Ep 59: Kailash Katkar on his journey from slums in Pune to India’s largest antivirus sw company

When he was 19 years old, Kailash Katkar started fixing calculators and even drew screen paintings for living. Then, one day, he saw a computer for the first time while repairing calculators at a bank. “I asked what’s inside the glass walls and why was it air conditioned. They said it was to keep the computer cool,” he recollects. That encounter changed everything for Katkar, especially after learning that the computers were soon to replace calculators among several other jobs. In the age when the ability to learn new skills is considered the most important capability for anyone seeking to build a sustainable career, Katkar’s entrepreneurial journey offers great learnings. From fixing calculators to writing code to fight computer viruses, Katkar’s hunger to learn new things has helped him navigate all career disruptions. As for education, Katkar hardly managed to pass 10th standard. That’s how far he went with formal education. Over decades, Katkar along with his brother Sanjay, has built Quick Heal Technologies into a publicly listed company with annual revenues of Rs 318 crore (FY 2018). So how did it happen? Listen in.