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12 | FebruaryZB,2013 visit www.dqindia.com DATAOUEST I ACvberMedia Publication

DATAOUEST I ACyberMediaPublication February 28, 2013 | 13

Anand. Krishna worlcedfor a 8l bnIT cornpany and had a steady careergrowth. He was earning a great sal-ary traueling to different countries.and managing a large team. Manyof his IIT-D classmates enuied hisposition, and, his family was proud ofhis accomplishments. But Anand hadanother plan. He surprised eaeryoneby suddenly leaaing his 'nearly' per-

fect job to start his own btuiness.

he story of Anand is notnew to the industry. IndianIT has always been knownfor its innovative spirit and

talent. But the last few years haveseen a sudden spurt in the numberofsuch start-ups. According to arecent study, over 300 new start-upswere launched in India in2OI2.Sudarshan HS who left Infosys about5 years ago to start his own companyrecalls, "I know at least B0 peoplewho left Infosys that year to starttheir own ventures."

The last time the industry sawsuch a splurge of start-ups was dur-ing the dot-com boom in late nine-ties and early 2000s. Almost everyother mom-and-pop store thoughtit could ride on the internet to growbig. And then the bubble went bust!

So. does that indicate any signsof danger? While studies do showthat about 2O7o stafi-ups pull downtheir shutters every yea4 this may notnecessarily point towards a bubble.

Unlike the past where we sawyoung ambitious and almost reck-less talent among entrepreneurs,this time around we are seeing an-other breed of entrepreneurs emerge6n lhs 16d61-enthusiastic, experi-enced, and expert in their individualdomains. Their decisions seem wellthought out and theirjourneys lookclearly planned. These are relativelynature IT professionals with flour-ishing careers, or the'mid-career'entrepreneurs as we may call them.

After having reached a certainpeak in their careers, they want

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to move beyond the confines oftheir jobs and do something'moremeaningful.' Interestingly, each onehas different reasons for leavinsand a different story to tell. Whr:lesome are looking for more freedomto pursue their creative aspiralions.there are others who seem sociallymotivated. Some want to leveragelheir knowledge and experience toreach specific goals, while some arestill trying to define their niche.

"The emergence of new prod-uct-driven companies is a clearindication that India's technologylandscape is poised for the nextwave of growth," says Som Mittal,president, Nasscom. Speaking at aforum he said, "The societal stigmaon failure in entrepreneurship haslessened over lhe years encouraginglarge number of IT professionals tostart their own ventures." He be-lieves a new breed ofentrepreneur-ship is sweeping into the sector andthe ecosystem is fast developing tosustain the new ventures.

Burnout or Burning llesire?The increased pressure ofthemodern day work environment iscreating a 'burnout' situation that isforcing people to look for other av-enues. "Today's corporate environ-ment doesn't allow you to listen toyour heart. You have to work withinthe demands of the system. You haveto listen to your boss, worry aboutoffice politics and what not. Every-thing takes a toll," admits PrashantKhanna. co-founden EnhanceSystems. "Individual aspirations ofpeople have remained bottled upfor a long time and now we havereached a point where people justwant to open up and let go."

Many of them also feel thatafter having attained a reasonablesuccess in their careers, there isnothing new to drive them further,Jobs can get repetitive and boring,especially for individuals who arealways charged up and looking for

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COVER STOR

Ear,tilaur

Do business because youor fame

want' to do it, not for money

spirit or Jugaad', as we often callit, reflects the ability of Indians to

create something even with minim:resources. According to Venkatesh

Iyer, the economic reforms of the

nineties helped release a lot oflatent energy that existed among

people. "There are many more op-

porlunities available in the marketnow," he says, "you find more and

mole people get into the most in-novative and unusual fields."

India recently moved up to the

second position in the Clobal In-novation Efficiency Index* 2012from #9 in the previous year. Nel'products and innovation have led ta dramatic evolution of the society.

People are exposed to more ideas

and their appetite for taking liskshas also increased. The IT industr-r

itself is reinventing and evolvir.rg

at a rapid pace. The spreacl of the

internet has also made it possible

for entlepreneurs to reach out to th

global market with very little irrr.es

ment. Over the years, the entrv bar

riers have been coming do'rvn.

"When we started Enhance, rve

used to have only one desktop conr

putel as our asset. I remember har

ing carried the machine to custont(

localions to make presenlations

and demos," recalls Vineet Sabhar

wal, co-founder, Enhance Systems,

"However it was still easier on tl-re

pockets to start an IT venture com'

pared to anything else because the

investments were manageable. Jus

one PC could get us started. That,think is one r-eason that IT leads tlrace in generating entrepreneurs.''

