund start-ups.

Vebtel was floated on May 6, 2002. "The name Vebtel Obconic Internet Protocol was influenced by the acronym VoIP (voice over internet telephony). Obconic, a Greek origin, points to a triangle suspended at its axis. The three sides of the triangle represent voice, data and video, while Vebtel stands for web/internet telephony. Just as the three sides of a triangle, the convergence of voice, data or video take place with the help of internet protocol. I had to explain it in great detail to the registrar of companies office to get their approval for the name," he said.

The company started in around 600 sqft space with two persons. The entire software tools were developed in-house by December 2002 and the company cut its first album (voice traffic) on December 27. The entire package was recently valued at Rs 6.5 crore.

Today, it in a spacious 3,000 sqft space with a headcount of 48. Its calling cards are sold in 20 countries and 15 more countries are to be added in the next six months. "We're now a carrier's carrier and can meet the requirements of individuals to corporates to other carriers ," he said.

Kusumba's hobbies are only music and reading. "I do not read fiction. Throw any techie book at me, I will read it," he quips. Jazz-crazy that he is, he has an enviable collection of music that is worth 150 GB stored in MP3 files. He has made both his house and office "wireless" and connected them both with a fibre line.

"I am also an amateur ham radio operator. Once I got to help an army major on an Antarctica expedition. I helped him get in touch with his family in the city and we sent medicines through the next expedition party," he said.

Ask what drives this young CEO hard, he says that he is a firmly believes that "where there is zeal and enthusiasm, success is guaranteed". Kusumba says he would have chosen flying as a career if he could. Nevertheless, his dreams soar high.