SBenegaL

Blog

  • Start-up Nation – Dan Senor and Saul Singer

    Israel – the name resonates with a country that is today synonymous with Innovation, Technology,  a Start-up culture that could be the awe of any country!
    Definitely, Israel is unique… is there something that one could learn from this small country that is located in the midst of a hostile neighbors. For a community of people who were displaced from their origins over 2000 years ago, to come back and create an innovation powerhouse, it is nothing less than a miracle! 
    The authors – Dan Senor and Saul Singer have just written a fitting biography of this nation that has rebuilt in the last 6 decades a story of a culture that had to start from scratch and script its prowess as a leading start-up ecosystem. 
    As one who has an interest in entrepreneurship, this book has an interesting combination of history, societal aspects, the economic conditions etc very well written. Right from the genesis of the country to how they seeded each of the industries – the need for innovation, the role played by military, a comparison with startup clusters, and last but not the least the challenges ahead… all so well put across that the reader is just glued to the story.
    I just love this book and would urge every guy interested in entrepreneurship read this book.

  • Lazy!!! – well relaxing is for rejevination I thought… Doing something new does…

    “All work and no play make…” 
    So goes the adage…but is it only relevant to young kids? It is that only kids get dull? The large populace of IT professionals (well this doesn’t really stop at those working only for IT) working around me too have a similar problem…they dont seem to give me an inspired feeling! I don’t see “life” filled with energy in them.
    I really don’t see many of them getting to new things – they call the time that they do not do anything other than watch movies or sit in front of the television – relaxing! We is this relaxing! The mind of this duration is entrapped into the television or the movie and gives the sense of a temporary relief, but over a longer duration one would have really lost out on hours that could have been employed elsewhere and into something more engaging and enriching.
    Everyone has a unique way of spending time in a manner that rejuvenates themselves – but what I feel people really do not do is get out of their comfort zone!… try something new!… Our mind loves to do what is likes.. it pulls us into the direction… it loves wandering… You could make better  use of it if you define or confine the mind a bit too… It could help if you add in a little bit extra in every thing you… and before you know … you have really beaten what you thought you would ever reach!
    Yes, the point I am trying to make is the lack of effort we put in exploring and then improving and if possible excelling at what we attempt to do. Its is time that we as people begin realizing that exploring an alternate side is very useful… I have heard many people say – I never knew I could really do this!
    It is time, we move away from being lazy and engage ourselves in going beyond what we immediately know. A constant attempt to improve, is something that we never consciously engage with… and even if we engage with we behave as if its a competitive advantage and attempt to safeguard it to an extent that it doesn’t transmit beyond the brain that has created it. 
    I never thought I could actually do some digital media marketing… to took up a community event marketing and realized it is no great science and over the weekend I was able to get a lot more knowledge and experience from what I did. I was extremely thrilled at what I was able to learn… I think this has to become a sustained practice by everyone.
    It is also in sharing that knowledge gets fertile… The experience of everybody and the interpretation of the scenario at hand help our knowledge grow and mature. 
    It is time all of us attempt to move away from the usual, try something new, improve steadily, share what we learn… you never know what legacy we leave until we have left.

  • Choosing your first employee – Attitude over Aptitude

    The first employee of any start up plays a crucial role. It is in fact a process by which the culture of the organization begins. Navigating this challenge is not easy for start-ups!
    Co-Founders typically are seen to be friends or colleagues and it is very often the employee whom they hire that turns out to be the first external person joining the team. While it is possible that the employee might not really be a complete outsider, but someone in what I could call as the latent network (one which we do not access frequently in the course of our work) and pull him into the active network (that which we access very often).
    As someone who has helped a few start ups in their hiring, and seen many others make their choices, I find there are two broad requirements that emerge out as the most required in my opinion:
    1. Willing to push and attempt to think beyond what he/she already knows
    2. Hungry to work hard if need be
    In addition to this, possessing the knowledge and the skill would only add up to the person as positive points.  But the real deal breaker would be hiring a person who is not willing to think knowing his/her limits and having no enthusiasm to learn if it takes. Simply put, I am looking at the right attitude fit before I look at the aptitude fit.
    Knowledge and expertise of an individual could come with a well defined self-image; the start-up founders would need to know, to what extent these would be beneficial for the company and at what level it would be detrimental to the company’s prospects!
    If the employee is one who would take up additional responsibility beyond what is expected of him and executes this it would be an added positives, the founders however should be willing to give this freedom to the employee to explore and work with them.

