Software People Stories

In this thematic  conversation on S-curves, I am in conversation with my colleague, Coach and serial author, Paramu Kurumathur.

In this conversation, Paramu shares some specific S-Curve in his life:

• School Change: Moving from Trivandrum to Calicut presented challenges like adapting to a new language, culture, and classmates.
• IIT Entrance and College: Entering IIT brought Paramu face-to-face with high competition, where everyone was a topper.
• Job Market Challenges: With limited job opportunities for Aerospace Engineers in India, Paramu had to choose between a scholarship abroad with an unrecognized degree or a less promising job.
• Shifting Gears to Computer Science: This was a major turning point where luck played a role. An available seat in computer science due to others' choices opened a new path for Paramu.
• Tata Burroughs and Corporate Life: This was another big change, requiring adjustments like dressing professionally. Paramu navigated these changes while building new friendships.
• Marriage, Children, and Work-Life Balance: These personal milestones presented new challenges alongside professional ones.
• Job Stagnation and Transition to Digital: Feeling stuck in his US job, Paramu found a pull factor in the challenge of setting up a GCC for digital right Unix development.
• Startup and NGO: Foray into a startup (Bell Soft) wasn't successful, coinciding with an industry downturn. He then transitioned to a contrasting role at Action Aid, an NGO.
• Leadership and Scaling: Paramu's roles at Action Aid and Bell Soft involved leadership responsibilities, scaling up operations, and navigating organizational challenges.
• Entrepreneurship: His entrepreneurial ventures, including the startup, demonstrate his willingness to take risks and pursue new opportunities.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paramu-kurumathur-01489a6/

I continue my conversation with Ben Johnson, the CEO of Particle 41, a company that provides fractional CTO services, software development, data science, data engineering, and AI solutions

In this part, Ben talks about:

• The importance of user adoption for successful technology implementation.
• The challenges and benefits of agile development in contract-based projects.
• The value of personal practices like journaling and mindfulness for maintaining composure and productivity.
• Career advice for aspiring technologists, including the importance of continuous learning and specializing in niche areas.
• The enduring value of expertise and the opportunities created by emerging technologies like AI and blockchain.

Benjamin Johnson, CEO & Founder @ Particle41

Benjamin Johnson is a serial technical co-founder with a track record of success and hands-on open-source programming experience. He has a wide range of being both a board-level advisor and founder but also an in-depth understanding of how things work. Through his 20+ years as a software developer and leader, he has gained extensive experience with remotely distributed development teams and business hacks.

Benjamin is the CEO & Founder of Particle41, a dev firm founded by industry veterans that aims to help companies accelerate their initiatives through Software Development, DevOps, and Data Science.

With a constant focus on results and ways to improve, Benjamin is having fun building highly scalable and highly secure applications.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminrjohnson/

I am in conversation with Ben Johnson, the CEO of Particle 41, a company that provides fractional CTO services, software development, data science, data engineering, and AI solutions

Some of the highlights from the conversation are:

• How he started programming on the Commodore 64
• Starting a travel company and getting hands on experience with building and managing IT infrastructure
• Working in different business domains
• The importance of being adaptable and embracing new technologies.
• The value of listening to customers and understanding their needs.
• The need to balance technology adoption with practical considerations.
• The importance of building strong relationships and networks.
• The role of personality traits in successful partnerships.
• The importance of building a strong team culture and focusing on employee engagement.
• The need for quality assurance and DevOps practices in software development.

Benjamin Johnson

CEO & Founder @ Particle41

Benjamin Johnson is a serial technical co-founder with a track record of success and hands-on open-source programming experience. He has a wide range of being both a board-level advisor and founder but also an in-depth understanding of how things work. Through his 20+ years as a software developer and leader, he has gained extensive experience with remotely distributed development teams and business hacks.

Benjamin is the CEO & Founder of Particle41, a dev firm founded by industry veterans that aims to help companies accelerate their initiatives through Software Development, DevOps, and Data Science.

With a constant focus on results and ways to improve, Benjamin is having fun building highly scalable and highly secure applications.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminrjohnson/

I continue my conversation with Douglas Ferguson, an entrepreneur and human-centered technologist. He is the president of Voltage Control, a facilitation academy that develops leaders through various programs.

