FEBRUARY 2012 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 6 Rs 100
PLUS
DOV SEIDMAN
on Giving Trust Away India’s Best
BUSINESS INCUBATORS Riding on Matthew Spacie's
MAGIC BUS
Playing by Gut
How Ajay Piramal defied convention. And won.
GREENDUST'S REVERSE LOGIC è A FUND FOR HR è SONY’S TAKE ON THE TABLET
table of contents INSIGHTS 18 PROTECTIONISM: WEB OF OPPORTUNITIES
Bharat Banka on the resurfacing of protectionism in certain parts of the world.
19 TO THE UNSUNG HEROES
Nandini Vaidyanathan on the contribution of an entrepreneur’s family to his success.
20 MANAGING PHILANTHROPY EFFECTIVELY
Ranjeet S. Mudholkar explains why philanthropy needs to be institutionalized early.
22 THE ART OF TIME MANAGEMENT
Richard Branson shows how entrepreneurs can effectively manage their time.
IN CONVERSATION 24 GIVE TRUST AWAY
LRN founder Dov Seidman on the dilemma of choosing between larger social responsibilities and maximizing profits. By Ankush Chibber
WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR 28 ROCK STAR Kanika Dewan has carved a niche in a male-dominated industry. By Pranbihanga Borpuzari
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR 32 A NEW BALL GAME
The Magic Bus Foundation is making the world’s largest football team. By Shruti Chakraborty
SPECIAL REPORT
44 MAN ON THE MOVE THE PIRAMAL PATH Ajay Piramal has challenged every rule in the book to grow his venture into a diversified business empire. Ankush Chibber explores the pillars of his entrepreneurial journey.
6 Intelligent Entrepreneur February 2012
36 CREATING VALUE At the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, it was all about innovation. By Pranbihanga Borpuzari 38 READY, STEADY, GO…
The Startup Weekend helped create new startups in a span of three days. By Pranbihanga Borpuzari
40 THE TIME IS NOW
At the Wharton India Economic Forum, experts say now is the best time to be an entrepreneur in India. By Shruti Chakraborty
32
IN FOCUS 52 FUNDING HUMAN CAPITAL
A seed-stage fund is looking to foster the growth of HR organizations. By Shonali Advani
SPOT LIGHT 56 THE CROSSOVER MAN Former Gujarat Ambuja CEO Anil Singhvi is on a new entrepreneurial journey. By Sourav Majumdar
SUCCESS INC 60 THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
How Mysore based N.R. Group grew to a Rs.650 crore company. By Shonali Advani
56
STRATEGY 64 BOOTSTRAP YOUR BUSINESS
Supporting your dream business with your paycheck can be challenging. By Michelle Goodman
68 WHAT’S THE SECRET TO BETTER BRAINSTORMING What does it take to have an effective brainstorming session? By Ross McCammon
SPECIAL FEATURE 71 INDIA’S BEST INCUBATORS
60
Incubation can prove to be a boon in the life of any startup. By Shruti Chakraborty
OFFBEAT 82 PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS
MISINTERPRETING MY E-MAILS. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? Some essentials of e-mail writing that can save you from a lot of tough situations. By Ross McCammon
MONEY 86 THE FOUNDER'S FINANCING
CONUNDRUM: A CAUTIONARY TALE The only valuation that really matters is the last one. By Manu Rekhi February 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 7
table of contents TECH DEPARTMENT 88 S FOR SMART
110
The Sony Tablet has arrived late, but is sure to grab some eyeballs. By Ankush Chibber
91 PICK THIS PICO
Acer’s latest Pico Projector is a boon for professionals. By Ankush Chibber
92 NEW WINE IN NEW BOTTLES
What are QR codes and how can you use them to your advantage? By Jason Ankeny
95 HEADS IN THE CLOUD
Read about how one small company outsourced IT to a cloud-computing platform. By Jason Ankeny
96 SOMETHING TO FALL BACK ON
Services and apps that can help you create a backup for your smartphone. By Ericka Chickowski
START UPS 106 REVERSE LOGIC
Hitendra Chaturvedi's GreenDust is putting factory seconds and other rejected items back into the supply chain to extract maximum value. By Pranbihanga Borpuzari
108 ROBOTS TO THE RESCUE IIT graduate Gagan Goyal is looking to change the way science is taught in schools using robotics through his venture ThinkLABS. By Shruti Chakraborty 110 HOT WHEELS
Why it may do your business some good to be on Google+. By Chris Brogan
Bengaluru-based tech-startup Kerberon Automations Pvt. Ltd. is creating an option for last mile connectivity and an alternate mode of public transport too. By Shonali Advani
