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The Entrepreneurs’

Express MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE E-CELL, VNIT

2011 OCTOBER

ALL THAT GLITTERS...ALL THAT GLITTERS...

Rediscover the obsession called GoldRediscover the obsession called GoldRediscover the obsession called Gold

9/11 & Co.9/11 & Co.

America: A Decade LaterAmerica: A Decade LaterAmerica: A Decade Later

THE ABSTRACT NOUNTHE ABSTRACT NOUN A new take on BusinessA new take on BusinessA new take on Business

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Design Coordinator: Pratik Das

Content Editor: Ankur Mathur

Content Coordinator: Sanchit Agrawal

Stock Market Analyst: Vedant Bang

The The Entrepreneurs’ Entrepreneurs’ ExpressExpress

The Entrepreneurship Cell VNIT,

Nagpur is an initiative of some vi-

sionary students of India. It was

established with a noble aim of re-

ducing the industry-institution di-

vide by making the rift, seem that

lesser. Thus would be done by mak-

ing the interaction between the two

parties for viable through in-

creased frequency and taking effec-

tive measures to continue to foster

a healthy relationship between

them.

We are on the internet only! Green environment, save money, live We are on the internet only! Green environment, save money, live We are on the internet only! Green environment, save money, live

life! life! life!

Post you queries, comments, articles, and suggestions at : Post you queries, comments, articles, and suggestions at : Post you queries, comments, articles, and suggestions at :

ee@consortiumvnit.comee@consortiumvnit.comee@consortiumvnit.com

Cover: The Gold Souk, Dubai City, the UAECover: The Gold Souk, Dubai City, the UAECover: The Gold Souk, Dubai City, the UAE

Facts contributed by: Sanchit Agrawal, Content Coordinator, EEFacts contributed by: Sanchit Agrawal, Content Coordinator, EEFacts contributed by: Sanchit Agrawal, Content Coordinator, EE

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9/11 & Co……………………

The Editorial 4

All That Glitters………..

MonthlyFeature 6

Juggling Jargons………..

Benefit-Cost Analysis 8

Breeding a New Life….

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw 9

The Abstract Noun…….

Lord of the Senses 10

Starting a Start-Up……

Nurture Talent Feature 12

The Stock Souq………….

The Market Analysis 13

Express Times……………

E-Cell News 15 C

on

ten

tsC

on

ten

tsC

on

ten

ts

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---Ankur MathurAnkur MathurAnkur Mathur

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Although the month is October, September

holds a special connection when it comes to

starting a new chapter in world history. Ten

years ago, as the world stood aghast staring at

seemingly diabolical turn of events; little did it

know that one sadist psychotic mind could un-

leash a fear psychosis that even Satan would be

ashamed of himself. And what started with the

US continued in several nations namely Eng-

land, Scotland, Spain, France, Morocco, Turkey,

India etc.

The US then tried to retaliate; Pakistan, Af-

ghanistan and Iraq have had to face their annus

horribilis year on year. For ten whole years the

‗America‘s War on Terror‖ as former President

George W. Bush put it was waged. His successor

and current President Barack Obama finally

laid the ghosts of 9/11 attacks to rest in the Na-

tional September 11 Memorial and Museum

opened this year much to the relief of soaked

eyes and heavy hearts. And as if legitimating

Shakespeare when he wrote (Act I, Sc. 7)

“…that we but teach

Bloody instructions, which, being taught, re-

turn

To plague the inventor: this even-handed jus-

tice

Commends the ingredients of our poisoned

chalice

To our own lips.”

That poisoned chalice did indeed return to its

inventor – Osama bin Laden was killed in an

almost sci – fi inspired, overnight operation

complete with soundless helicopters, armed

men crashing in and the assailed dumped in his

sea – grave on May 2nd, 2011. The American re-

venge - which eventually became ‗Global war on

terror‘ – was over.

Its impact on the US economy and Global

Health has been pressing and difficult for most

companies to bear. With public debt at a stag-

gering $14.77tn (100% of GDP), rising unem-

ployment, practically defunct public health poli-

cy till May 2011, plunging productivity and a

paranoia enough to be synonymous with schizo-

phrenia, it‘s no wonder that Moody‘s and

Standard & Poor‘s outlook verdict for the USA

is ‗poor‘. Ever since the Bush administration

went on an all-out war against Iraq and Afghan-

istan, the economy has gone through a cheq-

uered phase from economic downfall, bank-

ruptcy, credit rating reductions (from AAA to

AA+), rising interest rates and the like.

