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Young entrepreneurs take lessons from veterans

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BS Reporter Chennai/ Bangalore
Last Updated : Jan 29 2013 | 3:14 AM IST

Many first time young entrepreneurs, who might still be in college when the dot.com burst shook the base of a growing entrepreneurial community in late 90’s, are well aware of what the recession in the world economy might bring to them in days to come.

However, they are in no mood to give up the battles as thousands of them thronged to attend the two-day TiE Entrepreneurial Summit being held in Bangalore starting Tuesday.

Even as there is apprehension in the air with regard to their future plans, they were busy learning lessons from the likes of Azim Premji, Nandan Nilekani and Capt. G R Gopinath who have proven themselves in their respective businesses braving all the odds they had to face in the initial years of their entrepreneurship.

They knew the time ahead is going to be challenging further and the tips they learn from these business leaders, investors and analysts will come in handy in the battle for the ‘survival of the fittest’.

“Successful entrepreneurs do not exit from early barriers,” said Premji giving the example of multi billion dollar business conglomerate Wipro which has metamorphosed from a small time consumer goods firm to a global technology services company during the last four decades.

“One has to go after the ideas with passion, an approach where there is a huge possibility of success,” he told budding entrepreneurs, adding, “the one started just for making money, might fizzle very soon”.

But he has a word of caution for them as enterprises across the world are battling recession. “It’s not just a recession of global economies. I think we are seeing it happening in India, and you will see it intensifying as we go forward,” he said.

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The troubled economies across the world has come as a big bane for many start-up firms especially in the technology space as the tech spending by global firms has seen a downward trend owing to the global recession. Industry bodies were however earnestly trying to maintain a brave face, saying that the uncertainties prevailing in the market place will be over soon.

Nasscom which represents the Indian IT industry is expected to come out with a revised growth forecast by the end of this month, due to the global meltdown, is encouraging its members to focus on long-term objectives in this period.

“It’s a difficult time for the industry. We are seeing wage moderation, hiring levels are down. We hope this uncertainty to prevail for another 4-6 quarters. But in this difficult time, we need to help the country building the confidence,” said Nasscom president Som Mittal on the sidelines of the TiE summit.

Firms across sectors are going for cost cutting which is required to wade through the troubled time as a result of which the employees’ performance is being monitored by most firms very closely.

“Definitely, the performance bar of the employees has been raised by most firms, and the employees also need to rise up to the occasion by participating with their employers in this difficult time,” said Mittal.

Added Deep Kalra, Founder & CEO of MakeMyTrip.com, “Keep fixed costs low, and keep the business model ready for the future. No one knows how long the recession will continue, but we need to survive. We have to come out to win the battle.”

According to an estimate made by a Bangalore headquartered VC firm, over 1,200 new ventures started their operations during the last two years, and they are expecting the same level of growth in the next two years also.

Many of the newer start-ups are foraying into sectors which promise good future for them including security, business intelligence, analytics, medical systems, robotics and aerospace. “We are seeing a significant increase in the number of people approaching us during the last three months,” says Sudhir Sethi, CMD of IDG Ventures India, a VC firm.

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First Published: Dec 17 2008 | 12:00 AM IST

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