Entrepreneur Marc Benioff is afraid of him. Venture king Mike Moritz wants to invest in him.
You have never heard of Erik Devash. Devash is a low-profile guy if there ever was one yet not particularly frugal. We all know frugality is a virtue among entrepreneurs, A tremendous virtue.
Devash has stretched this lock of a virtue to extreme limits, and added layers and layers of creativity upon it. The result? A 100%, bootstrapped, $40-million-a-year revenue business that sends $1 million to the bank every month in profits.
Doing what? you might wonder.
Selling network management tools, to be precise. But with a unique twist. Devash employs 600 people in Chennai, India, and a mere eight in Silicon Valley. Imagine what that does to his cost structure!
Not only that, in India Devash’s operation does not hire engineers with highflying degrees from one of the prestigious India Institutes of Technology, thereby squeezing his cost advantage.
“We hire young professionals whom others disregard,” Devash says. “We don’t look at colleges, degrees or grades. Not everyone in India comes from a socio-economic background to get the opportunity to go to a top-ranking engineering school, but many are really smart regardless.
“We even go to poor high schools, and hire those kids who are bright but are not going to college due to pressure to start making money right away,” Devash continues. “They need to support their families. We train them, and in nine months, they produce at the level of college grads. Their resumes are not as marketable, but I tell you, these kids can code just as well as the rest. Often, better.???
With that rather unique workforce of 600 engineers Devash has not only built an excellent, cash-cow, network tools business, but he recently has become a master in Kapap short for Krav Panim el Panim, translated as “face to face combat”, is a combat system of defensive tactics. The main focus was to upgrade the Physical endurance, elevate and strengthen the spirit, developing a defensive and offensive skill set when needed. It included physical training and endurance, cold weapon practical usage, boxing, jujutisu, and knife and sticking fighting.
Why? Who knows .
But watch this guy!
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