entrepreneurship Archives - CUTTING EDGE VISIONARIES

THE DRAGON’S SCARE

April 26, 2020April 26, 2020 by Anushree Patilin Economy, Economics, Entrepreneurship, financeLeave a Comment

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The corona pandemic has claimed many lives across the world. It’s other side effects include the widespread rampage on all sectors of economy of the world. It has caused the closure of many small industries, businesses and enterprises and it continues to haunt the future of not only SMEs(Small and Medium Enterprises), MSMEs (Micro Small Medium Enterprises), Microfinance Institutions but also big companies.

In view of this, big Chinese banks, Private Equities and other multilateral instruments are investing heavily in such falling companies. These Chinese corporations work under the beneficial owner; the government of China. China’s recent increase in investment in HDFC bank has exceeded 1% which has poked the bear (RBI) into looking into this matter.

ATTRACTING INVESTORS IS GOOD, SO WHATS THE PROBLEM?

The problem is that by investing heavily they are buying shares of these companies at “THROWAWAY PRICES”. The impact of this, is that they will be majority stakeholders of these companies or aim to attempt buying them eventually (“HOSTILE TAKEOVER”). This will give them power to control these businesses and help them direct profit money to China.

China currently invests around $4 billion in Indian startups.18 out of 30 Indian unicorns (startups having more than $1 billion market capitalization) have Chinese funding.Big investors from China -Alibaba, Tencent , ByteDance have made huge investments in Paytm, Byju’s , OYO, Ola, Big Basket, Swiggy, Zomato. China dominates Indian markets in pharmaceutical APIs(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients), mobile phone markets, automobiles and electronic and project imports.

HOW IS THE DRAGON’S MARKET INVASION BEING STOPPED?

The Government of India and RBI (Reserve Bank of India) lost no time in rectifying it’s policies.The government has decided to screen Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from countries sharing a land border with India or where the beneficial owner of an investment into India is situated in or is a citizen of any such country. The capital market regulator of India ,SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) is also digging deeper into Foreign Portfolio Investors(FPI) composition from China, by seeking beneficiary details from jurisdictions like Mongolia, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh , Afghanistan and Yemen.

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

These policy changes have put an end to such hostile takeovers yet other measures need to be taken in order to mitigate China’s sway over the market.

‘Apun ka business’ vs. ‘Ek secure life’

August 3, 2018September 30, 2018 by Rushiin Entrepreneurship, philosphy3 Comments

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Is working for a startup better for me or should I join a large MNC? Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? We all have had these questions come to our mind at one time or the other. Let’s examine both the options and see if we can bring an end to this debate.

Having the next ‘big thing’ is the new cool. We all have fantasized about having our own billion dollar company at one time or the other with our friends. Startups are considered fun and are known for their employee-centric work cultures. An important thing that differentiates a startup from a regular business is the fact that a startup is built to grow, to adapt to fast change.

Let’s have a look at some of the skills that one requires for being a successful entrepreneur.

Public speaking:

Public speaking comes in handy when marketing your product to the masses. Steve Jobs is a perfect example of how the charisma of one’s personality can help form the image of the company.

Financial skills:

How much should I give away 15% in my company for ? Is buying this company worth it ? These are some of the few questions which one can answer when one is well versed in the jargons of Wall Street.

Human relation skills:

Entrepreneurship is all about the people. You can’t expect to run a successful startup if you can’t make people work for you.

In the last couple of years, the startup ecosystem in India has been given an impetus by the recent policies of the Indian Government especially the likes of Startup India program, Make In India program and AIC (Atal Incubation Centres ).

A corporate job is commonly associated with security. It is often made to seem that there is no personal development for a person who decides to work for another company instead of building his own. But I think it is not true. We have, as examples, our very own Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai who depict the possibility of corporate success. A corporate scenario provides plenty of opportunities for one’s self-improvement. Skills like public speaking, marketing and finance prove really handy in AC corporate job as well.

Making it big in the startup world is a journey in itself. For becoming successful as an entrepreneur, one has to exercise a lot of self-awareness and know himself or herself deeply. In a startup, one has the tremendous job of building one’s own distribution network which is not the case in a job. A startup provides opportunities for great growth in a small period of time which is usually not available in case of a corporate job. Usually, growth in corporate life comes slowly.’Slow and steady wins the race’ aptly applies to the corporate scenario.

So, what should one go for ?

According to me, one must definitely go for a startup if he/she thinks that his/her idea can bring something new to the table.

But, as Rajat Khanna of TVF Pitchers (if you guys haven’t watched it yet, watch it, it’s brilliant ) says :

Startups, if done just as another option to improve one’s life prospect, there are more chances of it to fail. According to some statistics, as much as 75% of all venture-backed startups fail.

Sometimes an entrepreneur’s life becomes too monotonous. One has to sacrifice a lot of things that one can experience as a normal person. In this regard, a well-suited job may serve you better in helping you experience all the different joys that life has to offer you.

So, what do you think about entrepreneurship ? Is it overhyped and glorified ? Is a 9-to-5 job really adventureless or is it just another cliche ? Let’s talk !

Blog by:

Vineet Bhat

2nd Year, Electronics and Communication, SVNIT.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: FROM BEING TO BECOMING..

February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by Yash Shahin EntrepreneurshipLeave a Comment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Entrepreneurs are generally perceived as insane risk-takers; a surreal combination of Wolverine and Batman; aggressive yet calm, intuitive yet rational and reckless yet brave. Entrepreneurs are generally perceived as those riding lions: fast-paced and those diving off an airplane without a parachute: courageous. But the question is, if only five per cent entrepreneurs end up working on their original idea, only two per cent end up providing value, and only 0.5% end up having monetary success; how should this dream be pursued?

Jump without a rope!
In ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, Batman learns that you can go into full throttle only when there is no back up. Entrepreneurship teaches you to put all your eggs, fruits, hair-dryer, mobile-phone and everything else in one basket. If you have a backup, it’s you who have failed and not your startup. In any case, unless you took unreasonable risks while pursuing your startup, dealing with its failure will be an unpleasant and a ridiculously boring affair. It’s more like a step along the journey.

It’s about the journey and not the destination
As a startup, people will ask you, “Where do you see yourself after five years from now?” while you are still figuring out which client will be paying for your next lunch. In a startup, you learn. You learn to react to insulting situations, uncomforting questions and demeaning feedbacks. In a startup, you build, modify, test, rinse and repeat. It’s an incremental and an agile perspective towards life. You will never want it to end. It’s certainly addictive.

The outcome is not binary
Chances are that you might not become a billionaire but also, chances are that you might not end up on the street begging. There are millions of shades of grey between black and white, there are infinite rational numbers between 0 and 1 and there are millions of outcomes possible when you have a startup. It’s scary, yes! But it’s even more exciting. That fear of uncertainty, that feeling of not knowing the outcome, that thought-process when you are not in control of everything; there are very few things which can trigger such emotions. They are so rare, the English dictionary has no words for it!

Businesses die, entrepreneurs don’t
A misleading element in the perception of success rate is that you only have one shot at it, so you better make it. Startups never sink or swim. They give you a swing of directions. You give up your corporate job, you put in all the savings, your company fails and you can’t get back to your original career. There, you have another direction all together. And mind well, if a startup fails, a negligible amount of people can go back to their jobs. You are addicted; ruined. You will flock with the most like-minded, risk taking, lean, suave and convincing SOBs around. And you will start another one! Entrepreneurship is a career. So long as you don’t hit yourself in the face with the bat, you can keep taking swing after swing after swing.

Yash Shah

SVNIT Alumni

CEO & Founder Gridle