Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Conversation with Druva Co-Founder Jaspreet Singh (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the doo-wop-is-now-de-dupe dept.

This was originally going to be an interview about the state of enterprise-level backup software in an increasingly edge computing-focused world, but we rapidly drifted into talking about how Druva started in Pune (near Bangalore) and ended up moving to Silicon Valley. We hear plenty about American software companies moving to India, but not a lot about Indian software companies moving here. Druva had good reasons for the move, the chief one being a financing deal with Sequoia Capital. Aside from that, though, Jaspreet says the talent pool -- not just developers but software marketing people and other important staffers -- is more concentrated in Silicon Valley than almost anywhere else in the world. 'It's like Hollywood for geeks,' Jaspreet says. This doesn't mean business is necessarily easy in the USA: Jaspreet ended up laying off his entire staff. Twice. And he made other mistakes as a young, new CEO bringing a company to life in a crowded field.

Those mistakes, which Jaspreet shares freely with us, are like a business school 'Start-Up Pitfalls' class. You may never want to do your own startup, but if you're a developer or otherwise involved with the software industry, there's a good chance that you'll have a chance to work for one at some point. And if you have that chance, you'll be glad you watched this video (or read the transcript) before you take the startup plunge.

39 comments

  1. Maybe by sexconker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Robin Miller for Slashdot: This is Jaspreet Singh, he is the CEO and founder of Druva, and Druva is working on... describe it... the edge of what?’

    Jaspreet Singh : Druva, the way I would say it is that, without putting too much marketing into it, is a convergence of data production right, we’re trying to converge backup DR availability governance into a single solution in the cloud. Today cloud is synonymous with endpoints, a solution predominantly works on endpoints and being at the edge but the idea, the vision is to take it towards a core, eventually towards a big mainstream or mainframe servers, internet to data centers eventually, but it’s a convergence of backup archival, e-discovery, availability for data at the edge.

    Maybe the reason you've laid off your entire staff twice is because you don't know what it is you're doing. I've heard more coherent answers from the Obama Administration.

    1. Re:Maybe by neminem · · Score: 3, Funny

      Needs more facilitation of synergy paradigms.

    2. Re:Maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll buy 10,000 shares!
      ~90s Venture Capitalist Man

    3. Re:Maybe by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

      Well, one thing going for him. He wins at Bingo.

    4. Re:Maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder if they use Java.

    5. Re:Maybe by willworkforbeer · · Score: 1

      What? No backwards revenue overflow dynamics?

      --
      Pretending this is my office full of bitter coworkers..
    6. Re:Maybe by metlin · · Score: 2

      Edge, as in, backbone, edge, and access. Infrastructure folks frequently talk about the edge. Look it up.

      And Tech Crunch has a better description of their offering: Druva Wants To Make Backup Tape History By Moving Server Backup To Cloud

    7. Re:Maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sweaty inbred curry-eaters can be that way...

    8. Re:Maybe by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Maybe the reason you've laid off your entire staff twice is because you don't know what it is you're doing.

      It was necessary, so he was only doing the needful.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  2. Get out of America!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You people are taking all the jobs at low wages STOP IT

    1. Re:Get out of America!!! by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      You people are taking all the jobs at low wages STOP IT

      Do you think that a CEO will pay himself low wages because he wasn't born in America?

    2. Re:Get out of America!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well 'them people' have already taken the jobs. Send them out of America and they'll take the jobs with them, wherever their new 'promised land' is.

  3. So cool by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    I hope this isn't taken the wrong way or offends anyone, but I think turbans are extremely cool. I play music with a Sikh dude and always envy his headgear. If you think about all the cultural & religious headwear for men in the world, why are white American men so badly shortchanged? I can either wear a Carhartt mesh back trucker cap and look like someone who pimps out his little sister for meth or a flat-brim baseball cap and look like a gangbanger. Or, I can wear a fedora and look like some skeevy YouTube PUA or a knit skully and look like a hipster. Bowler hats or top hats are not really me, you know? What's left? A North African kufi hat is kind of slick, but what I really want to wear is a turban. I've dug them since I was a kid and saw stuff like this:

    https://youtu.be/uE_MpQhgtQ8?t...

    or this...

    https://youtu.be/pIye64B519s

    or this...

    https://youtu.be/WWB9ZXMsMDY

    There's a rich history of cool musicians wearing turbans. Dr Lonnie Smith, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, even Professor Longhair was known to show up in a turban. I once saw the Fabulous Thunderbirds live and harmonica player extraordinaire Kim Wilson came out in a pair of RayBans and an electric blue turban. Dammit, I want to wear a turban too.