But the one thing that the Recession has taught

pseudo a war-hit American is to rely on Social

Support no more and save money in his ac-

counts. Thus, public spending reduced drasti-

cally and Indirect taxes – Service Tax, VAT,

Goods Customs Tax – all took a hit. Lesser re-

ceipts meant lesser investments and the cycle is

eerily in motion.

So 9/11 & Co. has given and is giving the world a

run for its money. Because, every time another

of its type occurs – anywhere in the world, it

revokes those horrible scenes of helplessness,

dastardly crimes that are not only unjustifiable

on grounds of humanity and ethics, but those

with a rigid bend of mind would agree that they

simply don‘t make mathematical and economic

sense. Why reduce trust in an already specula-

tive environment and fuel another session of

profit bookings…leading ultimately to govern-

ments resorting to monetarial measures to

maintain liquidity in flurry?

For all that we can do, make moolah while secu-rity shines because losing it won‘t take a jiffy and recovery is a long never trodden path mired and bumpy.

The National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

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Cometh the festival time again and this Diwali

too, the commodity market is all set to reach

new heights. With the sales of gold and silver

already on a high, in

spite of the soaring

prices, investors of

the market are plan-

ning to grab every

opportunity to make

money.

Dussehra followed

by Diwali forms a

salient- part of In-

dia's largest festive

season. No wonder

the season would al-

so mark a definite

growth in the com-

modity market. If

not for the season, the particular day of Dhan-

teras will definitely find huge investors trying

out their luck at the commodity market.

In India, where traditionally only some classes

of the people were inclined to business and the

market, gold and silver could otherwise never

have had such a vast impact on the general pub-

lic-trade relationship. However, a gradual

change in the trend of 'biased business' has re-

sulted in the masses actively getting involved

into the bullion market. In a country so ob-

sessed with traditions, gold and silver have ac-

tually reached the status of currency. It won't be

a matter of surprise if in some years, India

shifts back to the tra-

ditional barter sys-

tem with the trading

commodity as gold

or silver.

What kind of impact

has this market had

on the Indian socie-

ty? The gold and sil-

ver market boom was

not a sudden phe-

nomenon. Over the

years, it gradually

increased to exorbi-

tant levels and today

as we see, the market

boasts of having a lion's share in financial India.

Besides having had an impact on the buying and

selling trends of the two commodities; it has al-

so had a socio-economic impact on the Indian

society. With a larger proportion of the common

man actually investing into gold and silver try-

ing to grab their share of the profit, Indians are

becoming much more economically sound and

financially productive. The result of the same

remains evident from the increase in the per

capita income of the Indian economy. Clever

Golden futures: Stacks of gold ingots ready to be cast into

exquisite jewelry.

All That Glitters…All That Glitters…All That Glitters… ---Amit PillaiAmit PillaiAmit Pillai

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businessmen are a joint result of this commodi-

ty market and the real estate. As people are in-

vesting more and more into the market, the

competition also stays healthy. With gold and

silver getting dearer, everyone wants to ensure

that s/he purchases

an appropriate buy

for his or her money.

It isn't surprising to

see people checking

for the BIS hallmark

and the 916 quality

mark before pur-

chasing gold; ditto

with silver.

Not just has the

boom in the market

changed the mindset

of Indians, it has also resulted in a marked

change in the social patterns of the Indian mun-

dane life. While people nowadays prefer to keep

gold and silver safe in their bank vaults or in

gold loans, artificial jewelry material has flood-

ed the markets. Marriages have now become an

investment more than a ritual. Not just has this

helped in making the Indian masses financially

sharp but it has also made the Indian marriages

more posh than before. The Indian economy

has actually changed

from an agriculture-

oriented to a trade-

oriented one and the

commodity market to

a large extent could

be held responsible

for this immense

change.

However in view of

the recent technologi-

cal advances, the

commodity market

like every other trade has been affected by adul-

teration. And so, as investors still keep on in-

vesting into gold and silver, market analysts list

down only one important fact: "ALL THAT

GLITTERS IS DEFINETELY NOT GOLD!"

For every 50 miles (80 km) driven in an automobile, a person has a 1 in a mil-lion (.0001%) chance of being killed due to a road traffic injury.

People buying gold on Akshaya Tritiya from the Lakshmi

Gold Palace, Mangalore.

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Now that you can convert everything into

one year scale, lets move ahead. What if you are

worried about the profitability of your business?

Confused as to which business model to apply?

