Antler aims to invest in up to 40 startups within its first year in India and to build more than 150 startups in the next four years. Initially, the plan will begin with Bangalore and, further will expand to other major cities in the next 3 to 5 years. Rajiv Srivatsa, co-founder of Urban Ladder, is joining Antler as Partner and will lead the Indian operations.
On Monday, the global early-stage venture capital firm Antler had made an announcement of launching itself in India to empower more entrepreneurs to establish startups through their platform, support, and global reach. Antler aims to invest in up to 40 startups within its first year in India and to build more than 150 startups in the next four years.
Initially, the plan will begin with Bangalore and, further will expand to other major cities in the next 3 to 5 years. Rajiv Srivatsa, co-founder of Urban Ladder, is joining Antler as Partner and will lead the Indian operations.
In the second half of 2020, the inaugural India program will commence in Bangalore. The Antler Program will be in two 2 phases and it will be covered within 6 months. The first phase will be of ten weeks which is about forming a right team with adept co-founders. After this, Antler will invest in the strongest teams in order to move in the Second stage basically to build and scale the startup.
Founder and CEO of Antler, Magnus Grimeland, stated, “We believe the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem has massive potential. We want to lower the barriers for exceptional people to start a technology company, regardless of their background or geography. Over the next 5 years, India is expected to be the third largest market and grow into a 5 trillion-dollar economy, fuelling a much higher growth for the digital economy. In addition, we want to provide India originating startups with Antler’s global platform to ensure startups from India can expand, scale, succeed and tap into expertise on a global level.”
Additionally, Rajiv said, “Antler will collaborate with VCs, angels and work closely with corporate partners and functional specialists as mentors, to power the Indian startup ecosystem.” Antler is a Singapore-based firm which has presence in 11 locations worldwide. Antler has become one of the world’s largest early-stage investment platform by investing in over 160 technology-firms.
Check out six listed reasons why Indians choose not to become entrepreneurs.
The start-up scene has taken a major soar in the last couple of years. However, Indians still prefer to work in an office and go the 9-5 route rather than starting their own business venture.
Here are a few reasons why Indians choose not to become entrepreneurs:
1. High Risk Affair
Indians do not go for the whole starting up their own business and turning into entrepreneurs scene because there is a lot of risk involved. Even with a brilliant idea and correct marketing techniques, there is quite a possibility that the business might not do well. And, nothing is more disappointing to an Indian entrepreneur than failure because there are loans to pay and most do not want to deal with the distress of a failed start-up. Instead, an Indian would rather take up a job that pays well and stay put for years.
2. Family vs Startup
Most Indians consider themselves as family people and believe that becoming a entrepreneur can hamper their family life as they’ll have to work for long hours which might detach them from their family. Women in particular, prefer to take up a job instead of their own venture because of the whole juggle between family and professional life.
This is another reason why Indians are so scared to become entrepreneurs. They might be great at their jobs but when it comes to assuming the role of a leader and delegating jobs, they aren’t very comfortable. A start-up’s sole responsibility falls on the entrepreneur and so does the success or failure which is why even though they might be capable, they don’t want to be solely responsible for a start-up.
4. What about the years of fancy Education
Some people stand by the belief that they have spent a lot of energy, time as well as money on their education and it is rendered worthless if they don’t actually take up a job in their respective field. The money and time spent on gaining education is considered futile if one goes and starts up his/her company. Great entrepreneurs were college drop-outs which is a common belief amongst Indians and since Indians value education highly, they don’t want it to be considered a waste.
It is not a cake walk to become an entrepreneur. The task requires a lot of hard work, determination and research to make a company work. Even with a great idea, if a single set of skills is missing, it can lead to the whole start-up crashing down.
For instance, an aspiring entrepreneur might have an innovative idea but he didn’t promote it enough on social media. Thus, because of lack of research as to how one reach a specific target audience can lead to the downfall of his whole company.
Another major and important issue which is hardly addressed is the difficulty to garner funds for a company. A person might have a great idea but because of lack of investors or required sponsorship, he or she decides to scrap it and stick to their job. However, things are changing on this front as budding entrepreneurs are now being looked at as assets by huge companies who can provide funds. Also, the current Prime Minister supports the idea of start-ups which can prove to be a huge boost to entrepreneurs.
However, things on the start-up front are changing as with evolving market strategies, SEO tools, funding schemes and more will to become the boss, people are actually giving start-ups a chance.
Ritesh Agarwal’s net worth is around INR 7253 crore which is $1.1 billion dollars as per the Hurun Rich List 2020 making him the world’s youngest self made billionaire after the famous Kylie Jenner.
OYO rooms has been one of the most successful start-ups in India being the country’s largest budget hotel chain. OYO has over 23,000 hotels, 8,50,000 rooms and 46,000 vacation homes across the globe. In the Oyo model, hotels are not owned, instead Oyo ties up with certain hotels and acquires a few rooms to be given to people who want to avail the services of OYO. It focuses on standardizing the hotels in the non-branded hospitality sector. Oyo rooms has been one of the most successful ventures as it has managed to solve the issue of affordability, cleanliness as well as availability of budget hotels across all Tier-I and Tier-II cities in the country.
Well, it is all the brainchild of the man with the OYO vision, Ritesh Agarwal, a successful entrepreneur is just 26 years old and has had several accolades to his credit. Born to a humble family in Cuttack, his journey of becoming one of the most successful entrepreneurs wasn’t a walk in the park. In fact, in the era of start-ups, he had to face several difficulties in trying to make his unconventional idea work.
Ritesh Agarwal gained enough success by understanding business needs and building something that people want. It’s not always easy to get a start up funded. But nowadays you don’t have to travel to silicon valley and have lunch with venture capitalists to get money. Try looking for an online loan broker for funding your start up.
Here’s some more you should know about the man behind OYO rooms:
1. Ritesh Agarwal is a college drop-out
To pursue his passion of becoming an entrepreneur, he enrolled into Indian School of Business & Finance, Delhi however he did leave college mid-way to start his own company. He was hesitant about his decision but he took some tough choices to accomplish his dreams.
2. Before OYO, there was Oravel
Ritesh Agarwal has been a wayfarer himself and travelled across the country before launching OYO and during such travels he discovered the problem with budget hotels. Thus at the mere age of 17, he launched Oravel travels, which he modelled after Airbnb. However, it later branched out to become OYO rooms. He had discovered that the problem with budget hotels was bigger than just availability, so, to counter other issues, he launched OYO.
3. The sole resident Asian to have won a Thiel fellowship
The year he launched Oravel travels, he was nominated for the Thiel fellowship. The fellowship is designed by Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal and provided a college drop-out, less than 22 years of age, a sum of $100,000 to pursue a start-up dream. Needless to say, he has been the only Indian to receive it.
Ritesh Agarwal who is merely 26 years old, has certain awards and credentials to his name, some of which are:
– Forbes “30 under 30” in the consumer tech sector
– Top 50 entrepreneurs in 2013 by TATA First Dot powered by NEN awards
– TiE-Lumis Entrepreneurial Excellence award in 2014
– Business World young entrepreneur award
5. Apart from an entrepreneur, he is an author, a coder and a great orator
At a young age, his book- A complete Encyclopaedia of top 100 engineering colleges, was published and soon became a best seller. Agarwal started coding at the tender age of 8 and at the age of 16, he got a chance to be one of the 240 students who were a part of an Asian camp held at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He was the youngest speaker in the panel of Think EDU panel,2014 and is a constant at VCCircle events.
6. World’s Youngest Self Made Billionare after Kylie Jenner
Oyo rooms raised $1 billion in September 2018, even a year after that in July 2019 Ritesh Agarwal bought $2 billion in shares in the company, which tripled his shares. In the year 2020, Agarwal’s net worth is around INR 7253 crore which is $1.1 billion dollars as per the Hurun Rich List 2020 making him the world’s youngest self made billionaire after the famous Kylie Jenner.
What are the best startups in India to join currently, and why?
Ever since our Honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, talked about Skill India, the echoes of startup became more vivid and far spread, but what is a startup and how will it affect an individual? Before getting straight into the theory of startup, let’s understand entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching and running a new business, which is often initially a small business. The people who create these businesses are called entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs invent startups. Startups are high-risk businesses featuring a product or service that’s aimed at fulfilling a specific need in the marketplace. Most of them are technology-oriented and focused on growth potential. Some pretty recognizable businesses began as startups, including Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, and Snapchat.