In this part of the conversation, Douglas shares his story related to:

• Voltage Control: A facilitation academy focused on developing collaborative leaders.
• Facilitation skills: Valuable for individuals in various roles, not just facilitators.
• Community building: Emphasizes diversity, inclusion, and shared values.
• Entrepreneurial journey: Douglas's experiences in starting and growing Voltage Control.
• Leadership development: The importance of facilitation skills for effective leadership.

And finally, he shares career tips for those aspiring to be facilitators.

Douglas is an entrepreneur and human-centered technologist with over 26 years of experience. He is president of Voltage Control, a facilitation academy that develops leaders through certifications, workshops, and organizational coaching focused on facilitation mastery, innovation, and play. He has helped transform leaders, innovators, and creatives from Nike, U.S. SOCOM, Google, the Air Force, Gap, Tesla, MSU, Church & Dwight, Apple, Adobe, Dropbox, Fidelity, Vrbo, Liberty Mutual, Humana, and SAIC.

Prior to Voltage Control, Douglas held CTO positions at numerous Austin startups, where he led product and engineering teams using agile, lean, and human-centered design principles. While CTO at Twyla, Douglas worked directly with Google Ventures running Design Sprints, and now brings this experience and process to companies everywhere.

Douglas is currently active in the Austin startup community, where he serves on the board of several non-profits, mentors startups, and advises early-stage ventures.

Douglas is a thought leader and often writes and talks about facilitation, leadership, collaboration, innovation, culture, meetings, and Design Sprints. He is also the author of four books: Magical Meetings, Beyond the Prototype, How to Remix Anything, and Start Within, He has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Innovation Leader, and is a regular contributor to The Future Shapers. He publishes a weekly podcast called Facilitation Lab.

When not facilitating or coaching facilitators, you might find Douglas patching up his Modular Synth, boxing, doing pilates, and taking photographs. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Douglas may be contacted at::

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasferguson/

I am in conversation with Douglas Ferguson. Douglas is an entrepreneur and human-centered technologist. He is the president of Voltage Control, a facilitation academy that develops leaders through various programs.

In this part of the conversation, Douglas shares his story related to:

• Douglas's journey: From individual contributor to leader, emphasizing the importance of understanding and empathy in building successful teams.
• Teamwork and collaboration: Discusses storytelling, creating a positive culture, and the challenges and opportunities of working with distributed and cross-cultural teams.
• Effective meeting practices: Highlights the value of rituals, storytelling, and focusing on generation and exploration.

Douglas is an entrepreneur and human-centered technologist with over 26 years of experience. He is president of Voltage Control, a facilitation academy that develops leaders through certifications, workshops, and organizational coaching focused on facilitation mastery, innovation, and play. He has helped transform leaders, innovators, and creatives from Nike, U.S. SOCOM, Google, the Air Force, Gap, Tesla, MSU, Church & Dwight, Apple, Adobe, Dropbox, Fidelity, Vrbo, Liberty Mutual, Humana, and SAIC.

Prior to Voltage Control, Douglas held CTO positions at numerous Austin startups, where he led product and engineering teams using agile, lean, and human-centered design principles. While CTO at Twyla, Douglas worked directly with Google Ventures running Design Sprints, and now brings this experience and process to companies everywhere.

Douglas is currently active in the Austin startup community, where he serves on the board of several non-profits, mentors startups, and advises early-stage ventures.

Douglas is a thought leader and often writes and talks about facilitation, leadership, collaboration, innovation, culture, meetings, and Design Sprints. He is also the author of four books: Magical Meetings, Beyond the Prototype, How to Remix Anything, and Start Within, He has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Innovation Leader, and is a regular contributor to The Future Shapers. He publishes a weekly podcast called Facilitation Lab.

When not facilitating or coaching facilitators, you might find Douglas patching up his Modular Synth, boxing, doing Pilates, and taking photographs. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Douglas may be contacted at::

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasferguson/

I continue my conversation with Karthik Viswanathan, the President of Ochyo Inc, a consulting firm that specializes in serving State & Local governments around strategy development, technology enablement and business process optimization

In this part, Karthik delves deeper into the challenges and opportunities within government IT. He discusses the complexities of balancing top-down mandates with bottom-up needs, particularly in large, decentralized organizations.

