At 17, we were taking board exams…he was building products ahead of the times — Varun Shoor #JeenaIsiKaNaamHain
2001 was a landmark year because we had completed twelve months in the new millennium. Systems were still running, and the world hadn’t collapsed as many thought it would, due to Y2K. India was at the helm of solving the Y2K challenge, our techies had massively grown in stature, and the world started to see the nation in a new light.
Against this backdrop, a 17-year-old from Jalandhar — a small town back then — has a vision to start a software product company. The word “startup” wasn’t commonplace, and that’s exactly what he did. He started up, and it was “bootstrapped”.
Varun Shoor and Kayako were two inseparable identities. While exiting after seventeen years was rewarding enough, but must have been very painful, emotionally. Truly, a Grit Story.
In 2005, I was in Chandigarh for a NASSCOM event, and the SME focus was gathering momentum. As a 21-year-old entrepreneur, Varun had already made waves, garnered plaudits, including from the Government. Kayako, a help-desk management product company, was on a high-growth trajectory, having clocked annual revenue in the range of 18–20 crores in about 4 years.
I got in touch with him over email, and since I had a passion for products, we connected well and became good friends. Through NASSCOM’s initiatives, I tried to extend support, and Varun was very appreciative of the efforts. He was rather introverted back then, and it wasn’t easy to draw him out to make him come on stage, despite having created such a powerful narrative.
He was very proud of his office…he had every reason to be. One day, he invited me over, and I still remember the red-carpet treatment I got. The entire organization was super-excited that someone from NASSCOM was visiting them and left no stone unturned to make me feel special. I saw that day how painstakingly he had not only built a great product, but also a vibrant culture.
A few years later, he opened an office in Gurgaon, a massive one, and it resonated with the ethos — a great company in motion, obsessively driven to be ahead of the times. Lunch with him that day showed me another side of Varun. While we were seated, he went into technical details of the cutlery placed on the table. Varun does not have a very strong formal educational background, but it has worked for him. He compensates through his natural curiosity about everything, backed by a razor-sharp mind which is always in a problem-solving mode. Give him anything and he will break it down into small chunks, solve each piece and stitch them all to give you the true picture.
That day, he explained every piece of cutlery and its “right” to be at the table. He also went to great lengths to explain the ergonomics of his office infrastructure — lighting, lunchroom layout, etc. Once again, I was reminded of his structured approach to everything, be it as mundane as a piece of cutlery or something critically important like customer feedback. I think formal education in some ways shackles our thinking process, where experience does a better job if one is receptive enough. Also, what struck me was his passion for the company. It was not only about a great product and people, but equally so about the physical space and layout, which had a personal touch.
2012 to 2015 were very difficult years for Varun. He was embroiled in legal matters that threatened to obliterate everything that he had built. We have all played the Snakes & Ladders game as kids. On block 98–2 blocks away from the victory line — sits a snake menacingly. If you fall there, you will be taken to block 2, which essentially means your journey is wiped out by one cast of the dice. Varun knew it was coming, and with grit, he navigated this venomous situation with caution to eventually touch the victory line. In many ways, he underwent a massive transformation to emerge stronger and more resilient.
In those years, he saw a friend in me and shared his challenges, but I couldn’t do much to help him in a concrete manner. I feel honoured that he trusted me and could open up.
Varun is a quintessential Punjabi, so he is a foodie and large-hearted as well. He opened his doors — his house in Dalhousie — and hosted us most graciously, which was such a warm gesture. His generosity knows no bounds.
The Varun I met in 2005 and the one who “pays it forward” to the community today are different in some ways. He is no longer reluctant to take the stage and articulate what he wants to say. He contributes hugely, and at SaaSBoomi, we always look up to him for the rare insights that only he can bring in. I have known him for 20 years now, and what’s not changed one bit is his passion for great products and a strong belief that India has it all to build world-class and truly path-breaking products.
Varun, you have been a dear friend; your life has swayed like a pendulum, which has enriched you beyond what the Ivy League can ever teach.
Stay strong and keep inspiring young people to think ahead of the times, fight for what is rightfully theirs, and build cutting-edge products to take India to #1 position globally.
Today, the two Indias are bridged — small towns and metropolitan cities. It’s the Varun Shoors of this world who built that bridge, so raising a toast to such dynamic minds who aren’t ever constrained by geography.