Startups are highly important in an economy as it promotes employment and also uplifts the living standards of the people.
Logistics business (especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities ) with the growth of smartphones and the internet, demand for e-commerce is growing faster and companies like Snapdeal and Flipkart, etc. are having a hard time in delivering in those areas. Many players are coming up like Roadrunnr, Ekart, but still not good in those cities.
2. Database Marketing
With companies struggling to convert bulk emails into customers, it is high time that they adopt a system where they are able to target and segment customers and then send a personalized email. For example, I have to sell insurance, I would ideally want to write a first mail different to a retired person and different to a young working man. This is only possible via database marketing. A lot of startups have flourished in this domain in the USA but not a lot in India.
3. Recycling
People make billions from recycling. I still fail to understand why our nation has not been able to do much. The waste is gold and we waste it. All metals, newspapers can be easily recycled. All biodegradable substances can be used to produce rich manure or even biogas. Someone needs to stand here. It would be a great profit-making social entrepreneurship.
4. Exercise Notebooks
Exercise books are widely known & vastly used as day-to-day products. Notebooks are available in the market in various sizes, shapes & pages and having various types of covers paperbound, board and Rexene bound, etc.
5. Blood Bags
The blood bag is a disposable bio-medical device used for collection, storage, transportation and transfusion of human blood and blood components. The system consists of a single or multiple bags connecting with tubing, needle, needle cover, clamp This idea can hit into hospitals and other health organizations.
6. Readymade Garments (T-Shirt)
Readymade garments are a part of our daily life. Clothes are an epitome of culture. People in different parts of the world have their own styles of dressing which symbolize their culture and status. The Readymade garments industry is increasing day by day due to changes in fashion in day to day life.
7. Integrated unit RMC with Stone Crusher
Concrete is the most vital material in modern construction. It has versatile properties like easy mouldability, high compressive strength, and long-lasting durability. These properties of concrete have made it the most popular construction material for all types of civil engineering works.
8. Production of liquid soaps and detergent
Laundry detergent, or washing powder, is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) that is added for cleaning laundry. In common usage, “detergent” refers to mixtures of chemical compounds including Alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are similar to soap but are less affected by hard water and we all know that every household needs it.
9. Romantic Places
With a huge number of young people, dating is widespread in metropolitan cities. Now have a look around, and tell me how many romantic places you have been to with your GF/spouse? Rarely would you come up with a good answer? I hardly see Candlelight Restaurants in cities, no romantics gateways. Not a lot is being done for the “couples” market. Men usually have a tendency to splurge in front of their dates. Play outsmart here.
10. Namkeen (Bhujia, Chana Chur, Khatta Meetha)
Dal Moth, Chanachur, Bhujia and Khattameetha are the important names signifying flavor and taste as processed foods. These are food products having no historical background but have established popularity in the market over many years.
11. Tuition Centre
This is possibly one of the most cost-effective businesses to launch, due to its near-zero starting cost requirement. Most tuition-teachers take classes in their own homes, thus eliminating any expenditure on rent and supplies. The only effort you need to put in as a tuition teacher is to take to advertise yourself on social media or go the old school way with flyers and ‘word-of-mouth’ recommendations.
12. Breakfast Joint
You must have noticed how those little breakfast and tea stores across your city are almost always filled with customers. This is because food as a commodity will always do well in a competitive market. To open up your own breakfast joint, you need to invest money in renting a space for it, after having received a permit for it from the respective authorities. If your rent is within Rs 5000 a month, you can dedicate the rest of your budget on buying groceries and other raw materials as well as second-hand tables and chairs.
13. Fruit Juice Kiosk
Who doesn’t appreciate fresh fruit-juice on a sweltering day? To tap into this lucrative business, you have to start by requesting a permit to open a kiosk in a chosen locality, preferably one that is hard to miss. Following this, you will need to pay rent for shop-space. Other than this, the only other investment you need to put your money up for is for the purchase of the raw materials, supplies like machines for making the juice, and the salaries of the employee(s) making the juice.
15. Garment Tailor
In cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, and Delhi, the demand for good tailors has increased tenfold due to the increasing popularity of self-made designs. Other than a small rented space, you only need to invest in powerful sewing and stitching machines, and of course electricity.
16. E-Waste Recycling Plant
E-waste is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their useful life. Computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, and fax machines are common electronic products. While there is no generally accepted definition of e-waste, in most cases, e-waste comprises of relatively expensive and essentially durable products used for data processing, telecommunications or entertainment in private households and businesses.
17. Kraft paper from waste cartons
Paper is a major product of the forestry industry and is used widely in our society. Paper products are used not only in their obvious applications in the publishing industry and for writing on, but also in a variety of specialty papers, cardboards, brown papers, etc.
18. Papad Plant (Automatic)
These days the demand for papad is growing immensely. At present papads are in short supply in the market. It is estimated that demand for papads will keep on multiplying. Exports of papads from India to various countries over the world have been quite substantial.
19. Mobile recharge shop
Even with online recharge, in India, most mobile-users prefer visiting a recharge shop to fill their balance. So those looking to practice this business can start by renting a space in a small local shop. This rent will be the primary (monthly) expenditure. You also need to form ties with the network providers of the area, such as Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, etc, and pen down their commission rates, where they will receive a cut of your profits from the sale of the commodities taken from them. Assuming that you aren’t looking to rent out a shop-space in any expensive real-estate property, your overall costs will definitely feature below the Rs. 10,000 scale.
20. Cafe business
This is no mystery that Indians love some newly blended espresso and this enthusiasm for espresso has lead to an expansion in the cafe business in India. There has been a consistent increment in the interest for refreshments and the café or bistro design is quick turning into a mainstream decision for opening an eatery business in India. As indicated by TechSci Research report, the Coffee Shop business is required to see development at a CAGR of over 11% by 2021. This makes opening a café business very gainful whenever done right!
So these are the basic but the most profitable business ideas which can push India to the greatest heights. So take a little risk for a hugely positive outcome!
72% of India’s population actually resides in the rural areas which are why exploring this market is a wonderful idea.
Rural marketing is a vertical which is extensively being explored by big agencies like O&M and Madison. 72% of India’s population actually resides in the rural areas which are why exploring this market is a wonderful idea.
Here are 4 reasons why every entrepreneur should consider the rural market:
I. The huge population
As discussed before, the rural market is huge and certain areas are yet to be tapped. This gives the entrepreneur a great opportunity to actually tap these markets and sell their products. When you move your products to these areas, you will gain a first mover advantage which is necessary as the rural folks are very brand loyal.
Because the urban market is exhausted, marketers are shifting focus to rural markets from where the real numbers are coming.
II. Changing demand patterns
The rural areas are slowly but steadily developing with the availability of electricity and rising education evils. They are aspiring to become more like the urban people they watch on television which is why their demand patterns are also constantly changing. The entrepreneur could use this to his/her strength and introduce products which will help them achieve their aspirations.
Lately, rural folks are buying laptops, microwaves and all sorts of technology to make life easier.
III. Standard of living and digitalisation
The standard of living in rural areas is slowly increasing as rural people have a habit of saving money. They are using this money to buy more and more stuff to achieve their inspirational goals. Also, rising digitalisation because of availability of electricity and internet is helping the markets become aware about new things.
ITC e-Choupal is brilliant initiative to make internet available to the rural markets.
IV. Marketing opportunities
The opportunities for marketers in the rural areas are unlimited and effective as the people there actually respond to the common techniques used. A marketer could do something as simple as billboard advertising or a nukkad natak or choose to organise an event or use methods like word of mouth to reach those more people.
We came up with a list of college dropouts turned entrepreneurs from the Indian startup ecosystem who have taken the country by storm.
Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg! Everyone has heard the names of these wildly successful founders of two equally revolutionary behemoths. Acknowledging their success, it is often highlighted that they were college dropouts. So we decided to figure out what exactly makes a college dropout stand out from the crowd, if at all? Is it their zeal to achieve or their out-of-the box thinking which sets them on the path to success? Or were they just one-off coincidences as are most successful startups and founders?
