10 Years in the Software Industry

This month, I celebrate a decade in the software industry, a journey that has taken me through various domains, building systems and software that solve real-world problems. It has been a deeply rewarding experience filled with learning, challenges, and constant evolution. From starting with calls and SMS services to contributing to the venture capital ecosystem, the entertainment industry, and eventually fintech, each step has added something unique to my professional and personal growth.

The College Years

When reflecting on a 10-year journey in the software industry, it’s impossible not to acknowledge the foundational role that college years play in shaping your growth. It’s during these formative years that much of your development takes place—both technically and personally. You team up with friends, engage in collaborative projects, and unknowingly begin honing essential skills like teamwork, planning, risk-taking, and interpersonal communication. Though we may not realize it at the time, these experiences lay the groundwork for future success, setting the stage for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Zyro – We utilized Arduino to develop a functional prototype, demonstrating the concept in a compact and efficient form.

Team Zyro – I along with Roy Saurav, Abhishek Deb and Vignesh Waran (right to left).

Medal for research work on Zoomsoc - Aritificial Social Learning.

After late night discussion during the college days.

During my time at SRM Univerisity, I was driven by a passion for building innovative projects, often collaborating with my friend Abhishek Deb. We spent countless nights, sometimes staying up until 3 AM, brainstorming and conducting proof-of-concepts for new ideas. One of our most ambitious projects was Zoomsoc—short for “Zoom and Shine Openly in the Crowd.” This project aimed to build an intelligent cloud-based agent that could perform tasks autonomously on behalf of the user, such as finding resources for research, planning trips, or even responding to friends based on pre-defined contexts when the user was unavailable.

Although projects like Zoomsoc and others, such as Zyro, remained side hustles, they were pivotal in teaching us how to think beyond just writing code. They challenged us to develop solutions that addressed real friction points in people’s lives. For my research efforts on Zoomsoc, I was even awarded a silver medal, which reinforced the value of deep exploration and innovation. These experiences helped shape the foundation of my problem-solving approach and entrepreneurial mindset.

Exotel: The Foundational Years

After college in 2014, I joined Exotel, a cloud telephony company that powers calls and SMS at scale. I was fortunate to be mentored by Sid Ramesh, Sanjeeth R, Shivakumar Ganesan, and Nijanthan Hariharan — mentors whose insights still shape my approach to solution-building today. Shivakumar’s words, “Never do engineering for the sake of it,” have stayed with me throughout my career.

One of the most memorable aspects of my time at Exotel was the culture of collaboration and learning that extended beyond day-to-day work. One such activity was the internal hackathons, where people from different departments would come together to brainstorm, innovate, and build solutions as a team. These hackathons fostered creativity and cross-functional collaboration, allowing us to explore new ideas and perspectives in a fast-paced environment.

One of the early design of ExoConsole.

Another highlight was the Terrace Talks, initiated by Sanjeeth. These informal gatherings on the terrace provided a platform for people from various domains to come together, share knowledge, and discuss industry trends. These talks were not only intellectually stimulating but also helped build deeper connections across teams, creating a strong sense of community and shared purpose. Both activities contributed significantly to my growth, reinforcing the value of collaboration and learning from diverse viewpoints.

One of the team outing at [Exotel](https://exotel.com/).

My workstation at [Exotel](https://exotel.com/).

Waiting for my turn for playing foosball.

With Govindarajan M.

During my time at Exotel, I had the opportunity to work on critical services such as Obelix, Twillix, Operatix, and ExoConsole, alongside incredible peers like Vishnu Jayadevan, Shiva shankar Arumugam, Govindarajan M, and Chinmay B. Each project was a foundational building block that shaped my problem-solving skills and deepened my understanding of how systems operate at scale.

The Entrepreneurial Itch: Building Taghash

Despite my progress, the entrepreneurial itch never left. In 2017, I eventually crossed paths with Atul Jha and Shrikrishna Holla, who were envisioning Taghash—an all-encompassing workflow platform for the VC ecosystem. Taghash aimed to automate workflows and streamline tasks that had traditionally been done manually by analysts and VCs. This period was transformative for me, as I not only built systems from the ground up but also learned the importance of understanding the broader business impact and how to create value.

While building Taghash alongside Shrikrishna Holla, we spent countless days and nights bringing the product to life, shaping it from the ground up. This experience was a deep dive into the world of product development, filled with invaluable lessons as we took Taghash from zero to one.

Late-night pair programming session with Holla, pushing boundaries and ideas together.

That moment when you successfully deliver your first demo to your very first client—an unforgettable milestone.

