The Startup Journey

To start with Mumbai- & Pune-based entrepreneurs An entrepreneur’s journey is always an exciting one. But it can often be along a testing and lonely path. Harsh Mariwala has steered Marico to grow in sales from Rs. 40 lac in 1971 to Rs. 4,000 crore today. He understands the challenges one faces while growing an enterprise. And that is why he has launched a new idea- ASCENT - A ccelerating the SC aling up of ENT erprises . Ascent seeks to identify entrepreneurs with potential and enable them in their growth journey. Ascent is a non-profit entity expression of Harsh Mariwala's personal social responsibility towards entrepreneurs. Harsh Mariwala bears all expenses for ASCENT personally. ASCENT offers a unique and powerful ‘self-help” platform through the formation of TRUST GROUPS of 10 Entrepreneurs each. Each Trust Group will comprise non-competitive, diverse groups of entrepreneurs. We aim to start with 10 TRUST groups in Mumbai and Pune, and over the next few ...

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 dose...

Deepak Srinath of Viedea has an interesting post on the subject: ...the trend that has left me partly amused and partly concerned is the rapidly growing breed of entrepreneurs who are in the “business of mentoring and incubation”. I have interacted with many such “mentors” over the last few months and barring a few exceptions most have left me with the feeling that they do not have adequate experience or skills to mentor a startup. Some of them are barely out of college themselves and many of them claim to be serial entrepreneur s (on closer inspection, it’s more like ‘serial company starters’, none of which have managed to last beyond a year). It’s extremely worrisome that young entrepreneurs with smart ideas could be signing up such mentors, giving them equity and wasting a lot of time in the bargain. A good mentor is a critical part of an entrepreneur’s journey. A few tips for entrepreneurs from my own experience – ... 2. You may need multiple mentors on your entrepreneurial j...