Raj Shankar's Blog, page 47

My Third Book – Essentials Of Entrepreneurship

With humility and immense gratitude, I wish to share with you the news of upcoming release of my third book – “Essentials of Entrepreneurship”.  

After the release of my Second Book “Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice”, I got many requests from academicians, students and associations for an introductory level primer on entrepreneurship.  It is this encouragement and enthusiastic response from the faculty and students, that launched me on the journey of putting together this book. This book has been created with the intention of providing a run through of the essentials of the subject. The book is slated to release by end of June 2013.

This book has been created with the intention of providing a run through of the essentials of the subject. An organized study of entrepreneurship has always been debated, because of the great degree of the ‘doing’ aspect of the subject. It also has emerged from the area of management science. Though the subject is at its infancy, it is also assuming its rightly deserved place as an inter-disciplinary rather multi disciplinary science. Hence the subject undergoes changes, rather rapidly in comparison with other older subjects. The book attempts to provide the reader a sound introduction to the various aspects that comprise the subject of entrepreneurship.

The book is structured to mimic the real journey of entrepreneurship – from opportunity sighting to managing and growing the venture. The book intersperses concepts, frameworks, examples, statistics, references and illustrations to help students understand and connect to the topic that is being studied. The caselets and the profile of entrepreneurs provided towards the end of the book aims to ignite and inspire thoughts around entrepreneurship. Apart from chapter end review questions, there are an ample number of solved question papers and a fully solved paper to help students negotiate the demand of the curriculum. Designed to align to the undergraduate syllabus of many leading universities, this book will serve as a primer for the uninitiated students, taking the subject for the first time.

For more information on the book, please feel free to contact me (ichiban.raj@gmail.com) or the publishers Vijay Nicole.

Small is the Next Big

I  was recently invited to lead a few sessions on “Internationalization strategies” hosted by Asia Pacific Incubation Network (APIN). The workshop had participants from around ten countries from the ASPAC region. Through my interactions with this group over two days, I noticed few differences between the entrepreneurs from India and those from smaller economies, like Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia etc

Most of the Indian start-ups had interesting technologies but lacked scale. Most of the start-ups from the nations mentioned above had equally interesting products (in some cases less technical), but had achieved much larger scale.
The presentations made by the various entrepreneurs from the other countries seem to have much higher levels of energy and enthusiasm when compared to our domestic entrepreneurs

Are the above two seemingly disparate observations connected? When I left the conference I had these questions that just refused to go away:

Is energy and enthusiasm of the entrepreneur a reflection of success? Or a reason for it?
Why is it that these start-ups from much smaller economies manage to scale faster and bigger in their domestic market in comparison to India?
While the whole world claims India to be a great market – why is it that entrepreneurs who scale in India are far and few?
Are our entrepreneurs too protective with respect to failure that they don’t allow themselves the risk of success?

I was excited that I got to meet so many energetic and enthusiastic entrepreneurs from so many Asian countries. I am sure this is the beginning of my active interaction with the entrepreneurs as well as the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Asia Pacific region. Isn’t being entrepreneurial the whole reason for being in entrepreneurship?

Interesting Links This Week: 23-June-2013

Links that made it to my list this week:

Getting internships can be one hell of a job in itself, especially if it is in a company like Google. Now you have a movie that explores what it would be like! With 40000 people applying to get into the 1500 intern positions – its a competitive exam in itself. Here are some thoughts why it makes sense to try. For entrepreneurs some ideas on how to attract and utilize top quality talent during internship. Link: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1683136/how-to-actually-land-an-internship-at-google-and-turn-it-into-a-job

Negotiation is always a tough skill to pick. This is truly a differentiating skill when it comes to the tough competitive environment in which we are attempting to thrive today. A surprising revelation on the subject from the maverick Steve Jobs. This is a subject you learn by observing and apprenticing under someone. Here are some tips. Link: http://www.inc.com/erik-sherman/5-negotiation-tips-from-steve-jobs.html?cid=em01020week23a&nav=su

I always take the example of retailing coffee to explain value proposition and perception in the mind of the consumers. Nowhere else in my opinion can you see transformation of trade so strikingly.  This article on how Starbucks approaches innovation crept into this list for this and many other reasons (which you may also discover!) http://www.fastcompany.com/3009040/risky-innovation-will-starbuckss-leap-of-faith-pay-off

Books and Me: Getting to Plan B

Book Title:  Getting to Plan B

Author:  John Mullins and Randy Komisar

I had the pleasure of meeting Professor John Mullins during one of his India visits. Even greater was my joy to have spent time as his student in a three day executive program called “Tools for growth”

I learnt a lot from him on the subject of entrepreneurship and business growth.  Beyond the subject I picked skills around teaching, conducting cases, holding  a class of 50, to grab attention etc.  As a teacher, trainer and coach to entrepreneurs and CEOs, those interactions have enabled me deliver more and better.