    [I hope I didn't offend anyone with this comment, because I sincerely didn't mean to. If someone can offer better headwear alternatives for a white American guy, please do. ]

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:So cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny hat and beard: A good sign that he's delusional and believes in an imaginary friend.

    2. Re:So cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe grow up a little Ratzo. Go ahead and wear a turban. Or are you suggesting that turbans are only for "brown" people?

    3. Re:So cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      10/10 troll! Bravo. You almost had me convinced that you wanted to look like one of those pieces of shit. Their kind are liars and thieves. They have destroyed their own home so they are now invading the US. About 20% of my coworkers are one of their kind now. They steal everything.

    4. Re:So cool by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Bow ties are cool.

      --
      Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
    5. Re:So cool by Chrisq · · Score: 0

      10/10 troll! Bravo. You almost had me convinced that you wanted to look like one of those pieces of shit. Their kind are liars and thieves. They have destroyed their own home so they are now invading the US. About 20% of my coworkers are one of their kind now. They steal everything.

      He's a Sikh not a Muslim you idiot

    6. Re:So cool by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Or are you suggesting that turbans are only for "brown" people?

      Nah, I'm just concerned that there is a religious significance to the turban that would offend people if I wore one. Like the time grew payot and wore a shtreimel while I was front man for a Christian death metal band, The Fifth Horseman.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    7. Re:So cool by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      He's a Sikh not a Muslim you idiot

      The Sikh people I've met are some of the best people on the planet. They're the opposite of whatever Fox News muslim stereotype that AC was talking about.

      Plus, as musicians, they rock: https://youtu.be/Wfzp4cdcuYc

      https://youtu.be/ZFTBPuuc8PU

      https://youtu.be/RzMpfOCVTmU

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    8. Re:So cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would you be more worried about what atheists thought, or what Sikhs would think if they knew you didn't belong to their religion?

    9. Re:So cool by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Would you be more worried about what atheists thought, or what Sikhs would think if they knew you didn't belong to their religion?

      Atheists think a lot of different things, and I'd like to think that most atheists aren't actually offended by the fact that religious people exist. That would be a pretty horrible way to go through life.

      If there is a specific religious significance to the headwear, I wouldn't want believers to think I was denigrating their beliefs.

      I'm old school in that I don't believe in being offensive without good reason.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    10. Re: So cool by Roblimo · · Score: 1

      I like most of the Sikhs I've met both in the U.S and India.

      BTW: my friend Esther Schindler works for Jaspreet, editing Druva's corporate blog, and she thinks he's a pretty good guy.

    11. Re:So cool by MechaStreisand · · Score: 0

      Then become a Sikh, and stop boring us with this nonsense.

      --
      Disclaimer: IANAL. This post is, however, legal advice, and creates an attorney-client relationship.
    12. Re:So cool by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Then become a Sikh, and stop boring us with this nonsense.

      Here is your commenting history on Slashdot.

      http://slashdot.org/~MechaStre...

      You might not be the best person to be telling others not to be boring.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    13. Re:So cool by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Then become a Sikh, and stop boring us with this nonsense.

      I happen to think dogs are great too, but that doesn't mean I should want to become a dog.

      MechaStreisand, you are an unpleasant person. Your comments almost always refer to other people as "retards", "idiots" or "morons". It's a little bit unseemly for such a stupid sonofabitch to be doing that. It's really no way to go through life.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    14. Re:So cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "...headgear...why are white American men so badly shortchanged?"

      Stick a feather in your hat and call it macaroni.

      Turbans are not something one simply puts on. Depending on tradition, the hair is grown out long and bound into the folds.

