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Who is an Entrepreneur 

Wikipedia introduces Entrepreneur as a loanword from the French language that

refers to a person who undertakes and operates a new venture, and assumes

some accountability for the inherent risks. Being in business or being an

entrepreneur is about taking risks and confronting challenges

Entrepreneurs build companies that are specifically crafted to exploit a particular

opportunity. This gives them an advantage over older companies that were

designed in response to challenges of the past and must change to adapt to

today’s requirements. Entrepreneurs can build new companies. They can also

rejuvenate existing companies via buyouts and turnarounds. They can also build

new companies inside existing companies, which can be called corporate

entrepreneurship.

 The will to spot opportunities and take risks in order to realize them is part of a

person’s overall makeup, which is partly innate and partly a product of hisupbringing. The best way to learn how to be an entrepreneur is to work at the

side of a successful one. The problem is that entrepreneurs are understandably

reluctant to hire those who cannot help them immediately. It appears that the

best way to learn this is to work for a startup which offers more opportunities to

learn Entrepreneural skills.

Risk-taking and opportunism go along with frugality. Really good entrepreneurs

squeeze as much as possible out of limited amounts of cash. They leverage the

money of others, and never invent the wheel when a good, cheap one is

available in the marketplace. By keeping the rate at which they burn cash low,entrepreneurs can try a lot of ideas, most of which do not work, without losing

because they ran out of money before they hit upon a workable value

proposition.

Many "high-profile" entrepreneurial ventures seek venture capital or angel

funding in order to raise capital to build the business. Many kinds of 

organizations now exist to support would-be entrepreneurs, including specialized

government agencies, business incubators, science parks, and some NGOs.

Venture capital investments generally are high risk investments but offer thepotential for above average returns. An angel investor (business angel in the UK,

or simply angel) is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business

start-up, usually in exchange for ownership equity. Unlike venture capitalists,

angels typically do not manage the pooled money of others in a professionally-

managed fund. However, angel investors often organize themselves into angel

networks or angel groups to share research and pool their own investment

capital.

in India...

According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor(GEM) project India Report 2001,Due to social rigidities, Indian women are half as likely as men to be

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entrepreneurs. Younger, moderately educated, and reasonably well-off people

are more likely to be entrepreneurs. The types of startups encountered

(established within the last 42 months) were mostly consumer-oriented,

comprising of trading activities; most have just about a handful of employees.

Main sources of funds in decreasing order were personal, financial institutions,

close family members, and government programs.

 The wheels of India's bureaucracy still turn too slow for entrepreneurs, the

educational system is not good at promoting entrepreneurial skills and attitudes,

Indian institutes have not been as good as multinationals in R&D transfer, and

India's physical infrastructure ranks lowest among the countries surveyed in the

report - all prime areas for study and improvement by policymakers, academics

and business leaders.

According to Vivek paul, former CEO Wipro "The stuff that’s been done in India is

staggering in terms of range and depth. I don’t think that anyone can say that

the work we’re doing is trivial. But the work we’re doing is under somebodyelse’s direction. Let me put it this way: For an engineer, there’s a big difference

between discovering something, versus discovering something that you know

somebody else says can be done. That difference is the difference between the

service business and the products business. In the service business, what you’re

doing is great stuff, but it is in some sense something that someone else told you

to do. "

He further argues "If you look at that service business as leading to innovation

and product outcomes, the answer is absolutely not. Frankly, I feel that when

people work in a service business like ours, it’s almost like we give them a

lobotomy. I don’t think - and I hope I’m wrong - you will see a single successfulproduct startup coming out of people who were working at Wipro or any other

similar companies. You’ll find that innovation comes from people who worked for

Intel India; they’ll go off and come up with a new chip. Or someone at Cisco India

will come up with a new router. Why that is, God knows. But I truly believe that

there is some sort of inadvertent lobotomy that we give people. "

Is India a right place to start a start-up? Following are few interesting

observations:

1. People: India is a land of technologists. It is the best place for techies with

similar interests to combine their skills and innovate than in any other countries.2. Funding: Indian start-ups can survive for much longer time than in any other

countries looking at the limited amount of cash requirement for running business

here.

Does India lacks Entrepreneurship skills? India Venture Challenge organized by

 The Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) met with a

stupendous response and saw participation of 125 budding and aspiring

entrepreneurial teams from across India, representing both new ventures and

existing early stage businesses.

According to Tim Draper, Founder and Managing Director of DFJ,“Entrepreneurialtalent abounds in India and needs the right atmosphere and encouragement for

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the skills to be honed and met with success."

I believe it is required to create right environment to create successful business

builders in India. To do this India should be focusing on following areas:

1. Create the right environment for success: Entrepreneurs should find it easy to

start a business. To do so, most Indians would start slow with capital borrowed

from family and friends, the CEO playing the role of salesman, a professional

team assembled months or perhaps years after the business was created, and

few, if any, external partners. Compare this with a start-up in the Silicon Valley: a

Venture Capitalist (VC) or angel investor would be brought in early on; a

professional management team would drive the business; a multi functional

team would be assembled quickly; and partnerships would be explored early on

to scale up the business.

 To a large measure, culture shapes this style. Silicon Valley is abuzz with ideas to

build global businesses; deals are continually being negotiated, teams are pulled

together and partners are identified. There is almost unlimited access to multipleVCs and angel investors. Critical support services abound, including professional

managers, legal firms, venture capitalists, angel investors, and placement

agencies. Combine this with excellent infrastructure – connectivity,

communication, and office space – and getting started is easy.

2. Ensure that entrepreneurs have access to the right skills: A survey McKinsey &

Company conducted in 2000 revealed that most Indian start-up businesses face

two skill gaps: entrepreneurial (how to manage business risks, build a team,

identify and get funding) and functional (product development know-how,

marketing skills, etc.). In other countries, entrepreneurs either gain these skills

by hiring managers or have access to “support systems” such as universities orother institutions that may nurture many regional businesses. In addition,

business schools give young graduates the skills and knowledge required for

business today.

3. Ensure that entrepreneurs have access to “smart” capital: For a long time,

Indian entrepreneurs have had little access to capital. It is true that in the last

few years, several Venture Funds have entered the Indian market. And, while the

sector is still in its infancy in India, VCs are providing capital as well as critical

knowledge and access to potential partners, suppliers, and clients across the

globe. However India has only a few angel investors who support an idea in the

early stages before VCs become involved.4. Enable networking and exchange: Entrepreneurs learn from experience - theirs

and that of others. Much of the success of Indians in Silicon Valley is attributed to

the experience, sharing and support TIE members have extended to young

entrepreneurs.