When you make that decision to start a new business, it’s normally both exciting and terrifying in equal measure. For the co-founders at Ventriks the stars were aligned when we got together. My good friend and ex-colleague Kowshik Rao has just ended his last consultancy assignment and looking ahead for his next opportunity, and I had sold my previous company DataGenic and was itching for a new challenge.

When you have the initial conversations on strategy, market competition, technology, architecture, funding, business plan, staffing, client profiles, etc., – although all important – nothing is more important than the co-founder’s single mindedness in building a successful company.