So,the high-energy and spirited semi-annual technology showcase & networking event ended today. The event was quite enriching in terms of gaining & sharing knowledge, meeting-up new people with lot of ideas & dreams and getting a feel of startup issues and probable solution approaches. The idea of the event was learning through engagement. On personal front I also learnt a lot from this event. I would try to capture this event in a series of blogs. I feel I should be done in 7 postings ( But who knows.... I may come up with even double posts).
I am listing here few items which would be covered:
1. The Art of Building Internet Business ( Taking BharatMatrimony.com as an example)
2. When, Why & How to start a business ( Building upon Mahesh Murthy's session)
3. What a Venture Capitalist look for in you & your business?
4. How a Card, Water, T-shirt matters?
5. Selling the dream & executing? ( Building upon Tekriti's talk)
6. Why a start-up should network? Realizing power of networks?
7. Blogging as a tool for creating brand and selling your services.
A lot of ideas and discussion in these postings would help you to start thinking and executing.
Showing posts with label Incubation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Incubation. Show all posts
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Open Coffee Club Delhi - July Edition Vol. 2
In my last post I captured few points discussed by participants during OCC meet. Here are other key points discussed along with my comments :
Hiring & Retention Policy : Most of us think that employee retention is very important. You should have somebody working for you as long as possible. A lot of people tend to forget that the cost of employee becomes fixed-cost once he is associated for longer duration. Also his expectations during appraisals are quite high, if he is staying with the same organization for some time. The productivity of employee also decreases in most of the cases once he becomes complacent. In some cases, companies feel that they made a mistake by hiring wrong person. So, employees should not always be seen as assets and attrition should not have a negative connotation. One specific example of a BPO was given where they hire 100+ people every month. A lot of employees join here at a salary as low as Rs. 4000 and work for 3-4 months before moving to some other organization. But from company's perspective the cost of hiring & training is lower than keeping highly paid long-term employees. Even maintaining a work-force who works for you on part time basis is also a good option for organizations.
So folks, within your organization try to figure out cost of long-term vs. short-term employees before judging whether attrition is good or bad for you.
E-commerce & Mobile Advertising : All of us hear a lot about e-commerce and mobile advertising. The potential for both these technologies is quite huge, but currently it will take some time to pick-up. Few big challenges for e-commerce is establishing credibility and service guarantee. In India still there are only 2.5 Million e-commerce transactions happening. Once everything is in place and people will have good faith e-commerce will pick-up fast. The companies offering their services using e-commerce as a base should be ready for great end-user experience, good supplier network and security of financial information.
Mobile advertising is currently INR 40 Cr. industry and it growing fast. Smaller players are also using these means to touch-base with their customers. Getting a SMS from nearest Mall or restaurant is becoming popular. The only problem is information overload for end-users in long run. Intelligent background study is also required to send relevant messages to right people. The key lies in providing right advertisements to right people at right place and right time.
Need of low-cost solutions for SME's : There are huge number of emerging organizations in India and abroad. There is an urgent need to have customized application packages bundled for Small & Medium Enterprises. These kind of offerings would be priced reasonably,having key features only and easy to use. Think of a strip-down version of ERP software for SME's at reasonable price. The emerging organizations need good system in place to manage their business and technical functions.
Overall the discussion was quite enriching and people who missed out this time should definitely join next time.
Hiring & Retention Policy : Most of us think that employee retention is very important. You should have somebody working for you as long as possible. A lot of people tend to forget that the cost of employee becomes fixed-cost once he is associated for longer duration. Also his expectations during appraisals are quite high, if he is staying with the same organization for some time. The productivity of employee also decreases in most of the cases once he becomes complacent. In some cases, companies feel that they made a mistake by hiring wrong person. So, employees should not always be seen as assets and attrition should not have a negative connotation. One specific example of a BPO was given where they hire 100+ people every month. A lot of employees join here at a salary as low as Rs. 4000 and work for 3-4 months before moving to some other organization. But from company's perspective the cost of hiring & training is lower than keeping highly paid long-term employees. Even maintaining a work-force who works for you on part time basis is also a good option for organizations.
So folks, within your organization try to figure out cost of long-term vs. short-term employees before judging whether attrition is good or bad for you.
E-commerce & Mobile Advertising : All of us hear a lot about e-commerce and mobile advertising. The potential for both these technologies is quite huge, but currently it will take some time to pick-up. Few big challenges for e-commerce is establishing credibility and service guarantee. In India still there are only 2.5 Million e-commerce transactions happening. Once everything is in place and people will have good faith e-commerce will pick-up fast. The companies offering their services using e-commerce as a base should be ready for great end-user experience, good supplier network and security of financial information.
