Light on the horizon

The induction of Nandan Nilekani ( into a position similar in rank and powers to a cabinet minister ) to head the Unique Identification Authority of India, an agency working on a project to give every Indian a unique identity card, is significant to say the least. It introduces a new trend in governance - of trying to tap from the corporate world; talent and experience that could show a new of implementing and shaping bureaucracy and progress.

As a layman one area of possible discomfort could be turf related problems - bureaucrats like Montek Singh Ahulwalia and others who seen governments come and go will not take very kindly to Nilekeni being the man in charge. For Nilekeni himself working within the framework of the GOI to deliver results is a different challange then running Infosys.

Only time will tell whether he will deliver on the desired objectives and vindicate the governments trust. But for the moment there is no doubt that the equations have changed and perhaps for the better!

Indomitable Spirit

“The only difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is extraordinary determination.”
--Mary Kay Ash, Entrepreneur

In all likelihood 99 out of 100 startups fail – but that 1 success inspires another 99 and the story goes on….. From my experience of being a ‘once upon a time’ entrepreneur here is my take on what it takes to succeed in a startup entrepreneurial venture:

Business Model: A revenue model that supports sustained growth with profits has a greater chance of surviving then just a ‘great idea’! Identifying the right opportunity and building a sustainable business model around it is the first and the biggest challenge.
Balanced Team: You are as strong as your weakest link - a core balanced team with the right skill sets and vision.
Information flow: As a entrepreneur your time must be spent in creating value – processes, reports and reviews are perhaps more important then even delegation and motivation.
Prioritize Spend: Prioritize on your goals and spend accordingly. However make sure you are not penny wise pound foolish – manage your CAPEX and OPEX independently and make decisions on them based on different yardsticks.
Access to Funds: You will need money to scale up – if you wait to reinvest from profits, you will probably lose the opportunity. Identify funds - seed, angel, VC or PE, so that you do not lose out on that opportunity that would make you the 1 out of 99 that succeeded!

As a country we need to respect the tremendous amount of positive energy and remarkably adventerous entrepreneurial people we have – I am always amazed by the ingenuity of the Indian enterprenuer – be it the local chaiwala, the textile showroom owner or your sauve www.xyz.com executive!

Most small ventures in India do not survive/grow, partly because they are smothered by outdated rules and regulations and crippled by poor infrastructure. Funding from banks and other sources is difficult to get and the red tape and bearacracy puts the brakes on fast track growth. All these factors besides being a phycological deterrent raise the cost of doing business thus impacting bottomline.

India has to get the big picture right and fix the small details because the devil is in the details! Here’s a toast to the “spirit of the Indian Entrepreneur’ who flourishes despite it all :)

Jaago Re

India is a mediocre country with a huge pool of intelligent individuals who have made it big here and abroad. How can a country of above average intelligent people build a mediocre country? As we see so much positive energy around us about the ‘Emerging new India’; here is what I think we need to focus on as a country to transition from a follower to a leader.

Our lack of a sense of national pride is one of the biggest impediments and the key reason for our current state of affairs. One of the things I noticed on my first trip to the US was the number of US flags flying from buildings both govt and private! In India we all seem to work as pockets for individual growth and hence we have success stories of individual brilliance whether in industry, social activism or arts. We seem to live here but not belong! It’s what I would call a difference between having a house and staying in a home!

If we have a sense of pride in being Indian we would change our attitudes to the way we publicly reward and punish high profile people. We would stop rewarding mediocrity and start punishing criminals regardless of their contacts as these set the standards of omission and commissions. The ‘non punishable’ factor is what I call this syndrome for want of a better word – Ramalinga Raju, the Bihar train burning culprits, Narendra Modi for his infamous carnage, Ketan Mehta…..the list is endless. The common thread between all these law breakers is their political nexus. As the government tries to inculcate accountability and remove the ‘chalta Hai’ attitude of our politicians – an important issue that they should look at is breaking this nexus. The law of the land should hold good for all and law breakers should be punished and within a reasonable time frame.

Our lack of focus on quality and inadequate vision at all touch points of growth restrict us to the immediate making us myopic - be it Industry, policy, politics, arts or our deplorable state of infrastructure. The IT industry catapulted us into the big league but even today we do not have a Google or a Yahoo or a Microsoft to our name! Internal overall growth and intelligent external positioning is a combination that emerging India should work towards.

Our education institutes seemed to have mushroomed faster than mushrooms! And yet it does not address the needs of our industry – poor quality curriculum, sub standard quality of teachers and facilities result in poor output of students! Our education system should include courses that cater to the new opportunities. Also at the grass root levels more than regular education entrepreneur opportunity related vocational courses should be introduced.

Today we can do some of this if not all – will we???????

Indianomics - Capitalistic Finally!

Ironical that the founder of capitalism USA is turning socialistic and India who in all these years could never make up its mind which way it leaned is becoming a booming capitalistic society.

And so we have the US government pumping money into a Lehman Brothers or a Citibank or GM to save it from collapsing and rendering thousands jobless. Jobs were saved but no wealth was created – how long can these jobs be sustained? A case in point is GM registering bankruptcy and the govt has to step in again – to save jobs! Does this remind you of the Russia before Gorbochev!

Pumping money without regulation and clear strategies will not yield results as the events of the past few months are proving in the US. When the state decides how much each person earns regardless of contribution that is regulation but when the state while investing into a business venture puts a conditional strategy in place- according to me that is not regulation but capitalism – maximizing ROI! What the US is doing looks so similar to the India in the 70’s and 80’s when govt pumped crores of rupees to keep loss making PSU’s afloat to ‘save jobs’ without any recovery in sight.

And look at India – the Economic Times headlines today talks of Reforms II “begin with the selling off of the loss making PSU ITI”! And the Reserve Bank will probably use this money to reduce our current fiscal deficit. So here we have in India a reverse of what the US is doing – we are disinvesting in loss making PSU’s and opening them up to free market forces to compete with the rest and survive if they can.

India’s Finest Economic hour is perhaps just around the corner!