Key points:

• Government structure: The unique structure of government, with different levels (federal, state, local) and political cycles, impacts IT initiatives.
• Technology adoption: While there is a growing recognition of technology's importance, the pace of adoption is slower than the private sector due to budgetary constraints, procurement processes, and risk aversion.
• Talent management: Government agencies face challenges in attracting and retaining IT talent, especially in comparison to the private sector.
• Intergovernmental collaboration: There's potential for increased collaboration and data sharing between government entities, but challenges remain in terms of standards, security, and trust.
• Consulting and government: Karthik discusses his experience in consulting for government agencies, highlighting the need for understanding the unique dynamics of the public sector.

Overall, the conversation emphasizes the complexities and opportunities within government IT, providing insights into the challenges and potential solutions.

Karthik Viswanathan is the President of Ochyo Inc, a consulting firm that

specializes in serving State & Local governments around strategy development, technology enablement and business process optimization.

He was previously the Vice President for Development & Strategy for AIinGov responsible for driving strategic partnerships and relationships to accelerate the time to market and operational efficiencies for AIinGov’s customers.

Prior to that, Karthik served in senior IT leadership roles in State and Municipal governments. He was the Assistant Secretary for Technology Services & Security to help streamline IT services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including CIO roles for Labor & Workforce and Department of Revenue. Karthik has also served as CIO for the City of Somerville.

He holds engineering degrees from the University of Mumbai and Texas A&M University, and an MBA from Northeastern University.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaviswan/

I am in conversation with Karthik Viswanathan, the President of Ochyo Inc, a consulting firm that specializes in serving State & Local governments around strategy development, technology enablement and business process optimization

In this part of the conversation, Karthik shares:

Karthik's career path:

• Started in IT after college in Bombay (now Mumbai)
• Worked in tech support for a university in the US
• Joined a research company (GTE Labs, now part of Verizon) focused on telecom technologies
• Transitioned from research to government work focusing on applying technology to improve citizen services

Government vs. Private Sector:

• Government projects can have a larger social impact
• Funding for government projects is based on impact and efficiency, not ROI
• User experience (UX) is becoming increasingly important in government services, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic
• Cloud migration and low-code/no-code development are accelerating innovation in government

Key points about impact in government projects:

• Needs to consider a "long tail" of users with diverse needs
• Focuses on human impact and reducing frustration for citizens
• Must balance efficiency and initial investment costs

Shifting landscape of government technology:

• From building systems for internal needs to user-centered design
• Cloud migration enabling faster and more scalable solutions
• Rise of low-code/no-code development for quicker implementation

Karthik Viswanathan is the President of Ochyo Inc, a consulting firm that

specializes in serving State & Local governments around strategy development, technology enablement and business process optimization.

He was previously the Vice President for Development & Strategy for AIinGov responsible for driving strategic partnerships and relationships to accelerate the time to market and operational efficiencies for AIinGov’s customers. 

Prior to that, Karthik served in senior IT leadership roles in State and Municipal governments. He was the Assistant Secretary for Technology Services & Security to help streamline IT services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including CIO roles for Labor & Workforce and Department of Revenue. Karthik has also served as CIO for the City of Somerville.

He holds engineering degrees from the University of Mumbai and Texas A&M University, and an MBA from Northeastern University.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaviswan/

Sivaguru continues the conversation with Ravi Krishnappa, managing partner at July Ventures.

In this part, he shares his thoughts as below

• Emphasizes that his curiosity drives him to understand new concepts deeply, particularly through teaching.
• How teaching others can enhance one’s own understanding,
• He says that having ideas alone is not sufficient. Successful outcomes depend on understanding and addressing the underlying practical and behavioral aspects related to those ideas.
• Effective problem-solving requires being aware of current market conditions and issues.
• Entrepreneurship requires a strong sense of conviction to push beyond one's comfort zone.
• Feeling uncomfortable is a natural and beneficial part of starting something new, as it keeps you alert and engaged.
• : Entrepreneurs often experience a transition from uncertainty to clarity, where they feel confident in their decision to pursue a venture.
• He speaks about various challenges in entrepreneurial journey
• Finally he talks about the career tips

Ravi Krishnappa is a Venture Capital professional, an Entrepreneur & an avid teacher with 35+ years of experience over 2 dozen start-ups in his portfolio. 

