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Nick Puntikov: An Entrepreneurial Spirit Fuels Innovation

The attitude of technical specialists at First Line Software resembles that of an entrepreneur as they embrace the challenges of, and opportunities for, delivering technical excellence on each new client project. They are known for taking personal ownership on projects that demand their best efforts. By constantly thinking about how to solve project challenges or fine-tune code for optimal performance, which delivers the best possible user experience, they routinely exceed customer expectations with exceptional outcomes.
First Line’s Co-founder: An Entrepreneur Leading by Example
Of course it helps to have a serial entrepreneur running the company. Meet CEO and Founder, Nick Puntikov. After earning his M.Sc. degree in 1983, Nick worked as a researcher in the field of computational linguistics and natural language processing. Nick also holds a Ph.D. from the Institute of Informatics of the Academy of Sciences.
Nick founded his first company, a privately-held software engineering firm, StarSoft in 1991. Under his leadership, over the next 15 years, the company established its reputation as a premier software services provider to clients in North America and Europe. The company was based in Cambridge, MA and employed over 700 technical specialists and engineers.
In 2007, StarSoft merged with Exigen Services of San Francisco, and Nick took on the role as the head of delivery for the next three years. In this role, Nick was responsible for business development, managing customer relationships, and overseeing a staff of 1,500 technical experts working in 10 R&D centers in 6 countries across Europe, the Baltics and China.
Nick’s next phase as an entrepreneur began when he co-founded First Line Software, a full-service, software engineering solution provider. He now serves as the company’s CEO and has nurtured the company to nearly 500 resources over the last nine years with the help of a very experienced management team.
Entrepreneurial attitude opens up new opportunities
First Line is a global company that over time, has built up a reputation for serving a diverse mix of customers and partners around the world and introducing cutting-edge technology that creates a distinct competitive advantage. Customer satisfaction has been confirmed with over 80% of its customers placing two or more projects with First Line Software.
Being adaptable and forward-thinking has opened up new opportunities for First Line – specifically, working with promising startups that are disrupting how services are delivered. When presented with their vision, First Line forges ahead to execute on developing the technology that will enable these startups to launch their innovative products and services. Again, it’s an agile and entrepreneurial spirit that fuels the expansion of First Line’s customer base to include working with innovative startups.
Currently, First Line is working on two mobile apps that will serve individuals who would otherwise not have access to such valuable services. The first app will connect patients in remote parts of Africa with participating physicians around the world who will provide medical advice on demand. Eventually the Yapili platform and this app will expand its reach to include patients in other remote parts of the world. The second app will serve hearing-impaired visitors to the State Russian Museum, which is the world’s largest collection of Russian art and is housed in a unique architectural complex in the historical center of St. Petersburg. The app will deliver a guided tour experience, including sign language that would not typically be available to hearing-impaired museum visitors.
A completely different project is centered on big data and is so complex that it requires the collaboration of multiple companies. First Line has been participating in developing a vocabulary system containing thousands of medical terms and methodologies from countries around the world.
Finally, First Line worked with iTraq to develop a tracking device used by a range of companies to track objects and cargo around the world. This device utilizes a range of technologies that allow it to be located (even indoors) including cellular ID, GPS, WiFi triangulation, and LoRa, among others, while also allowing for monitoring temperature changes and motion/falls. In fact, iTraq and First Line Software were recognized by Ventana Research for the technology developed to operate the device.
Prepared for innovation with deep technical expertise and industry experience
The technology experts at First Line have built up an extensive repository of expertise spanning multiple industries, deep knowledge of industry-leading, and function-specific technologies, as well as engineering skills that cover platforms, systems, and software. In addition to these, First Line has fostered a culture that inspires their technology experts to use these horizontal engineering skills and capabilities to meet and exceed customer expectations in many different industry verticals.
And First Line doesn’t believe these interesting projects come along because of luck. In fact, Nick Puntikov often quotes Thomas Edison regarding luck: “We should remember that good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation.” Time has no meaning when engineers embrace challenging assignments. Technology experts must be disciplined, curious and sufficiently educated or experienced to   deliver innovative technical solutions and products. Fostering a corporate culture of innovation is driven by First Line’s stakeholders, executives and founders.
Fortunately for First Line, entrepreneur Nick Puntikov is at the helm and inspires excellence from the entire team of technology experts. And even though the company is no longer a startup and has 500 plus employees, the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well at First Line. Nick had this to say, “I’m proud to have instilled the attitude of being an entrepreneur by empowering each member of the First Line team. It has without a doubt been instrumental in consistently delivering the exceptional quality of development projects for our clients.”
First Line offers technology enablement services, custom software development, intellectual integration, and digitalization, plus the three primary Big Data categories: Big Data Engineering, Business Analysis and Data Insights. The range of industries and markets First Line serves includes: Healthcare IT, Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial IOT (IIoT), Wearables, Enterprise Mobility, Digital Media and Marketing, Web Content Management, e-Commerce, e-Government, Travel and Transportation, Warehouse Logistics, and Gas and Oil.

Source :- The 30 Most Inspiring Entrepreneur of 2018