Mobile advertising is currently INR 40 Cr. industry and it growing fast. Smaller players are also using these means to touch-base with their customers. Getting a SMS from nearest Mall or restaurant is becoming popular. The only problem is information overload for end-users in long run. Intelligent background study is also required to send relevant messages to right people. The key lies in providing right advertisements to right people at right place and right time.
Need of low-cost solutions for SME's : There are huge number of emerging organizations in India and abroad. There is an urgent need to have customized application packages bundled for Small & Medium Enterprises. These kind of offerings would be priced reasonably,having key features only and easy to use. Think of a strip-down version of ERP software for SME's at reasonable price. The emerging organizations need good system in place to manage their business and technical functions.
Overall the discussion was quite enriching and people who missed out this time should definitely join next time.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Open Coffee Club Delhi Meeting - July Edition Vol.1
Yesterday, I attended Open Coffee Club Delhi July edition meeting. The meeting saw bunch of aspiring & emerging entrepreneurs sharing their ideas on different issues. The energy level of guys at Cafe Coffee Day was quite encouraging,despite of loud music,which was reduced to some extent after request. I would try to summarize some of the key-points:
1. Office Space for Startups : With rising cost of infrastructure in metros,getting a space for startups is a big problem. Another problem is due to small team-size, since most of the available places start from 600-700 Sq. ft. which can easily accommodate 6-8 people. The cost of such a place may range from anywhere from Rs. 30,000-80,000 depending on location. Let me give you some specifics, Rate in Noida (sec -16) is Rs.50-75 per sq.ft. while in Gurgaon is Rs. 80-120. Even if we take lowest figures i.e. Rs. 30,000 for a team of 2 the cost per seat would be Rs. 15000. The numbers are not at all attractive for any early-stage startups. Now let me tell you some options in NCR (National Capital Region).
a. NSIC, Okhla, New Delhi : They have an incubation center, where you can get a cubicle for 3 @Rs.10,000 with internet connection. They do have shared conference room for meetings. Here your per seat burn-rate would be close to Rs. 3,500. More For specific details you can contact Avinash, Founder of RouteGuru.
b. JSS Noida, Incubation center : They have an incubation center, where you can get a place for 2@Rs. 5,000-6,000 with all supporting infrastructure. Contact : Mr. Raunak Mustaffa
Email:itbi@jssstepnoida.org Tel:91-120-240115 Extn:268
c. The other option is Amity Incubator in Sec-125,Noida. Contact : Apoorv R. Sharma - Tel No. 0120-4659000, 4392243,E-mail : info@aii.amity.edu .
d. CDAC Incubator : The facility is quite good at reasonable cost. They charge something between 20,000-25,000 Rs. for 8-10 people desk-space. All supporting infrastructure is also present there.
The other option is to form a group of 6-8 people from 2-3 emerging startups and share the infrastructure cost. This way your cost per seat may go down to upto Rs. 3500-4000 which is decent. Even people running their businesses in NCR with bigger facilities can think of sharing their infrastrucre on rent. Any takers?
2. Venturing into New Areas: One of the participant was working for UNICEF for last few years. Now after deeper introspection, he realized that he should come back to corporate world. Which areas he should focus on?
a. Leveraging past domain expertise always helps you to grow faster. It was suggested that he should try to explore opportunities where he can leverage his knowledge of not-for-profit sector. There are special initiatives like Driving Simulation School, Training Schools for Security Guards, IITians for ITI, Reach 4 India which can be explored. These initiatives provide right exposure to business & social aspects.
b. He can come-up with some good initiatives which can be pitched within UNICEF or any other organization working in similar areas. The initiative can take him away from purely social-work to business related work.After all the experience which he has gained should be utilized properly.
There are a lot of other points like cost-cutting strategy by hiring right people, e-commerce proliferation,customized application packages for SME's which I would cover in the next blog. After all, its good learning experience when bunch of creative minds sit together.