Building a business model is one of the essential challenges of every entrepreneur. Anyone who has had even a whiff of exposure to starting a business will know that it is an iterative process. While many resists to use the power of iteration due to the lack of self-discipline, it is also fueled by the absence of tools and techniques. John along with Randy Komisar, provide a very interesting and robust framework and an approach to solving this problem.

The business model framework described in the book is very helpful for early stage enterprises because of the importance it lays to the aspect of cash. The five models namely revenue, gross-margin, operating, working capital and investment together provide a comprehensive view to looking at and designing a good business model.

Some of the questions raised by the authors are penetrating and will get the entrepreneur thinking about the economics of the enterprise. The other interesting aspect is the examples of analogs, antilogs and leaps of faith. These have brought a kind of scientific rigor to the widely acknowledged thought “Don’t reinvent the wheel”

Every business will benefit immensely bu using these 4 simple yet easy tools. The authors provide very interesting case of companies that have put to use these concepts from across the world. The reader from the Indian subcontinent will find some familiar names.

Getting to plan B if read and implemented will help you and your company find the right model be it B, C,D… and at the end of the iteration you will find an economically sound highly probable business model!

 

The man who amazes and inspires me!

I am a fan of Seth Godin. I am a regular reader of his blog. But you might just hear both of these from thousands of people. To me he serves as an inspiration too!

I am inspired by his consistency!

I am inspired by his persistence!

I am inspired by his provocative thoughts!

I am inspired by his approach!

I am inspired by his blog posts!

I am inspired by his ebooks!

I am inspired by his printed book (that adorn my shelf)!

I am inspired by his videos!

I am inspired by everything he does…..

But the most inspiring thing is his call for action and his repeated insistence that you are the one can call yourself to action. Though all this has been on my  mind ever since I came in contact with him and his thoughts virtually, this post was triggered by his 5000th post! http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/06/the-5000th-post.html

The only thing that comes to my mind is “Oh My God!!”  I am so inspired – and gladly so!

Murthys’ at Infosys

The name Narayana Murthy for today’s generation brings to mind the word ‘entrepreneur’, ‘values’ and ‘Infosys’. Infosys and Narayana Murthy are probably the most spoken about in entrepreneurship, for a variety of reasons. They serve as an inspiration for both budding entrepreneurs as well budding enterprises.  They serve as inspiration for not only what can be achieved but also for how it can be achieved.

Over the last few years, we have heard the name Infosys being dragged into visa issues, law suits, slowing down, losing lusture etc. After a lot of changes in the leadership, the baton has been returned to the man who started the enterprise. However his coming back to take the baton and revive the company to its old glory has not been without divergent views, especially his appointment of his son in his core team. While I do not wish to comment on Narayana Murthy’s decision on having his son Rohan Murthy as his executive assistant, it definitely has led to some questions in the minds of many.

Why was no one in the enterprise chosen for the role? What made a person who had insisted then that only either he or his wife would be at Infosys and not both, make the decision that he and his son will be at Infosys now? What has changed between then and now?

Also here are a few things that have come to the front from the discussions going around this topic.

It is almost becoming impossible to separate lineage and profession
Be it in business, politics, profession, entertainment etc inheritance is the name of the game
Family as a social unit has to be considered in professional realm 

While all this is valid, there is also another set of questions that begs consideration at this juncture:

Is Rohan Murthy actually the best and quickest choice that Narayana Murthy could have made to take on the herculean task of rejuvenating Infosys of today – when lot of washing of linen, cleansing and tough calls have to be done? A complex task such as the one being undertaken requires not just skill and aptitude but enormous trust, enormous amount of willingness, enormous amount of service orientation and an enormous sense of ownership to the cause.  Is it the call of his company and not family that underlines this decision of the great man?