A self-taught programmer at 13 and web designer, he took a natural interest in the development of web applications. Seeing a clear market gap for an easy to use, user centric approach to web-based ticketed support and visitor engagement, Varun established Kayako in 2001. He serves as Chief Executive Officer of Kayako Infotech Ltd. and oversees the overall direction as the leading product architect, takes an active role in the design and development of the product line. He started the company in 2001 when he was just 17 with its first office in Jalandhar after dropping out of college.
Kailash Katkar
Born in a small village at Rahimatpur in Maharashtra, Kailash Katkar worked his way to the top to be chairman and CEO of INR 200 Cr business. He is the man behind Quickheal technologies Pvt Ltd. He started with a job at local radio and calculator repair shop and later went ahead in 1990 to start his own calculator repair business. In 1993 he started a new venture, CAT computer services where around that time his younger brother Sanjay developed a basic model of antivirus software which helped in solving the biggest problem of computer maintenance at that time. Later in 2007 it was renamed as Quick Heal Technologies. He achieved all this without any formal education.
A computer science dropout from LBS College Of Engineering in his 5th semester in 2007 end, Deepak never let his ideas caged by book and syllabi, he broke all the bounds imposed by the education system and followed his passion for computers which made him follow the entrepreneurial way. He founded Quest technologies which let people answer someone else’s question which has been asked by a text message. His primary company was Innoz Technologies which was behind ‘SmsGyan’ handing internet’s knowledge to people via texts. His latest venture is Lookup, which is a local commerce messaging app which lets users chat with local businesses and shops.
Ritesh Agarwal
Ritesh Agarwal is the man behind the ‘Ola’ for rooms, OYO Rooms. The startup is a network of technology – enabled budget hotels. This Gurgaon-based company, was founded by him in 2012. It is backed by Lightspeed Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Green Oaks Capital and has more than 700 hotels under its brand. A college dropout who founded Oravel when he was 18 received its share of fundings and accolades and later he rebranded it to OYO Rooms. He completed his higher schooling at St. Johns Senior Secondary School.
Kunal Shah
Freecharge, the famous platform which revolutionized the online recharge system with three step recharges along with providing offers of same value was the brainchild of Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon. The company was founded in 2010 and was recently acquired by Snapdeal. He did Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Wilson College and later went to Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies from which he dropped out later.
Mahesh has spent 29 years helping big brands with marketing counsel, and 13 years helping startups with marketing counsel and funding too. 19 of these years have been in digital media. Mahesh dropped out of Osmania University, sold vacuum cleaners door to door . He won notoriety and awards as Creative Director on Unilever, The Economist, Pepsi and MTV for whom he wrote and shot a series of top award-winning commercials. He is now the founder of advertising company pinstorm which is an ad firm offering pay-for-performance solution to companies across the world.
Azhar Iqubal
There must be something wrong with IIT, Delhi because this is second dropout who made ‘news’. He dropped out in his 4rd year of college(seventh semester). He made news by introducing News in Shorts the one and only app which cuts to the chase delivering only vital details in a news to all those lazy people and even to those who don’t have enough to go through all of them. The app makes sure that each news is conveyed in less than 60 words. Got a minute to spare? Keep up with the world with news in shorts. It started as a Facebook page and now it has made its share of fame so well that it received INR25 Cr in funding three months back.
Rahul Yadav
The brain behind Housing.com’s rise, Rahul Yadav is one the co-founders of the company and a dropout in his fourth year (seventh semester) from IIT Bombay. This didn’t deter him from stopping what he wanted to achieve. He knew that he was building a brand and working to solve a problem which no one ever tackled head on. Being in a mire of controversies, he has played it cool, be it resigning or then taking it back or giving away half of his shares to his employees. This guy has a brash attitude with a load of confidence.
Bhavin Turakhia
Bhavin Turakhia is the founder and CEO of Directi, an internet domain name registrar company founded in 1998 by him and his brother, Divyank. He managed to have a vision about the internet industry in India, which only a few have rivaled. He is credited for the impressive growth of Directi into a global web products company, with a number of businesses and millions of customers worldwide! Though he is an engineering dropout who cut off from it after 12th, he never stopped dreaming big. In his words, “Everything the Byte touches should be our kingdom” is the vision that Directi is looking forward to.”
Pallav Nadhani is the co-founder and CEO of Fusion Charts and RazorFlow and CEO at Collabion, seemingly a serial multi-tasker. He started this company in 2001 at the age of 16 from his bedroom as he found himself dissatisfied with Microsoft Excel’s charting capability while completing his high school assignments. The company is a service provider of data visualization products and owing to its success it was included in NASSCOM EMERGE 50 leaders in 2009.
Even after he dropped out from University of Calcutta, this setback didn’t stop him from achieving what he aimed for. He later earned his degree in Masters Of Computer Science From University of Edinburgh.
Abhishek Gupta
He is an entrepreneur who loves to code and instill people with new ideas, being engrossed with the idea of connecting people through web and mobile, he co-founded Frankly.me with Nikunj Jain. Frankly is a platform which is based on the idea to expand the horizon of conversations that people take part in. It has onboarded various celebs and many people have taken it to the platform to ask anything from them and getting video answers in back. Prior to this he founded Zumbl.com. Though an IIT,Delhi dropout where he was pursuing Computer Science, he wants to increase the IQ of an average conversation on Internet.
Ankit Oberoi
Ankit Oberoi is co-founder of Adpushup, which provides optimization of ads so that publishers and bloggers can benefit from their existing website traffic without the need for any coding skills. The company uses A/B testing to compare between different ad variation like different placements and different sizes. He dropped out from Maharaja Agrasen College in the first semester because he found it was a waste of time, in his words, “You don’t have to be at the college to learn something – Internet can teach you better”. His fascination with internet made him find Tamranda Web Solution which provided web hosting, domain registration and more. He served as director as Innobuzz before starting up adpushup.
Amritanshu Anand is the co-founder of Retention.ai, which allows app developers and marketers to track uninstalled users and understand their behaviours. It also enables companies to re-target users who have uninstalled the app. He started his as an advisor at Entrepreneurship Cell at IIT Kharagpur where he worked to foster spirit of entrepreneurship in India. Though, he dropped out of IIT he didn’t let anything stop him from pursuing his interests which made him found his company in May 2013.
To Dropout Or Not?
This ongoing debate has been getting a lot more spotlight as we see more and more of the youth starting up early on. Before reaching to any conclusion, though, lets hear out both the sides.
The Pros
1. Many people find earning a degree arduous because either they find it a waste of time or they think they can do better things than that. Some are of the view that there are bigger problems that need to be handled and earning a degree and going for a 9 to 5 job is not their cup of tea. Thus, dropping out gives them a head start and time to start out early on things they are passionate about.
2. College teaches one on how to go on a full month on a few thousand bucks while not giving up on one’s ‘lavish’ lifestyle, giving one a before hand experience of a bootstrapped startup. No matter how meagre a startup’s income, it keeps on going and surviving because it believes in itself.
You will not be an ordinary person like the vast majority of graduates, because you will be forced at times to “think outside the box”. You were not told for 3-4 years about what is impossible or what should never be attempted which will give you the edge to get out of the box. Being a dropout will require you to be able to look at every problem from a fresh and investigative perspective that might help in working your way around a problem.
1. Not having a formal degree makes you ineligible for hiring at the outset because people don’t take a dropout seriously unless he or she is somewhat exceptional.
2. “You miss the college life, the fun, last minute assignment submissions and those bunking hours of college but who cares when you have your startup and it is worth it.” – Ankit Oberoi
3. College is the time, especially in India, where one finally gets the time to explore one’s capabilities and interests. These are the formative years which could help discover your passion and direction in life, not to mention the network you build. Missing out on this could have a big detrimental impact.
Even though these people are dropouts, they made their path to success but this doesn’t work the other way around. They proved to be an exception because they never lost their passion and kept working towards their goal without any loss of enthusiasm. These were the ones who were so idea-centric about their passion that every time they made a breakthrough they were filled with zeal all over again. This made them overlook their education and follow their idea blindly.
In his blog post even Bill Gates states, “Although I dropped out of college and got lucky pursuing a career in software, getting a degree is a much surer path to success”. He further adds that college graduates are more likely to find a rewarding job and earn higher income than if they didn’t have degrees. The problem is not that enough people are going to college, it is that not enough people are finishing it. Even though enrollments rates are soaring but so are dropping rates. Even though above mentioned dropouts have struck gold but not everyone can do so because they don’t know ‘where ‘ to look. That perspective, that imparting of skills is provided by formal education.