1. Office Space for Startups : With rising cost of infrastructure in metros,getting a space for startups is a big problem. Another problem is due to small team-size, since most of the available places start from 600-700 Sq. ft. which can easily accommodate 6-8 people. The cost of such a place may range from anywhere from Rs. 30,000-80,000 depending on location. Let me give you some specifics, Rate in Noida (sec -16) is Rs.50-75 per sq.ft. while in Gurgaon is Rs. 80-120. Even if we take lowest figures i.e. Rs. 30,000 for a team of 2 the cost per seat would be Rs. 15000. The numbers are not at all attractive for any early-stage startups. Now let me tell you some options in NCR (National Capital Region).
a. NSIC, Okhla, New Delhi : They have an incubation center, where you can get a cubicle for 3 @Rs.10,000 with internet connection. They do have shared conference room for meetings. Here your per seat burn-rate would be close to Rs. 3,500. More For specific details you can contact Avinash, Founder of RouteGuru.
b. JSS Noida, Incubation center : They have an incubation center, where you can get a place for 2@Rs. 5,000-6,000 with all supporting infrastructure. Contact : Mr. Raunak Mustaffa
Email:itbi@jssstepnoida.org Tel:91-120-240115 Extn:268
c. The other option is Amity Incubator in Sec-125,Noida. Contact : Apoorv R. Sharma - Tel No. 0120-4659000, 4392243,E-mail : info@aii.amity.edu .
d. CDAC Incubator : The facility is quite good at reasonable cost. They charge something between 20,000-25,000 Rs. for 8-10 people desk-space. All supporting infrastructure is also present there.
The other option is to form a group of 6-8 people from 2-3 emerging startups and share the infrastructure cost. This way your cost per seat may go down to upto Rs. 3500-4000 which is decent. Even people running their businesses in NCR with bigger facilities can think of sharing their infrastrucre on rent. Any takers?
2. Venturing into New Areas: One of the participant was working for UNICEF for last few years. Now after deeper introspection, he realized that he should come back to corporate world. Which areas he should focus on?
a. Leveraging past domain expertise always helps you to grow faster. It was suggested that he should try to explore opportunities where he can leverage his knowledge of not-for-profit sector. There are special initiatives like Driving Simulation School, Training Schools for Security Guards, IITians for ITI, Reach 4 India which can be explored. These initiatives provide right exposure to business & social aspects.
b. He can come-up with some good initiatives which can be pitched within UNICEF or any other organization working in similar areas. The initiative can take him away from purely social-work to business related work.After all the experience which he has gained should be utilized properly.
There are a lot of other points like cost-cutting strategy by hiring right people, e-commerce proliferation,customized application packages for SME's which I would cover in the next blog. After all, its good learning experience when bunch of creative minds sit together.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
50 Incubatee Companies at IITB in next 2-3 years
IIT's are bringing professionals to lead their incubation unit. With growing demand of incubation programs at IIT's such move is justified. IITB wants to incubate more than 50 companies in next 2-3 years. Read recent article.
There are significant benefits of incubation at IIT's. I would highlight 10 benefits :
1. The incubation process is quite easy and helps entrepreneur to set-up company quickly.
2. There is huge support from IIT's in terms of mentoring & consultancy.
3. All networking events at IIT's like seminars/conferences/ alumni meet helps companies to find-out right people and promote their service/product.
4. For IIT's incubation program is not a business, but more of entrepreneurship promotion.
5. Access to huge talent pool ( students) for internal requirements.
6. World class infrastructure
7. Exchange of ideas/thoughts with other budding entrepreneurs
8. Reasonable equity demand
9. Support even after graduating from IIT.
10. Help in getting funding from Government/ Angels.
List of Incubation Units:
1. IIT Bombay - SINE
2. IIT Kanpur - SIIC
3. IIT Kharagpur - ECell
4. IIT Chennai - C-TIDES
5. IIT Delhi - TBIU
6. IIT Guwahati - EDC
7. IIT Roorkee - EDC
If you are planning a start-up soon, then you should seriously think of exploring these options.
There are significant benefits of incubation at IIT's. I would highlight 10 benefits :
1. The incubation process is quite easy and helps entrepreneur to set-up company quickly.
2. There is huge support from IIT's in terms of mentoring & consultancy.
3. All networking events at IIT's like seminars/conferences/ alumni meet helps companies to find-out right people and promote their service/product.
4. For IIT's incubation program is not a business, but more of entrepreneurship promotion.
5. Access to huge talent pool ( students) for internal requirements.
6. World class infrastructure
7. Exchange of ideas/thoughts with other budding entrepreneurs
8. Reasonable equity demand
9. Support even after graduating from IIT.
10. Help in getting funding from Government/ Angels.
List of Incubation Units:
1. IIT Bombay - SINE
2. IIT Kanpur - SIIC
3. IIT Kharagpur - ECell
4. IIT Chennai - C-TIDES
5. IIT Delhi - TBIU
6. IIT Guwahati - EDC
7. IIT Roorkee - EDC
If you are planning a start-up soon, then you should seriously think of exploring these options.
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