Subroto BagchiAugust, 2006

The High Performance Entrepreneur

Of all entrepreneurial activity, less than 5% are likely to be high-potential. High-potential companies are called Gazelles. In the 90’s 70% of all US jobs were created by these companies and in Sweden – 7 in 10 of all new jobs are created by them

High Performance Entrepreneurship does not happen accidentally. It is designed that way. To begin with, start with the right reason…..

All the wrong reasons…

“We are three good friends and we want to start a company”

“I have this great idea for a new gizmo”

“I hate my company and my boss”

“My time is running out”

“I want to help India”

Now, do you have the right profile?

Profile of an Entrepreneur

Love for money Self-confidence Sense of freedom Hard work & goal orientation Flexible, opportunistic and emergent Egoless

How do entrepreneurs get the right idea?

Sometimes entrepreneurs work future-backwards and sometimes they work in a present forward manner……the MindTree, Café Coffee Day, Deccan Aviation and Biocon stories…..

High Performance Entrepreneurs get excited about the big picture, a larger vision and then the pieces begin to fall in place

After the right idea, it is time to build the “A” Team

Choosing the “A” Team…

Look for proven competence, ability to pull weight

Complimentary in the parts but collectively exhaustive

Ability to multi-task

Shared Vision

Transparent

Choosing the “A” Team

Personal integrity & mutual trust

Ability to question each other and disagree

Resilience

Sense of humor

The next issue: DNA, Mission, Vision & Values

DNA – It is who you are

Mission – It is where you are going

Vision – A set of time-bound and measurable goals

Values – It is the shared code of conduct

Now, how will you be different?

Domain

Tools

Methodology

Quality

Innovation

Branding

Next Step: Writing the Business Plan

Take the Business Plan seriously…..

Executive Summary Business Context Company & its Objectives Core Values

Positioning & Business Overview

Now you are ready to seek the investor. Choose the right investor

Take the Business Plan seriously…..

Sales & Marketing Delivery & Process People & Structure Risk Factors Financials

Choose the right investor….

Smart vs. Dumb Capital Color of money The lure of Non-interference Mutual expectations Family & Friends

It is now time to think of attracting and retaining the right talent

Pay attention to the first 40

Write the job description

Sell the job yourself

Explain the downsides

Run with defined objectives

Have a transparent Compensation and Benefit structure

Invest in a Performance Management System

Devote time to talent & leadership development

Communicate with the 95:95:95 principle

It is time to think of building a Process-centric organization

Build a Quality organization from the start Focus on the People, Process

&Technology triad Choose a framework but look beyond

compliance Have a roadmap, be practitioner-led Listen to the voice of the customer and

involve everyone

You are now ready to seek your Customers. But choose Customers

right

Angels come through providence Build processes to get your early wins Choose your customers wisely. Look for

reasons such as:

– Techno-managerial value - add– Trust– Sense of equality– Commercially win-win

Manage your money wisely

Love money – there is no other reason to get into business

Be frugal – do not pay yourself out of business

Install an accounting package from the word go

Know what to measure and measure it

Respect the bean counters

Get the best auditor in town

Keep overheads low

Raise money before you need it

Do not fritter away equity

Put in place corporate governance from the start

Report accounts to your investors on time, without window dressing ever

Focus on Building your Brand

Brand is the communication of your intrinsic worth

It must be consistent with your DNA, Mission,

Vision and Values

Choose the name and visual identity right

Focus on the message map, based on the company’s positioning

Spend energy on the website and the intranet

Get a PR agency

Build affection for content

Use the workplace as a brand ambassador

Lets us now talk about emergence, willingness to change & managing

adversity

An enterprise is like a river. Seeing the source, you cannot imagine the confluence

Be emergent – bend and flow

There is no one way of solving problems, sometimes it is better to simply stay ahead of problems

Long-distance runners must bear segmented pain

In difficulty, be transparent and communicate

Publish decisional rules to the organization

Reasons Start-Ups fail

Founders break-up

Enterprise runs out of cash

Deadly embrace of a customer or a product

Technology/Customer/Geo over-dependence

Founders do not let go

Poor governance

Founders get carried away with their image

Try to be too big, too soon

Wrong choice of investor

Lessons from the Indian IT Industry

To be world-class, begin and end with quality

Focus on what you know, not who you know

Build an abundance mindset

Pay your taxes right

Be hierarchy-free

Leaders exemplify personal integrity

Set up hairy, audacious goals

Build deep inclusion

Organization resources are not my resources

Austere leadership

It is about ordinary people delivering extra-ordinary results

Play it by the book

Thank You