He is currently the managing partner at July Ventures (www.julyventures.com) 

He is a mechanical engineer who moved onto the IT sector and is a thought leader in the area of digital applications for the industry. Over the last 30+ years he has worked in several countries including the US, UK and Switzerland. 

His first startup was acquired by Oracle, and he was subsequently it’s global Executive Director. He sold his second venture which was in supply chain applications to a publicly listed company. Since 2010, he has been working to develop the Entrepreneurial eco-system, particularly in incubating ideas and working with early stage startups and their founders as a CEO coach. 

He is a board director and an advisory member in a number of startups. 

He has been an active member in several industry associations including TIE. He is also a trustee at several NGOs working on causes ranging from education to public transparency.

Sivaguru is in conversation with Ravi Krishnappa, managing partner at July Ventures. He talks about

• How he Started as a mechanical engineer and ERP consultant, then co-founded Accel Venture Partners and Inatech. Transitioned to angel investing and is now a partner at July Ventures, focusing on B2B tech startups.
• He also attributes his success to an intense curiosity and a broad interest in various fields, rather than deep specialization.
• He also believes both nature (innate curiosity) and nurture (experiences and opportunities) play roles in personal development
• He also taks about  learning the intersection of finance and engineering, and addressing inefficiencies in ERP systems, which shaped their business mindset and approach..
• He also talks about developed a solution to locally print data from a mainframe system, leading to a significant licensing deal with Unisys EMEA.
• He reflects on how recognizing and seizing opportunities, even if not fully realized, has influenced his entrepreneurial journey.
• The experience of seeing potential improvements and wanting more control motivated their shift to entrepreneurship

Ravi Krishnappa is a Venture Capital professional, an Entrepreneur & an avid teacher with 35+ years of experience over 2 dozen start-ups in his portfolio.  

He is currently the managing partner at July Ventures (www.julyventures.com)

 He is a mechanical engineer who moved onto the IT sector and is a thought leader in the area of digital applications for the industry. Over the last 30+ years he has worked in several countries including the US, UK and Switzerland. 

His first startup was acquired by Oracle, and he was subsequently it’s global Executive Director. He sold his second venture which was in supply chain applications to a publicly listed company. Since 2010, he has been working to develop the Entrepreneurial eco-system, particularly in incubating ideas and working with early stage startups and their founders as a CEO coach. 

He is a board director and an advisory member in a number of startups. 

He has been an active member in several industry associations including TIE. He is also a trustee at several NGOs working on causes ranging from education to public transparency.

This marks 300 episodes of the Software People Stories. The journey has been very enriching. But more of that, in a few weeks, when we complete six years of the podcast.

In addition, the guest today is a person who has been a mentor to me and whose qualities technically and as a leader, I admire.

I continue my conversation with Gunaseelan Narayanan, known as Guna. Guna is an executive coach with a long career in IT before that.

In this conversation, he talks about

• Transition from Project Leader to Delivery Excellence Leader, initial challenges with management style to embracing new technologies and effectively leading high-performing engineering teams.
• He also emphasizes the difference in project timelines between internal R&D and global customer
• The importance of empathy, communication, and tailored processes in effectively aligning different divisions or lines of business within an organization, especially in a complex matrix organizational structure.
• How his career  was marked by diverse opportunities across different sectors , each offering valuable learning experiences and professional development.
• His journey into coaching and leadership development, emphasizing the shift from directive management to coaching and the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in his career.
• His Career Advice,  and explanation of ethics in Technology

Guna has over three decades of experience in the Information Technology industry. Currently he is an Executive Coach, helping senior executives enhance their leadership capabilities.

He started his career as a software engineer in R&D department of Hindustan Computers Limited in 1979. He held various technical and managerial roles in HCL R&D and HCL-HP R&D before transitioning to HCL Technologies. In HCL Technologies he was in key delivery and business leadership roles including head of Engineering and R&D Services Line of Business and head of Delivery Excellence.

Guna holds M.Tech. degree in Computer Science and B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering, both from IIT Madras. He is a certified Executive Coach from Coaching Foundation India.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunaseelan-narayanan-13246b23/