  • Why dont students challenge the exisiting norms?

    We really don’t find students challenge their teachers today? This is so much an Indian phenomenon…
    This is how one of the conversation started today with Rishi… yes, Rishi and I keep discussing quite a few topics relating to the education in India. 
    In this case it was interesting – I for one have not seen many of my students challenge me on the concept, I have seen some students who did try to put me out of the comfort zone due to attitude issues, but not on the subject matter. This too synched with what Rishi had observed, however I differed on his overall assessment that this was an Indian Phenomenon. 
    We have heard about Gargi or Maitreyi who had been in a detailed discussion with the renowned saints of Janaka’s period on various topics which required tremendous expertise. So it is not possible that discussion or even dissenting with the opinion of one’s teacher is completely unheard of. In fact most of the early scriptures from here are in the from of a discussion and highlighting the nuances of the knowledge/philosophy. The drawback however was that not many were exposed to the knowledge as it was transmitted orally as the primary means and the written scripts were accessible only to a select few. 
    I would rather blame the reason for suppression of the questioning mindset to the period when the system of knowledge transfer was broken thanks to the fear! Yes, the history of India has had enormous challenge to the survival of the religion of the masses at least a couple of times during the Mughal Period and later on during the British Rule. People being closely attached towards religion, feared the influence of the new beliefs and tried to avoid their religion being taken away! They possibly tried to prevent questioning of the fundamentals of their own religion under the influence of the new thoughts and began suppressing the thought of a creative discussion. 
    Coupled with this, the system of generating mass scale clerks through the education system that was introduced during the British Era only worsened the problem. You needed people who could follow instructions while not really applying their minds!
    The effect we see of this – is today in the form of people who dont think independently or question the foundation and belief!
    The way forward I see is to encourage discussion as part of the knowledge discovery and dissemination. It is only through effective dialogue and discussion that one develops Independently thinking individuals who could fearlessly voice their opinions.

  • An exciting journey of starting a society – extremely satisfying

    My life has been a summation of various experiments that I have been venturing on – many of the decision I have taken and followed have really no rationale description that even I could give – forget a prescription. Experimenting with uncertainty is now a part of me… and when some of these experiments make way to something that is extremely tangible there is no bound for the satisfaction and happiness I experience.
    A recent such venture that sprouted into an organization has been setting up our own – Amba Bhavani Vividoddesha Souharda Sahakari. A cooperative which today almost every one from my community says there has been a felt need – their argument goes saying – “every other community in the region has one and we are late – none the less – better late than never”. 
    I possibly wouldn’t have ventured onto this one if it was not for a dear friend of mine – Murali who was helping me explore the possibility of owning a house in my home town – Udupi. It was he who really was the guy who sowed the seed into my head… 
    Frankly, I didn’t know much about Cooperative Society to begin with – it was entirely a new field. I just waited on for Murali to repeat his idea so that I am really sure he was interested in it – and yes he was… I kept hearing the enthusiastic idea again and again. 
    Being in Bangalore, I knew it would be relatively difficult for me to really venture out to Udupi and attempt setting up the society – I instead thought it would be best if I could focus on getting people involved into this venture. I realized that banking would be a crucial part of this venture and so, the first person whom I got on board was Manjunath Uncle…
    I discussed the idea with him and then connected Murali and uncle to chalk out the list of people we could get on board… the first of this was my father and then we went on to add in a lot more experienced people onto the list of directors and slowly we could see the action begining.
    There was still some doubt and skepticism, but these were put to rest as the team began to speak with each other. There was then the phase were people would keep meeting to chalk out the plan of action, but it wouldnt take a kick start and begin moving… I had my doubts of this begining to take off really, but thanks to the energy of uncle the engine slowly began moving….
    We got a provisional approval for the process of making shareholder… this was possibly the toughest task of the whole process thus far. We were given 15 days and were asked to make 500 members and raise a certain capital to show that the people on whose behalf we were really attempting this were also seeing the need for it. 
    Several several full-days and evening hours of pursuing finally bore results – reached the target well within the time and submitted our application… but then… the assembly elections were announced. 
    We were this close to finishing the process of registration and now we had to wait for two reasons – there was a change in the act that would define how we were to proceed next, and the second when the new act would really come into effect…. even bigger wait was… when would the time come for us to start after the elections…
    All we could do was just wait… after nearly 4 months of waiting finally we got the go ahead from the department and it was time we came out….
    The society was inaugurated after a long delay but yes.. it gives me great pleasure to see it live on the ground. I know our task is just beginning – there is a tougher challenge ahead – that of really executing the plan ahead…. lets hope by God’s grace we build on this start…
    Wishing all the best to the team and seeking the continued support of all involved…

