Interview with Rahul Jauhari, Co-Founder - LogTera

LogTera is a leading educational software development company based in San Jose, California. Co-founded by Rahul Jauhari and Shailesh Khare in the year 2013. LogTera's mission is to develop the next generation of educational tools and applications to assist K-12 education. LogTera is focused on developing unique mobile and web solutions that that provide visual, interactive and gamified education comprehensively covering the core standard curriculum requirements.

Rahul Jauhari completed Mechanical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi in the year 1998. Rahul then pursued MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University in the year 2004. Post completing MBA in Marketing and Finance from University of California - Berkeley in the year 2010, Rahul co-founded #-Link-Snipped-#.

In an exclusive interview with CrazyEngineers.com, we got Rahul to talk about his experiences at LogTera, his co-founder Shailesh Khare, what made him quit his job at Applied Materials Inc. and start-up with LogTera, the lessons in life that Rahul learnt the hard way and how it helped him and LogTera and a lot more. Read on!


1. Hi Rahul. Could you tell our readers something about LogTera that is still unknown?

Rahul: Sure, how about starting off with a puzzle for Crazy Engineers: An A+ for those who can find LogTera = ? [Hint: Calculate Log (Tera) = ? ]

I’m sure when I put it this way, most of the math geeks would readily have the answer as 12. You see, Tera is 10 to the power of 12 (or 1 followed by 12 zeros as in 1,000,000,000,000) and when you take it’s Logarithm you get 12. Log is used to simplify calculations, and our main objective at LogTera to simplify the learning process.

We are a digital education technology company focusing on STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) so the name is in line with our work. I promise, no more geeky things for today.

2. How did you get in touch with Shailesh Khare, your co-founder at LogTera?

Rahul: I have known Shailesh for over ten years through some mutual friends. A couple of years ago when I met Shailesh we were discussing about kids (we both have school going kids), we realized that the new generation of kids is extremely tech savvy and with so many of them getting access to smart-phones and tablets they were spending incredible amount of time playing games and watching videos. We decided to make the best use of the situation and develop gamified and engaging applications that at the same time comprehensively covered core curriculum requirements so the kids could learn while having fun on their devices.

3. What made you quit your job at Applied Materials Inc., where you worked for more than 8 years and start-up with LogTera?
Rahul: I have always liked to work on new things where I can contribute meaningfully and have a large impact. Education is an area that I believe is about to see a big change due to the internet – similar to what we have seen before with books, music, movies, shopping, etc. If you see worldwide, there are 1.4 Billion students, out of which 1.2 Billion are in K-12 (Kindergarten to Grade 12) and only about 200k in higher education. We have already seen many successful models in higher education and this is going to be followed by K-12. With pervasiveness of mobile devices and internet connectivity in schools and homes, there is a big opportunity for next generation educational software.


4. Could you tell are readers about the LogTera ClassK12 in detail?
Rahul: ClassK12 is our interactive and gamified web based platform for schools and home users to help them practice concepts they learn in the classroom. Students and teachers can access it anywhere/ anytime and it will work across all devices like iPad, Android, ChromeBooks, and Laptops. Currently we are doing some beta pilots and will be launching it shortly.

5. What lessons in life did you learn the hard way? How did it help you and LogTera?

Rahul: To develop the best products, it is extremely important to listen to your customers, understand their needs, and be able to articulate how the market will develop over the next few years. Having worked in engineering, product management, and marketing positions for several years at a large company I have had first-hand experience knowing where the pit-falls, are and how to avoid those to develop the winning products at LogTera.

6. Would you rather work less (and do the things you enjoy) and have less money? Why?
Rahul: Start-up is quite hard work – it’s never about working less, it’s more about doing what one is passionate about, because then you enjoy your work and it increases your chances of success. Money is important but along with maintaining a good work-life balance and doing what one believes in.

7. What is the most important quality you look for in a person you are hiring them for LogTera?

Rahul: We have a cross-functional team at LogTera with software developers, UI/UX/graphic designer, and content writers. When hiring a new person, the most important thing we look for are the aptitude and attitude to learn and work on new things. Being a start-up we have a small team and each person has a big responsibility to be able to complete their deliverables timely.


8. What life lessons do you wish you knew 5 years ago?

Rahul: As you get older you learn certain life lessons – some from your experiences and some from your mistakes. One of the most important things that I have learnt is to believe in yourself and keep doing what you believe in. There will always be a lot of people who will tell you ten ways that something cannot work, but your job is to find that one way to make it work.

9. What does success mean to you?

Rahul:

Success to me is being able to pursue what one is passionate about. If you love what you are doing you will be able to create value for yourself, those around you, and the society.

10. Thank you for the time you have spent with us. Any message for our readers?

Rahul: Yes, we would love to have the readers try our educational products and give us their feedback. You can check us out at #-Link-Snipped-#