Thursday, January 17, 2008
Entrepreneurship: Trust your gut feeling
Mohit Goyal, Member, Indian Angel Network
Entrepreneurs are springing across the country with bright ideas that get converted into money-spinning ventures; bright ideas that are narrowing the gap between the rural-urban divide.
In the second part of this series -- which was launched by Ranjit Shastri last month -- on entrepreneurship and issues related to it, Mohit Goyal of the Indian Angel Network discusses issues that most startups have to grapple with.
Mohit, an IIT-Madras alumnus, has over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. He has co-founded two companies: IIS Infotech, which was later acquired by Xansa Plc, UK and Scicom Technologies. Over to Mohit.
There is so much material on entrepreneurship available that it is now being taught in a manner reminiscent of the way the science of management is taught. However, as one moves backwards in the history of an enterprise and towards its genesis, this science aspect substantially weakens (though there will always be the 'science' relating to the process one follows to validate one's proposition) and other softer issues predominate.
Here, I want to dwell on some of the latter, often underestimated, issues.
The Push and Pull factors
Be introspective about your motive to become an entrepreneur. I have met many company executives who want to branch off on their own because they are frustrated in their current positions. This is the 'Push' factor; be wary of it.
Then there are the very successful executives, who are happy to give up their cozy perks to pursue a compelling idea. That's the 'Pull' factor; succumb to it! (Of course, think through all the other issues but you get the point).
The 'Push' factor has the danger of pushing you from the frying pan into the fire. If you find you have the 'Push' factor, try and evolve that into a 'Pull' by thinking through various ideas and plans until one becomes compelling in its own right. In this respect, a 'Push' factor can be a healthy trigger for an entrepreneur.
Aim to be the best possible in whatever you do
Dream Big. This may sound like a motherhood statement but the advice stems from the spread and acceptance of entrepreneurship in our society. Is it far fetched to conceive that soon entrepreneurship may evolve into a kind of 'career of choice' where ambitions may be restricted to taking one's idea 'just far enough' to enable one make 'just enough' money?
If so, it is likely that one will make none. Dreaming Big for success will never be something that only our pioneering entrepreneurs needed to do in their days. Some aspects of entrepreneurship may change and ease up, but never Dreaming Big.
Partnership helps in the beginning
Try and alleviate the inevitable loneliness a promoter feels at the genesis stage. I am a great believer that having partners at this stage is a great help; not least in developing a more realistic business plan, during which process the hard questions can get better addressed and the promoter group's compatibility better assessed.
The transitioning of a competent, compatible and complementary promoter group from the genesis stage to startup is music to an Angel VC's ear. On the other hand a Big Idea conceived by an individual and sought to be executed by her/him with her/his employee management team creates its own risks.
Trust your gut feeling
Lastly, wait for that instinctive feeling that 'the time is ripe and it is now.' Do not burn all your bridges till you reach that point. Do not set a timetable that forces you to take your leap 'on or before' a particular date.
They say the harder you work the luckier you get. To this I would add, 'and more likely your instincts will be correct.' If you have worked hard on your gameplan and have done all your preparations, trust your instincts.
Here's an analogy that golfers may relate to -- you have driven the ball 250 yards and pitched it 80 yards to within 6 ft of the hole. Now is the time to pause, take your time and gently swing your putter only when you are ready; rush and you are likely to lose the hole -- and all your hard work would be in vain.
Yet, all said and done, many, like me, feel that the genesis period is one with the highest level of creativity, where there are no boundaries or stakes to restrict your thinking.
Angel investors like me derive much pleasure from vicariously participating with startup entrepreneurs in this creative process and, hopefully, adding value to their gameplans, and not just funds.
COURTESY : WWW.REDIFF.COM
Entrepreneurs are springing across the country with bright ideas that get converted into money-spinning ventures; bright ideas that are narrowing the gap between the rural-urban divide.
In the second part of this series -- which was launched by Ranjit Shastri last month -- on entrepreneurship and issues related to it, Mohit Goyal of the Indian Angel Network discusses issues that most startups have to grapple with.
Mohit, an IIT-Madras alumnus, has over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. He has co-founded two companies: IIS Infotech, which was later acquired by Xansa Plc, UK and Scicom Technologies. Over to Mohit.
There is so much material on entrepreneurship available that it is now being taught in a manner reminiscent of the way the science of management is taught. However, as one moves backwards in the history of an enterprise and towards its genesis, this science aspect substantially weakens (though there will always be the 'science' relating to the process one follows to validate one's proposition) and other softer issues predominate.
Here, I want to dwell on some of the latter, often underestimated, issues.
The Push and Pull factors
Be introspective about your motive to become an entrepreneur. I have met many company executives who want to branch off on their own because they are frustrated in their current positions. This is the 'Push' factor; be wary of it.
Then there are the very successful executives, who are happy to give up their cozy perks to pursue a compelling idea. That's the 'Pull' factor; succumb to it! (Of course, think through all the other issues but you get the point).
The 'Push' factor has the danger of pushing you from the frying pan into the fire. If you find you have the 'Push' factor, try and evolve that into a 'Pull' by thinking through various ideas and plans until one becomes compelling in its own right. In this respect, a 'Push' factor can be a healthy trigger for an entrepreneur.
