The team hasn't left: building Cambium Networks Kochi from zero

I joined Cambium Networks Kochi as the first employee. I moved from a service company to a product company. The motivation was simple: build an office from scratch, hire a new team, build a culture.

We took up the first 10-seat managed co-working space in the building. We negotiated parking. We grew to 15 seats, then 25. We picked our own tea and snack vendors. We organised Onam and every other festival that came along. It was a journey we built one decision at a time.

Somewhere in that, the people stopped feeling like colleagues and started feeling like close friends. We argued about algorithms and architecture with the same energy we argued about where to have lunch. We grew together.

The team

The people who made it what it was:

Abidh Muhsin, Arun Mohan, Daniel Phingston, Jewel Jacob, Shemna B., Kevin Tony, Amal Vijayan, Febin K R, Aneesh Jose, Sudheer K, Deepu V Nair, and Jomon Thomas.

The people who backed it

I want to thank Biju SK for the opportunity, for trusting us to build an office and a culture from the ground up, and for the huddles along the way that taught me the process of getting it right. And to Gopal Mishra, Shemna B., Ajay Singh, and Rupam Khaitan, for the continuous support throughout this journey.

The morning it changed

The email came Saturday morning at 4 am. The company had moved under administration.

Till now, it doesn’t feel like we have parted ways. We are still on group calls, trying to make sense of what happened, figuring out what comes next. Supporting each other, checking in on each other. It still feels like we are close friends.

Tomorrow there is no office to go to. But somehow, the team hasn’t left.

We have a great team here in Kochi, now out in the market. Engineers, folks who have built and shipped real products, and who know how to work as a team. If you are hiring, or know someone who is, I would be grateful for any references or leads. Happy to connect you directly with anyone from the team.

The original post is on LinkedIn.

What building from zero taught me: culture is not a deck or a value statement. It is the sum of a hundred small decisions, who you hire, what you argue about, which festivals you celebrate, and who shows up on the group call after the office is gone.