On a lighter note, college leads to overall development of an individual. It not only provides with education skill but also important life skills which go a long way. Earlier, people used to stick to their passion and were not easily demoralised but the scenario is different now, with ever-shortening attention spans and lack of patience thereof, the road to success has become a treacherous path for many.
In Kunal Shah’s words, “They say people with high IQ have a good chance to be an atheist, but it doesn’t mean one will become high IQ by stopping to believe in God.”
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. ~ John Dewey
As with most debates, there are merits to both sides of the story. We’ll leave it up to you to choose your side!
It was only the determination and courage of this 16-year-old boy which has today given him a larger than life image.
This story fails every logic and is stranger than fiction. It was only the determination and courage of this 16-year-old boy which has today given him a larger than life image.
This clueless, small-towner boy listened to his friends when they told him that only Mumbai can change his fate. He did not have a single penny in hand and had to sleep empty stomach at railway station in Mumbai. But this was still easier for him than to fight back the pain of consecutive deaths of his elder brother and father.
The boy hails from Durgapur in West Bengal. His father was an army-man who suffered bullet wounds in the 1971 war and was left paralyzed. The only breadwinner was his elder brother who died because they had no money to cure his illness. His father couldn’t absorb this shock and died three months later. Now his mother was the only emotional support he had but she was also a responsibility.
In May 1989, the 16-year-old boy sleeping at Dadar Railway Station had nothing except sheer determination and a rosy future which he wasn’t aware of then. Words of his friends proved true when got a Rs 15 job and a place to sleep in a room in occupied by 20 other men. The room was so small that occupants couldn’t move even while sleeping.
The boy, Sudip Dutta, would happily walk 40 km every day from his Meera Road home to factory in Jogeshwari and back because he could save some money to send to his mother. There were four siblings to be fed.
Two years later, the factory where he worked made losses and the owners decided to shut it down. But his company’s death proved to be game-changer for him. He mustered all his courage and decided to buy the loss-making firm. He went ahead and used his entire savings and even borrowed money from friends to raise Rs 16,000 to buy the unit.
The 19-year-old Sudip, who could not even feed himself properly, had taken responsibility of running seven families of labours who worked in his company. The sum of Rs 16,000 was very less for the unit but he convinced the owners that he would share the profits of the unit for the coming two years. They agreed and he became owner of the unit where till yesterday he was a labour.
It was a tragic time for the aluminum packaging industry. Only a few large corporations like Jindal Aluminum could make profits backed by their robust financial strength.
Sudip realized the need for innovation and came up with a whole new product range which was much better than others. However, competing with giants like Jindal wasn’t an easy task. He pitched his products relentlessly to large companies and made his unit survive by delivering orders from small companies.
He would wait for hours to meet business heads but never gave up. His efforts and communication skills started showing results when he received small orders from FMCG and pharma giants like Sun Pharma, Cipla, Nestle and others.
Though Sudip had tasted initial success, he wasn’t aware of larger challenge to come his way. He had created a new product area which was now being targeted by other companies.
A business group backed by business tycoon Anil Agarwal had bought India Foils which was defunct company just to venture into packaging area. Agarwal and his Vedanta group are one of world’s largest companies. It was a mammoth and impossible looking task to even survive in the business area where Vedanta existed.
Unaffected by giant Vedanta’s presence in the industry, Sudip continued his research and development for improving his product range and maintained strong bonds with his customers. Finally, Vedanta had to surrender before Sudip’s determination and offered to sell India Foils to Sudip. The deal marked Vedanta’s permanent exit from the industry.
He started targeting pharmaceutical companies for supplying packaging material and also invested in a sick unit which made aluminum foils. There was no looking back from now on. He became a distributor for Indian Aluminium Co. Ltd and within two years from 1998 and 2000, he set up 20 units!
After this Sudip’s company took giant leaps and and made a distinct identity in the market. His company today is listed both with the Bombay and National Stock Exchange and is a leading supplier of primary packaging materials in India. His achievements have given Sudip title of Narayan Murthy of packaging industry.
The heavyweight names like Cipla, Nestle and Sun Pharma are his clients now and the company is valued at over Rs 1,600.79 crore!
He lives in posh locality of Andheri where several actors live and sends his children to a school in Singapore! He works from his posh, multi-storied office in Kandivili. Today, his cabin is larger than that dingy room where he lived along with 20 more men.
The man who walked for several kilometers everyday today owns luxury cars like BMW and Mercedes. Even after reveling in crores of rupees, he is humble and connected to his roots. Workers in his factory lovingly address him as Dada (elder brother) because they all have seen him struggle and reach the top.
Sudip says, “Adversity always makes a man more determined and I was determined to succeed. So I kept working at it.” His life’s story is extraordinarily inspiring and tells us the worth of courage and dreaming big.
Struggle teaches a lot of lessons and Sudip realizes that it is now his turn to give back to the society. He has set up a foundation which encourages young entrepreneurs and start-ups, especially those who come from a weak economic background.
This online artist search and discovery tool aims to quest your search for the best artist for any kind of event.
Started by two students from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management studies, Mumbai, this online artist search and discovery tool aims to quest your search for the best artist for any kind of event. Pratik Rathod, the co-founder of this start-up is a musician whilst his partner Ramalingam is an event manager who came together to put their expertise into play to make this tool successful.
Started with a single focus, the founders realised that artists do not get enough shows because of poor outreach and lack of research from the sponsors’ side. They decided to bridge this gap through BigMyGig. Their ideas were fuelled by the appreciation received by an angel investor who had visited their college campus and encouraged them to continue working on their idea. Thereon, they started building on the tool with determination and relentless passion. Currently, it is an online solution which helps event managers finds the best talent to suit their event.
For the business model of this tool, the founders decided to go for a “bamboo model” which is popular in China and stresses on the fact that an average bamboo tree takes 5 years and 3 months to grow completely. For five years, we see only a shoot which sprouts into a healthy and full-fledged tree in the last three months. Similarly, BigMyGig, which started out as an idea went on to grow into a strong network which consists of over 1200 artists and they’ve managed to successfully reach out to over 650 event managers across Mumbai.
With the growth of their company, the founders have also introduced packages on their website which allows the client to book a complete entertainment package. Also, specified in detail are the digital portfolios of all the artists in their network to simplify the task of event managers. On the artist front, the tool uses a three-stage filtering process, known as the Invitation Model. Artists are supposed to send requests to join BigMyGig on the website, post which a screening process is undertaken. Artists become a part of the network when they meet the required parameters. This guarantees authentic and verified artists in the website.
Lingerie for the longest time has been a taboo topic in India. However, with Richa Kar starting up her own e-commerce portal which deals with different types of lingerie, women are coming forth to buy new and more cutting-edge brassiere.
Lingerie for the longest time has been a taboo topic in India. However, with Richa Kar starting up her own e-commerce portal which deals with different types of lingerie, women are coming forth to buy new and more cutting-edge brassiere.
Richa Kar had an engineering degree from Pilani post which she worked in an IT firm. However, she was always interested in learning how businesses worked which is why she went ahead to get a MBA degree from NMIMS. After completing her MBA, she worked in the retail sector where studying a global lingerie brand was her job. This got her thinking about the category in India which was underdeveloped and unexplored due to various reasons like presence of male salesmen, unavailability issues etc.
However, this idea wasn’t completely accepted by her parents initially as selling bra-panties in the country isn’t considered to be a respectable profession. With passing time, the apprehensions started wearing off and her idea started blossoming.
In 2011, Kar started the website called Zivame with 35 lakhs which were her own savings and contributions from friends, however, soon she got funding from Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures. Post the initial funding, Zivame has been able to raise $48 million from Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Zodius Technology Fund, Unilazer Ventures, IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital. This money has been used to up the ante when it comes to customer service by developing new products and marketing.
Zivame, in Greek, means the radiant me and has grown leaps and bounds in the past five years with sales rising by 5x in 4 years. Currently, the brand has a fitting salon in Bangalore and plans to launch many more across the country. In the future, she plans to make the company bigger and fill the existing gaps in the lingerie sector.
In the wake of the hour, CabME, a homegrown cab service startup, is all set to create waves in the Indian travelling domain.
