Venu Gopalakrishnan 

LITMUS 7-Founder,CEO

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He smiles like a child. But there is always something behind his smile — either the happiness of a successful man or the curiosity of a genius. I didn’t realize it until I was halfway through our talk at his office in Smart City, Kochi. 

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When I reached his office, I saw him walking across the floor — he seemed to be in a flow. Lost somewhere, Dreaming. I followed him to his cabin, not too big and not too small. 

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We sat down for a short discussion. Here was a man who dared to dream big. Extraordinarily big. He had made some of the leading brands his clients with logical solutions in customer behavior understanding in retail, and by creating one of the best solutions in performance engineering.

 

As we entered the discussion, the flow changed. From a technologist I wanted to meet, I started seeing a philosopher. That was not a simple transition. It was huge. Only a philosopher can be this fearless, I felt. 

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He remembered how he acquired Walmart. It all started with a cold email — a long one. He discovered the pain point of a company that they were trying to resolve. He sent an email with a detailed plan, and in three days, she replied. Yes, they were opting for his solutions. He sent a teammate to the US, and in eight months, the problem was solved. They didn’t change much except optimizing the code a bit. But that made a huge difference in the performance of the e-commerce portal. 

Naturally, I wondered: what value proposition was he offering to a global client who chose a small organization based in Kochi to resolve their performance issues? I dared to ask him. 

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“It is all about the way you see things. If you can see things differently and find a solution that works well for the client, and if you can work out a plan that resonates with the persona of the brand, you can crack any deal. No matter where you are. Back then, they were getting services at $80–90 per hour; we charged them $160 per hour. Still, they chose us.” 

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“When we first approached Sanford, they didn’t take us seriously. But as we progressed, the synergy started working. Now it’s almost a decade since we shook hands, and that handshake has never been broken.” 

 

If you can see the future, you can see the present 

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Technology is irrationally metamorphosing every decade — changing almost all segments of life. Staying alive is difficult; forget about staying ahead. He did. How? 

“I am really passionate about the industry, and I keep chasing it. What I always do is ask abstracts. It is always beyond the product–customer combination. Brand and engagement. Consider any industry — it thrives on customer needs. The more sincerely a brand meets those needs, the more new benchmarks it sets. So, it is essentially important to understand the customer — how he behaves, what he wants. We followed him through every channel. He is inspired by friends, family, fans, and followers at every purchase decision. So, it is essentially a knowledge business — how to interact with the key stakeholders from point to point. 

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We seek products and once sold, we forget them. That is a horrible way of handling things. That is actually where the relationship begins. At every point of the purchase cycle, we should inspire them and engage them. Once you acquire a customer’s data and you lose him before the closure, that is where your opportunity lies. You must motivate him with breakthrough ideas and engage him until he comes back and buys again.” 

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To meet all these retail requirements, they created a digital brain. Very consumer focused or rather people focused. “Tech is building its own intelligence, and it helps in building long-lasting relationships. Our digital brain was fully built by 2017, and we were about to launch it when OpenAI hit the market. For quite some time, it was difficult to…”