The entrepreneurial ecosystem in India is changing and for the good.
And I’m not referring to the increasing numbers of entrepreneurs from the
educated middle classes or to the growing presence of angel funds or even to
the opportunities thrown up by a growing economy. Having been part of the
Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem for close to 15 years now, I can attest to a
subtler, less visible and important change. While I don’t have “objective”
market research data to support my thesis, I do have anecdotal evidence. And
this evidence points to the fact that growing numbers of Indian entrepreneurs
are seeking mentorship and advise.
Why is this important?
The act of seeking mentorship and advise follows from a
realization – that I, the entrepreneur, don’t have all the answers; that I am
willing to step out of my comfort zone, network, meet very many people - who bring in different perspectives,
knowledge, experiences, lessons, skills, and bare my soul – albeit in small doses
– to unknown people, evaluate people and responses, decide who to zero in on to
repose my trust, confidence and faith in my company building effort, work hard towards creating and nurturing a
long term relationship, take feedback – not always palatable – and consider
parting with some equity for the advice received. This realization requires
humility, a willingness to learn and confidence.
This is not easy to do for anyone. Particularly Indian
entrepreneurs who’ve for the most part operated in silos, are inhibited in
talking about their companies, its finances, their need for help and the like. Saying
“I don’t know or I need help” aren’t among the more politically correct
statements in India
irrespective of the field of work! An African proverb says “It takes a village
to raise a child” (Hillary Clinton also wrote a book with this title in 1996) and
what that means is that the cumulative and ever growing knowledge of the
community is what is required to provide security, learning, guidance and
counsel to a child. In the same way, bringing up a startup takes more than just
money, entrepreneurial passion and a market.
To create an environment, however, where thousands of startups are
conceived, born, nurtured and successfully grown takes more than physical
incubators, availability of money, regulation and policy. It requires networks
of mentors and advisors and entrepreneurs who can share, guide, collaborate and
learn. Mature and robust environments like Silicon Valley provide this most
crucial of inputs and insights – from company formation, to strategy, to
dealing with personal issues, to funding, to hiring and managing employees, to
partnering, to finding customers, to marketing to technology to exits, through
such relationship networks.
It is heartening to therefore see this realization in Indian
entrepreneurs. It shows increased awareness, reduced fear and shyness, lessened
anxiety about losing control and influence and an embracing of external
learnings and insights. All of them have a dream and the desire to succeed but
only very few will. Usually, those that don’t succeed realise that they’ve been
chasing the wrong opportunity with the wrong business model and wrong team much
much later in the game, if at all. What if they had been made aware of the
pitfalls and dangers early on and been prepared to deal with them? What if they
had had the benefit of experienced counsel from mentors and advisors? While
having mentors and advisors is in itself no guarantee of success, having the
right mentors, advisors and an access to this network can often times reduce
the agony of late unhappy realizations of the state of the business.
Mentoring programmes are now available through several industry
associations. Educational institutions too are realizing the value of such
efforts. More and more functional experts, experienced corporate executives and
entrepreneurs are getting involved with the startup ecosystem and are being
welcomed.
Obviously, there’s a long way to go before these networks become
mainstream and acceptable to all entrepreneurs. The benefits of such network associations
can be enormous and can take companies on another higher trajectory altogether.
It is only when accessing these networks becomes an embedded habit of
entrepreneurs can we say that the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem has truly
arrived. We are well on the way!
What do you think?
What do you think?
Sanjay
Anandaram is a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship in India; He brings close
to two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture
investor, faculty member, advisor and mentor. He’s involved with Nasscom, TiE,
IIM-Bangalore, and INSEAD business school in driving entrepreneurship. He can
be reached at sanjay@jumpstartup.net. The views expressed here are his own.