The fact that brand India has

been globally established has

further helped the cause of start-uand small businesses; something

that is not easily possible in otl.rer'

business areas. The low entry ban'

ers make IT start-ups more lucratifor VCs too. "You just need to har r

good concept or product idea. Fun

ing is not that difficult to come br.says Sudarshan.

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Believe in youn idea, make others believe in you

Don't let the initial failunes bog you down; never look back

Have a unique value pnoposition

ldentify the gaps and align youn idea with the eustomen'sbusiness needs

Create a sustainable business model and plan youn cashcycle well

Bneak your tanget into smaller, achievable noals ,.1,,

Keep innovating and evolving with changing marketcondiLions

Patience, perseverance and discipline are essentislingredients of success

newer challenges. "Most of us want

freedom to do things our way. You

need intellectual simulation to keep

yourself going," says Venkatesh Iyerwho launched and spearheaded sev-

eral successful initiatives for NIITbefore he started a rural BPO.

While the decision to go forentrepreneurship might be triggered

by the feeling of stagnation or burn

out, it really needs a burning desire or

ambition to sustain in the long run. "Ifyou starl something driven by bumout,

you do something not out ofdesign but

out ofduress. which is not a rery good

thing," says Rotnoraj Dutta, who runs

multiple businesses in areas like head

hunting, tech training, and marketing.

Sudarshan, who runs a software

product compally based in Bengaluru,

also agrees that you need much more

than a bum out to kick-start a new

venture. "It is true that many people

feel stagnated in theirjobs, but these

ar€ not the ones p5oing for entrepre-

neurship," he points out. An entrepre-

neur needs a lot of energy and enthu-

siasm to keep him going, he says.

ldeas, Innouation, and lTIndia has always had a history ofenlrepleneurship. The innor ative

* Couirtries ryhierh are strong in producin;1 irrrovation outpuls tlespite I rveaker itrnoyatiotl

environmenl unk high in Thc tllobal LruoYalion Efficiclc-r' Index.

14 | February28,2013 visit wwwdqindia.com

"lt is easien to stant anlT ventune because Lheinvestments ane manageable.Just one PC could get usstanted. That, I think is oneneason that lT leads the nacein genenating entnepneneuns"-Vineet Sabharwalco-founden, Enhance Systems

In fact, a lot of IT enrrepreneurspreler to go without external fund-ing in the initial stages. It is onlyafter they have reached a minimumthreshold level that they seek fundsto expand business.

Who Moued My Gheese!,\lthough'micl-career'' enrfepr.e-neurs rlo possess more knolvled6Jeancl experience compared to the\ ounger lot, but they also havearlclitional Lraggage to deal rvith.Having worked for large globalolganizations fcrl several years, theyFet a,'t'ustomed lo r.ertain svstemsand processes, and lifestyles, ofcoursel Ther swanky offices andplush infi'astructure equipped withbest-in-class gadgels-one startstaking a lot of things for granted.So" starting from scratch may notbe all that simple, after all.

"Managing basic infiastructureand operations could become a bigheadache if you have not preparedlell ir-r advance," poirrts out Dutta."\bu might have to deal with a lot of

unexpected things in the initial stages.Therefore you need to plan your cashcycle really well," he advises.

Every stage in setting up a busi-ness could be a test of patience andperseveran(ie. "It is important tohave clarity and remain focused onwhat you do. There will be timeswher.r things don't work the way youplan. That is the time when you re-ally need to stay with your idea anclcontinue doing 1'our bit," says Iyer.

"When you step out of thecornforts of a job, the first thingyou should do is to keep all yourrneclals and ego outside," suggestsKoustuv Mitra, founder, XecuteHR."When you are associated withu hig blun,l. peuple see 1ou in u

certain way. As an entrepreneur,munl people a1e o|serving 16u.The rvorld is going to look at youwith fresh pair of eyes. After youbecome successful, a lot of peopleuill join vou. But till thar tinre youhave to lre vely palient,"

Another challenge these entre-preneuls lace is in attractinp; and

\,r'ith NRN',

6r got motivated after an interaetion

hen you hear a namelike'ONZE'an im-mediate questionthat pops up your

rnind is: S'-hat does it mean? ,,Ohl Itis r er-r' simple," quips Sudharshanuith a smile. "Software program-

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ming is all about 'ones and zeros, sowe combined that to create ON-ZE.,,Whether the process of naming wassimple or not, Sudarshan does comeacross as a simple person with anormal middle class upbringing. So,you immediately wonder how the

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retaining talent. The trick is tolook for people with the right at-titude and train them as required.'Readymade'resources are not easyto come by and training can dowonders, believes Iyer. Leveraginghis experience as a traine4 he hasbeen able to leverage the rural youthof Uttarakhand fcrr his BPO units."You will be surprised to see howwell these people can per{orm. Theyare far more keen to learn, and arewilling to put in the extra effort,', hesays with a sense ofpride.

