Debarshi Chaudhury is the Founder and CEO of Quantilus Innovation Inc., an NYC-based technology solutions firm providing software development, systems integration, and strategy/implementation consulting services. Clients range from NBCUniversal and Macy’s to The United States Postal Office and Deloitte.
Along with Quantilus, Debarshi also owns multiple other ventures. These include eNamix, an IT staffing and recruiting firm, and Appliqant, an automated video interviewing platform. Debarshi’s most recent project is Showmetry, a hybrid and virtual events platform where he is the Co-Founder.
Debarshi has more than 20 years of experience building software, systems, and processes with clients in the education, publishing, finance, insurance, and government sectors. Debarshi holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and a B.Tech in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering. He also is a member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and the Forbes Technology Council.
What is Quantilus all about?
Quantilus creates custom software and technology solutions for companies in a variety of industries. Quantilus projects range from building websites and mobile apps to developing complex back-end systems that help clients run their businesses. We specialize in research and development and bring the benefits of cutting-edge technology to clients while sheltering them from the risks.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I grew up and received my education in India. In the year 2000, I moved to New York City after securing a job right out of college. However, soon after, the economy collapsed due to 9/11. Working a 9 am-6 pm job never sounded appealing to me, so I quickly veered towards entrepreneurship and started my first company. It was a spinoff of the company I was already working for, which was a tech company that operated in the media and entertainment space. Fast forward a few years, and that company has since grown into the business we are known as today, Quantilus. Throughout our tenure, we have honed our services and expanded into additional domains, including publishing, government, finance, and education.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
The Great Recession of 2008. Businesses were tanking and almost all of our clients were tightening budgets and laying off employees. We were a relatively new company and lacked the resources to support the company during the crisis. Since we didn’t have many client projects at the time, it allowed us to work on our internal operations. Therefore, we trimmed unnecessary expenses and established several processes Quantilus could use moving forward. It was a hard time because we were not making money, but it allowed us to plan, prepare, and eventually scale Quantilus when the recession eventually started to ease up.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from it?
The biggest challenge for me was thinking I could do everything. In the beginning, I was deeply involved in every facet of the business. However, that was not sustainable in the long term. I then brought on new talent that I trusted with owning various business functions, such as marketing and accounting. This allowed me to pursue new business projects and deliver on them, which I enjoy doing. So learning to better delegate and trust my team was essential.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
Every day, I try to speak with one new person (it does not have to be verbal) – someone I have never had a conversation with before. Business is about networking. Every person you talk to in a professional capacity has the potential to be, at some point, a client, vendor, employee, or business partner. Therefore, the more people you connect with, the greater the chances of finding those people when you need them. One new person per day is my goal, but your goal could be higher.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
Profits do not equate to cash-flow. This is a basic premise of financial accounting, but as an entrepreneur, you start off thinking that you’re doing great if you are making a profit. You do not realize that even though you are making profits, the money does not come into your bank account for weeks or months after the work is completed. In the meantime, you still have to pay employees and vendors, and the timings never really synchronize in your favor.
When you’re just starting, no one is giving you money (unless you come from a wealthy family). It’s almost impossible to get money from other sources like banks/lines of credit when you are a startup. So, it is very easy to get into cash flow trouble when you are a startup, even if you are making a healthy profit on the books. It took Quantilus around five years of being in business to truly get out of the cash-flow hole.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Most of Quantilus’ business comes from word of mouth and repeat customers. The reason for this is because our clients speak very highly of our services. Even when we reach out to potential clients who do not know of us, they often talk with their peers to find someone who does, and then they recommend our services. So our most effective marketing strategy has been to deliver on our projects with a very high level of quality. Everything else that we do builds on that core fact.
If you only had 1000 dollars to start a new startup, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
Education and training. I would get training in a growth area or trend that interests me. I would start becoming an expert in that particular area, which would influence what kind of startup I am creating.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Similar to the last question, education. Ensure you are very educated, comfortable, and can speak like an expert on the subject that your business is built around. You cannot come across as a ‘newbie.’
Also, learn to delegate. It is very easy to get in the weeds and lose focus on what’s most important, which for new entrepreneurs is almost always garnering new business and delivering on those projects. So, find good people to delegate to…this does not have to be limited to employees. For example, it could be a business partner or vendor.
Besides the obvious social media tools available, what are the top 3 most useful tools or resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
- We use Appliqant for our hiring purposes, as it provides automated video job interviews.
- Microsoft Teams brings all our departments and teams together to communicate, collaborate, and unify processes, all in one platform.
- Lastly, we use Jira, a project management and task tracking tool that has been instrumental in keeping our projects on schedule as we grow in size.
How is running a tech company different than what you thought it would be?
When I first started, my job centered around the technology solutions Quantilus offered. However, as the company grew and my responsibilities evolved, I became more hands-off on the technology. My work shifted from working on particular projects to focusing on the people involved in the projects. So now I am running a business that happens to be in the technology field. And making sure that we have the right people to deliver on the technology.
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best place to get in contact with me is through LinkedIn – Debarshi Chaudhury. Email also works dc@quantilus.com. Lastly, feel free to connect with Quantilus on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
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