Cab market in India has indeed gained its swing. It is estimated that its worth more than around 10 billion dollars, just within the country and this year around 600 crores of Indian rupees has been pumped in the Indian radio taxi market. At this time when the cabs are taking the place of the traditional autorickshaws, buses and trains, a lot is expected from the Cab service portals of the country.
Unfortunately, the so called Biggies in the cab market have done their fair share in disrupting the newly mushrooming faith in cab travels among the commuters. In the wake of the hour, CabMe, a homegrown cab service startup, is all set to create waves in the Indian travelling domain.
So what’s so different about CabMe?? Well…CabMe comes with all new facilities that effortlessly addresses the woes of its passengers. This startup stands out with it being affordable, safe and one stop for all your travel needs. In the upcoming new website and app services which are going to be launched by the end of october or most probably, “due to high demand”, for this Deepawali, you can book almost everything, be it Cabs, Flights, Bus, Hotels, Holiday Packages, Travel accessories and what not? Surprising..? Oh yeah…
Just like its inceptors, the diligent BITSIANS, even CabMe focusses on the needs of the students and the intercity commuters. The students who face troubles in acquiring train tickets or bus tickets to travel back home, will look upon CabMe as a saviour in the eleventh hour. With CabMe, cab travel won’t be an expensive affair. The best part is that you can customize your travel…like choose the road you want to travel, choose whom you want to share your cab with and post your experience on the webpage, post your cab details in search for pooling partners…all this without burning a hole in your pocket. Another scintillating feature is the packages that you get to avail in your travels,there are plenty of intercity and intracity packages, hourly based packages and many more… and soon you can also avail self-drive option too. Interesting? you bet..It is….Thus CabMe will be one stop solution for all the types of travels at low fares.
CabMe is a humble startup that holds the comfort of its customers in travelling as its main objective. It already has many feathers in its hat for a budding startup as it is They received first prize at Sandbox StartUps And Accelerators competition, also the best scalability award at the Startup-Utsav and also won the Pitch Your Product competition in IIT Kanpur. They are now funded by Sandbox Startups which is in collaboration with Microsoft ventures and have been selected for startup accelerator espark virdinan accelerator recently.
In just only one year has thousands of customers and has garnered a revenue of 30,000 USD with a team size of fifty. It has its goals in place and aims to cater 10,000,000 customers and garner a revenue of more than a billion in a period of just 3 years. Not only this, it also aims to expand its business from presently 38 Indian cities to the international market and make its global presence felt in the future.
Well this is just the beginning. With thousands of users already booking and well trusted cab drivers, CabMe has become another name of safe travel. So those long travels are no more a strenuous deal…neither are the shorter ones anymore. And what comes handy? it’s that you get to all this at affordable prices…Oh yes, good things can happen to those who book CabMe.
With all these facilities CabMe is grabbing eyeballs and faithful customers in the Cab travel industry. So, buckle up folks, for a new chapter in cab travels of the country that will be known long for the comfortable travelling it provides and a successful saga that it will turn out to be. And the next time you think about Cab, think CabMe.
Creative startups from India that are courageous and innovative in their work.
India’s startup culture is on the rise. Many young entrepreneurs and creative thinkers are starting up as a way of building something new and creative, and relevant. Unlike the earlier times, it’s not the Indian dream anymore to become part of the mainstream or join an established MNC. To start something of their own is the predominant passion for youngsters today. Curious to know a little bit about what the youth brigade has been coming up with off late? Here are five creative startups from India that you should know about.
1. Little Black Book
Little Black Book, based in Delhi, is a lifestyle guide to everything exciting in the city of Delhi. It was started in 2012 by Suchita Salwan who began to document her experiences living in the city of Delhi. Little Black Book has recently launched their website for Bangalore as well. They are a platform for information regarding events, travel, culture, food, shopping, and more. It’s the perfect guide for anyone wanting to keep exploring the city. The LBB team also gives you the opportunity to explore the city along with the LBB crew.
Jamun is a startup in Delhi that specializes in digital film making. They are located in Hauz Khas Village in New Delhi. Their film making operations range from advertising to political and social work-related production. Ayesha Sood, who is the director, has received many positive reviews for her work, which has been recognized at several film festivals across many countries around the world.
Established in 2015, Renomania is a platform that offers people unique and creative ways to design their homes. Ritu Malhotra, the co-founder of Renomania, has nearly 26 years of experience in this field. The content on this platform is a result of years of experience and knowledge that Ritu Malhotra has accumulated during her time in this field.
Hatti Kappi began in 2009 with an investment of Rs. 1 lakh. It was started out under the staircase of a building in Gandhi Bazar in Basavangudi, Bangalore. Today, Hatti Kappi sells at nearly 25 outlets and employs about 120 people. US Mahendar, who started this up, says that his intention was not to compete with other coffee brands. Hatti kappi is not meant to be a lounge for people to relax for long, like many other cafes are. Instead, it’s a quick-bite outlet for people to have a refreshing beverage as they pass by it.
Culture Machine Media was started in 2013 by Sameer Pitalwalla and Venkat Prasad. Culture Machine Media has many channels on the internet like Being Indian and ‘What’s Trending India’ that have received nearly a million subscriptions on YouTube. Their entertainment platform has become a popular one, especially among the Indian youth.
The year 2016 has already started with a trend towards consolidation among start-ups with much M&A action in segments like local services, eCommerce along with software-as-a-service (SaaS), and analytics.
The beginning of last week, was thrilling with tunes of excitement all around in the start-up world. Putting an end to the several long tailed speculations, Flipkart-owned Myntra finally acquired Rocket-Internet backed Jabong in an all cash-only deal worth US $70 million. This creates a move towards biggest online fashion conglomeration in India and a world class example that elaborates on how synergies, when combined well can create a way towards successful longer-term business model.
Today, the Indian start-up scenario is at its unpredictable best. While 2015 witnessed huge funding rounds, with food-tech, hyperlocal & aggregators, in addition to e-commerce platforms, gaining edge over other segments. The year 2016 has already started with a trend towards consolidation among start-ups with much M&A action in segments like local services, eCommerce along with software-as-a-service (SaaS), and analytics.
In 2016, India has seen an unprecedented rise in M&A activity with 123 deals in total, with a cumulative deal size of 534.9 million dollars (disclosed value). In July, there were as many as 36 M&As, almost twice that in June and about three times the January and February numbers.
The number looks exciting and signifies that there is one acquisition closure in every two days. While a bigger pie of this count resides within the domestic boundaries; this year has also explored new horizons in terms of much notified M&A activity across the foreign boundaries.
The numbers include a fair combination of outbound and inbound deals, covering matured markets including US, UK, Dubai, Canada and more, thereby, constituting 9 per cent (11 deals) and 10 per cent (12 deals) to the total deal volume respectively.
While most of the outbound M&As revolved around the start-up space, some of the industry majors have also realised the benefits of marrying start-ups. A few notable acquisitions include Mindtree (acquisition of US based Salesforce consulting and implementation provider, Magnet 360); Tech Mahindra (acquisition of UK based IT and digital company, Bio Agency) and Dabur (acquisition of South African cosmetics manufacturing and trading firm, Discaria). The key commonalities for inbound acquisitions include SaaS (as the top most target industry segment) and USA (as the top most acquirer location).
In domestic market, we have seen a sale season for start-ups – the industry is now showing the big signs of consolidation, with over 100 M&As till date.
Delhi-NCR remained the top location within the domestic market and snaps up 29 deals followed by Bangalore (26) and Mumbai (16) deals respectively. Bangalore has remained the top acquirer region across the geographical boundaries (including outbound M&As). Local Services remained the top segment with 15 deals followed by SaaS and eCommerce respectively.
This article was originally published in Xeler8.com
There are a lot of successful Indian entrepreneurs who are actually college dropouts and could make it big only because of their zeal to succeed.
Indians have always valued education over anything else. Good grades, admission into top colleges and degrees might be important in some fields but to become a successful entrepreneur, one needs entrepreneurial qualities and a degree is just an addition. There are a lot of successful Indian entrepreneurs who are actually college dropouts and could make it big only because of their zeal to succeed.