  • Balance Product Development with Communication

    Many startups work too much on a product but spend little time communicating about their product/services; there are other start-ups which do the other extreme – over communicate but spend little time on product development. As mentioned earlier, working out the communications to synchronize with what you intend to deliver through your product is quintessential.  It is crucial to find a balance in this activity of really doing the work – and talk about the work. 
    In addition to the hard work put on the product the entrepreneur could at a minimum need to have the following as part of his communication activities:
    1. Elevator Pitch – short pitch that covers what the business does and addresses. Ensure it is catching the attention of the listener! Yes, it takes time to perfect this and its only by practice that this gets better.
    2. Short Business Summary – I would prefer a super short summary in a hard copy format – say around A5 size or even the hind of your visiting card that helps communicate what you do really precisely sharply. There are like like hook to the communication exchange done – people could look at this and find use at a later date.
    3. Business Presentation – this is an ever-evolving document. The more time you spend understanding your audience and the more presentations you make – this one only gets better. Spend time working out your presentation – remember getting the right graphic/images could make is just so much more communicating.
    4. A catchy website URL- there is really nothing like a web URL! for the company that clearly defines what you intend to do. This is invariably a one time choice – so think through and work out your thoughts with the name. For those who still believe offline is the only business – spending time online and having a good website could make a enormous difference.
    5. Blog – Developing a habit of blogging pretty regularly is important when you intend to communicate with your audience regularly.
    Start-ups would benefit by devoting time towards a sustained communication effort. It would be ideal for the founding team to sit down on the communication dimension periodically and take stock of what they are trying to pitch right from day one (or even earlier depending on when they are booking their URL). 
    Even as little as 30 minutes a week to re-look at the way you communicate could emerge very fruitful.Keep the audience coming back for more interesting, relevant aspects. So take the time off and get your communication plan worked out.

  • Early Customer interactions are very valuable

    It is a hard time for entrepreneurs visiting a prospective client.Very often the entrepreneur comes back with the feeling – this guy just chewed away my time. He/She didn’t give any feedback on the product, nor did he give me the purchase order! 
    This is typical of the very first meeting, but over meetings the scenario changes. The entrepreneur could look at the multiple interaction with prospective clients in a different light. In these interactions, entrepreneurs are over loaded with tons of unstructured data. The entrepreneur needs to structure them to be able to figure out a common thread and focus on it – make the data into a valuable, actionable information. 
    Yes, while the entrepreneur is focused on selling  the product to the prospective client, the client is really looking at what more can be got out from this product when in use. The client is looking at how the product that you intend to provide could be put to use – their focus is typically at cost reduction, scaling quicker than the competition etc – in essence overcoming an obstacle. 
    Very often, we as entrepreneurs do not distance ourselves from the  product we are trying sell. The product that we go to the market could be just be a technology offering – if is important to make it a customer usable product with some “finishing touches”. The Entrepreneur could leverage this wealth of information to really thinking of creating the “product” from the “technology offering” that he/she would get to the market.
    As an example – you could have built a conference plat form, but the interaction with the customers keep giving you the repeated questions – Can I know where the customers come from? How much time they spend on it etc? Clearly, the customer is looking at some analytical interpretation of the technology – so adding a layer of analytics and presenting as a dash board could really make it easier to sell!