101 TOUCH OF IMPROVEMENT
114 MR.FIX IT
99 SOCIAL PHENOM
Microsoft’s new mouse brings the touch control to the keyboard’s right hand. By Jonathan Blum
102 THE C FACTOR
Chennai based Cbazaar offers over 15,000 apparel options. The company’s story grows stronger by the day. By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri
Vikram Vora identified an opportunity in the dentistry space and is chasing it with all his heart. His venture Mydentist provides standardized dentistry services for a nominal charge. By Shruti Chakraborty
REGULARS COVER DESIGN
ARKO PROVO MUKHERJEE IMAGE
MEXY XAVIER 8 Intelligent Entrepreneur February 2012
120 Acquire Users Without Marketing Spend 122 Pitch an e-Commerce Venture to a VC 125 Buy a Fleet Vehicle 126
eTechies is hoping to address the IT problems of smaller organizations through its support system. By Pranbihanga Borpuzari
116 A BRAND FOR YOUR TEETH
ON SITE
THE ULTIMATE ‘HOW TO’ BUSINESS GUIDE
10 FEEDBACK 11 RESOURCES 12 SME DOCTOR 16 STUMP SPEAK 134 BACKSTAGE
SPEND IT 126 WHAT YOU SEA…
With its meeting spaces, spa and restaurants, Grand Hyatt Goa is the latest addition to destination resorts in India’s tourist hotspot. By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri
130 RICH PICKINGS Hakkasan, located in suburban Mumbai, has palate-conscious Mumbaikars flocking to it. By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri 132 RIDE YOUR DREAMS A quick look at the most talked-about cars rolling out in 2012. By Pranbihanga Borpuzari
resources [Info that’s handy]
PROPERO, INDIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
T
he Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at the Indian School of Business is organizing an event, Propero, a platform where entrepreneurs can connect with angel investors and venture capitalists to raise seed capital for start-ups and growth capital for mature businesses. The entrepreneurs can also connect with bankers to raise debt financing through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for micro and small enterprises. The idea of Propero is to also provide a platform for bankers, angel investors, and venture capitalists access to targeted investment proposals. The investors to be present at the event include, Indian Angel Network, Mumbai Angels, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ojas Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Clearstone Venture Partners amongst others. The event will be held on February 24 and 25, 2012 when
shortlisted ventures will make their final presentations to the bankers and investors. Date: February 24-February 25, 2012 Venue: Indian School of Business, Hyderabad Website: www.isb.edu/propero/index.html
YOUNG ENTREPRENEURSHIP MEET - TAJ IIT CONCLAVE - IIT RAJASTHAN
O
rganized as a part of IGNUS 2012, the annual socio-cultural-sports festival of IIT Rajasthan, the Young Entrepreneurship Meet—Taj IIT Conclave brings successful industrialists, CEOs, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors, wantto-be entrepreneurs and most importantly students under one roof to share their thoughts, views and ideas on entrepreneurship. With a focus on low cost solutions and startups, Aakash 2, the brainchild of the students of IIT Rajasthan will be showcased during this event. Set in the Taj Hari Mahal, Jodhpur, the conclave is being held on February 18 and February 19. The event is slated to be inaugurated by Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman HCL. This year the focus of the event is on “Entrepreneurship in Low Cost Solutions.” Watch out for the who’s who of India Inc. at the Young Entrepreneurship Meet at IIT Rajasthan. The ‘Maharaja of Marwar’, better known as His Highness Gaj Singhji II, the Maharaja of Jodhpur will be the guest of honor for the event. A must attend event for people who have ideas, want to listen to first hand experiences of entrepreneurs and possibly get funded. The IIT Rajasthan is one of the new IITs set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2008. The first batch
