'I got motivated after an interaction with NRN'

When you hear a name like ‘ONZE' an immediate question that pops up your mind is: What does it mean? "Oh! It is very simple," quips Sudharshan with a smile. "Software programming is all about ‘ones and zeros' so we combined that to create ON-ZE." Whether the process of naming was simple or not, Sudarshan does come across as a simple person with a normal middle class upbringing. So, you immediately wonder how the idea of entrepreneurship came into his mind. "I got inspired after an inter- action with NRN (NR Narayana Murthy)," he elaborates. "I joined Infosys when it was a much smaller company with about 600 people. In one of our interactions with NRN he got talking about his journey-how he started, what he went through. I found that very motivating." If a simple person like him with a humble background could do it, probably anyone could. "He showed us how one could run a successful high growth business by being extremely ethical," says Sudarshan. "You know he always told us don't over promise or over commit to your customer, because that is also equivalent to lying."

After having worked in the product engineering services team of Infosys for about 13-14 years in different roles, Sudarshan and his colleague Rahul felt they had accumulated enough knowledge about running a software product business and they wanted to put their learning into practice. It took them about 2-3 years to identify a niche product to focus on. But after that the company has been on a ride. They have a rich portfolio of over 40 customers including Cafe Coffee Day, Yamaha, Havells, etc.