The Startup Journey

Manish Sabharwal's interview to Knowledge@Wharton In a fascinating interview to Knowledge@Wharton, Manish Sabharwal, Founder & Managing Director of pioneering HR BPO firm India Life Hewitt, provides both solid and witty insights into a whole range of industry issues: how he started out, why he sold out, why he focused on India as a market, etc., etc. Some extracts: Business schools as venture incubators I think VCs who started incubators got it wrong; business schools like Wharton are the best incubators in the world. I milked the school's ecosystem. India Life was my final project in six classes. Many professors helped me think things through, and I had a group of first-year students do a field application project. I used the summer between the two years to travel to India and refine the plan, and then moved back to India straight after school. I guess it would make a better story if I said all my professors gave me bad grades for my business plan. But they di...

"Venture Capital is not available for start-ups" "Today, there are no true start-up VCs. Investments are happening in companies which have made cash profits and are looking for funds for the second phase of growth." says venture capitalist Vishal Nevatia of GW Capital in an interview to Economic Times. GW Capital is focussed on mid-sized companies in the media & entertainment, retailing, and BPO sectors. Around 60% of the fund's Rs.150 crore corpus has been invested in these sectors, Nevatia said. Click Here to read the full interview.

Why searching for The Next Big Thing is a waste of time What's going to be "The Next Big Thing" (or its variation the "next killer app")? Reams and reams of newsprint, web pages, conferences, and even oh-so-precious TV air time, is devoted to this topic--especially now that the "Internet wave" has subsided a bit (or rather, become more "mainstream"). Tim Oren, a Silicon Valley veteran (currently Managing Director of VC firm, Pacifica Fund ), has made a great post at his web log explaining why looking out--or listening to the "punditocracy"--for the NBT is a waste of time. "The Next Big Thing is a narrative we lay on top of the events after they happen..... (it generally) sneaks up from behind while you're trying to do your work, kicks your ass, walks over you, and either rifles your pockets or drops gold into your hands," Oren says. "Anyone tells you different, you're talking to a liar." Oren go...