The Magic UnfoldsFrom the time the idea of entrepre-neurship germinates in one's minclto the process of conceptualization,planning and execution, the life ofan enlrepreneur is full of ups anddowns. Thele are no short-cuts t<i

success, as they say. But despitethe roadblocks, mosI of them be-lieve it is worth all the effort. Afterhaving sailed through the inirialhiccrups, the journey starts becom-ing nrore exciting and fun. The tre-mendous joy of creating somethingol your own probably compensatesfor all the challenges. Gradually,the magic begins to unftrld.

Equipped with years of experi-ence and a deep understanding oftheir domains, these 'mid-career'enlrepreneurs are working in theirown different ways to carve theirniche. Each one has his own suc-cess mantras. Each has a fascinatingstory to tell...

idea of entrepreneurship came intohis mind.

"I got inspired after an inter.-action with NRN (NR NarayanaMurthy)," he elaborates. "I joinedInfosys when it was a muchsmaller company with about 600

February 28,2013 | 15

I covER sroRY

people. In one of our interactionswith NRN he got talking abouthis journey-how he started,what he went through. I foundthat very motivating." If a simpleperson like him with a humblebackground could do it, probablyanyone could. ooHe showed us howone could run a successful highgrowth business by being ex-tremely ethical," says Sudarshan."You know he always told us don'tover promise or over commit toyour customer, because that is

also equivalent to lying."

Sudarshan HS, Rahul RS lrightlONZE TechnologiesLocation based Mobile Solutions

After having worked in theproduct engineering services leam

of Infosys for about 13-14 years indifferent roles, Sudarshan and hiscolleague Rahul felt they had ac-cumulated enough knowledge aboutmnning a software product businessand they wanted to put their learn-ing into practice. It took them about2-3 years to identify a niche productto focus on. But after that the com-pany has been on a ride. They havea rich portfolio of over 40 customersincluding Cafe Coffee Day, Yamaha,Havells, etc.

oBusiness for the sake of businessdidn't make any sense anymore?

hen Venkatesh Iyer, or oVenki' as he ispopularly known, left NIIT in 2005,he had no real plan. ool just had one

thing on my mind - I wanted to do stuffthat'I'wanted to do," he explains. While dabblingwith different ideas, he came across another team ofentrepreneurs who were running a corporate trainingcompany called 'Vyaktitva.' The concept clicked andIyerjoined them as a partner.

Iyer had been a part ofthe initial team at NIIT and

had led several strategic initiatives as global Head ofEd-ucation, Global Head of Human Resources, Head of NIITVentures and President and COO of NIIT SmartServe. Hewanted to leverage his 23-year-long experience at NIIT to

do something 'more meaningful'. "The idea of doing busi-ness for the sake of business didn't make any sense to me

anymore," he says. ooThis whole business of building abusiness without any commitment to the society that you

live in was appearing meaningless."His desire to do something socially relevant led him

to create another business. He decided to set up a RuralBPO company to create employment for people living inrural areas of Uttarakhand. oolnstead of expecting themto come to a city, I decided to go near them," he says.

His strengths in training and development helped himbring out the best in these people. "You will be sur-

Venkatesh lyerVyaktitva, B2R TechnologiesTraining, Funal BPO

prised to see how fast they Iearn," he asserts.

The company is now actively looking at venture fundsto expand further, "This is not a CSR initiative. The ideais to make it sustainable. You carit tell people to give

money just because you are doing a nice thing. Ultimate-Iy, it has to make economic sense," he savs.

16 | February28,2013 visit www.dqindia.com DATAOUEST I A Cybedvtedia Publication

oYou need a reason thatlceeps you going'

ost entrepreneurs findtheir break when theyget the right idea. Itwas not so for Shivku-

mar - there were many ideas. "In-stead, you should look for a problemvou are ready to solve. I had aboutten business ideas when I quit. Itook the one I believed would workbest and took a chance," he states.Shivkumar started Exotel for himselfto rnanage his phone calls and notrniss any and his idea evolved into asuccessful business.