  • Look beyond technology when starting a Product Business

    If you have been following your friends who are starting off closely with a new technology business idea – you would have probably found the following scenario:
    Very often, one finds engineer entrepreneur who comes up with an interesting insight from technology and attempt venturing out on his/her entrepreneurial journey. Invariably, one finds that most of these  entrepreneurs focus on developing their products for a very long time, so much so that, they do not know who their market is! They wouldn’t have even spoken with a single customer! They face a constant internal resistance and find it hard to get off their office where they are comfortable with their technical expertise and step into selling the product they are building!
    In making these statements I do not intend to say that entrepreneurs who are technologist cannot build a business – it is an attempt to get them to move out of their offices into the shoes of a businessman.
    As some one who has started a business, begin with the following understanding:
    1. Technology is not Business – Technology is generally a component of business that helps in delivery. 
    2. Get out and Sell – It is important to sell the product that you are building, if you don’t sell the product there is no commercial use of product you might build.
    3. Engage with your customers early – Do not wait for the complete product that you think has a market. Go in with simple to use features and see how the market reacts and listen to what it wants.The following suggestions could help you to start on this:
    • List product features into a priority (your thought) and freeze in on the first 2-3 features in this list
    • Make a list of customer (prospective) that you think could benefit from these features
    • Quickly build this feature set (do-not change as of now)
    • Approach a Customer and ask him to try out as a commercially free product but give you feedback
    • Listen to the feedback – improve your product with the feedback

    Clearly, listening to the market early is important to ensure that your product is market accepted and it is important to do it early than late in the process of building your business. Get out of your comfort zone – businesses really need to be as close to their customer and not in the high rise offices…

  • Poor Little Rich Slum – Rashmi Bansal & Deepak Gandhi

    Traveling is a really interesting learning period. 
    Yes, it really is – that is why the old adage in Kannada Says – “Desha Nodu, Kosha Odu” (Roam around your country, Read books) yes that’s the best way to acquire knowledge. 
    Pretty much that’s is what happened this time when I was traveling to  Tirupati. I picked up one of the books from my shelf – still unread yet small in size. It was – Poor Little Rich Slum. 
    Yes… its another of the books by Rashmi Bansal. The book is about Asia’s Largest Slum – Dharavi, lying in the heartland of Mumbai. I had heard quite a bit of the entrepreneurial activity that happens in Dharavi and thought it would be a quick read. 
    Just 2 minutes into the read and I was completely engrossed into it. Loved the stories of the entreprenuers there and also the change makers. These were the two major sections of the book and just loved knowing about these entrepreneurs. 
    I suggest this be an essential read for those people who want to know about the entrepreneur scene in India. 
    Go ahead… Its worth a buy. Read it and enjoy the Journey through Dharavi.

  • Big Bets, Big Rewards – Sushil Mantri


     
    This book accidentally landed up in my kitty of reading. While working at NSRCEL, there are numerous books on entrepreneurs that you would get to lay your hands on and this was one such. I borrowed the book to read and its simple narrative style caught my attention.

    Illustrating not his complete life story, but some interesting events that happened and how he negotiated them – Sushil Matri scripts his journey up the ladder. There are interesting nuances he gets out about how he leveraged the various things at his disposal to really build the Mantri story. I loved these narrations.

    This book is an interesting read – and I suggest this book to any one who is looking to get into entrepreneurship. Having said this and known the little I know from the book, I think this book is also a precursor to something that might be coming up soon – a Mantri IPO? the guess stays…