of students from the institute will be graduating this year. IGNUS 2012 also includes a number of sports and cultural events, besides the entrepreneurship meet. So for those who are in Jodhpur for the event, there is a lot more that IIT Rajasthan has in store. The festival includes workshops and competitions that can be of good use to budding entrepreneurs. A workshop on embedded robotics and one on android .applications are amongst those. Some of the competitions are,; building a wireless remote controlled off-terrain car,, other automobile and some aeromodelling based competitions. The institute will organize accommodations for those who wish for the same, based on prior registration. The previous edition of the event was attended by 113 people including students from a number of the IITs, budding entrepreneurs, lawyers and school students, amongst others. Date: February 18-February 19, 2012 Venue: Taj Hari Mahal, Jodhpur Contact: Mohamed Rehan M S (+91 98 28 60 85 88) Website: http://ignus.org/taksh.html
DAS CAPITAL, ST. STEPHEN’S COLLEGE
Das Capital, the National Finance and Entrepreneurship festival of St. Stephen’s College is being organized from February 6 to February 8 2012 in New Delhi. This is the fourth edition of this event, and will include a number of programmes for students inclined towards entrepreneurship. In the past, Das Capital has witnessed participation of students from St. Xavier’s Mumbai, NLS Bangalore, IIT Roorkee, St. Xavier’s Kolkata amongst others. The event will feature a guest lecture by Deepak Bagla, partner at 3i, an international investor focusing on private equity, infrastructure and debt management. Some of the events at the festival will be an open outcry stock market simulation game, a case study of a dying company, which students have to find ways to revive and a financial quiz. Another event at the festival will test the participants’ innovative and creative skills towards entrepreneurship. Date: February 6-February 8, 2012 Venue: New Delhi Website: www.financessc.com/dc
February 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 11 To read more, grab the February 2012 issue of Entrepreneur To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
woman entrepreneur CARVING A NICHE
ROCK
STAR
Kanika Dewan gets down and dirty in the traditional male bastion of the construction and design industry. By Pranbihanga Borpuzari
A
s a young girl growing up in Bahrain, Kanika Dewan would often follow her father to his limestone quarry. She would find a high perch to sit on and watch the mining and blasting take place. Today, this feisty lady is the boss of KA Design Atelier, her own design and construction company which specializes in the design for stone and mix media where the base is a natural product like wood or metals. LOOKING BACK Born in Kolkata in 1976, Dewan’s family shifted to Bahrain when she was eight months old. Traditionally in the business of explosives, metal and mining, her father had acquired some limestone quarries in that country. After her education in finance and entrepreneurial management at the Wharton School of Management, Dewan joined Citigroup as an analyst in its corporate finance division. She was always bristling with ideas, even carrying an ‘idea book’ around with her all the time. Her friends were sure she would start something of her own someday. And they were proved right. Quitting her job at Citi in 2000, Dewan decided to stay far away from the family business and thought of starting a dotcom company. However, after careful consideration, she decided to abandon the idea, opting instead to enter the brick and mortar industry. 28 Intelligent Entrepreneur February 2012
FIRST STEPS Drawn to good aesthetics, Dewan started her first office with the equivalent of Rs.7.5 lakh in New York in 2000, designing floors, walls and lobbies for people in the area. Soon she realized there was a market for restoration, and entered that business. By the end of 2001, Dewan’s firm was clocking a turnover of Rs.7.5 crore. By 2004, Dewan spilt her company into two parts: KA Design Atelier which dealt with the designing aspect including prototyping, R&D and innovation at the factory level, while the other part dealt with the regular design work. CHECKING IN AT T3 A couple of years ago, Dewan was on a visit to India when she realized there was an opportunity to tap into turnkey projects here, as many such ongoing constructions were taking a very long route to completion. “In the beginning of 2008 we pitched to GMR. Bramco [her family business] was already supplying to various projects in India but that never excited me,” says Dewan. “I had come on a holiday and read in the papers about the plans for T3. To be an entrepreneur one needs to have a brave heart, and the mind and stomach to complement it. The stomach is the largest part, but we often look at things realistically and do not realize how important the gut is. I never realized the true merit of instinct or gut feeling until I did T3,” she adds. The project meant so much to Dewan that she told her team that if
