Eureka! Launch 2009
by Editor on 16/10/09 at 12:14 am
Eureka! – Asia’s largest Business Plan Competition, was launched on 1st September, 2009 at the F.C.Kohli auditorium in the Kresit building.
The session was started off by giving a brief description of what Eureka! is. Eureka! is a journey comprising of 3 major milestones: Idea validation, Consolidation of ideas (comprising of mentoring sessions and all help that a budding entrepreneur might need) and finally the Coming up of the enterprise. Eureka! has been growing in leaps and bounds with participation increasing each year.
This was followed by the panel discussion. The guests invited were:
Mr. Ajay Garg
Founder, Equirus Capital
Mr. Krishna Jha
Founder, Telnet Ventures
Mr. Rehan Yar Khan
Serial Entrepreneur
The discussion was moderated by Mr. Farooq Omar, head of the Mumbai chapter of the Indian Angel Network. Farooq posed several questions in front of the panel which were answered during the course of the discussion. A brief summary:
1. What does it take to be an entrepreneur?
Krishna commented on this saying that it was a very open ended question. All the panelists however agreed on the fact that the factor which makes entrepreneurs what they are, is the determination and confidence to take up new challenges and the ‘do-something-different’ attitude.
2. How important is experience for an entrepreneur? Do they need to start young for being successful?
This particular question took the lion’s share of the discussion time with many different views coming up. Ajay went into the details of as to how ‘success’ had different definitions in different perspectives. He also added that it was very difficult to gauge success in entrepreneurship. The very essence of entrepreneurship is that it gives the individual a chance to measure his/her own success, independent of the external parameters.
To this, Krishna added that experience might help, but it is not a necessary attribute. The biggest asset with the youth is that they’re foolish! They would more easily be able to take on risks.
Ajay made a bold statement saying that one must not let inexperience show. Doing your homework properly in market/data analysis, talking to people etc might put one in the same standing as an ‘experienced’ person.
Rehan finally capped the question by accentuating the importance of perseverance. Out of the many who aspire to start off on their own , only a few get through and in most of the cases its solely perseverance which is the answer. He emphasized that a good track record of achievement in various fields might as well take a person a long way. He added that it’s better to get people into your team who’ve a good market experience.
3. Being patrons in Angel Investing, how do you see the potential in India, especially with recession in play?
Ajay replied that entrepreneurship is on the rise in India. Recession, generally, is a boost period for entrepreneurial activity. Also, with India on the high growth curve, any new business idea would get high acknowledgement in these times. ‘It took India 62 years to turn a trillion but it wont take more than 3-4 years for it to get another trillion.’
Rehan added that there are a lot more role models in India these days. People get the feeling of ‘If you can do it, why cant I?’ Also with many experienced corporate individuals coming up as mentors, with better angel investing, India is surely seeing a good rise in entrepreneurial activity.
Krishna said that the reason why many Indians are actually looking forward to entrepreneurship is because they are majorly dissatisfied with what their jobs have to offer. The desire to be recognized and rewarded better is a motivation. Some companies are even taking steps to look into it, like the FastTrack system etc.
4. How can aspiring entrepreneurs achieve their dreams? What is the support system they require?
Rehan said that entrepreneurship has come a long way. With numerous facilities in the form of incubators, angel investors, professional mentors, internet, high quality & experienced venture capitalists, the support system has seen a drastic improvement.
Krishna said that although this was so, the enthusiasts must understand that these support systems are only until they start up. Then it’s totally & solely their game.
Ajay said that indomitable confidence in yourself is a must. Family support & confidence adds on to it.
5. Lastly, what are the key problems facing start ups & how should they prepare for the hardships?
Rehan said that the value of innovative marketing, in a cost effective fashion cannot be emphasized enough! Also, to keep the fire in your belly burning always, it is very important to spend on the ‘must-haves’ & not on the ‘nice-to-haves’.
Ajay said that apart from the investment pains they face, entrepreneurs must make sure that the team goes together, even if it means slowing down your pace. Krishna seconded this and said that the time you spend with like-minded people leads to years being shaved off the toil you’ll have to generally put!
After this, the podium was open for the audience for the Q&A session. The audience used the opportunity very well & got a professional answer to all their queries.
The best phrase that came out during this session was ‘The journey between the idea generation and the starting up is basically a romantic phase.’ And that ‘Taking up entrepreneurship is like the institution of marriage…a lifetime of commitment!’
The event ended with the official opening of Eureka! 2009, on the note that entrepreneurship is, after all, about looking into yourself & finding the answer!
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