Here’s a list of entrepreneurs who are actually college dropouts:
1. Kunal Shah
The founder of Freecharge got a degree in Philosophy from Wilson College Mumbai after which he enrolled into Narsee Monjee institute to get an MBA. It was only a matter of time before he dropped out and worked as a software engineer at a BPO company. He also started his first venture which was called PaisaBack after dropping out. He gained success only after starting Freecharge in 2010 which is a unique and successful Indian model. It was acquired by e-commerce giant, Snapdeal in 2015 and Shah was employed as the CEO.
2. Pallav Nadhani
Nadhani is the co-founder of Fusioncharts which he started at a tender age of 17. He enrolled into University of Calcutta but soon dropped out to nourish his company. Currently his company has over 23,000 customers and over 500,000 developers. In 2002, he also co-authored a book called Flash.Net which speaks about combining the power of Flash and NET.
However, Nadhani values education which is why he went on to earn a degree from University of Edinburgh in Computer Science after his venture was running well.
The very young and successful entrepreneur and founder of OYO rooms was also a college dropout. Ritesh Agarwal enrolled into one of Delhi’s most prestigious B-schools but dropped out after a semester. He wanted to make his chain of budget rooms Oravel big. And, once he won the Thiel scholarship, there was no looking back. He went on to build a huge OYO empire which is spreading wings in Malaysia as well. Currently, with huge funding from investors like Green Oaks, he’s expanding OYO to OYO café and OYO prime as well.
This entrepreneur started his venture, Kayako at the young age of 21 after dropping out of a college in Jalandhar. He took a keen interest in computers and website designing at the age of thirteen and once he saw a gap in the market, like a true entrepreneur, he tapped it. Currently he serves as the CEO of Kayako Infotech Ltd and looks after the complete product design of the company.
Iqubal dropped out if Indian Institute of Delhi in his final year to start his extraordinary venture, News In Short. This is a unique platform which aspires to keep people up-to-date about all the current affairs in short. This is meant for lazy or busy people as each news article tries to convey packed information in 60 words or lesser. His venture gained popularity and a massive funding of 25 crores some months back.
The richest business tycoon in India, Mukesh Ambani, is also a college dropout. He was studying in Stanford when he decided to dropout and help out with his father’s business, Reliance. He believed that whatever he’d learn hands-on while working would be of greater importance than a course in Stanford. We guess he was right as because of his efforts Reliance has soared new heights today.
Another billionaire, Gautam Adani who owns the Adani group of industries dropped out of Gujarat University in his second year. He didn’t start his own venture immediately; instead, he moved to Mumbai and worked as a diamond sorter for Mahindra bros. Later, he started his own diamond brokerage company and currently his net worth is over $3.9 billion.
Hence, to achieve success in the entrepreneurial field, a degree or formal education isn’t absolutely necessary.
The new DIPP is serious when he takes the initiative of encouraging the budding startups in the country.
The new DIPP is serious when he takes the initiative of encouraging the budding startups in the country. Every aspiring entrepreneur waits with bated breath to know what the whole fuss is about. We have almost all details covered for you about the startup scene in India.
Ramesh Abhishek succeeded DIPP Amitabh Kant as the latter went on to become the CEO of Niti Aayog. Startup India is the current Prime Minister’s on-going project in which he aims to give a boost to Indian entrepreneurs in order to encourage them to succeed and build upon their innovative ideas.
“The government is very keen to promote the startup sector. A lot of good things are already happening without government intervention, and what the government is doing is stepping startup to provide a much better enabling environment for startups. Much of what was announced this January is already underway” Abhishek.
“Taxation and incentives (for startups) were the big areas. Startups registered and incorporated from 1st April 2016 are eligible for tax incentives,” he adds.
The Government in order to continue with their initiatives has provisions of tax exemptions for startups which register from 1st April, 201- 31st March, 2019. The startups can also avail tax benefits and capital gains tax benefits for entrepreneurs who are willing to invest in the fund of funds which is to be set up by the government. Work is in full swing and SIDBI is aiming to set up an Rs 1,100 crore worth of fund of funds. The DIPP also proudly mentions that they’ve received over 571 applications. Since, this scheme is an extremely new and complicated one, Startup India Hub is also providing help in form of support and guidance to people who are aspiring to register to the scheme.
To make things easier, all aspiring entrepreneurs who want to register can call on 1800-11-5565 or mail the DIPP at dipp-startups@nic.in or get in touch with him on Twitter. This helpline is working because they’ve received over 10,000 calls which have been attended to. The startup hub is constantly tracking data and is open to suggestions. They are also looking to add more new features which will probably have training modules and financial tool modules in the market. The DIPP claims that the government’s job is to encourage entrepreneurship and like in many countries, the government has played a critical role, they want to do the same in India.
Seven proposals for research parks and 16 proposals for technology business incubators and startup centers have been recommended by the National Expert Advisory Committee which the Startup Hub is looking at. Also, they are fast tracking the patent applications and have set up 250 expert panels which are supposed to provide consultation. Procurement norms have also been relaxed for startups who want to register. The DIPP requests the people to have faith in the government because they want this scheme to be successful so that startups can be the new game-changers in the Indian market.
Because the Hub is not overly optimistic and know that all ventures will not succeed, the government has come up with the idea of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill 2015 to help business that aren’t doing very well a chance to wrap up in three months.
“We want to build a solid environment and infrastructure for entrepreneurship, focus on improving the ease of doing business, so that startups have no reason to register in Singapore, for example. We are working to remove all the bottlenecks,” Abhishek promises.
This looks to be a promising initiative and is definitely going to give a boost to all startups which are aspiring to make their innovative ideas work. If you have an idea and entrepreneurial qualities, this is the time to test them.
Lack of focus on long-term benefits among founders and funders is hampering the growth of a healthy ecosystem.
Narendra Gupta is one of India’s highest profile venture capital investors (founder of Nexus Venture Partners) as well as the founder of various investment and software firms (CEO and President of Integrated Systems Inc. (ISI) for a decade and a half).
The last 10 years have seen the birth of remarkable new-age startups in India. What are the common themes among these startups? They are technology-based and innovation-driven, and are often launched by motivated, educated, high-energy founders. These startups are changing a variety of industries, such as retail, health care, logistics, transportation, education, and entertainment. They enable a broad swathe of people to access high-quality products and services at affordable prices. Most importantly, these startups can scale rapidly and create millions of well-paying jobs, something India sorely needs.
Founders with grit and vision, fuelled by risk capital, have driven this vibrant startup scene. Recent changes in government regulations and tax policies are recognising the importance of startups among broader economic policy initiatives. Done right, these startups have the potential to form the foundation of long-term economic growth and bring millions of people out of poverty.
But the experiment that anchors India’s future is beginning to stumble. At least it seems far from realising even its modest potential. Let me explain why, and share some thoughts on what can be done before it is too late.
Based on my decades of experience in the Silicon Valley and, more recently, in India, I can say that Indian founders are, in general, world class. Venture funders and the media also have their hearts in the right places. The Indian ecosystem, however, lacks maturity. Unlike in the Silicon Valley, only a handful of investors in India have experienced multiple economic and venture cycles. All of us have a lot to learn.
While building great companies takes years, if not decades, many Indian investors have a short-term mindset. We often invest in areas that are ‘hot’, and shun larger, longer-term opportunities. The result is an over-funding of hot areas, with a concomitant funding dry-up a short time later. Indian investors also tend to value companies based on short-term metrics rather than an understanding of underlying technologies, business models and defensibility.
Post-funding, the investors’ focus seems to be on preparing for the next round of funding in preference to building sound, market-leading companies.
Exceptional founders need to be backed by a stable source of thoughtful capital from people who have gone through entire funding and company-building cycles.
The Indian media tends to over-promote ‘hot’ business opportunities and founders, setting them up for disappointments and eventual failure. When the lofty, unrealistic projections are not met, the media is equally expeditious in trashing the companies and their founders. It is either boom or it is bust. Over the last five years, the media coverage of microfinance, mobile VAS, media, ecommerce, food delivery, and other business opportunities, together with their founders, shows the immaturity of the Indian startup ecosystem. In my personal dialogues, I have generally found India business reporters to be informed, caring and thoughtful. I hope that the media will provide a more balanced coverage in good times and bad. The press should take a leadership role in helping potential customers discover innovative products and services from early-stage companies; something these companies do not have the resources to do themselves.
