Cables, satellites and my first company

During my university years I founded my first company: Arvin Atcal, an IT company in Iran. We grew to around ten people and worked on network systems: LAN and WAN, point-to-point connections and satellite links.

Networks sound like a purely technical topic, but every project taught me a new industry. On construction sites we designed the network cabling and installed it while the building was still going up. For schools we planned the hardware and LAN and handled the permissions they needed. For a research institute we designed Wi-Fi and network infrastructure. For an industrial trading company we designed the LAN that connected their offices and warehouse. We also supported clients in the automotive and transportation sectors.

Every one of these clients needed a network. None of them needed the same network. A construction company thinks in phases and deadlines. A school thinks in budgets and safety. A research institute thinks in data and access. To support them well, I had to understand how they work before I could plan a single cable.

This is where I learned to listen to a business first and to translate its needs into technology second. It is still how every project at Solutions-Apps starts.

What this chapter taught me

Every industry speaks its own language. Learn it first, then translate it into technology.