Tag: Entrepreneur

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Law of Action : Economics and Startups

Newton’s 3rd law states :-

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

A simple action such as walking proves the validity of the above statement, when we push our feet backwards on the ground, our body moves forward.

Does this mean all actions are bound to this law ?

Yes, if not all actions, most of them are bound to this law.

A ball pushed downwards on water surface bounces back due to the buoyancy exhibited by water.

A ball thrown up must come back because of gravity.

This law holds good even in the world of Economics and Startups, wonder how ?

Trade markets, Financial results, traction all these are driven by a law of action.

Cause and effect is a normalizing feature associated in Economics.

But is the world ready for a level playing field ?

No it isn’t and it will never be.

Every product created which exists is bound by this law of action.

Action and Reaction constitute a single entity. A pure play source of energy being transferred between two states.

A Startup in order to succeed must have necessary traction, if traction is the result, there needs to be a action in-order to achieve the desired result.

A chain of individual components and the synergy generated by this chain is what makes a startup succeed.

Everything that matters must be active in order to succeed. Being active at the right moment results in stupendous success.

To get the timing right is one thing and to get the time going with a thing is another. The former is the action and the latter is its reaction.

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Bengaluru and the spirit of Entrepreneurship

Here is a list of reasons for Bengaluru being a favorite location to start-up:

1 – Technology Infrastructure :- High end systems, high speed internet, ask for anything new in the field of technology, it’s usually first implemented in Bengaluru. That gets Bengaluru a premium tag.

2 – Workforce & Talent :- A plethora of highly qualified professionals makes it a easy choice for most of the entrepreneur’s to choose Bengaluru to kick-start their venture. Engineer’s and Business professionals are a new class of the neatly woven fabric in Bengaluru.

3 – Geographic location :- Weather in Bengaluru is usually pleasant with room temperature hovering between 23°C to 27°C throughout the year with summer being an exception. Bengaluru is the king among metropolitan cities of India, when it comes to weather.

4 – Koramangala :- The Heart of Entrepreneurship for the whole nation is located at koramangala. Visit any street in this locality of Bengaluru and you shall encounter a new venture or business being built. Koramangala is a place that every entrepreneur must visit at-least once in their lifetime.

5 – Government support :- The Karnataka Government has been one of the most proactive government in the country as far as Entrepreneurship is considered. Some of the highly successful Information Technology & Bio-technology ventures started off from Bengaluru by the initial support offered by Karnataka Government. ITPL and many SEZ’s in the city are examples for it.

6 – Cosmopolitan Nature :- This is the ultimate reason for Entrepreneurship to be cherished in Bengaluru. People from different parts of the country live and work in Bengaluru, surely Bengaluru is a “Melting pot”.

7 – Cost of living :- Of late the costs have been going up in Bengaluru considering inflation and other factors. But it’s still affordable for middle class to survive. Cost of living is comparatively cheaper than Delhi and Mumbai.

8 – Education :- The city hosts a series of exceptional institutions, IISc and IIM being the cream. Even at secondary and higher secondary level there are many noteworthy institutions.

9 – Law and Order :- Law & order is usually stable with few huff and puff at times. Law & order is one more reason to choose Bengaluru as a business location.

10 – Healthcare :- Many healthcare bodies are spread-out through the city, there are specialized units in the city where foreigner’s are addressed too. Healthcare facilities are cheaper in Bengaluru compared to International standards.

Bengaluru is the first Indian city to have it’s own logo.

“BE”ngalur“U”, BE and U in Bengaluru stands for “Be You”.

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Why I chose India ? ‘The perquisite of choosing India over America’

Just like any other kid who completes engineering, I too had plans of pursuing masters in America.

I had the test scores of GRE and TOEFL, got few letters of recommendation, got all my transcripts. I was at the verge of applying to universities in US.

Initially, I had plans of joining masters program in Spring 2012(as I completed my Engineering in 2011). But postponed the joining date to Fall 2012 as the number of universities offering masters course would be more in Fall 2012.

I was fascinated with the idea of working with/studying cutting edge technologies in US.

When I started my engineering in 2007, the head of physics department professor H N Sathyamurthy  had introduced me to the concept of higher education in US(before recession 2008), where there was plethora of opportunities if you worked hard. I am thankful to him for inculcating such ideals.

So the thought of going over to US was a prolonged one given the time period between ideation and pursuing masters.

