Anurag Kumar
Anurag Kumar was consulting at IBM when he realized having a management degree would help him in his career. Before IBM, Anurag started two companies, but he wanted to gain a deeper perspective on business. This desire led him to Michigan State University’s MBA program.
“It was the best of everything — highly structured, amazing faculty, good selection of fellow students, and convenient. I had small kids at the time and being able to go two nights a week was very appealing to me.”
The relationships Anurag built during the program advanced his way of thinking. This paired with the technical knowledge, and the case studies proved to be invaluable.
“One thing I noticed was how differently different people tackle the same problem. Your solution is not necessarily the right solution. Being aware of that and working with a group to come up with a solution was really exciting,” Anurag says.
This statement mirrors his entire career in software development where there is never just one solution.
Anurag’s career begins in India at IIT where he studied computer science and electrical engineering. His degree allowed him to come to the US in the 80’s and it was here that he began to understand his potential.
“I realized that the world is a lot bigger than doing a programming job. It paid the bills and allowed me to settle down, but I started to see opportunities beyond the work I was doing,” Anurag says.
In 1985, Anurag started his first company with three other partners. It was a services company because of the ability to scale without the resources or investments to make a product. Four years later, he left and started another technology services company. It was there he ran into a roadblock.
“I had my first child, family obligations, and I wasn’t making a lot of money doing something on my own, so I ended up taking a programming job in Michigan at IBM.”
Anurag grew his career at IBM, and it was the reason he was able to do his MBA at MSU. In 1996 IBM moved him to Austin during the start of the Dot Com Boom. He became restless and in 1999 he left IBM to found Mediaprise, a venture-funded startup.
“We raised a lot of money, almost $13 million. It was an awesome experience, and I learned a lot, but things didn’t quite work out.”
He then left Mediaprise in 2001 to start ConnectionE, another software development services company which he eventually sold, and in 2006 stepped in as interim CEO of India-based company, Cressanda Solutions.
After selling Cressanda Solutions a year later, Anurag joined Dell, but was dissatisfied with his role and felt like he had more to offer. This led him to start consulting and coaching until eventually he met a business partner to begin a new venture with.
In 2009, Anurag and his partner founded iTexico, a software development services company that provides clients in the US with teams in Mexico.
“The market for digital services has continued to grow, so we were in the market at the right time. Also, a lot of companies in the US are used to working with teams outside of the US – traditionally those teams are in India or Eastern Europe – because of the way software is being built, there has been a shift to working with teams within the same time zone,” Anurag says.
iTexico grew to over 300 people and in 2019 began getting acquisition offers from multiple companies. In 2020, iTexico was bought by Improving and became Improving Nearshore. Anurag is now the Managing Director.
“It was an almost fulfilling event. I have been trying entrepreneurship for a very long time, having mixed success, and learning a lot. I was able to use that knowledge to manage iTexico better than any of my other companies.”
Anurag goes on to say,
“It turned out to be the best of both worlds; I was able to find a bigger home for iTexico and I’m still doing what I love to do.”
Anurag is currently involved in the MSU entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“I owe a lot to the education I received at Michigan State. After a while, you begin to realize that you do have something to share and that others can potentially benefit from the knowledge you provide.”
Anurag goes on to say, “I enjoy talking to emerging leaders. When I look back on my younger days, I wish I had more mentorship. I remember feeling like I was left to discover things on my own with no place to go for questions. Now I feel like I can help some willing students at Michigan State as they embark on the journey of entrepreneurship.”
Anurag felt like he was given a voice at MSU to share his knowledge. Being from Austin, a city with a booming tech sector, he is offering a fresh perspective to student venturers at MSU.
“The team at the Burgess Institute is very motivated and genuine. They’re fun to work with, and I really want to make a difference.”