These are the common situations that eve-

ry entrepreneur has to face while setting up a

new business. The solution to these problems

involves usage of a few techniques which calcu-

late the estimated returns for a particular pro-

posal. Some of the techniques used in this re-

gard are Cost-benefit analysis, cost-

effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis, eco-

nomic-utility analysis, fiscal impact analysis and

social return on investment analysis. In this is-

sue, we shall discuss the most trivial technique,

Cost-Benefit analysis.

Cost benefit analysis is a systematic pro-

cess for calculating and comparing benefits and

costs of a project for two reasons, if you want to

find out if your business plan is profitable or not

or if you have to choose between different pro-

posals. It involves comparing the estimated

costs and the estimated benefits of a project to

see if the benefits outweigh the costs (i.e. if it is

worth investing in the project at all) and by how

much (i.e. which one to choose). In this ap-

proach, benefits and costs are expressed in

money terms, and are adjusted for the time val-

ue of money, so that all flows are expressed on a

common basis in terms of their ―Present Value‖.

The benefit terms are then divided by the costs

and if the outcome if more than 1, the proposal

is said to be profitable. The following is a list of

steps that comprise a cost-benefit analysis:

* Establish alternate projects.

* Collect all cost and benefit elements.

* Predict all outcomes of costs and benefits over

the duration of the project.

* Put all effects of costs and benefits in mone-

tary terms.

* Calculate the net present worth of project op-

tions.

* Analysis.

* Recommendation.

Though simple to execute, this analysis

has some controversies including valuation of

benefits when they are in terms of human lives.

Such controversies are taken care of in cost-

utility analysis and other techniques which shall

be discussed in the coming editions.

---Sanchit AgrawalSanchit AgrawalSanchit Agrawal

Approximately 5% of people who gamble will become problem gamblers (addicts). An addict-ed Gambler is a person who spends money irre-sponsibly which impacts on themselves and the people around them.

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If you want to succeed, first learn to fail.

- Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.

"I was an Accidental Entrepreneur" claims

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the chairperson and

managing director of Biocon, India's largest bio-

technological multinational.

Kiran Mazumdar's story with Biocon is quite an

interesting one. Trained to be a brewer, with a

degree from Australia, like her father she

wished to join the brewing industry. Her gender

seemed to impede her aims, though. The brew-

ing industry in India during those times was

particularly male dominated; Mazumdar strug-

gled hard to find a job. "A male Bastion" is what

she described the industry as then.

Her journey to being an entrepreneur started

with an accidental encounter – with Les Auch-

incloss, an Irish entrepreneur. Les Auchincloss

was the initiator of Biocon in Ireland and want-

ed to extend its reach to India.

With nothing but the support from Les Auchin-

closs, Rs.10, 000 and the rebellious streak in

her, Mazumdar started Biocon in India, begin-

ning in a small garage. The beginning, as always

was the toughest; India was never a country ori-

ented much towards R&D, the future for a bio-

chemical company, whose sole produce re-

quired R&D, seemed bleak. 25 year old Ma-

zumdar never gave thought. For in the end what

were such setbacks against myriad hours of

struggle?

Until 1983, the company blended only enzymes

and supplied them to brewing, textiles, biofuels,

animal feed and other such industries across the

world. In the mid-1980s with a loan of US

$250,000, Biocon was able to build a solid-state

fermentation plant which helped in the ad-

vancement of its R&D.

The next 20 years saw growth; "The enzymes

era of the company" she calls it. That is when

Mazumdar realized that the business model of

the company needed change and if anything

could speed up the growth, this was it. This is

when Biocon invested heavily into biopharma-

ceuticals and within a small span of six years,

the world watched Biocon rise from a 25 million

to a 100 million USD enterprise. This is the time

when Biocon decided to go public.

So what‘s the mantra? The mantra that trans-

formed an Rs.10000 setup to the multi-billion

dollar enterprise Biocon is today. What was the

charm that transformed the 25 year old, inexpe-

rienced ‗accidental‘ entrepreneur – towards

whom many remained skeptical to lend money

– into The Kiran Mazumdar Shaw?

Accident she claims, Accident we say not. For-

tune, as said, has always favored those who try;

for success is never hit in a single shot. Dili-

gence links entrepreneurship to success, dili-

gence is fueled by zeal; an undying zeal to not

give up. Many innovators never rose to success,

many were cast-off into oblivion. But for many,

once they start, ‗alea jacta est‘, fate has no role

to play and there is no turning back from their

goal; for failure has been just a new way to

learn. We end with one of her famous quotes: "I

really believe that entrepreneurship is about be-

ing able to face failure, manage failure and suc-

ceed after failing."

