1. Entrepreneurship:Pains and Pleasures A simple way to start a non-simple companyAbhishek Jain www.abhishekjain.org Saturday, July 25, 2009

2. Entrepreneurship It is all about hard work Perseverance pays in the end You should have it in you Concentrate on the ideas It is essential to keep your focus right Entrepreneurs must develop knowledge optimization initiativesto leverage key learnings Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures2 3. My View on the above slideTHE ABOVE SLIDE WAS $%^@# Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 3 4. Motivation Why am I lecturing here? Why should I spend my time to teach you? Dr S Chandrashekar used to travel 100 miles to take a class ofphysics for 2 students T D Lee; C N Yang-Won Self satisfaction Please utilize your time with me Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 4 5. Myself Abhishek Jain M Tech Aerodynamics, IIT Bombay Company Zeus Numerix Private Limited (www.zeusnumerix.com) Incubated in Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE) Chief of Marketing Moderately successful First company in India to make engineering analysis and designsoftware Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 5 6. Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Medal Received in FICCI, Given by Dr T Ramasami Secretary DST,standing Dr Ray Johnson LM CTO Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 6 7. Entrepreneurship It is all about hard work Who doesnt know it Perseverance pays in the end Wow what an information; ever read Panchtantra? You should have it in you What?? Concentrate on the ideas Where??? It is essential to keep your focus right When??? Is it?? Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 7 8. What is it All About To carry his load without resting, not to be bothered by heator cold and always be content: these three things we can learnfrom a donkey Indian proverb Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 8 9. I Would Say As from the above slide, I dont intend to sermonize 10 min bore; 80min lecture and 30min Q&A My Introduction Bad, weird Examples Some Anecdotes; they are funny but believe me they are true Few things we thing just dont matter, but they do Unfortunately, I am a male, so the language is male; implies his = her in presentation Lets have some quiz also Everything you already know, just trying to drive home the point and mind you experience matters Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures9 10. What I Say Is not a professional advice, just what I learnt from doing something in these years. This is not an official view of my company or IITB or SINE. These are purely my views and by no means entirely correct Is general advice in funny unpolished language; remember I am not an MBA Doesnt suit you; stop me in between, you are investing time to listen to me; I will change track if possible Ask questions; No questions means ALL CLEAR or ALL CLEAR Comes from experience not books Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures10 11. What I Wish To say Why not be an entrepreneur What you gain How we did it Essentials Idea Core Team Initial Money Marketing HR Execution General GyanEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 11 12. Entrepreneur: Why Not Soch lo yeah rasta khatron se bhara hai; Ek Krantikari ke liye uski party uska sab kuch hai; Uskee jindagi mein na khushi, na sukh na pyaar na parivar Legend of Bhagat Singh Company is like revolutionary party You live it; emotional attachment You love it like your child & 8/10 lost You feel like you are jailed You dont have Khatra of life (Risk) Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures12 13. Entrepreneur: Why Not Spend a lot of time in business Miss out on social life You can see your friends enjoying life Friends are able to spend money; you are not; No parties Parents pressurize you to join a stable job and give them time Friends have girlfriends; yours, if any by Gods grace, has run away or warning to do so Arrange marriage: Girls father doesnt understand your job Hobbies get a back seat This work-life-balance and all that management gyan does not work (Please read article below) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Work-life_Imbalance/articleshow/2949519.cmsEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures13 14. Why Do It You can make your country/parents proud What is the penance you did to get a son like that Thiruvalluvar, Tamil You can become Bill Gates or Narayanmurthy Not all can get jobs; some have to create them Dont have to say YES SIR to a foolish boss You become famous You dont suffer for someone elses mistakes Its so great to have your dreams come true You dont have to make a resume You can marry a film actressDoesnt necessarily mean opening a company for profitEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 14 15. Are You Afraid After all its not that difficult Mere mortals like us do it Even if you fail it is a great learning experience and that too usually on somebody elses money You become a lot more confident and can look towards life in very different way People rush to recruit you Companies provide a red carpet for you Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 15 16. So what is itBRASSTACKS Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 16 17. Law Do you know which ministry controls the companies? Who is the minister? Where will you register your company? Ask always Which side of law you are? Money; is it accounted for properly? Are the Directors of the company aware of accounts Necessary registrations Proprietary or private limited registration Sales and service tax registration CA audit Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 17 18. Idea Start with an idea and change it as per environment All great ideas dont mean great success Average idea doesnt mean you cant be successful Getting married to idea can be fatal (not always) Each company has its own DNA; make your own Apple, SONY, Google We Innovate Microsoft, IBM Customer is King McDonalds Time is Money Go Air, Indigo Economy Kingfisher, Taj Hotel You are a MaharajaEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 18 19. Core Team Most important part of the company Should have complimentary characteristics If two partners agree on all the things then one ofthem is not needed Business partner must not be friend or relative or father-in-law (unless he gives money) just for the sake of it Business in friendship is OK but no friendship in business Stockdale Paradox; Every great company faces adversity*;Core team must be psychologically strong Charismatic* people do not matter. How many statetoppers have companies? Domain knowledge is a mustEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures * Jim Collins; Good to Great 19 20. India Inc: Core TeamCMO Chairman CEO We had a Chairman, CEO, CMO One had vision; other translated it on ground and one propagated that it was actually being doneEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 20 21. India: Core Team 2Chairman+CEO+CMO One man was great; others followed him Could not guard secrets; attrition was high Did help in getting India Inc team winEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 21 22. Initial Money Call it bootstrapping, begging, borrowing etc; word does not matter; get it Dont get money from illegal sources (yeah father in-law money is OK) or tough men Use the resources judicially; try to do many of your works yourselves (even if you have to make tea, clean the place occasionally) Get an angel investor or soft loan like SINE IITB gives Core members usually get very low to zero salaries in the starting Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures22 23. Marketing Most important job that people hate to do You dont get your meal if you dont market Everybody in the company should be marketing Coherent speech by all members is a problem Marketing DOES NOT mean speak more, but LISTEN more What is clients need? Within how much (time/money/efforts) he wants to fulfil hisneed? Why am I a better match for Customer? Cost is not always a factor? Dont harp it too much Take the projects; you have nothing to loseEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures23 24. Marketing Know your customer; remember energy is limited Shri Mithun Chakraborty movies Jumbo king vada pav center Micro-credit ICICI, Grameen Bank Modern Babas/Sadhus or fortune teller parrot Is need hurting the customer; if it does not, there is no urgency to buy How many promises we are making to the customer Treat your marketing people with respect; they are anyway cursed a lot by customers Coca Cola advertisement in Saudi Arabia Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 24 25. Networking Are you a part of TiE, India angel networks, etc etc Do you have membership of FICCI, CII or other tradeassociations Are you regularly visiting trade fairs and writing white papers Are you seen, do people come to say you hello Remember only two things Shock and Awe HITCH Will smith to his client Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures25 26. Human Resource You dont win a game without good players 10 Mohan Bagan strikers dont make a Pele What is the incentive for him to play for you? Remember you are not giving them good salary Doesnt mean you throw away the stock Motivation and fear of losing can be a big problem Do they feel part of the company Do they feel they do a favor by remaining in company Retention strategies can be a challenge Communicate to them properly Freedom within limits is essential Take out time to explain decisionsEntrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures26 27. Execution Ready, Fire, Aim (In search of Excellence) Thinking is such a waste of time There is no auspicious time to start work Too much discussion is not necessary Employees must have freedom to make mistakes and so should you Impatience is good Some targets need to be set Take the technological challenge Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 27 28. Competition Know who is you competitor Who was the competitor of RASNA TEA Track their movements Learn from them Compare time and price Be ethical and non-manipulative Dont be negligent of small players in your field; remember as a startup you are killing a giant Be open to ideas of competition Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures28 29. How We Did It We had an intellectual property Some Professors and Students came together Support from SINE for seed loan, registration etc Better mix of people Could attract talent because work we did was unique in India Got customers due to contacts of our professors Delivered accurate solutions though sometimes late Said no to propositions that were lucrative but outside your philosophy The team Prof Banerjee, Prof Shevare, Basant Gupta, Irshad Khan Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures29 30. Unsolicited Advice: Manage Time Aapne hamko 5 minute diya aur hamne 4.30 min mein khatam kar diya. minute ka profit. Yeah hai business Guru; Abhishek Bacchans dialogue in Arbitration Scene Make a list of activities you will not do Watch Saas Bahu serials; cricket! Work that can be delegated like maintaining files Going to disco Devote some time for others; Do some social work Regularly call your family and friends Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 30 31. Unsolicited Advice: Maintain Sanity Attend parties and ask friends that you cant contribute; eat as if you contributed most Go to Jinalay/Temple/Mosque/Church/Gurudwara/Synagogue if you are a theist or do some Yoga Sleep properly; dont bring tension at home, it anyways doesnt solve the problem excepting combing Beware of intoxications like drinking/smoking If you are short tempered or with high BP or have a lot of self pride then do a job, entrepreneurship is not for you Exercise is a must Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures31 32. Read, Read, Read .. All great men were great readers; Gandhi, Bose, Dhirubhai, Narayanmurthy .. Just reading business does not help; diversify Most important ideas come from very different subject Genetic Algorithms in design Know your surroundings Newspapers are a good medium for the same; Pokharan could affect my company Reading removes a lot of tension (Auto)biographies are very good Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 32 33. Read Some Books Mahanayak Viswas Patil Why men dont listen women cant read maps Allan & Barbara Pease Foods that fight pain Dr Neal Barnard I Dare Kiran Bedi Wings of fire HE Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Straight from the Gut Jack Welch Crossing the Chasm Geoffrey Moore (For start-ups) In search of excellence Thomas Peterson Built to last Jim Collins Good to Great Jim Collins Maverick Ricardo Semler Scientific American Magazine Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 33 34. I Wish Open your company; its now or never You have no responsibilities, so take the plunge Dont worry about future job; they are plenty for brilliant people like you Request your college to open an entity like SINE Narayanmurthy has 2 ears, 2 legs, one nose; do you feel deficient; Steve Jobs had cancer you dont Companies are like babies; they die if parents divorce or dont care about environment; choose good partners When India becomes developed country in 2020 you be part of development rather than an impediment Entrepreneurship: Pains and Pleasures 34 35. Abhishek Jain abhishekjain29@gmail.com35