Entrepreneur's Corner

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…

It is a pleasure to bring you another founder perspective, from an entrepreneur, who was one of the few handful of investors in India some years ago. He has shared some key some insights into running a business as an entrepreneur, as opposed to being an investor who is partnering in a venture. This is one that may interest investors as well as entrepreneurs. Who is this entrepreneur... he is K.Ganapathy Subramanian, the founder of MyDuniya Networks, a company that has a vision to facilitate "Beyond Voice" services for the mobile pervasive world. He has been part of the innovation…

Hi All, I am pleased to introduce and interview Manjula Sridhar, a high energy entrepreneur.  She is co-founder and Chief Technology officer of Aujas Networks, a pure-play digital security services company. Manjula co-founded Aujas Networks in February 2008, after a decade of experience in the telecom industry and several awards to her credit. Prior to founding Aujas, Manjula served as "Entrepreneur-in-Residence" at IDG Ventures India, a US$150 Million early-stage technology venture capital fund backed by IDG, the world's largest IT-focused media company. Question:  We have heard of entrepreneurs - you started as an entrepreneur in residence. Can you please tell…

In recent times, many Indians have left their comfort zones to start their own venture. What was a trickle a couple of years ago is slowly but surely turning into a steady stream. In the past few months, I have seen a variety of professionals, including inter-alia alumni of the premier technology and management institutes in the country, erstwhile employees of the big four audit and consulting firms, chartered accountants, lawyers, engineers, doctors, scientists with a PhD and many more starting their own venture, attempting to raise venture capital for this. All this in Namma Bengaluru ... so imagine ...…

There has been an unusually long gap between my last post and this one. Many reasons, the main being indifferent health, thanks due to the Bangalore weather and the road repair in my locality leading to dust allergy caused on this account. We see many persons sniffing and sneezing in our Ooru. Well these are some of the pains of living in this vibrant city. The infrastructure makes one want to cry. The sheer entrepreneurial energy makes one want to celebrate! Do check an earlier post : Networking in this city of contrasts. Just this weekend we celebrated with an…