For those who climb the Everest,there's a fear of not getting backhome, and you speculate whetherthe reason you begun with is worthit. "You should wait for the riehtfeason. lt could be anything- iosave the world, to solve a problem,

Shivkumar GaneshanExotellT solutions fon managing phone calls/messages

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make people happier, go throughterrains no one has traveled before,or even to get more time with yourloved ones-but it must be a reasonyou believe in enough to take youthrough a journey. Initially, inse-curity and fear surrounded me andmoving on from the salary mentalitytook a while. The first few monthsof no regular income were the worstand every walk to the ATM was anightmare. This made me questionmy fundamentals-do I know thejob, if I'm doing it right," Shivkumarstates.

There comes a day when yourealize you can'[ grow anymore in aclosed environment. It happened toShivkumar five years after he joinedYahoo. "I realized there was notmuch left to achieve in the orsaniza-lion. Yahool. being a top empLoyermade it hard for me to find a betterplace kr work at-I clidn't knowwhich other company would offer anew, challenging experience."

Vineet Sabharwal, Prashant Khanna (rightlEnhance SystemsLeanning solutions

tWe had to borrow a laptop to gr.r*our first demo'

he passion fcrl learninggot Prashant Khannaand Vineet Sabharwaltogether: When they

started their joulney almost adecade ago, they wele only driver-rln' their desire to do something ontheir own. They didn't even havetl-re money to set up an office orbuv a computer: "You might findihis funny, but when we start off*e didn't even have a computerof our own," says Khanna. Healnost bursts out laughing whenhe recalls their first ever presenta-tion to a client. How they borroweda laptop for a day and somehownranaged to give demos to 2 com-panies back-to-back. But oncethey clinched their first deal, there

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was no looking back. "The perks ofbeing on youl. own are so many thatthele is no reason to qo back. Even

money making becomes secondaryafter a while," he says.

Khanna has worked in the.#

,s FS-a***

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l COVER STORY

:i:i

sales & marketing units of variousIT companies, while his partnerVineet Sabharwal has experiencein areas like application devel-opment, e-learning, and projectmanagement. Their knowledgeand skills complemented each

other and together they created a

company that provides IT based

learning solutions.Khanna who is also an avid

follower of the Bhagwad Gita says

he uses the lessons from Gita as

his guiding light. He wants to

merge his spiritual learning withthe modern business practicesto create a company with a strongvalue system. "You need to have

a strong value system to be ablelo create a good learning environ-ment." he savs.

Koustuv MitraXecute HB SolutionsHR outsouncing and automation

tion," he says. "Creating something

of your own gives you a joy that nojob in any large corporation canprovide."

tum entrepreneurs. "For a few, thisbecomes an option when they hitthe ceiling, for others it is about

creating something on their own and

something original. One thing aboutoffering an IT solution is that creat-ing a technology start-up doesn'trequire a lot of capital and the entrybarriers are lorr'. Moreover, the

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6I wanted to follo\{ rnY dreamof creating an institution'

ith almost 2 decadesofexperience as an

HR professional,Koustuv Mitra had

the per{ect blend ofexperienceand expertise to set up an HRObusiness. But running a business

requires much more than domainexpertise. Mitra got a chance to step

into a business role when one ofhis employers was facing a severe

crisis. "I got dragged into a siluationwhere I had to help pull my com-pany out of a crisis situation. Thatgave me that confidence that I couldalso run a business."

His entrepreneurial decisionmight have been triggered by cir-cumstances, but his journey seems

meticulously planned. "There is no

magic in life. Success requires a lothard work," he says. "The journey

of an entrepreneur is a very lonely

journey. You have to have a longterm vision and plan out each stage

clearly. Do things step by step."Mitra worked across different ver-

ticals with some leading companies

like Coke, Electrolux, Convergys,

and airtel before he finally set uphis own. His experience in the retailsector helped him understand thenuances of customer orientation and

productivity, while IT and telecomgave him insight into technology-led

value creation. "I realised that any

HR activity that needs no discretionor low discretion should be automat-ed. I decided to create an HRMS that

could be used to effectively manage

HR processes," he explains.Having worked for several MNCs,

Mitra had exposure to some worldclass systems and process that he

wanted to leverage. "I wanted to fol-low my dream of creating an inslitu-

neighbors. My job allowed me to

work only for multinational clients.As a result I co-founded a company

that created software for education.Today, many of my neighbors use the

software we create," Shenoy proudlysays.

According to him, there are

various reasons why IT professional

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oIT start-ups don't require rnuehcapital, the entry harriers are low'

he motivation factor forMahesh Shenoy was

a wish to help people

around him. There were

things he wanted to pursue whichhe could not do with a IT job.ooMost importantly, I wanted to cre-ate software that would touch the

lives of people around me like my

18 | February28,2013

rtechnology sector is ever-changing,giving rise to market gaps and henceproviding opportunities," Maheshnotes. His company provides solu-tions in the area of leaming and.development.

