A Su-kam Journey: From Cable to Clean Energy

It might surprise many to know that my entrepreneurial journey began in 1988, not with inverters but with cable television systems. This was the inception of Su-Kam, a brand that would eventually become synonymous with power backup solutions.

Initially, Su-Kam was a project-based company specializing in MATV and CATV installations for hotels and apartment complexes. Our work involved setting up shared antenna and VCR systems to distribute TV signals to individual rooms and flats.

A pivotal moment arrived when someone from Bombay pioneered a revolutionary concept: delivering Hindi films directly to homes via cable. Given the high cost of VCRs and film rentals at the time, this was a game-changer. By installing a single VCR and distributing its signal through the cable network, multiple households could enjoy the same movie for a fraction of the cost. A new industry was born.

Capitalizing on this opportunity, I transitioned Su-Kam into cable TV equipment manufacturing. Our small team focused on producing amplifiers, modulators, directional couplers, and other essential components. We supplied these parts and provided complete cable TV system installations for emerging cable operators. I worked on projects with Doordarshan to install dishes in VVIP homes and did many projects with the Air Force Army and private institutions.

The people who remember me of those days can comment on this article as I have been working on different projects at a given time. I remember running a Cable TV System at Subroto Park, an Air Force residential colony. I don't know the exact year, but someone who reads this article and has something to share about it is welcome. It took a lot of experience to run that system for almost 3 years, and I wanted to duplicate that experience in other colonies but could not do it as I did not know how to make the team and train them. I took the distributorship of the USA-based company Echostar and sold satellite receivers in India on a significant scale. I started learning manufacturing in Electronics, where my earlier experience was strong in selling, and my manufacturing experience was zero. I remember making my first 16-foot dish and having no testing equipment support. I was sitting on the roof of my small factory for nearly two months every night with my small team and looking for an Arabsat satellite; at that time, that was the only satellite by which you could watch CNN channel if I remember correctly, and somehow we made that 16-foot dish operational after much hard work.

When I first visited Hong Kong for an exhibition during cable TV days, probably in 1992, I thought, why not stand for my booth in the International market one day? I kept fueling that idea, and one day, in 2004, we started doing International exhibitions but in the inverter business. If anyone reading this article has any photographs of those days, please share with me the pictures or memories you have of those days.

Su-kam story by Kunwer Sachdev.

This period began my journey to build a brand called Su-kam. I have many memories to share, and writing in one article is not possible, so I will keep writing the series of my journey, which is continuing as a product creator and becoming a team creator as I have learnt about myself that I can work with any new person and create my team from the strangers and maybe don't want people from the industry as I was always worked with people who did not know anything about the industry. They made the best of the products, but I got help from people who knew the industry well.

When I left the cable TV industry in 1998, I was at the peak of my cable TV industry, and all my friends and well-wishers told me not to leave the Cable TV industry as I was doing very well. Still, I left that industry entirely by handing over the business to someone who was very much interested in running that business without the brand. I completely exited that business and started a fresh industry of inverters, where I was not making as much revenue as I knew that this had to be my focus area. In those days, selling the companies in India was impossible, so I gave that running business to someone and tried to help him keep it afloat. Then, I did not understand that entrepreneurship is not everyone's cup of tea.

Lessons Learnt: When you enter any business, your passion drives your path. You keep learning and correcting your path, and new opportunities come your way. You have the option to choose or not to choose them. We should dream big and keep our dreams alive; one day, God helps us to achieve those dreams.