The Black Box Got Grey Cells

He is most vocal against E Commerce and strong advocate of ‘Make in India’ campaign. Kshitij Kotak, the innovator of Gre@cells BlackBox never thought that he would become a successful entrepreneur. Started career as a Computer Engineer, Kshitij is now one of the respected names in the IT industry. In a candid interaction with DQ Channels, Mr. Kotak recounts his journey from a hardware engineer to an entrepreneur.

Initial days of struggle

Becoming an entrepreneur was not Kshitij’ ultimate goal. He recalls that he had no choice but to become an entrepreneur. Working in Zenith Computers Ltd. he had successfully completed an assignment of installing systems in Reserve bank of India despite stiff opposition from Workers’ Union and threats of physical harm.Kshitij recalls that he got immediate salary hike for his performance. However, he could not enjoy the increment for a long as he had to quit his job for personal reasons.

“I left Zenith in 1994 as my ailing father would require me at any time of day and a 9 to 5 job was impossible.At that time, computer hardware and services were immensely profitable and my stint at Zenith was a tremendous learning experience, so I decided to start computer manufacturing unit”, Kshitij says, adding, “though I had realized by then that even though hardware was expensive and profitable, data is invaluable. That is where I should be.”

Starting his entrepreneurial journey as a computer assembler and software developer Kshitij stated computer manufacturing unit in the outskirts of Mumbai. Initial days were good but after some time he faced huge losses in the business.

Being firm on ethics, Kshitij never wanted to indulge in tax evasion and other unscrupulous business practices. He never entertained corrupt government officials for concessions and approvals. Rather he accepted to incur losses.

“We incurred huge loss in assembling for one and half years. The only thing which survived us was services like server implementation and data recovery. I realised that computer manufacturing was a total flop. It was only because of our BlackBox servers, networking, software support and data recovery that we could sustain”, he recalls.

“I shut down my manufacturing unit in 1998 with a clear understanding that I do not want to get into dirty business of corruption and tax evasion. Managing wrong things is not my cup of tea”, he says proudly before adding after a long pause, “Not even today.”

He was convinced data is where future lay for him.

Innovation of Gre@cells BlackBox

The idea of BlackBox was conceived from data recovery as data is the most important part of any enterprise. However, Kshitij wanted to do something beyond data recovery. He innovated BlackBox in 1997 that would not only recover the data but also provide continuous protection against data loss.

“In 1997 we did something very funny. We built our first Linux server PCQ on Linux 2.0 naming it BlackBox inspired by aircraft black box that would keep data safe even when aircraft crashes into flames or on to ocean floor.

“We even got it painted black”, he says with a chuckle, “I remember I took computer case from my factory to a unit that made Lord Ganesh time-pieces for spray painting; after all, a BlackBox has to be black in colour and all cases available at the time were white”

“In 2001 we built high availability server mirroring solution using 2 BlackBox servers that would deliver data on-demand so that businesses can conduct business without interruption.”

Today this solution is Gre@cells BlackBox Data Square, acomplete solution for data on demand or on demand computing.

“But at that time we never thought we would one day build it as a product”, says Kshitij.

Core focus of his business is high availability and data lost protection powered byGre@cells BlackBox for continuous data protection and instant data recovery.

“Our aim is to keep the organisation running. We make sure that if servers goes down, data is available instantly on second server or external hard disk or off-site anywhere across the globe”, he says.

Since its innovation, Black Box has come a long way in data protection.

“Now it is Gre@cells BlackBox”, he pronounces Gre@cells as Great Cells, “We would be number one high availability and disaster recovery system in 5 years powering businesses, datacentres and trans-continental cloud services, that is why we are moving from box to cells.”

Kshitij considers that biggest opportunity lies within impossibility.

“Change is not brought about by the genius who believes in the impossible but by the brave who believe impossible can be changed”, he says.

Advice to the young entrepreneurs

“Pursuing dreams is easier than giving up; running is always easier without excess baggage of regret for having given up”, he says it with an impossible conviction. His advice to the young entrepreneurs, “Start business in a vertical with great business ‘potential’, not in a vertical that is doing great business. And make money a purpose till you find a higher purpose of your life.”

“If you want to do it right, don’t try to do it perfect. Live your own life, and live the life you own”, he says.

Family a big wealth in Life

Family is the first and top most priority of Kshitij Kotak and he is ready to give up anything for his family members. Kshitij considers his father his role model. Married for 21 years, he says that his wife is a tough person who stood firm behind him during his struggle.

“It is difficult to live with a man possessed with impossible goals to achieve before he turns 50. My wife is a tough person. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t have survived me”, he chuckles.

He has a scholar daughter who regularly tops her college, but Kshitij is not very happy about it.

“I wish she was less studious and not so fiercely competitive like her father. I always tell her: marks don’t make you, you make a mark on the world by what you do”, he says.

Aspires to become a professional public speaker and writer

Mr. Kotak has a passion of public speaking and promoting leadership thought. He is also fond of travelling and writing. He aspires to become a novelist.

“A successful novelist”, he laughs, “I hope the two books I am writing on completely different subjects go on to become best-sellers”. On prodding further he reveals,

“My first book: Swear By The Deep Sea is story of a middle aged professional who loses confidence in himself and fears he will be discarded in a fiercely competitive business world. How he fights his demons to maintain his leadership position – what I speak at seminars in an entertaining manner is the same thought leadership I have here as a lucid entertaining story”.

His second novel is about a thriller story based on super natural powers. He says both of his books will hopefully publish in 2015.

“I will never retire, just settle in Panchagani to devote myself to my hobbies”, says Kotak; “keep writing books, travel worldwide, improve lives with my seminars and workshops to inspire people to break free from clutches of self-limiting beliefs. I have found my greater purpose.”, he smiles.