We asked for his tips to entre-preneurs and he quips, "The worldis full of opportunities for thosewanting to start their own ventures,notjust in IT but other areas as

well. The important thing is, one hasto figure out why he/she wants tobe an entrepreneur, in other wordsthe purpose. Having skills, experi-ence and safety money will provideduring the initial period but whenthings become tough it is the owhy'

that will keep one going."

Mahesh ShenoyThoughtNetSoftwane solutions for education

of wanted to generate valuefor the soeiety and self

ilind Borate wasdriven by an urge to dosomething that couldgenerate value for

the society and self. oosolving reallife problems creates value for the

customer. The process of buildingsuch a solution creates jobsand thus generates value for

the society," he explains."Add to it the urge to pushmy own personal bounda-ries to handle stress,excitement, failure andsuccess."

Having worked inVeritas for almost a decade.Borate had got a good in-sight into product develop-ment and storage technolo-gy. In 2008 he got togetherwith Jaspreet Singh andRamani Kothandaraman tostafi Druva Software. Thekey functions of markeling,

finance and technology weredistributed among the three of them.

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Being a techie at heart, Borate tookcharge as CTO, Kothandaraman tookup finance, while Jaspreet Singhfocused on sales & marketing.

The ecosystem in late 2000slooked mature enough to build aproduct start-up from India, saysBorate. He agrees that IT is veryconducive to start-ups because itis possible to build a prototypewith comparatively lesser funds."We're seeing start-ups even inother sectors like food, travel, andretail. Though in most cases, ITis the enabler or game changer,"he says.

An entrepreneur's journey isfull of challenges, says Borate. ooAt

a personal level, the first challengeis to handle the perceived lack ofprofessional stability. And then youhave to overcome the reluctance togive up a fat salary." As an advice toother entrepreneurs Borate says, 'oDoit only ifyou believe that solving theproblem in question would generate areal value."

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Milind BonateDnuva SofbwaneData protection E disaster recovenv

20 | February28,2013

6I always had a business

strategies, always had a business model ready,', he says. A{ter

model ready in my head,otnoraj Dutta was always brimming with business ideas inhis head. "Even in a job I used to keep thinking how will dothis if it lvas my own business. I used to keep making my own

working for over a decade in the sales & marketing function at Hil Duttabelieved he had also gathered understanding ofthe practical aspects ofrunning a business.

He decided to begin his entrepreneurial joumey with a head huntingbusiness. The reasons for choosing this line of business were fairly ,oui"ght-forward' The cash cycle in this business was faster and would tuk"

"*" ofhis immediate business needs. He also wanted to use his strengths in under-standing people needs, maintaining relationships and networking. ..Many

people make the mistake of making their business plans for the b".t "*"scenario' But the trick is to plan for the worst case scenario," he suggests. ..If

you plan your cash cycle well, you are the king ofyour own destiny.iAs the cash flow stabilized, he decided [o venrure into two oiher busi-

nesses related to IT training and marketing. His ability to understandcustomer pain points and build business models has always worked forhim. "You need to identify the business gaps and create a service thataddresses them," he says.

Dutta feels he could have done better ifhe had started before the re-cession. At the same time, he also believes that once you kick off, neverthink of going back. "A lot people think they will wet ih"i. f..t and goback if things don't work well. But that is a very wrong attitude. A perfectrecipe for disaster," he asserts.

tReeession was our best learning phase,ajith Achipra was an em-ployee at Juniper Networkswhen he realized what layahead of him. Working

as an employee was a comfortableplace to be in-it gave a steadyincome and you know what to expectalmost every single day. "Howeve6I realized soon it was not the wayfor me. I knew I'll be more satisfiedif I started something on my olyn,that I could be passionate about,,,he reveals. When you start a busi-ness, you cannot expecl a routine.IT gives you an opportunity to takea chance on a variety of things thatstretch your capabilities. Of course,I was anxious initially and I kept

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Rotnoraj DuttaSayvaa, Anvesak, Winehead Infotech,Head Hunting, Marketing processOutsouncing, lT Services

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questioning myself, but the thrill ofstarting something new excited me,,,he reveals.

Sajith, along with his friends,started ZframeZ Gchnologies beforethe recession in 2010. They facedchallenges in the early stages butthey took it in their stride and con-sider this phase as the best leamingperiod oftheir lives. 'oThe recessionforced us to make plan ta4gets clear-ly, work extra hard to meet deadlines,and we were willing to experimentwith different options for the cash-flow. The first three years were likea roller coaster ride, but with somehard work and luck we managed toovercome them and grow."

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