Most of a startup’s early success can be attributed to the founders and the leadership team. For this, they rightly deserve fame and fortune. Recently, I have observed rampant short-term orientation in Indian founders. Do irresponsible investors and the media drive this behaviour? I don’t know. In any case, exceptional founders should have the courage to go against the grain and do the right things. Startup leaders who cannot say ‘no’ to their board and venture investors when they are being misdirected are not good leaders.
In the early years of the Silicon Valley, in 1980, I started Integrated Systems, a company focussed on software products for real-time design and implementation. Our team wanted a company that would outlast any of us. We made numerous mistakes. One time, at the suggestion of one of our large customers, we got diverted into building a hardware product that could implement real-time logic for laboratory testing. It brought us revenue, but the decision almost killed the company since we were not set up to support hardware products in the field. Our biggest mistakes were, however, mistakes of omission—things we should have done, or the initiatives we should have killed, but did not, despite our instincts. Why? In every case, the decision would have caused short-term pain, but the long-term benefits would have been substantial.
We made many mistakes, large and small, but fortunately none turned out to be fatal. We learnt from every mistake. I ran the company for almost 15 years as president/CEO, with a maniacal focus: I took no outside board seats, or made any startup investments. It was the best time of my life. We took the company public in 1990, and merged it with Wind River in 2000. Integrated Systems remained a leader in the real-time space till Intel acquired the merged company for almost a billion dollars in 2009.
In 1995, after I stepped down from the CEO’s position at Integrated Systems, I met a young professor from Harvard University for lunch. Dr Yagyensh (Buno) Pati, in his post-doctoral research, had discovered a technology that would enable many more components to be placed on a semiconductor chip. I agreed to fund his company under only one condition: He would work on the company full time. Giving up an academic position at one of the most esteemed institutions in the world was a very difficult decision. In addition, bringing a new technology to market involved much iteration, some causing significant drops in short-term revenue. Buno had the courage to make the right calls. Five years later, the company went public and had a valuation of more than a billion dollars. As Buno says, “When you are standing on a pier with one foot in the boat, the boat is unlikely to go anywhere and you are likely to end up at the bottom of the sea.”
Over the last few years, I have failed to see this focus or commitment in many of the new-age company founders or management teams in India. They seem overly focussed on their image in the media, maximising valuations in the next funding rounds, and other short-term bragging rights. Where is the focus on exceptional products and customer satisfaction?
My belief is that today’s even moderately successful Indian entrepreneurs are so distracted that they cannot maniacally focus on building great companies. The baubles that distract them range from angel funding to building fancy bungalows. During my recent visit to Bengaluru, I cringed when I was told that many executives of rapidly growing companies were spending time with architects and builders, while their companies were losing millions of dollars every month and are in survival battles against strong competitors.
Some people say that the tendency to take short cuts is in our blood; the so-called ‘jugaad’ mentality. I disagree. It has nothing to do with Indian family values, culture or markets. Narayana Murthy and Sunil Mittal built large, durable companies in a less hospitable environment in the not-too-distant past. Indians around the world are doing exceptionally well as founders and leaders of market-leading innovators.
Two other major factors are affecting the ability of Indian founders to build large and sustainable market leaders.
One: Indian founders lack a culture of mutual support and brotherhood (and sisterhood) with other founders. In the Silicon Valley, founders frequently celebrate other founders’ successes. They try and buy products from other startups. The early-stage companies that we have funded in India tell us that moderately successful startups are their worst customers. For example, they would often defer payments to these early-stage companies while making timely payments to more established players. Startups that are further along also fail to leverage other startups’ innovative products and solutions. Rather than building a strong ecosystem around their companies, these founders set up competing teams within their own organisations. These teams are often incapable of competing with agile startups and distract the company from its main mission.
Founders, it seems, are doing everything possible to see other founders fail, even if they are in complementary businesses, at the expense of significant distractions, wastage of resources and less-than-optimal outcome. Founders and management teams need the courage to change conventional, dogmatic notions of ‘How India works’.
Two: Startup leaders need to embrace the notions of sharing and sacrifice, which are the key foundations of Indian culture. Authority, responsibility, credit for success and financial rewards should be shared broadly and deeply. When I ran Integrated Systems, one thing that made me proud was that most employees referred to Integrated Systems as “my company” in talks with their family, friends and the media.
The ‘me first’ way of thinking makes it difficult to build strong, committed teams with a wide range of expertise. As a startup scales, the capabilities of each team member and how well the team works together determines long-term success. The larger pie even allows more participants to benefit from the success. Silicon Valley has excelled on this philosophy of broad sharing. Given our culture, Indian startups can do even better.
Ten years ago, I decided to take a detour to help build the Indian startup ecosystem with a dream; a dream that the next mega success will originate in India. While the last couple of years have taken us sideways, the dream is alive and well.
We – founders, venture investors and the media – are all privileged to experience the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity first hand. But this privilege comes with responsibilities. Let us learn from the best in India, the United States, and elsewhere. Let us work together to leverage entrepreneurship for the benefit of billions of men and women in India and around the world.
This article was originally published in Forbes India
This list consists of some ideas which are bound to do well in the Indian market because of lack of market leaders or depending upon the needs of people with changing times.
To become successful, all an entrepreneur needs is a great idea and a set of skills which needs to employ to make the idea work. However, sometimes entrepreneurs need to find inspiration to start their own venture. This list consists of some ideas which are bound to do well in the Indian market because of lack of market leaders or depending upon the needs of people with changing times.
1. Home-based food services
The concept of dabbas and tiffins have existed for decades together. This idea has huge scope because the youth of India works longs hours and majority want “ghar ka khaana” when they come back home after a tiring day at work. You can choose your domain to work in- individuals, organisations or local businesses. The investment is pretty low because there is not much inventory required and the scope of this business doing well in metropolitan cities is very high.
2. Online courses
If you’re proficient with some software, coding language or foreign language, you can easily offer an online course to people who need it. The most effective solution would be to offer them with a well structured course they can avail at any time of the day depending upon convenience. In India, because people want to learn separate courses than the ones they are learning, this is bound to work.
For instance, VFX is in demand, so one can hire a VFX specialist and record his lectures and offer it to people who want to learn VFX.
With long hours of work, people hardly have the time to clean every nook and corner of their house. On one day of relaxation, they prefer to relax than haggle with the maid. An entrepreneur can turn these shortcomings into opportunities and provide people with trusted domestic assistance on an hourly basis. This is a new concept which is bound to garner attention in Tier-I and Tier-II cities.
4. Virtual assistant
The concept of having a virtual assistant to pay bills, organise tasks for the day, set reminders, reply to emails etc, is steadily catching up worldwide. This concept is relatively unexplored in India and has huge potential to click with the growing working population. All an entrepreneur needs for starters is a laptop and a good website with basic understanding of the virtual world of administration.
5. T-shirt printing
With organisations, corporate, schools and colleges constantly looking for vendors to print and design t-shirts, hoodies and other apparel in bulk, this could be your ticket to becoming a successful entrepreneur. This industry is slowly catching up and is bound to become big in the future. Some market players like Souled store and VX are already doing this. SO, if you can offer similar services at cheaper rates, you could mint money in no time.
Stressing on the fact that people do not have enough time to take out from their jobs to actually do laundry, they will be glad to give their dirty clothes to a laundry service and shell out some bucks to have it washed properly and ironed. For better sales, you could also introduce a pick-up and drop service. This is bound to be a hit with students and working youth alike.
7. Professional essay and SOP writer
If you have the writing skills and want to make money out of it, the best way to do that is by becoming a professional essay and SOP writer for people applying for college or jobs. Parents will be willing to pay tons to get their kids help from professionals for college and you could easily turn a forte into a money making business.
8. Pet clothing and accessories
With the pet industry booming and second after the infant care industry, a creative designer could explore this field and yield maximum benefits. One could design and customise dog-collars, beds, clothes, dog tags, grooming kits; the list is endless. The customisation offered will make the pet owner feel exclusive and this start-up is bound to do well in a country where pets are being celebrated. One has various sales channels for this venture- online, pet shops or sell at wholesale rates to pet owners and then expand the market from there.
For every t-shirt you buy, a t-shirt is donated to a poor kid. It is a one of a kind concept where the buyer is given an opportunity to hand over a t-shirt to one kid of the few million who survives extreme temperatures without any clothing.