Fast forward December 2011, I had two choices, either go over to US for masters or stay back in India with a comfortable lifestyle. The stakes were high if I was going over to US, the opportunity was a gamble.

I chose staying back in India. I was complacent initially, for not chasing the american dream.

But 3-6 years down the line I have realized the essence and advantage of staying back in India.

The biggest advantage of staying back has been the fact that you can be for your family and vice-versa.

A lot of technological advancements that used to be limited to US and developed countries have started making their presence in India as well. Cutting edge technology and premier research work is now available in different metro cities of India. Maybe not full fledged, but they have started having a decent visibility.

Given today’s political and visa norms in US, I find it was a very good decision to stay back in India.

Also, the kind of tech atmosphere that India is offering today can be contemplated to be among the best in the world.

When it comes to Internet startups, US has started reaching it’s saturation point. India offers a level playground and equal opportunity with net neutrality for tech startups.

The crowd in India is open to new ideas which was not the case say about 8-10 years ago.

Food – being a gourmet I find myself fortunate to eat as much Indian dishes as possible.

Healthcare – way cheaper compared to US even for a small ailment such as common cold.

The grass is always greener on the other side. It would be naive of me if I had believed only in “American Dream”.

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How and What I learnt being an Entrepreneur ?

It all started with the iAccelerator program of IIM-Ahmedabad in 2010, when most of my batch-mates and peers were busy preparing for semester exams, I was at IIIT-Bangalore pitching my first startup plan.

Please find the screenshot of feedback I am sharing below.

Even-though my pitch couldn’t make it that year, the sense of clearing the application round and being invited to IIIT-B in itself was a big boosting success for me.

This was at a time when startup was not a buzzword in India(pre smartphone era), startups in India had just started keeping their baby steps.

I am a first generation Entrepreneur.

Initially entrepreneurship was just an attraction(2009-sophomore year), I remember there was a delegate who was in our college as part of student interaction program from USA, he was explaining a hall of 100-150 students about the trends in US where students dropout to start their own website/company(Facebook was 5 year old startup at this point). I had announced to the hall and him saying “you got it mate, I will have a website” with lots of adrenaline rush.

Professors in my college were very supportive at this stage, I have discussed a lot of my ideas with professor Pushpalatha K N(Linear Integrated Circuits and Applications) who was always encouraging me. Also, professor Deepa N P(micro-controllers) was keen on helping me setting up a web portal way back in 2009. And not to forget professor Nirmal Kumar Benni whom I could meet only during my final year was supportive as well.

I just wanted to start a website to begin with, later I wanted it to be a networking platform, on further working I wanted it to be an educational platform, this was all on the paper.

Years later, practically I started with a blogging platform, later upgraded to an E-commerce platform which was further brought under incorporation.

Currently, I own 3 websites, 1 personal(mohanma.com), 2 brands(sumshowdone.com & bookcorridor.com) under 1 company(Sumshowdone Technologies Private Limited).

I had my first job offer through campus placement in my final year of Engineering(2011). The thought of starting a company was always there, I had come close in 2013 but could never materialize plan into action that year. I owned my first website in 2014(sumshowdone.com), became a online merchant in 2015, incorporated a company in 2016, owned my second website(bookcorridor.com) in 2017 and owned my third website in 2018(mohanma.com – this was spontaneous).

Startup landscape has seen a huge shift compared to 2010, the number of users in the industry that I operate has seen an upward lateral shift.

The kind of people that I have got to meet in this field is something different from a corporate life.

Entrepreneurship gives you freedom, with freedom comes great responsibility.

Value creation is the biggest form of reward that an entrepreneur yearns for, if tomorrow you want  to be an entrepreneur, you should be concentrating on a product or service that can change somebody’s life or make the buyer a happier person.

Things that I learnt being an entrepreneur:

  • If you want to do it you just do it(gut feeling).
  • Face your fears.
  • Never postpone, time is a very important resource.
  • Reading plays a very important role in shaping your thought process.
  • Failures are stepping stones to success.

The amount of knowledge and learning you acquire being an entrepreneur is tremendous.

An Entrepreneur should be ready to wear all hats from being a leader to a office boy.

Each one of us is knowingly or unknowingly an entrepreneur at some point. I believe at the end it’s all about your temperament, your adaptability combined with serenity.