Points to consider on journey to entrepreneuship

[Hariprakash Agrawal]

I like the discussions in thread "The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship - NYTimes"  and think that point considered in this discussion are more relevant to the current subject hence I am initiating this new thread and listing points came from others as well from me:

Points from amitsin...@gmail.com:

Seed Stage: (Pre Revenue)
1. Not Validating the idea with sufficient number of prospective customers.
2. Not saving enough before jumping in fulltime. (I feel, one should save enough to accommodate 1 year of burn)
3. Not planning the business. (While the market dynamics always change the course from your BPlan, writing a business plan brings in a lot of clarity in the execution and in noticing the N+1 assumptions we make)
4. Not distributing the equity at the beginning itself.
5. Being too dependent on external consultants for core activities like "sales and marketing". Accounting IMHO is acceptable, but then you should keep track of what your CA is doing. He is not responsible for your company's future, you are. (As demonstrates the story here)

Do point out learnings from your personal experiences too. We'll create a blog post for others to learn from. Please list them under :-

Seed Stage: (Idea and/or prototype)
Early Stage: (product ready, early adoption, 1 or 2 customers, not planning to scale yet)
Late Stage: (A few customers in the kitty, scaling up)

Points from nandigam...@gmail.com:

• Over estimating the utility of the product 
• Mistaking user customer with payer.
• Error in identifying and in effective pitching to the right target group
• under estimating the power of market forces
• planning too long term with short term resources

Points from me (har...@gmail.com):
I had written a blog on the same just few days back and can be accessed at http://opcord.blogspot.com/2009/07/journey-to-entrepreneurship.html, , if interested

Summary of the blog at seed stage is:
1. Understand your finances
2. Ensure family support
3. Develop competence
4. Nurture your friend base
5. Build your network
6. Understand customer base
7. Prepare business plan
8.  Business vs Service
9. Plan distribution of equity
10. Unique identity of company (Logo, name, website etc)

Other entrepreneurs might like to list their points here because tomorrow someone should be able to

Regards,
Hariprakash Agrawal (Hari),
http://opcord.com - Optimizing Business Variables with Coordination
http://opcord.blogspot.com - A blog to share the journey and experiences
http://vicharpravah.com - An initiative to make common man aware of their potentials and responsibilities

[Abhijeet Kumar]

Please find my comments in red below. 

On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Hariprakash Agrawal <har...@gmail.com> wrote:

I like the discussions in thread "The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship - NYTimes"  and think that point considered in this discussion are more relevant to the current subject hence I am initiating this new thread and listing points came from others as well from me:

Points from amitsin...@gmail.com:

Seed Stage: (Pre Revenue)
1. Not Validating the idea with sufficient number of prospective customers.

 

[Abhijeet] Proof of concept of any idea is very important. But at the end, if you are good at marketing you can sell any idea. 

2. Not saving enough before jumping in fulltime. (I feel, one should save enough to accommodate 1 year of burn)

 

[Abhijeet] I would say 2 years. Any business can take about 1.5 - 2 years before you can generate enough money to support yourself. 

3. Not planning the business. (While the market dynamics always change the course from your BPlan, writing a business plan brings in a lot of clarity in the execution and in noticing the N+1 assumptions we make)

 

[Abhijeet] I don't agree to this point, as B Plan is mostly based upon assumptions. There are many real time factors like marketing, market state and others which govern the sales and thus growth. 

4. Not distributing the equity at the beginning itself.

 

In my opinion, a venture should go for funding only when they really need a big amount. If they can survive without funds, they should. Ways of survival are getting into services with products. Equity sharing can pinch in future. 

5. Being too dependent on external consultants for core activities like "sales and marketing". Accounting IMHO is acceptable, but then you should keep track of what your CA is doing. He is not responsible for your company's future, you are. (As demonstrates the story here)

 

[Abhijeet] I work on a model where i keep all sales and marketing inhouse and i tie up for work with very reliable partners on profit sharing basis. This gives me good control on business and the model is working good for me till now. Regarding accounts, all entreprenuers should learn accounting and just don't depend upon CA. 

Do point out learnings from your personal experiences too. We'll create a blog post for others to learn from. Please list them under :-

Seed Stage: (Idea and/or prototype)
Early Stage: (product ready, early adoption, 1 or 2 customers, not planning to scale yet)
Late Stage: (A few customers in the kitty, scaling up)

Points from nandigam...@gmail.com:

• Over estimating the utility of the product 
• Mistaking user customer with payer.
• Error in identifying and in effective pitching to the right target group
• under estimating the power of market forces
• planning too long term with short term resources

 

[Abhijeet] Marketing methods are very important. Identifying customer type and then marketing your product well is the only key to sales. Except that, vast networking always helps. 