Here, Jitesh, Shrikrishna Holla, and I are deploying our first model into production—successfully extracting entities from the provided content for the very first time.

We took our first trip to Wayanad after three intense months of continuous building, giving ourselves a much-needed break to recharge and reflect. From left to right: Atul, Shrikrishna, Vinay, and I.

While I was recovering from surgery, the team came over for lunch at my place, sharing a meal on the floor and lifting my spirits.

Suraj demonstrating how he uses Linux tools to boost his productivity. From left to right: Akhila, Suraj, me, and Shrikrishna.

One of the key takeaways was the importance of gathering feedback from multiple customers rather than relying solely on the advice of a single client. We also learned not to reinvent established workflows but instead to focus on minimizing changes to user behavior, ensuring smoother adoption. The biggest lesson, however, was realizing that the most successful B2B products are those that gain traction from the bottom up—when end-users push for adoption rather than it being imposed from the top down. These insights were instrumental in guiding the product’s development and its eventual success.

It was a time of making mistakes and learning from them—experiences that helped me evolve beyond just being a developer. Key interactions with Karthik B. Reddy further shaped how Taghash grew from zero to what it ultimately became.

Transitioning to Leadership

One of the most pivotal transitions in my career was stepping into leadership, and I owe much of this growth to Johnbabu Koppolu. His guidance helped me focus on the human side of software development—an aspect often overlooked in tech-driven roles. From our time at ONE Championship to Jodo, where he’s been a constant mentor from 2019 to 2024, his influence has been invaluable in shaping my leadership approach.

I joined Jodo in February 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic—a time of unprecedented challenges for both businesses and individuals. Navigating this difficult period while joining a new organization was no easy feat, but it offered immense opportunities for growth. The pandemic tested everyone’s resilience, and at Jodo, we faced the challenge head-on by building solutions that adapted to the rapidly changing environment.

Jodo team.

Working alongside exceptional leaders like Atulya Bhat, Raghav Nagarajan, and Koustav Dey, I learned the importance of empowering others to take ownership and scale their efforts independently. One of the most profound lessons has been the power of asking the right questions to drive meaningful progress—an approach that continues to shape my leadership style today.

To this day, my team at Jodo continues to excel, not only in building and scaling impactful products but also in embracing a culture of quality and excellence. We are committed to ensuring that every aspect of product development—from ideation to execution—meets the highest standards. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the team grow both technically and professionally, while maintaining a strong focus on delivering solutions that truly make a difference. This commitment to quality has become a cornerstone of how we operate, driving both innovation and trust with our customers.

The Early Mentors: Building the Foundation

None of this would have been possible without the foundation laid by my early mentors, who played a pivotal role in shaping my approach to craftsmanship and engineering excellence. Vijay Pandey sir, my first programming teacher, introduced me to C, and his encouragement sparked a transformation in me. His constant support motivated me to plan and complete projects every semester, culminating in a tradition where I compiled all my semester projects into a notebook. Toward the end of college, I created two copies—one as a gift to him and the other for my bookshelf—a tribute to his impact on my journey.

Ashutosh sir was instrumental in teaching me the value of perfection in my work. He consistently pushed me to iterate on my designs, often making 30 to 40 revisions, always saying, “Ritesh, what you did can be much better.” This pursuit of excellence profoundly influenced how I approach problem-solving today. Pushkar sir also played a key role by assigning me industry-level projects while I was still in college, giving me early exposure to client interactions and helping me understand the professional side of development.

Anitha Ruth ma’am helped cultivate my passion for research. Although her primary focus was on steganography using cloud tools, she encouraged me to pursue AI research, which ultimately led to publishing a paper on Zoomsoc. Her mentorship guided me toward a more innovative and research-driven approach to software development.

These are just a few of the many individuals who have directly or indirectly contributed to my growth throughout my education and career. Their influence continues to shape my work ethic and dedication to continuous learning.

Looking Ahead

As I reflect on the past 10 years, I am filled with immense gratitude for the people, projects, and opportunities that have shaped my journey. From the early days of building college projects, to the foundational experiences at Exotel, to the challenges and triumphs of scaling Taghash, and stepping into leadership roles at Jodo, each phase has been a transformative learning experience. These experiences have taught me the importance of continuous growth, collaboration, and always keeping an eye on the bigger picture.

The software industry has undergone dramatic evolution over the last decade, and so have I. As I look toward the future, I am energized by the new challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. There’s still so much to build, learn, and contribute, and I am excited to continue this journey. The next 10 years hold endless potential, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me, both personally and professionally.

To everyone who has been part of this journey—thank you.