      But there are a lot of silly hats available in this Country; I have a good collection:
      Several Tweed "Driving Caps". Utterly useless; once going Full Chat, the wind whips up and over the windscreen and flips it backwards. Keep a spare in the Glove Compartment, along with the Driving Gloves.
      A Suede Flying Cap, that I bought , in of all places, Disneyland. There are even cutouts for my pair of vintage Western Electric headphones.
      Talking of Disneyland, they already have hats with feathers stuck in them, and for a nominal fee, they will embroider your name on it.
      The classic Coonskin Hat. Depending on company, referring to it by this name could be perceived as offensive.
      Cowboy Hats. Kinky Friedman had this great observation: Texans and Jews have something in common- they attach great importance to wearing hats indoors.
      Straw Hats or "Boaters". For such a cheap concept, the good ones are extraordinarily expensive. It is the Hat formally only worn one day in May. Around here, last Saturday.
      Doo Rags. They look stupid on Steven Van Zandt , and they will look equally stupid on you. Just Doon't.
      Porkpie Hat. With a cheap cigar, you are good to go.
      Fedora. You're going to need a bigger cigar.
      The Tilley. You too can be Earnest Hemingway, without all that boating, writing, and blowing your head off stuff.
      The _Other_ Tilley. Between Eustace Tilley, and Fred Astaire, the Top Hat took root deep in US Society long after the Brits gave up on them. They gave up on Top Hats as well.
      The Visor. With round wire-frame glasses- you are an Accountant. With garters on your sleeves, you are a Barber. With Raybans, you are an America's Cup Skipper. With Evening Wear, you are a Croupier. And if you are a Tennis Player, a visor has infinitely more style than a Doo Rag.
      The Toupee. Not all of us can be a Picard. We have to settle for being Kirks.

    15. Re:So cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bow Ties _can_ be Cool. They look Cool on James Bond, Dean Martin, or Tom Lehrer. They make Don Knotts look even more like Don Knotts.
      Like my collection of Hats mentioned above, I also have a collection of Ties. I have a black Bow Tie that I made in High School. When pulling on the ends, an LED lights up in the center. I had to buy a Maroon Bow Tie for my High School Graduation. Strange that- we rented the gowns and mortarboards, but we had to buy the ties. It's been worn exactly once.
      I have one superb Silk Tie in deep blue, with a matching gold tie-clasp with a Sapphire, both inherited from my Grandfather, who was a Spy.
      I have one black tie that when looked at closely, has dozens of little Mickeys woven in. I got it at Disneyland. I also bought the matching Boxer Shorts.
      I have a wonderful Silk Scarf that matches my thin matching Italian Leather Driving Jacket and Gloves. It was a present, and it wasn't cheap.

      I have a couple of Psychedelic Cravats.
      When wearing them, people tell me that I look just like Don Knotts.

    16. Re:So cool by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Thank you, friend. I think I've chosen to go with "The Captain" as in Captain and Tennille. It projects the proper note of authority and sportiness.

      http://www.nationalenquirer.co...

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    17. Re:So cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you suggesting a Sikhs are like dogs? Kinda racist there Pope.

    18. Re:So cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was Mi.

      No thread about Indians or Sikhs or Muslims is completely without him posting his bigoted bullshit, and confusing their ethnic identities.

  4. Pune (near Bangalore) by p.g.king · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sure Pune is near Bangalore, just about 850km near. Mumbai at around 150km and twice (if not more) the population of Bangalore isn't worth mentioning.

    1. Re: Pune (near Bangalore) by Roblimo · · Score: 1

      My mistake. I meant to type 'Mumbai' but typed 'Bangalore' by mistake. Sorry about that.

    2. Re: Pune (near Bangalore) by backslashdot · · Score: 1

      The keys are practically next to each other.

  5. Everyone Is Now Dumber by 31415926535897 · · Score: 1

    This is how I feel after reading the transcript:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  6. Too Long Didn't Read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TLDR: "A US-based VC firm saw in Druva some IP that they wanted, so they brought me over to the US so the company would finish creating the IP within the confines of US law. To make sure no one walked off with the IP, the VCs turned over the staff twice, including everyone who put in long hours to help take the company to the next level twice, so I'm here doing a little PR work to make it at least sound like the company wasn't just evil for the sake of it. It's all about teh Benjamins, yo."