‘Ambani might have the money, we have the technology and innovation’

Vikram Kumar – founder and CEO, Letstrack – recently relocated his India operation to Gurugram, into a swanky new office, a move that’s a reflection of how well the startup is doing. Offering real-time tracking via GPS, Letstrack currently has more than two lakh users, its customer base increasing 15% month on month. It’s all about mindset, says Kumar, who boasts 18 years of professional experience, as a consultant in the telecom industry and developer of software. “We are crazy about what we do and how we do it – it’s the vision that drives me,” he says. 
Embracing the experience (and aspiring big)

It’s like you have a dream and the journey automatically happens. In 2010, I formed my first startup, MPay Global, which was like a Paytm for B2B consumers in England. We have businesses ranging from distribution to software development, to, now, a successful tracking venture. Now my 200% focus is on making Letstrack the next multi-billion-dollar company. There has been a lot of struggle, but tomorrow if you read my book, it won’t be interesting without the struggle. And in any startup, the biggest learning is that you have less money and more work to do.

Thinking bold/acting smart

Whenever I am abroad, people ask me about the digital growth of India. If you have 100 people and you want to solve their problems, you can find a solution, but when you have 100 people (hypothetically) being added every week, the problem grows multifold – it becomes very difficult. But you have to start somewhere and the government has taken the initiative. Last Friday, we were in the UK talking about the data policies of the Indian government; we were part of the panel and realised we can’t control the entire thing, we can only make certain policies. But, again, everything can be better with a measured approach.

No cutting corners on safety

When we came to India, 70 companies were already doing the same business. We came with IoT (Internet of Things) technology and artificial intelligence (AI) – and a new approach. Out of these 70 companies, we reached number one in 14 months, and became Asia’s biggest in 24 months. My vision is to change the world and I believe tracking is required by everybody. Because, safety is a big issue in India and Letstrack helps overcome the lack of it by providing complete security solutions, from personal safety and security for corporates, to providing devices for cars and bikes, even solutions for the fleet – anything moving on the road requires tracking.

Taking on the big boys?

We have established our name in tracking, we want to now establish our name in smart cameras through use of AI. Somebody like Mr. Ambani, who is planning to get into ‘connected cars’, I want to tell them that Netflix felled Blockbuster, owned by Walmart, with a billion dollars in their pocket. Mr Ambani is planning to come into the IoT space, (but) we will show him how to sell connected homes and cars. You might have the money but we have the technology and innovation.