---Shehazad DhuliawalaShehazad DhuliawalaShehazad Dhuliawala

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The

Abstract

Noun

-Abhirup Lahiri

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Starting this month, we present to you The Abstract Noun, a new and fresh column with takes on Business that reflect on

the casual and lighter side of Entrepreneurship. The articles will be penned by Abhirup Lahiri and shall suit the usual read-

er in want of seeing business in a different light. So read on, and enjoy...And yes, do write in to us about your reactions on

this initiative of The Entrepreneurs’ Express.

LORD OF THE SENSES ―Beep-beep‖ the organizer reminds him of the ap-

pointment, one that he has been eager for, ever

since the hope of a rocket-launch to success began

governing his ambitions. On either side of parity

lie disparity and the safest way out for a fatigued

mind as this, potentially derelict of reason would

be to yearn for a miracle that the coin stands erect

on its edge and time seizes to be a variable. But as

fate would have it, his paranoia of a failed busi-

ness proposal continues to haunt him and to add

to his distress is the apprehensions of a possible

déjà vu of an unpleasant dream that may lead him

astray. Yes, before the Sun drops below the hori-

zon again, he has to make a decision, one that can

redefine his career as an entrepreneur and re-

frame the lives of a thousand people who are in-

debted to him for the very distinction of his,

which to him lies on slippery grounds.

What else is entrepreneurship but innovation in

creation and dexterity in innovation? A successful

entrepreneur is one who minces doubt with prac-

ticality and stagnancy with dynamism, and it is

his acumen and predication which breeds the con-

fidence to merge the forks of decision making into

a single file tightrope walk to a Utopian view of

the real side of sanity. Any jitter on this path and

it‘s a headlong dive into the „oblivion of every-

one‖, and it is a fear of this that monopolizes the

conscience of our protagonist today.

―Beep-beep‖ it is his organizer again, re-minding

him of the same appointment, the turning point in

his life, the game-changer that will either out limit

copiousness and affluence or… well… do pretty

much the same. Brimming with impudence and

self-belief, he is yearning, craving to live the mo-

ment, toss the coin for he knows the outcome. The

coin is biased, prejudiced to spell success for the

illuminato and no sooner does he allow the laws

of gravity choose the better side of parity will the

world glow up and bow down to his indispensabil-

ity. Yes, before the Sun drops below the horizon

again, he has to make a decision, one that will

transform lives, lionize personalities and eventu-

ally bring him the contentment of an immensely

successful business deal…

A wink of an eye and the dormant gaze in-to noth-

ingness erupts to life. The protagonist is dis-

traught but delighted, shattered but over-

whelmed and the better part of reason that his

conscience gives testimony to, is that indeed, to-

day, he has to make a decision, one that will make

or break him. He has lived an illusion and fore-

seen an event whose odds of actuation are a slave

to the objective reality of the world of his pres-

ence. We, in real life, are nothing else but a pro-

jection of this protagonist, one that hears only one

of the two instances of the ―beep‖; and the very

instance that stirs our auditory senses defines our

competence as an individual and acumen as the

Lord of our own senses…

Bill „Hewlett‟ and „Dave Packard‟ tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.

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After having interacted with 5,000 start-ups,

professionals and students of all ages and if

there is one thing that makes a difference be-

tween a successful and an average company, it‘s

the never-say-die attitude of the entrepreneur.

So what are the blanks people usually need to

fill while beginning a start-up?

1. Money: If I had money, I would have grown

much faster, but investors do not support my

idea — this has been the most frequent com-

plaint I have come across. Money does not

make a business successful, but it definitely

plays a very important part. So if you feel the

need for money, then reach out to investors,

make a good business plan and polish your

pitch.

Reach out to people who believe your idea and

are willing to back you even with a small

amount. Do not forget that the most important

source of cash is your customer —make them

happy

2. Team: I recently met an excited young man,

who was a little disturbed as his venture was

going nowhere. I asked him why and this is

what he told me, ―If only I could clone myself —

I need someone as energetic and passionate as

myself.‖ Go out, network, meet people, take part

in exhibitions, attend business plan competi-

tions, share your vision with friends and ask for

acquaintances, post your requirements on

LinkedIn, or tie up with someone who can do a

part of your job, but keep moving. For them, I

advise them to start working on these areas and

learn the art of selling.

3. Office, infrastructure and miscellaneous

items: I call these the ‗hygiene factors‘— they

just add to the comfort level of an entrepreneur

in their ventures but do not add any real value

to customers. Neither does their absence lead to

any real issues. Remember, some of the best

companies were started in a garage — Apple,

HP and Microsoft.

