Startup of the Day - Cerebrata
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The BizSpark startup of the day is Cerebrata Software, based in India. You will find below an interview with Gaurav Mantri, founder of Cerebrata Software. All the best to them and congrats for being the startup of the day!
Website: www.cerebrata.com.
Interview with Gaurav Mantri, founder of Cerebrata Software
Tell us who you are and your role in the company:
I am Gaurav and I am founder of Cerebrata Software. I deal with every aspect of the company from product planning, development, marketing and customer support.
What did you do before creating your company?
I was working in United States for a company called Active Network. I was the Director of Development for one of their product units.
How do you feel being the most promising ‘Startup of the Day’ per Microsoft BizSpark?
It certainly feels great.
What is your company’s mission?
To develop utilities which will help developers do their job in more efficient way.
How did you get the idea for your company?
We looked at Cloud Computing especially Windows Azure and realized that there is a huge gap (and thus great opportunity) as far as tooling is concerned. That’s why we focused on building tools for Windows Azure platform. Our products include Cloud Storage Studio, a rich desktop client to manage Windows Azure Storage and Hosted Applications; Azure Diagnostics Manager, a rich desktop client to manage Windows Azure Diagnostics; and Cloud Storage Studio/e, a rich Internet application to manage Windows Azure Storage.
Tell us about your funding history. Are you currently looking for funding? If so, how much?
Currently we’re self funded and not looking for any funding. However we are looking to create an advisory board.
How many employees do you have? How many developers?
In all we are a team of 7 people and all 7 are developers.
Are you hiring? If yes, what are you hiring and where?
Yes. We’re looking out for great .Net developers who are willing to work on WPF, Silverlight and Windows Azure. All these positions are in our Udaipur office.
Which platform are you building on? Why?
We are currently building for Windows Azure. We see a great opportunity in the field of Cloud Computing and Windows Azure in particular.
Where do you see opportunities today in the Software/internet area?
We see a lot of opportunities in Cloud Computing especially Windows Azure. The idea of PAAS is really a fascinating one and is really hard to ignore.
What do you think about the BizSpark Program?
BizSpark is a great program for startups like us as we don’t have to shell out money upfront to get the necessary tools to build products. Plus the visibility a startup can get through BizSpark program is invaluable.
Do you have any advice for young Software entrepreneurs?
Work hard. Know what you’re doing.
Who’s your role model?
Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India.
What’s the ONE THING you would like readers to take away from this interview?
It’s a great time to be in software development. There are a lot of untapped opportunities. All you need to do is look around and find the gaps.
Published: 4/5/2010 10:00 AM
Company: Cerebrata