My guest today is L.A. Balamurugan, known as Bala. With extensive experience in software development, he now plays the role of a delivery coach.

In this conversation filled with nuggets from his experience, Bala shares his career journey from a computer science degree in the early 1990s to roles at HCL, Perot Systems in the US, and Manugistics.

After earning a master’s in information systems and software engineering from George Mason University, he joined HP Labs in Bangalore as an R&D project/program manager on HP OpenView and became involved in early Agile/Scrum adoption and scaling.

He later launched a boutique consulting firm and co-founded BookMyTrainings.com (a training marketplace), grew it with angel funding, and expanded into payment collection and L&D program management before COVID led to winding it down.

He then spent about seven years as an Agile coach and recently published a startup-focused book, "What I Wish I Knew Before Starting Up," covering founder blind spots, idea alignment, co-founder choices, and emotional resilience.

00:00 Welcome and Setup

00:30 Early Career at HCL

01:53 Textile Systems Tech Stack

02:28 US Onsite Perot Systems

03:41 Supply Chain at Manugistics

05:20 Return to India and Masters

06:13 HP Labs and Agile Shift

08:10 Entrepreneurship Leap

08:57 Building BookMyTrainings

10:23 Payments and Revenue Model

11:52 SAFe Training and Coaching

13:43 COVID Impact and Book Writing

16:22 Learning New Domains Fast

19:03 Dual Hat PM and Scrum

22:48 Two Sided Marketplace Insights

25:03 Training Pain Points

26:05 Building Trust Platform

26:53 Win Win Marketplace

29:26 AI In Learning Paths

32:06 Agile Culture Vs Delivery

34:49 Writing Startup Book

40:08 Career Tips In AI Era

44:47 Co Founder Dilemma

47:24 Staying Grounded

49:56 Closing Thoughts

L. A. Balamurugan, or Bala, began his career as a computer science engineer, studying in India and later completing his Master’s in the USA. After sixteen years building software products and leading teams, he moved into entrepreneurship, founding multiple ventures including BookMyTrainings, a well known training marketplace in India. Following the pandemic and the closure of the startup, Bala now works as a Delivery Coach helping software teams deliver better products faster. His entrepreneurial journey inspired his book, What I Wish I Knew Before I Started: A Founder’s Guide to Understanding One’s Blind Spots and Equipping Before Venturing.

Bala’s Linkedin profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/labmurugan

Link to his book: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0GFNP7NTG