Aim to be the best possible in whatever you do
Dream Big. This may sound like a motherhood statement but the advice stems from the spread and acceptance of entrepreneurship in our society. Is it far fetched to conceive that soon entrepreneurship may evolve into a kind of 'career of choice' where ambitions may be restricted to taking one's idea 'just far enough' to enable one make 'just enough' money?
If so, it is likely that one will make none. Dreaming Big for success will never be something that only our pioneering entrepreneurs needed to do in their days. Some aspects of entrepreneurship may change and ease up, but never Dreaming Big.
Partnership helps in the beginning
Try and alleviate the inevitable loneliness a promoter feels at the genesis stage. I am a great believer that having partners at this stage is a great help; not least in developing a more realistic business plan, during which process the hard questions can get better addressed and the promoter group's compatibility better assessed.
The transitioning of a competent, compatible and complementary promoter group from the genesis stage to startup is music to an Angel VC's ear. On the other hand a Big Idea conceived by an individual and sought to be executed by her/him with her/his employee management team creates its own risks.
Trust your gut feeling
Lastly, wait for that instinctive feeling that 'the time is ripe and it is now.' Do not burn all your bridges till you reach that point. Do not set a timetable that forces you to take your leap 'on or before' a particular date.
They say the harder you work the luckier you get. To this I would add, 'and more likely your instincts will be correct.' If you have worked hard on your gameplan and have done all your preparations, trust your instincts.
Here's an analogy that golfers may relate to -- you have driven the ball 250 yards and pitched it 80 yards to within 6 ft of the hole. Now is the time to pause, take your time and gently swing your putter only when you are ready; rush and you are likely to lose the hole -- and all your hard work would be in vain.
Yet, all said and done, many, like me, feel that the genesis period is one with the highest level of creativity, where there are no boundaries or stakes to restrict your thinking.
Angel investors like me derive much pleasure from vicariously participating with startup entrepreneurs in this creative process and, hopefully, adding value to their gameplans, and not just funds.
COURTESY : WWW.REDIFF.COM
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Kumble questions Australia's spirit
Anil Kumble has accused Australia of not playing in the spirit of the game in a heated finish to a Test that continued the ill-feeling between the teams. After a match filled with controversy it was revealed the BCCI would request Steve Bucknor, the "incompetent" official, be replaced for the third Test in Perth while Kumble will review the pre-series catching agreement he had with Ricky Ponting, who aggressively defended his integrity.
"Only one team was playing with the spirit of the game, that's all I can say," Kumble said after a day that included a horrible decision for Rahul Dravid and a claimed low, slip catch by Michael Clarke against Sourav Ganguly. The dismissal was sealed when Ponting told the umpire Mark Benson it was out, although television replays were, as usual, not conclusive.
"We'd like to play hard on the field and expect that from Australia as well," Kumble said. "I've played my cricket very sincerely and honestly, that's the approach my team takes, and we expect that from Australia as well. Sometimes it happens that in the heat of the moment you take those chances and then probably don't say anything on that. It's a part of the game."
Australia's sprint to victory with seven balls to spare was also overshadowed by the charges of racism tabled against Harbhajan Singh, a complaint which was raised on the field by Ponting, and an India team official was angry at the treatment towards the side during the 122-run defeat. India suffered heavily due to the poor umpiring and Chetan Chauhan, the India manager, believed they would not have lost if they had received 50% of the contentious calls.
"The way the umpiring was, the team is agitated and upset," he said. "A lot of decisions have gone against us. Of course a few went against the Australians also."
The crucial rulings involved Bucknor and Andrew Symonds, who was given not-out to a loud edge when he was 31 - he made 162 - and today he dismissed Dravid caught-behind when the ball flicked the batsman's pad. "Had some of the decisions, I would say 50% of them, were received in our favour, the result would have been different," Chauhan said. "It really affected us. We're not saying this because we have lost the game. It was for everybody to see."
Bucknor and Mark Benson both had matches to forget and Bucknor is due to stand in Perth from January 16. However, Chauhan said the BCCI was lodging "a strong protest" with the ICC "so that some of the incompetent umpires do not umpire in the rest of the series".
The Indians were not the only ones fuming. Ponting reacted angrily when asked about his appeal for a catch against Mahendra Singh Dhoni that was ruled not out because the batsman did not hit it. The ball ballooned away from Ponting at silly point and he dived to make an athletic take, which sparked loud appeals, but replays seemed to show it touching the grass.
"There's no way I grounded that ball. If you're actually questioning my integrity in the game, then you shouldn't be standing there," Ponting told an Indian journalist. "What I did in the first innings, doesn't that explain the way I play the game?" Ponting told the umpires he had not accepted an edge cleanly despite the appeals from the players around him.
"I'm saying I'm 100% sure I would have caught that catch off Dhoni," Ponting said. "As it turned out it was given not out anyway, am I right or wrong?"
Adam Gilchrist also took aim at criticism of Australia's delay in closing their second innings today, shouting "How about that declaration, Tony Greig" while Ponting was conducting a radio interview. The Indian media also made an official complaint to the BCCI about what a journalist called the "humiliating" treatment from Ponting during an abbreviated press conference before he attended the hearing involving Harbhajan.
Ponting believed there was nothing wrong with Australia's on-field conduct during the match. "I have absolutely no doubt about this match being played in the right spirit," he said. "There's been one little issue that's come out of the game, otherwise the spirit between both teams in both Tests has been excellent." In Sydney Kumble and India disagreed.
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