Pramod N Uniyal: We Are Building for the World and Geography Has No Meaning for Us, Except That Being in India, We Understand Indian Market Better

Pramod N Uniyal of truMe (Mobico Comodo Pvt Ltd).

Tell us about yourself?

I’m Co-founder & CEO of truMe, an IT products company. Born and brought up in Mussoorie, I’ve let many influences, interests and pursuits shape me.

This eclecticism defines my education – both formal and self-taught. It informs my work experience – across public and private sector – as well. Apart from technology, I have deep interest in philosophy, geopolitics and history.

I also pursue a few sports as hobbies. I’m a firm believer in diversity – of people, of ideas, of culture, of flora and fauna. I consider mono-culture, of any kind, dangerous for mankind.

What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you? 

Entrepreneurship came to me late and therefore, I had to unlearn a lot to succeed in my newly chosen field. My entire work experience has been of working in large organizations, be it public or private sector.

Managing everything at micro level and working in a resource- constraint environment was new to me. I took some time warming up to it.

In terms of lessons, entrepreneurship has taught me value of team – find right person for right role and then give them freedom to do things their way.

It has also drilled home the value of cash flow vis-a-vis revenue and profit. I learnt digital marketing on my own and had to work on my sales skills. Also, empathy and compromise became more than words and juggling multiple things became a way of life.

If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Focus on one solution and go deep. When you are starting out, you tend to stray into many things as you want to close every deal and you want to delight every customer.

It is very important to identify the niche you want to be in. Strategy is more about saying “No”, than anything else.

Also, plan cash flow on at least a 6-month basis. while planning cash flow, err on the side of pessimism. Be very disciplined in spending hard earned money. Always prioritize spend on sales & marketing over “maintenance” spend.

A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?

Yes, balancing work and personal life is always a challenge, and not just for entrepreneurs. Over the years, I’ve developed a template to deal with it. Rising early in the morning and dedicating time for yoga & meditation helps.

What has also helped is the hybrid work culture that developed in the wake of pandemic. I’m a rationalist, so I don’t draw much succor from religion and such, which can be a source of strength for some.

However, I’m a family man and make it a point to take out time for my family. That automatically ensures a work-life balance.

Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?

While working as SBU head with DLF ltd., I had experienced the friction the visitors, and at times, employees faced at the reception of our business parks. That showed me the limitation of legacy technology.

The existing system was totally insensitive to the need of individual for security, privacy and convenience. At the same time, it did not provide great value to the building/ business either. It was just there because “that was the way things were done”.

My partners, who are from technology background were working on creating a platform for digital identity using the India stack.

We married the two concepts and came up with the idea of a platform for digital identity and access management, that would make access to buildings/ places/ things secure, private and convenient for the individuals and nuanced, cost -effective and productive for the businesses.

What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?

Customer centricity is what sets us apart. This is a bit ironic. Every business ‘knows’ that ‘customer is king’ but not many practice it. I’m really surprised at how insensitive businesses can be towards their customers, even though it’s the customer that makes their existence possible!

By now, we are known for our customer focus. In fact, we have beaten competition a few times just on the strength of our response to customer. Customer centricity is in our DNA also because of another factor that we had zeroed in on fairly early in life of our startup.

We decided that each of our product would be co-created with a customer, preferably a paying one. This has ensured that the product/ features that we develop are not done in a vacuum, but are based on an actual market need for which a customer is willing to pay.

How have you found sales so far? Do you have any lessons you could pass on to other founders in the same market as you just starting out?

We started with India market and have since expanded our presence to 10 countries. We find the India market the toughest in terms of price sensitivity and timely payment. My suggestion to those starting out would be to work on both the in-bound and the out-bound engines in parallel.

Invest in SEO and SMO from day one and target organic traffic. Focus on building a funnel, instead of running after one large size deal, as over a period of time a larger funnel would invariably result in larger conversion. In short, focus on process, instead of running after individual cases.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in your business, and how did you overcome it?

Closing enterprise deals has been the biggest challenge and we are yet to overcome it. However, we have gradually created an SOP and have a fair idea about how a deal would turn out.

What do you consider are the main strengths of operating your business in India and the specific state you are in over other states in India?

We are building for the world and geography has no meaning for us, except that being in India, we understand Indian market better than say markets in US or Europe. We initiate and close deals online, even when the client is located in the same city.

Our pricing for India is fairly well established now and we don’t get push back from clients, except for the usual practice of the procurement teams to haggle for discounts.

What (if any) are some weaknesses of operating your business within India and your state?

I don’t see any weakness, per se. However, Indian market does not give you pricing power as in some of our product categories, competition is stiff.

If you could operate your business in another state in India rather than the State you are in, which state would it be and why?

Geography has no meaning for our kind of business.

India has an incredibly diverse population. How has the affected your consumer base and business?

We have IT products in the workplace productivity space. Diversity of region or language does not impact that.

Infrastructure is really important to businesses. How have you seen India’s infrastructure improve recently? Do you see new opportunities opening up?

The kind of infrastructure important for us is the spread and adoption of mobile, cloud and internet. India is doing very well on all these fronts. We have the world’s cheapest data and smart phone adoption is also increasing at exponential pace.

Businesses are also considering switching to cloud favourably. These are all very conducive conditions for a SaaS business like truMe.

What do you want to accomplish in the next 5 years with your business?

Three things: 1. GTM – Make US our primary market, earning at least 50% of our revenue from there; Make MENA, SEA and India markets of equal size in terms of revenue. 2. Product roadmap – Create multiple products in ‘hybrid work’ space, creating a whole new market in the process. 3. Size – Take Revenue closer to our goal of USD 100 million

India has recently imposed some relatively high tariffs. Has this had an impact on your business? Do you support the tariffs?

No. Tariffs don’t impact IT products exports and we don’t import anything. In principle, we believe in free flow of labour, products and capital across the globe. We don’t support high tariffs. However, that’s government’s prerogative.

And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?

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