Innovation New Jersey
  • Home
  • Our Coalition
    • Contact Us
  • News
  • Resources
    • State Supports
    • Federal Supports
    • Higher Ed Supports
  • Join Us

Innovation News

Everything Innovation. Everything New Jersey.
Follow us and stay connected.

Serial Entrepreneur Kambhampati Cultivates Growth of  NJ’s Emerging Technology Companies through Mentoring

8/18/2015

1 Comment

 
Trenton, NJ - The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) today continues its series highlighting how New Jersey investors and entrepreneurs are making a difference to the Garden State’s technology community. As an innovator, serial entrepreneur, investor and mentor, Krishnamurty “KK” Kambhampati, of Holmdel, has spent the last 25 years helping to shape New Jersey’s technology ecosystem.
“KK Kambhampati is the embodiment of the entrepreneurial spirit that fuels New Jersey’s technology leadership,” said EDA Chief Executive Officer Melissa Orsen.  “He not only develops and invests in New Jersey companies, but also generously gives his time to ensure that the next generation of New Jersey entrepreneurs has a strong foundation for growth.”

After spending the first eight years of his career in technical and managerial positions at AT&T in Holmdel, Kambhampati left the telecommunications giant in 1998 to become a co-founder of uReach Technologies, also in Holmdel. The company was a leading provider of advanced communications technologies, platforms and services for small businesses. uReach was able to take advantage of the State’s Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer (NOL) Program. Kambhampati and co-founder David Ittner grew uReach into an enterprise that generated millions of dollars in revenue annually, before selling it to GENBAND last year.

Throughout his extensive career, Kambhampati has dedicated much of his focus on mentoring emerging companies, including several New Jersey businesses. For nearly a decade, Kambhampati was an advisor to, and a seed investor in, Corente, an East Brunswick company that provided secure, cost-effective, global delivery software over the internet. The EDA provided a $1 million Edison InnovationFund loan to Corente to be used as working capital to expand the company’s North American customer base and expand sales operations in North America and Europe. Corente also benefited the State’s NOL program. The company was sold to Oracle last year.

Kambhampati is currently taking a break between startups and is using this time to serve as a hands-on mentor and advisor to such businesses as FUSAR Technologies, located in Jersey City. FUSAR, which creates wearable technology to make action sports safer, participated in the State’s inaugural Founders & Funders event last year. An avid mountain biker, Kambhampati began advising FUSAR Technologies through his role as a mentor at TechLaunch, a New Jersey technology accelerator in which the EDA previously invested. Kambhampati has also been an advisor to telecommunications company Kirusa, based in New Providence.

Kambhampati earned a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Cornell University and a Masters of Science degree in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

@NJEDATech spoke with Kambhampati about his experience as an entrepreneur and mentor in New Jersey:

What attracted you to New Jersey as a place to grow your businesses?

I was working at AT&T/Bell Labs in New Jersey. Given that Bell Labs, Lucent, Telcordia, Verizon, Vonage and other tech companies were in the area, we had access to a very relevant talent pool in New Jersey.

After starting UReach, we were able to take advantage of several incentive programs offered by the state, including the NOL program. In fact, we were fond of recommending that program to others in the state. I am happy to say that my investments have also benefited from the NOL program.

I have to admit there were many reasons to think about moving to Silicon Valley, but it is hard to top the quality of life, the arts, the greenery in New Jersey and I really love having all four seasons.

What advice do you give budding entrepreneurs just starting out?

It is a great time to be an entrepreneur. There is a lot of access to capital and the cost of starting a business is very low. Having said that, too many entrepreneurs are influenced by what plan they think will get funded right now rather than focusing on the fundamentals of the company they want to build. While the latter is harder, it is the better longer-term path for them and their investors. There is too much fixating on the style of the pitch and managing the message to please investors and not enough on the business model and business growth. 

Growing a company is really hard work and rewarding at the same time, but it can become an extremely painful nightmare if one does not believe in the mission.

So, my advice for entrepreneurs is to be skeptical of business assumptions and make sure they think longer term and not fall in love with the latest shiny buzzwords. After that, they should be prepared to execute as quickly as they can and be prepared to course-correct as needed.

What recommendations do you have for other serial entrepreneurs thinking about giving back to the emerging entrepreneurs?  

