Treading the Pebbles of Success

He can be defined as a person who loves to be distinct, far sighted and a person who marches to a different drumbeat. Nityanand Shetty, Managing Director of Essen Vision always believed in thinking out of the Box and doing things out of the ordinary. Always choosing a different path and exploring a plethora of opportunities in an ever changing  Enterprise Security space. In a candid interaction with DQ Channels, he unfolded various aspects in his journey of life.

Always an Enterprise guy

Shetty says “In retrospect, when I look back at my journey, I am shocked at some of the decisions I took so early on in my career, the strength of character I displayed and the  conviction with which I sailed through good and bad times in my life. I went through my journey being challenged by my own intellect, not stopping to think of consequences or how my story would unfold”, he smiles.

Shetty always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Though he comes from a family of professionals, he chose a different career option. “I was always an Entrepreneur at heart. My simple dream was to lead an organization” he chuckles.

While pursuing his education in industrial electronics in late 80s, Shetty was posted in L & T for industrial induction training. During his training he worked under several computer projects. The training helped him to make his base strong in hardware.

After his graduation he joined a computer hardware company as customer support executive. During his tenure he got opportunities to see some of the sensitive defense and science centers in the country.

“This experience shaped me as a person. We were handlingthe entire VSNL building andTIFR in Mumbai.  I was posted in Thiruvanantapuramwhere I got an opportunity to see the Rockets in the space centers and interact with scientists. It was a very proud moment for me as a young Engineer. I was handling the entire Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.”

Shetty says “My first stint molded me as person and ingrained a sense of professionalism, hard work and most importantly made me challenge stereotypes.

Entrepreneur with different approach

After working for almost three and half years, Shettydecided to start his own venture. He partnered with his friend and they started a company named ‘Gray Systems’. Limited capital, instant success and a flurry of orders meant finance would be a major issue.

Shetty says “because of limited capital in starting the new venture, like any other budding first generation entrepreneur, cash flow was a challenge for us. But I was quick to understand that confidence and talent made up for this in big measure. Also, I realized I thrived on challenges and had a great appetite for business and risk”.

After being in the business for nearly two years, Shetty realized that the assembled hardware market would soon get saturated in a year or two. Excise duties were very high during those days so tax evasion was rampant. But Shetty was against unethical business practices.  At the same time the IT industry was grappling with viruses and worms. Shetty was quick to see the scope to diversify the business. I was farsighted to see that anti-virus software and our hardware competence would go hand in hand and would open many a door, it was our ticket to the enterprise world.” he says.

“Having already tackled the virus problems at VSNL early on, I was quick on the take, I knew this was going to be a niche and interesting segment to be in, with huge prospects and staying invested would yield great dividends in the times to come.”, he recalls.

To feel the market Shetty thought the best place to begin was to become  Dr. Solomon’s Anti-virus partner.  Little did he know that this would be turning point in his life because in time, not only would this move establish him as a big player in the Security industry but also this would be where he would meet his business and later on his life partner.

However, as things would pan out, his current partner was not open to change, in what seemed like a business that was already doing so well, he did not want to rock the boat. So amicably, they parted ways and Shettyformed  his company Essen Vision in 1995.

High and lows in Essen Vision

Essen Vision is a venture of Shetty and his wife Seema. Like any other start ups, Essen Vision also wentthrough many high and lows. However, the couple translated challenges into opportunities with their dedication and hard work.

Initially,Shettysold only Dr Solomon's Antivirus and later moved to a competing product. The decision proved to be risky, as this product did not get him desired result and Essen Vision dropped it .However, this move proved expensive, as EV lost market share and the initial edge.

“I could not sell as much of the competing product due to its limitations, confidence levels dropped and for the first time I had begun to self doubt. I went back to partnering with Dr. Solomon only to discover that  Mcafee had taken over Dr.Solomon”, he recalls.

These two major jolts in the business taught him a lesson never put all your eggs in one basket and never rely on a single product.

“Those were lessons to me that I had to diversify and create competition within, I picked up Symantec and Trend Micro. We became multi brand ”, he says.

But things did not stop there, he soon realized that the order of the day was to Challenge and re-challenge his thoughts and strategies.Shetty did not want to do ordinary anti-virus selling. He wanted to be different from other players in the market. So he moved towards specialization narrowing down his product selection. Differentiating Essen Vision from his competitors, Shetty says the kind of services and support that Essen Vision offers to its customers makes it first choice of enterprises.

“I have realized we have niche for ourselves today and I am pitched against the best”, he says proudly.

After having set-up Essen Vision, applied the idea that once comfortable, uproot, renurture, question and re-organize.  This bought him to his second career, this time at the doors of the Hospitality industry.

Distinct in Hotel industry as well

Shetty’s are popularly known for their Hotel business. Shetty is also not an exception to this trend. He has partnered in the restaurant “Pebbles”which is rated on Zomato and Burrp as one of the best fine dining restaurants in Mumbai. Like in Enterprise Security Space, he has differentiated himself from other restaurants here as well. Pebbles is the first restaurant to introduce IPADS as  Dining Menu and the guest can order his food directly from the IPADS.  Due to its fabulous dining experience, Pebbles is the first choice among foodies.

Success Mantra: Be Different

Shetty believes that everyone in the world should have his own identity. He advises new comers to find their own identity and develop their own style of work. He says that adversities will always come and go but one should not allow them to grip your mind with fear.

“I am stronger in facing adversities.  Like everyone else, at times, even my mind is gripped with fear. Those are the times I close my eyes and remember my loved ones,those who are special to me and I ask myself if my love for them is more or my fear and I instantly recuperate”, he says. This mantra has always worked for me.

Continues to be different

Shetty has categorically decided to take up projects that deserves his attention. He is working on some international projects. He says that there is huge potential in data leakage preventions in the security space. His company has done some huge DLP implementations. Along with that he strongly believes in also doing community work. He finished his stint as the Chairman of ISODA – the premium software Association of India. Presently, he is the serving the Bunts community by being on the Board as the Professional Advisor for all IT Related Projects for four colleges run by Bunts Sangha.

“I keep on doing different things and give it my own take. Challenging my strengths and earning my stripes”, he says.