Local entrepreneurship – Crunched and Deep fried

Alright – I have to admit. I was supposed to put this up yesterday, and since then I have written close to 5000 odd words before scrapping them all (I didn’t think you would be interested in an essay of 5000 words), so here are my views. Crunched and deep fried.

The question that remains unanswered till date in my mind is: “Why doesn’t India produce more International startups?”, and the general (please note the word) answers vary depending on the person to whom the question is asked:

1. The VC: The ecosystem doesn’t support it. What he means is: Someone please ask the rich guys to start doling out more money as angel money so that we get the business plan at a time when the business is ‘well done’. Not two college boys with half baked ideas. Only one VC I know has ever said what I believe should be reciprocated everywhere: “We have the money – bring us fundable businesses.” Thats an important element – are you fundable? I have some thought on this – but that’s another post altogether.

2. The angel networks guys: There aren’t enough good businesses that come for funding. Now this is serious – cause its as straight as it gets. You might have a great business plan, but you aren’t going to the right guys. Why? Maybe you dont have mentors? Just plain scared? Not confident enough? Waiting for the right time? Christmas? BTW – if you need mentors – they wont come to you. You go to them. So start seeking them out. Just to do my part – I do help out entrepreneurs by poking holes into other peoples ideas / plans. So feel free to get in touch if you think I could be of any meager help.

3. The media guys: Indian entrepreneurs don’t think global enough. I agree with this one the most, and I have seen it. We will develop intricate networks, processes, systems and make money enough to sustain ourselves by solving small problems. Second hand cars, Vegetables to your doorstep, self print t-shirts, facebook me-toos, community based talks on IITJEE. Wow. World changing. Never existed before. Noone did that ever before. Do you think you are swinging for the fences? Do you think you are changing the world? Not the neighborhood – not the city, not the country. The world. An entrepreneur makes it really big, or falls flat on his face. Either ways – he wins. We as Indians dont play to win. We play to stay in the game. Secure. With our self printed t-shirts.

4. Entrepreneurs themselves: We dont have the funds to grow big enough. Fair point. I have five questions for you my friend:

• Is your team better than the others? Honestly? You think so? Get a second, third and fourth opinion. If you have even an iota of doubt – take corrective measures early in the game. Its critical.
• Is your business worthy of the funds that it wants to raise? Ask someone who has raised funds / ask your really rich uncle. If you have a VC friend, run your business by him – they give invaluable feedback. My recommendation to every entrepreneur is to meet with as many VCs they can – get their feedback and MAKE THE RELEVANT CHANGES. Don’t be an Ostrich. Get your head out of the sand and listen to feedback.
• Have you put in enough ‘sweat’? I see people a month into the business trying to raise a million dollars. Get real guys. If you had 100 Mn, and I wanted 1 Mn out of that – you would’nt give it to me unless I showed you the amount of sweat that I put in, so why should you expect others to?
• Have you got your bases covered? i.e: Have you thought about the business really? I mean – really really thought it through? I can guarantee that 8 out of 10 guys will not be able to defend every question someone throws at them, so don’t say “yes – I know my business inside out”.
• Have you tested the market? Thinking about the business and validating it from customers are two very different things. Do that. You will understand that thats where the real rubber hits the road. When the customer has to sign the cheque. Thats validation. Not one, not two – but consistently for sometime. You are there.

My simple recommendation to whoever will listen is: Ingrain the following in your mind, soul, body and team.

1. Dream big and solve a global problem. Dream Extremely f@#@$~! big, and try and solve a simple problem that can be global.

2. Be obsessed with scalability. Put it in your vision, mission, letters, memo, logo, processes, technology, breakfast, dinner, underpants – whatever. When I say scalable – I mean person independent. You cant run a global business if your systems and processes require the addition of 1 person per 100 customers. No can do. Definitely not if you are a consumer business. Look at Google.

3. Be very vary about the team: You need global thinkers to come up with solutions for global problems. Be hard about this. If things are wrong – correct them. If the person is wrong – replace him. Don’t let that fester.

4. Build a culture where the face of the company can stand up in front of any crowd and beat down the biggest guys. The biggest. The key is to believe.

5. Last, but definitely not the least – Listen. Carefully. To everything that is said about your business. Try and constantly connect the dots. The VCs, friends, customers, partners – everyone will give you some feedback – and 9 out of 10 times, it will be relevant.

We at Voicetap stick by these dictums, and I believe we have something that is global. Encourage you to do the same. Happy to hear your thoughts.

M