So keep an eye on the big picture without undue

complaints about what you do not have.

It is the pride of creating a solution that the

world will use happily that makes a successful

entrepreneur so get down and start-up.

'Coca-Cola' is the most recognized trademark, recognized by 94% of the world's population and is the most widely recognized word after „OK‟.

UpUpUp

Starting a StartStarting a StartStarting a Start -Amit Grover, Founder, Nurture Talent

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Past Summary

RBI, in October, raised Repo and Reverse Repo

by 25 basis points (0.25%) and has finally de-

cided to put a brake to its interest rate incre-

ment cycle. Market cheered this decision of RBI

and SENSEX rose by 520 points in the intraday

trading.

Going Forward

It clearly seemed that despite all its attempts of

rate tightening the Government couldn‘t control

inflation. This happened mainly because of the

decision to deregulate Petrol and Diesel prices

by the government. Due to this there is a double

- digit inflation in fuel prices and it is also re-

flected in other products‘ inflation which are

transport dependent.

Now though the government has stopped the

rate tightening cycle, there is not much to cheer

for industries. Because when interest rates are

high, the spending tendency of the customers is

reduced and affects sectors like real estate, 4-

wheeler vehicle segment etc. directly. This in-

tern affects other sectors like mining, metal, ce-

ment since their demand is reduced. So the IIP

data and quarterly results of the companies

have been disappointing.

Last month FIIs pulled their money out of the

Indian markets. Because of this Dollar is cur-

rently very strong and trading in the range of 48

plus. So the export driven sectors like IT are en-

joying good margins and are benefited out of it.

Some private sector banks like Yes bank, Axis

bank have increased interest rates on saving ac-

count to 6%. This encourages people to keep

their money in savings account. So this is an in-

telligent move by these banks to raise funds

cheaply when Repo rate is close to 9% level.

The only stocks spared from interest rate im-

pact are 2-wheeler auto segment, private banks,

FMCG. IT space is also recovering fast from

some setbacks mainly due to the stronger Dol-

lar. 2-wheeler auto segment has not seen dip in

the demand in spite of the rate tightening and

buyers are ready to for the delivery for a long

period of upto 3 months. Private banks are con-

tinuously coming up with different ideas to

raise the funds at cheaper rates.

Overall market sentiment is positive for now as

there is no new bad news even from Europe

side. So market may go higher from here on-

wards for short term. But due interest rate hike

the growth rate will be slow and NIFTY will re-

main range-bound for medium term with 5150

as its basic support level. On the higher side

NIFTY may taste 5550.

The Stock Souq:The Stock Souq:The Stock Souq:

OctoberOctoberOctober---NovemberNovemberNovember ---Vedant BangVedant BangVedant Bang

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The energy saved by recycling a single aluminum can would run a TV for three hours. Every three months, Americans toss out enough aluminum to completely rebuild the nation‟s commercial airline fleet.

October 2011: BSE Sensex.

15

Express TimesExpress TimesExpress Times

According to the American Solar Energy Society, the amount of sunlight that falls on the Earth‟s surface in one minute is suffi-cient to meet world energy demand for an entire year.

EE Bureau | 20th October

VNIT, Nagpur: The E-Cell VNIT has been or-

ganizing, in association with VNIT, a Manage-

ment and Business Festival in the campus by

the name of CONSORTIUM. This unique festi-

val provides a platform for students from all

across Vidarbha and India to be a part of the job

providers fraternity as they come face to face

with them and discuss the pros and cons of ven-

turing into the corporate jungle even as they

compete in competitions that test their mettle

in doing so.

As part of the run up to the event, slated to be

held in January next year, the Organizing Team

unveiled a fully refurbished website for the

event which can be accessed at

www.consortiumvnit.com. All the technicalities

of the website have been handled remarkably by

the students of various Departments who have

expertise in this field of engineering—this appli-

cation of knowledge is praiseworthy.

Speaking on the occasion was the Chief Guest

Ms. Sarita Kaushik, Vidarbha Bureau Chief, Star

News and Star Majha, she congratulated the In-

stitute for coming up with such innovative ideas

to further the development process of students

holistically. She also mentioned that with this

day and age, student organized events often

turn out to be the best because they have come

to understand things and tricks of the trade

faster.

With an audience of over hundred people, the

event was a great teaser for the things to come.

This one‘s surely going to be a success.

A screen shot of the new CONSORTIUM 2012 website.

16