Instead of trying to criticise, pinpoint or question the induction of the next generation – it is important to understand why it happens? What could have prompted such a happening? Is it aiding or harming the larger ecosystem? If it is aiding then how to build such systematic transition? If it is not, then how to build alternate plans for succession?

All of this and many more makes me realise the importance of understanding family as a social institution and its influence on decision making in the professional sphere, a much needed area of greater understanding.

Vedantic Wednesday: Indians Don’t Talk Rights

There have been many affirmation, agreement and discussions around rights and duties post of last week. Incidentally in the course of the past week I came across a very stunning (for lack of better words – I have to use this adjective) incident which details the power of this life’s law!

In the post World War II era, there began talks about setting up commission for human rights. So a particular group went on to collect letters from major activists and leaders over the world asking them to write their views on human rights. So a request was sent to Mahatma Gandhi too. And the below is the essence of his reply:

“The task you have set to achieve is very worthy. In India however we do not talk about rights. We believe in duties! We do not educate our people to fight for rights. We educate each and every citizen on their duties towards self, others and the nation. For we believe it is only by performing our duties with responsibility can we create a nation where everyone are free and respected. So in India the emphasis that we give is on doing one’s duties. I believe it is by doing one’s duty  can the agenda of human rights or any other social good be achieved!”

Just hearing these words brought in front of my eyes the power in this frail figure. The towering personality encased in the small form. The strength that is derived from his conviction in essential truths of life and living! If there is still any doubt on whether such conviction on right living is possible- next week I shall share one more instance involving the same great man which will remove any doubts whatsoever!

So till next week….

Did we Change Change?

AND MUCH MUCH MORE…………………..

If you have lived even 25 years you would have seen all of the above move past you. Most of the aged people from the earlier generations talk about the many things that have changed in their generation, and how large and significant those changes were. When I heard one of the elderly gentleman mention about the change he witnessed in his lifetime, I was amazed at the amount of changes we have already seen in just two decades and in just one industry.

Is it that every generation ahead is witnessing change at an increasing rate? And is the human race catalyzing the rate of this change? Is this increased rate of change actually making lives happier and better? Or having tampered with the rate of change – have we created something unnatural, due to which instead of our lives becoming more calm it has become unhealthily stressful? Is there something called a natural rate of change – are we missing something here in the name of development?

What are your thoughts?

Telegram Service – End of the dot dash fullstop era!

July 15th 2013, brings to an end the telegram services in India. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of young people, GenY, GenZ don’t even know what telegram means. And why would they? When communications industry has seen the fastest rate of change in the last two decades.

The telegram service was probably the fastest way to send information across the country  at one point in time. The standard response to the postman coming over with a telegram was one of dread and fear. As almost always telegram would bring the news of loss or sickness of someone in the family. This is the first memory for many of us. Then comes the pink sheet of hastily made up short forms of words!

In today’s fast world much of these seem arcane. But  there is no doubt that it reduced the time taken to convey important and urgent messages over long distances – and for many it was the only available option, as close as two decades ago. While the current generation will remember the existence of such a service, to many youngsters even the thought that this was an essential service can be surprising and shocking. Just as twenty years from now people wouldn’t believe we actually used floppy disk to transfer data.

Some thoughts that came to me as I mulled over this:

Old always has to give way to the new
Anything that is born must die
Even for paradigm shifts in innovation to happen there has to be some incremental innovation
Was Telegram the twitter of the non-internet era?

The lifespan of services and products is fast reducing. Which like all other things is both good and bad. Every single person has a lesson to learn from this. More so my dear entrepreneurial friends.  

Learning to innovate is important and learning to let go to innovate further is even more important. The closure of the telegram service reinforces this message while serving as a reminder that there are some basic laws of the universe that always work on every single thing!

 

Interesting Links This Week: 16-Jun-2013

From saving time, peace of mind and content marketing – the links that made it to my list this week

If you have just five minutes to spare, you can gain 50 a day http://www.fastcompany.com/3011028/work-smart/do-you-have-5-minutes-a-day-to-get-more-productive

In the first four lines of the article is hidden the essence of peaceful living! http://www.chennaimath.org/peace-of-mind-4741

Found the representation as interesting as the information they were projecting: http://holykaw.alltop.com/a-guide-to-marketing-genius-content-marketing-infographic?tu4=1