Articles by Anjana Vivek

There was a query in an earlier post in this blog: Company incorporation or partnership which was specifically related to how much starting a company would approximately cost the founders. As this is one question that is on the top of the mind of many wannabe entreprenerus, it is worth a full post and not just a response. There are actually different components to the cost, there is the initial, onetime statutory  fee, there is a recurring fee and there is also the fee you pay to an expert to help you with the registration process. The statutory fee is…

Ever year around this time, we see several women from across India converging to Bengaluru.  This is for the Summer Special @ IIMB; i.e. The Management Programme for Women Entrepreneurs (MPWE). This year there are over 130 confirmations, with participants also coming from outside the country. Registrations are still open for a few seats, for the programme which starts on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009. If interested, please look at the MPWE programme brochure at www.nsrcel.org/home/mpwe2009.pdf  for details. The Course Directors, Prof. Ganesh Prabhu and myself (Anjana Vivek) are very pleased to see this interest. I have been associated with this programme…

Many persons in Bengaluru want to set up their own venture. Are you one of them? Are you unsure about the kind of legal structure you need for your activities? Gyan, the business advisor, recently met Anil and Peter, who wanted to start a new venture. They were unclear about the benefits of setting up a company and wondered if the cost would be prohibitive.Gyan referred them to a couple of specialists who could walk them through the regulatory aspects of creating a venture and registering with the concerned regulatory authorities, based on the nature of their business and the…

Many persons talk of entrepreneurship. To some it is a fancy, to some it is a fad, to some it is a serious passion, what is it to you? Are you cut out to be an entrepreneur? I am not talking about the checklist one can fill and tick to see if one is entrepreneurial in nature. Many persons think they are entrepreneurial based on scores on paper and/or based on discussions with other entrepreneurs and attending workshops and seminars. It is one thing to see high score on inclination and aptitude for entrepreneurship; it is something else to actually…

As we see the unraveling of Satyam...maytaS...i.e. the reversing of Satyam, there are some learnings from a due diligence perspective. It is surprising that a case of this size has escaped notice for several years. Maybe it is time for the general public also to step up vigilance, so that all the people are not fooled all the time. There are some practices which are typically followed, such as review of past financials and business performance, reviewing management policies, looking at churn of employees etc. In addition, there are some learnings from the Satyam Saga. Below are some initial thoughts…

Gyan, the strategy consultant, had a question from an old friend, Kaushik Ghosh, who was an alumnus of a prestigious management institute. Kaushik, who was in a senior position at a leading corporate suddenly had taken a fancy to starting his own business. He had a couple of ideas and he was connecting with Gyan to see a) if any of these ideas were worth exploring and b) if funds could be raised for the new venture. Here is what Gyan had to say."Both the ideas look interesting and may be worth exploring. However they would need some gestation time…

Dear Readers, this post is another one in the series of interviews with investors.  I am pleased to introduce Samir Kumar, MD, Inventus, who has been very active in the Bangalore Entrepreneurial Circuit. Samir has been an early stage investor for some years now and is available on email at samir@inventuscap.com. Read on to get some of his insights on what he is looking for in a company. If you are looking for funding, you can take hope, Samir and some other investors are of the view that this is also a time for investments, despite the global economic turmoil.Question: What…

Looking without ...and... Looking within There are many changes in the business environment today. Have you taken stock of your current position and how you may be affected by these changes .. negatively or ...Positively? You may be a small company or a large one. You may be in the IT sector, or in biotech, in the realty sector, or in retail ...or in a totally different area.  It does not matter in which sector you are in; it is possible that you may be directly or indirectly affected by the major turmoil in the global financial sector. Money is…

Mango Technologies Private Limited is a software solution provider for the bottom 50% of the mobile handset consumers market. CEO and Co-founder, Sunil, answers a few questions for Entrepreneur's Corner: Question: How did you select this line of business - or did the business select you?Answer: Lekh Joshi and I, have worked in this domain for more than 10 years, in large multinational OEMs and operators to deliver various types of phones in the market. In the past along with some of our key members we have built first designed in India, dual SIM mobile phone, I was the second…

Gyan, the business advisor, was talking to Kiran, John and Chetan, who were planning to start a new business. One of the points they spoke about was the money each one would bring into the company and the possible equity structure of the new company. Gyan said, "In the recent past, I have seen many partnerships enduring and also many teams break up. Some partnerships and founding teams can stay through thick and thin; some founding teams break up over the smallest trifles.  I have seen friends start a company and become bitter enemies; on the other hand there are…