Riddhesh Ganatra | Code B
Unlike most companies in this space, Code-B is not a product of the dot-com bubble burst from the 2000s, which paved the way for many software development companies in the country to provide better value to companies in the west.
Infact, Code-B is less than 7 years old and much of the motivation for starting up can be attributed to Riddhesh’s passion for cutting edge technologies that maximise business outcomes and also his passion for imparting knowledge to the new generation. Hence the name sounds so similar to a software training institute.
Since 2022, especially after the so-called “funding winter” set-in, the software services industry has taken quite the beating. Since investments into private companies have dried up, newer investments into digital-first projects have taken a hit.
As most of your readers may be aware, Software Services are among the largest contributors to exports from India and is a thriving industry, which has also taken a hit ever since.
Questions
Q1. What is the story behind the inception of Code-B?
I initially started Code B as a solopreneur back in 2017. I had worked full-time jobs at Tech Mahindra and a couple other well-known software companies. On multiple occasions, I was keen on exploring software services beyond the roles that were assigned to me and I began taking on freelance clients who liked the idea of working with a medium-small sized IT services company and I immediately saw a gap in the market for a high-performance software service firm that caters to a few clients.
A year later, Mindtree and its hostile takeover by L&T started making headlines and it was thrilling to learn about how Mindtree, a small company with a fraction of the resources, was able to take on software giants like Infosys, Tata Consulting Services and CapGemini.
My mindset changed immediately and I realised that even a seemingly saturated market can have enough gaps in between for a company worth its salt to capture market share from, especially if the efforts are ground-up and the teams are cohesive all the way from leadership to associates.
Q2. What do you emphasise the most in the company to all your employees and peers?
- Software as a business is one that’s changing continuously over the years with almost a complete reset every decade or so. Of course, some languages like Python and Javascript are timeless but the way in which we’ve been using them has changed so much over the years, it’s hardly believable. I attribute a fair amount of success for having a “I know nothing” mindset. Taking a step back and unlearning a lot of things, trying to develop novel approaches towards solving the problem has greatly benefitted Code-B and me personally.
- With the rise of no-code tools, text-to-design applications and ready Ai-based integrations, this advice holds true even today and is somewhat time tested, which is why the team at Code-B, our consulting partners and even some of our clients always get the same advice from me
Q3. Are there specific business segments that Code-B is looking to specialise in, in the near future? If yes, what are they?
We’ve made significant inroads into Generative AI, Cloud Computing, Devops and integrating them into SaaS products, E-commerce Portals, software workflows in general. That being said, the company operates as a full-stack software development firm with verticals spanning frontend + backend development, IoT solutions and digital transformation services too. More importantly, we want to continue to build this expertise within India, for the world.
Q4. At what point do you think the company hit specific milestones and which ones are you looking forward to at the moment?
I think the company hit 3 very critical milestones during the course of its formation which has pretty much defined the DNA of the firm. The first milestone was around the time we hired our 6th employee, who is also the Director of Software development, Dhaval Gala. This was a defining moment where he could own all development workflows and I could focus on business expansion and finding the right client to work with.
Q5. How do you think the industry is evolving and how can IT or software companies in India be more prepared to take their services global?
Apart from the “moving with the times” suggestion earlier, I strongly believe that the industry in the country can do a lot to work together and bundle an ecosystem of services globally. It’s also high time that software companies do away with low-cost based marketing for software services globally. Most software firms in India are now moving towards level-2 technical programming that is quite high-tech, even by global standards. I also strongly feel that NASSCOM, the Indian regulatory body governing software exports, also should play a strong role in developing this sector in the first place.
Q6. How do you think AI has changed the landscape for IT service companies and how do you think this can be a competitive edge for Code-B?
There’s been a lot of buzz and a sort of “gold rush” around the term. To an extent, yes, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in demand for softwares that have some variant of language models integrated. While chatbots are what have come into the limelight, we see great potential for text-to-speech, text-to-video and niche-specific learning. Interestingly, integration of AI-based outputs have been adopted the most within the very industry that has created it. The adoption has allowed us as a firm to bolster our programming capabilities and boost our efficiency and I can only surmise that firms that don’t adopt this will simply be trailing
Q6. What strategic plans have you laid out for the near-future to ensure code-b’s continued success?
We’re making key org-wide changes decentralising decision making power across independently run units. For instance, we’ve created a new “SaaS vertical” that only does specialist software like martech tools, mobile application development etc. We’re also revamping our business-development processes by integrating digital-first principles in our sales-processes
Q7. How does Code-B approach challenges from a promotional and growth point of view?
While the business relied mostly on referrals and early repeat customers initially, we soon learnt that we need to build out sustainable growth channels by tapping into the levers that are at our disposal. Our approach since then has been to leverage organic channels and not so much to “sell” than to “educate” our audience.