Based out of Kota, Rajasthan, TheCityFans.com is a unique, one of a kind e-commerce website which focuses on apparel which are city and state-based. They aim to target a niche audience who aren’t shy to express their remarkable love regarding something. Available, in six cities, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Jaipur, the T-shirt designs are quirky and for the ones looking to make a statement. State oriented t-shirts from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab are very urban yet authentic. The website has also come up with customised apparel for a few colleges and schools such as IIT, Sophia and Mody.
What sets this e-commerce site from others in the motto they thrive upon- One For You, One From You. For every t-shirt you buy, a t-shirt is donated to a poor kid. It is a one of a kind concept where the buyer is given an opportunity to hand over a t-shirt to one kid of the few million who survives extreme temperatures without any clothing. The smiles on the kids’ faces are priceless on receiving something they believed was out of their reach.
TCF has also made a short video on the same hoping out to help more children with their noble and unique e-commerce model.
We connect farmers, manufactures and brands to retailers directly through our lean and connected supply chain.
The vegetable market in India is expected to be buzzing with farm-fresh veggies and fruits. But, in reality, the vegetables aren’t as fresh as displayed in travel guides and brochures. Sharat Logathanathan, an alumnus of IIM Kozhikode made a visit to the “subzi mandi” and discovered the truth for himself. He recalls being shocked at the amount of produce being dumped as waste.
Sharat stated:
“When we went to the market, we discovered that the market was in total chaos. A lot of vegetables were lying as waste, and people trampled over them.”
In a third world country like ours where people don’t have food, wastage is unacceptable but then, it is harsh reality.
Thirukumaran Nagaranjan, also an IIM-Kozhikode alumnus who was accompanying Sharath stated:
“Inefficiencies could be seen in almost every aspect. There were a lot of middlemen involved, there was no price transparency whatsoever. The produce of the farmers exchanged a lot of hands before reaching the eventual consumer, which resulted in farmers hardly making any money in this whole scenario. We felt this is a market which has huge potential, has tremendous scope of development and is literally untapped. We almost instantly realised there is a lot of value addition that can be done in this space by bringing technological and operational efficiencies.”
That visit gave birth to the idea of Ninjacart which sources farm fresh vegetables and fruits from the farmers and delivers them to the customer. This was the inception of a model from which everyone would benefit.
Ninjacart.in states in its homepage: We connect farmers, manufactures and brands to retailers directly through our lean and connected supply chain.
The success story:
As of June 2016, Ninjacart has a customer base of over 400 retail stores and restaurants in Bangalore. The average monthly tonnage is about 1.4k tons and monthly revenue of around Rs 4 crores.
According to Vasudevan, Ninjacart is the only player in this space that delivers quality goods in a span as short as eight hours. They also guarantee daily supply, easy management and absolutely fresh produce.
Ninjacart got a massive funding of 20 crores from Accel which is the country’s leading VC. Other VCs are Qualcomm ventures and Zop.
Ninjacart caters to many villages in and around Bangalore and deliver the produce to some big names like Whitefield, Marathalli, Indiranagar and many more.
The unique model from which everyone benefits:
Farmers:
The best part as discussed above is that farmers can benefit hugely as they don’t lose out on the money paid to the middlemen. They are also insured from price fluctuations. Through a simple method(free of cost), the farmers load their produce onto Ninjacart vehicles which are sent to deliver produce to the customers. They receive their payment through NEFT.
Ninjacart has also gone one step ahead and hosts farmer seminar programs called “Rythu abhivrudhi karyakrama” which educated the farmers about fair pricing and the market.
Customers:
Customers (shopkeepers, households, restaurants) benefit as they receive good-quality, fresh vegetables and fruits delivered at reasonable prices.
Ninjacart developers:
They’ve faced threats in the past to stop their ways of dealing, however, they believe it is a good initiative and continue with it. The makers are reaping profits as high as 4 crores every month and manage to secure the livelihood of farmers in and around Bangalore. The recent fundings establish Ninjacart’s existence in the market.
India is a country with the third largest number of start-ups in the world. However, we need more entrepreneurs to come forth as the Indian market is constantly evolving and the opportunities need to be tapped.
India is a country with the third largest number of start-ups in the world. However, we need more entrepreneurs to come forth as the Indian market is constantly evolving and the opportunities need to be tapped.
That aside, here are a few reasons why India needs more entrepreneur:
1. New innovations
Image credit: www.totalcommstraining.com
Indians are often not very comfortable with taking charge. However, in the recent times, we’ve observed the growth of entrepreneurs in the country due to a boom of innovative ideas. Companies like OYO rooms, FoodPanda, Zomato have also managed to spread their wings into the international markets. However, what India needs is not a copy paste of ideas from the West but an array of completely new ideas because the markets they are catering to are completely different.
2. New ideas make life simpler
Image credit: www.lampsofhandmade.com
With a huge variety of new idea cropping up; we can only fathom how much easier our life gets. If one needs to book a cab, Ola is the way to go; one can easily check restaurant listings on Zomato while booking tickets through BookMyShow is super convenient and only made the lives of people more organised. Also, companies like Flipkart and Snapdeal have sorted the e-commerce scene in the country. Hence, with more innovations by entrepreneurs in various fields, the public benefits greatly.
There are a huge number of Venture Capitalists who want to invest in start-ups but because of the lack of a completely original idea, they fail to find one. The world of investors see potential in our country and we need to use all the attention coming our way in a positive way. Recently, Zoomcar received funding worth $8 million from Sequoia capital where as OYO is funded by Sequoia Capital, SoftBank and GreenOaks capital which are foreign based investors.
4. Fill gaps in growth and development in the country
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The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi believes that start-ups are essential to bridge the gaps to enhance growth and development of the country on various fronts. New start-up innovations cropping up are steady sources of income for the entrepreneur and an addition to the GDP of the country. Hence, the government aspires to boost digital start-ups at grass root levels by allotting around INR 2000 crores for this initiative.
The Prime Minister is highly excited about the Start-up India project which has almost 2000 crore INR allotted to the cause. Along with that, the Government also plans to provide budding entrepreneurs with perks such as legal support for filing patents at free of cost and 80% reduction in filing patent fee. If the Government eases taxation for start-ups, it’ll be a great boost to empower the aspiring entrepreneurs who should definitely grab the opportunity and start more companies in India.
6. Healthy competition
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More number of entrepreneurs means more competition which saves the country from monopoly in any one field. This will force companies to come up with newer and more cost-effective ideas in order to secure profit margins and build a base which are beneficial to the customer.
For instance, Zomato was almost a monopoly until close players like FoodPanda and Swiggy ventured into the restaurant business increasing competition in a healthy way and providing the customers with more choices.
Lendingkart recently raised 205 crores; 128 crores was raised as equity and 77 crores as debt.
Lendingkart recently raised 205 crores; 128 crores was raised as equity and 77 crores as debt.
The Dollar Business Bureau
Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) led the whole money raising event where over $32 million was raised in series B funding from investors. Lendingkart is an Online loan platform.
“With BII onboard, we are looking forward to leverage its deep knowledge of global financial products and Internet businesses,” Harshvardhan Lunia, co-founder and CEO, Lendingkart Group, said in a statement.
The company after having raised a massive amount in the second tranche funding claimed that BII had led the new tranche of funding in which big investors like Darrin capital management had paricipated along with existing investors such as Saama Capital, Mayfield India and Indian Quotient. The company also stated that with Financial Service leaders like Arvato Financial Solutions as a part of the investing group, Bertelsmann has certainly brought forth a fresh angle to the mundane digital forum and data analysed risk assessment. It will also help Lendingkart to pose themselves as the leading lending platform in the country.
With the recent round of funding, Lendingkart has over 260 crores to its name. It has also helped to boost their tech platform and given them a sturdy infrastructure to enhance mobile capabilities.
The Managing director of BII said that they were proud to be associated with the LendingKart group to create a new generation of lending firm in the country. They believe that through lending money to the deserving, they will get to see a lot of new innovations in the country.
Lendingkart aims to expand its horizon, tap the lending market and emrge as a lending leader in the country by expanding its presence further across different regions of India. It has successfully organised loans to clients across 130 cities in 22 states and recorded a successful growth of 20% monthly in loan origination. In the future, Lendingkart also aims to facilitate loans to SMEs.
