The Startup Journey

Clearly, our entrepreneurial ethos and role models are going through a massive generation change. The quotes from Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy that entrepreneurs in the 1990s took to heart included: ``Under promise and over deliver. Investors respect this.''  ( On why Infosys gets the kind of valuations it does)  " Revenue is vanity; profit is sanity; cash is reality " and " PSPD: Predictable, Sustainable, Profitable and De-risked " Cut to 2015. Mukund Mohan, Head of Microsoft Ventures, writes : Amateurs under promise and over deliver.  They are the ones I hear always complain about valuations. They fail to realize that the “professional” entrepreneur friend they have is growing at an insane rate, but they choose to only compare “valuations” and dilution. And what do the "Professionals" do to make "investors chase them"? Professionals over commit and outperform.  They are the ones that get the best valuations and ...

Useful Quora answer by Seedfund's Mahesh Murthy At the friends and family round, you give out 5% to 10%. So your post valuations are typically around Rs. 1.5 cr At the individual angels round, you give out 10% to 15% so post valuations are Rs. 3 cr to Rs. 5 cr. At the established angels round, you give out 15% to 20% and post valuations are typically Rs. 10 cr or thereabouts. At the seed stage, you probably give out 25% to 33% and the typical post valuations are Rs. 25 cr or so. At the growth stage you give out 25% to 40% or so and your post valuation will be at Rs. 80 cr or so. At the late-stage you might give out 25% to 40% or more and your post valuation will be Rs. 150 cr or so. Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of data and analysis on private company transactions, valuations and financials in India. Click Here to learn about Venture Intelligence products that help entrepreneurs Reach Out to Investors, Research Comp...

And other vignettes from TiECon Chennai-2012 "I'm going to just stay still like you," said the rabbit to the owl on the tree branch above. And proceeded to stay still. Just then, a fox happened to pass by and got to enjoy a nice (effortless) dinner. - Satguru Jaggi Vasudev to emphasize that entrepreneurs can afford to delegate depending on the level at which their company is. (If the company is operating at a vulnerable level - like the rabbit - then they better be "running around" focusing on even the smallest details. But if the startup has taken off, they can afford to perch themselves and run their companies with an owl's eye view.) Keep your eyes on the immediate next milestone (say, Series A funding) and focus on what you need to get there. Everything else is a distraction. - K. Ganesh , Founder of TutorVista & CustomerAsset You have one life to live. And it is too short to worry about building a legacy and be wedded to one com...

Cross Posted from the Venture Intelligence Entrevista blog : Latha Rajan & K. Pandia Rajan of Ma Foi ( B i o s ) In conversation with K. Satyanarayan , Co-founder of regional language publishing firm New Horizon Media. (Recorded on August 15, 2012 in Chennai.) Highlights: Takeaways for Other Entrepreneurs: (Click on the links for the video segments) Don't add artificial constraints when it comes to entrepreneurship KPR: Separating home and work, politics & business - we tend to have many boundaries where none need to exist. These are Western notions and mind blocks that we can revisit. Being a Husband-Wife Entrepreneur Combination was never a major hassle for us. In fact, as Latha says often, we would have probably fallen apart but for Ma Foi! Latha Rajan: In the early days, he used to travel 25 days a month and I used to travel 10 days a month. But since I was there within the system, I could understand (the pressures and issues). Both of us knew what we were workin...