[Amit Bhatia]

This article is actually very timely. I am passing through the phase
of deciding between giving my entrepreneurship a full-time role or
taking a job to get my savings in place. Personally, for me do not
ignore yourself just for the entrepreneurship. Make sure you have the
savings for at least1 year plus some emergency fund.

Very nice points :)

Regards,
Amit

On Jul 20, 1:14 pm, Abhijeet Kumar <luckya...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Please find my comments in red below.
>

> On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Hariprakash Agrawal <hari...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
> > I like the discussions in thread "The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship -
> > NYTimes"  and think that point considered in this discussion are more
> > relevant to the current subject hence I am initiating this new thread and
> > listing points came from others as well from me:
>

> > *Points from amitsingh.m...@gmail.com:*

> > Do point out learnings from your *personal experiences* too. We'll create

> > a blog post for others to learn from. Please list them under :-

> > *
> > *Seed Stage: (Idea and/or prototype)

> > Early Stage: (product ready, early adoption, 1 or 2 customers, not planning
> > to scale yet)
> > Late Stage: (A few customers in the kitty, scaling up)

> > *
> > Points from **nandigamsasid...@gmail.com:
> > *
>
> >    - Over estimating the utility of the product
> >    - Mistaking user customer with payer.
> >    - Error in identifying and in effective pitching to the right target
> >    group
> >    - under estimating the power of market forces
> >    - planning too long term with short term resources

>
> > [Abhijeet] Marketing methods are very important. Identifying customer type
> > and then marketing your product well is the only key to sales. Except that,
> > vast networking always helps.

> > Points from me (hari...@gmail.com):

> > I had written a blog on the same just few days back and can be accessed at

> >http://opcord.blogspot.com/2009/07/journey-to-entrepreneurship.html,<http://opcord.blogspot.com/2009/07/journey-to-entrepreneurship.html>, if interested

>
> > Summary of the blog at seed stage is:
> > 1. Understand your finances
> > 2. Ensure family support
> >  3. Develop competence
> > 4. Nurture your friend base
> > 5. Build your network
> > 6. Understand customer base
> > 7. Prepare business plan
> > 8.  Business vs Service
> > 9. Plan distribution of equity
> > 10. Unique identity of company (Logo, name, website etc)
>
> > Other entrepreneurs might like to list their points here because tomorrow
> > someone should be able to
>
> > Regards,
> > Hariprakash Agrawal (Hari),

> >http://opcord.com- Optimizing Business Variables with Coordination
> >http://opcord.blogspot.com- A blog to share the journey and experiences
> >http://vicharpravah.com- An initiative to make common man aware of their
> > potentials and responsibilities

[Abhijeet Kumar]

Just on the lighter note, this is how it work:

Entrepreneurship is good only when your pockets are full :)

------
Abhijeet Kumar
B.Tech, IIT Bombay
Marketing Manager, Pronto Infotech
Mobile: +919820385685
Landline: +912267022081
Email: abhijee...@prontoinfotech.com
Web: www.prontoinfotech.com

[Chiradip Narayan Mandal]

"ntrepreneurship is good only when your pockets are full" - Not true.

Completely disagree with points 1 and 2. Entrepreneurship is not just doing business - it is a passion - or rather a professional passion. 

[Abhijeet Kumar]

Dear Chiradip,

I know entrepreneurship is professional passion but it becomes very hard to run a business if you don't have money to buy your bread-n-butter. Many of my IIT juniors have started their ventures and failed because of bad financial planning. They all go back to jobs when they have less money in their pockets. 

Regards,

Abhijeet Kumar
B.Tech, IIT Bombay
Marketing Manager, Pronto Infotech
Mobile: +919820385685
Landline: +912267022081
Email: abhijee...@prontoinfotech.com
Web: www.prontoinfotech.com

[Chiradip Narayan Mandal]

Abhijit,

Failing is part of journey. Personally I enjoyed my 3 failures and ready to fail again.

Regards,

Chiradip

[Chiradip Narayan Mandal]

Not discounting the necessity of financial planning of course.

[Abhijeet Kumar]

I totally agree. I also work on new business ideas every day but my only point is that there should be some way of earning your bread and butter otherwise it may become difficult. 

Regards,
Abhijeet Kumar
B.Tech, IIT Bombay
Marketing Manager, Pronto Infotech
Mobile: +919820385685
Landline: +912267022081
Email: abhijee...@prontoinfotech.com
Web: www.prontoinfotech.com

Netarhat, 1992 - 96 Batch
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