I think about what I do as not just giving back; I get a lot in return.

I had great help when I started out and I know how critical it was for me. I think the DNA of a company is formed early on and some decisions can have long-term implications. I am happy to be a sounding board to entrepreneurs. I spend quality time with founders on a weekly basis so that I can help real-time with decisions. My goal is to help them with problem solving and not try to solve problems for them.

My recommendation to others who want to help is not to underestimate what you will learn in return from this younger generation of entrepreneurs. They have mastered the art of the sharing economy and there are many things that come so naturally to them. So I recommend going into mentorship with an open mind and a willingness to learn and to question your own long-held beliefs. You will be rewarded by that experience many times over.

I am learning as much as I am giving, if not more, and enjoying every moment of it.

For more information about resources available to support New Jersey’s technology industry, visit http://www.njeda.com/tls and follow @NJEDATech on Twitter and LinkedIn
1 Comment
latest business news in india link
7/31/2018 03:37:25 am

Thanks for sharing this information with us. Keep up the good work

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Do not miss a single innovative moment and sign up for our newsletter!
    Weekly updates


    Categories

    All
    3D Printing
    Academia
    Acquisitions
    Aerospace
    Agriculture
    AIDS
    Algae
    Alumni
    Animals
    Architecture
    Astrophysics
    Autism
    Awards
    Big Data
    Bioethics
    Biofuel
    Biomedical
    BioNJ
    Bioterrorism
    Bit Coins
    Brain Health
    Business
    Camden
    Cancer
    CCollege
    Cellular
    Centenary
    Chemistry
    ChooseNJ
    Climate Change
    Clinical Trials
    Cloud Tech
    Collaboration
    Computing
    Congress
    Coriell
    Council On Innovation
    Crowdfunding
    Cybersecurity
    DARPA
    Defense
    Degree
    Dementia
    Dental Health
    DOC
    DOD
    DOE
    Drew
    Drones
    Drug Creation
    Einstein's Alley
    Electricity
    Energy
    Engineering
    Entrepreneurship
    Environmental
    FAA
    Fairleigh Dickinson
    FDA
    Federal Budget
    Federal Government
    Federal Labs
    Federal Program
    Finance
    Food Science
    Fort Monmouth
    Fuel Cells
    Funding
    Genome
    Geography
    Geology
    Global Competition
    Google
    Governor Christie
    Grant
    Hackensack
    HackensackUMC
    Healthcare
    Health Care
    HHS
    HINJ
    Hospitals
    Immigration
    Incubator
    Infrastructure
    International
    Internet
    Investor
    IoT
    IP
    IT
    Jobs
    Johnson & Johnson
    K-12
    Kean
    Kessler
    Legislation
    Logistics
    Manufacturing
    Medical Devices
    Med School
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Microorganisms
    Molecular Biology
    Montclair
    NAS
    Neuroscience
    Newark
    New Jersey
    NIFA
    NIH
    NIST
    NJBDA
    NJBIA
    NJ Chemistry Council
    NJCU
    NJDOLWD
    NJEDA
    NJEDge
    NJHF
    NJII
    NJIT
    NJMEP
    NJPAC
    NJPRO
    NJTC
    Nonprofit
    NSF
    OpEd
    Open Data
    OSHE
    OSTP
    Parasite
    Patents
    Paterson
    Patients
    Perth Amboy
    Pharma
    POTUS
    PPPL
    Princeton
    Prosthetics
    Ranking
    Rare Disease
    R&D Council
    Report
    Resiliency
    Rider
    Robotics
    Rowan
    Rutgers
    SBA
    Seton Hall
    Siemens
    Smart Car
    Smart Cities
    Software
    Solar
    Space
    SSTI
    Startup
    State Government
    STEM
    Stevens
    Stockton
    Subatomic
    Supports
    Sustainability
    Taxes
    TCNJ
    Teachers
    Telecom
    Therapy
    Thermodynamics
    Transportation
    Undergraduate
    USEDA
    Verizon
    Video Game
    Virtual Reality
    Water
    WHO
    William Paterson
    Women In STEM
    Workforce Development

Home   Coalition   News   Resources   Events   Join Us
Picture
Innovation New Jersey Coalition
10 West Lafayette Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
609-858-9507