“To be an entrepreneur one needs to have a brave heart, and the mind and stomach to complement it.” Kanika Dewan, Chairperson, KA Design Atelier and Group President, Bramco
Photo© Dileep Prakash
To read more, grab the February 2012 issue of Entrepreneur February 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 29 To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
Matthew Spacie and his Magic Bus Foundation is changing the behavior and mindset of Indians, using football as a facilitator. By Sunita Mishra
32 Intelligent Entrepreneur ď‚„ February 2012
social entrepreneur
A KICK-OFF
NEW BALL GAME
Matthew Spacie and his Magic Bus Foundation are changing the behavior and mindset of Indians, using football as a facilitator. By Shruti Chakraborty
P TAKING STRIKE: Matthew Spacie
icture a football training session: you have to take the ball through cones and on to the other side. The players are children but they are not training to be footballers. They are instead on the field to be educated and learn the skills needed to lead a wholesome life. Matthew Spacie’s football team boasts of two lakh children from all over India. Each of the cones represents an obstacle in life that is keeping them from attending school, like parents or work. They sit down to discuss what they can do to get
through the obstacles and enroll back into school. This is one of the activities that the Magic Bus Foundation has in its programs to change the mindset and behavior of communities in the country to attain the goal of wholesome development through a sports-based curriculum. Spacie came to India 15 years ago as the COO of Cox and Kings. He began his journey by training street children in Mumbai at playing rugby. “After a while, I realized that all the clichés I’d heard about sports being a social facilitator started becoming
Mithbawkar February 2012 of Intelligent Entrepreneur 33 ToPhotos© readNeha more, grab the February 2012 issue Entrepreneur To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
cover story
44 Intelligent Entrepreneur ď‚„ February 2012
THE PIRAMAL
Path The story of how Ajay Piramal challenged conventional wisdom to build a diversified conglomerate. By Ankush Chibber
May 2010. One of those sweat-all-you-can days. The location: Piramal Tower. The news that U.S.-based Abbott had finally managed to snag Piramal’s formulations business was just breaking over the wires. And now there was a press conference to announce and explain the deal.
Photo© Mexy Xavier
To read more, grab the February 2012 issue of Entrepreneur To Subscribe, February 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 45 visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
in focus HIGH ON HR
Funding Human Capital An Indian first—a fund that will exclusively finance and foster HR businesses. By Shonali Advani
M
ove over e-commerce. There is a new gold mine in town, and this one probably does have the glittering metal in its depths. After the venture capital overdose on online shopping for most of 2011, the new year has brought in some fresh air with India’s first fund for HR entrepreneurs.
CEO, PeopleStrong; Arvind Agrawal, President, Corporate Development and Human Resources, RPG Enterprises; and Santrupt Misra, CEO, Carbon Black Business and Director, Group HR, Aditya Birla Management Corporation. The funding size of each investment, the fund’s major differentiator, will range between Rs.3 crore and Rs.6 crore. THE FUND AND THE FOUNDERS Further, the team plans to allocate Launched in November last year, and around Rs.30 crore-Rs.40 crore durbacked by senior executives from the ing FY2012-’13, which will translate to larger HR sector, The HR Fund is a around 4-6 investments. seed-stage fund that is looking to foster “Most venture capitals will not find the growth of new and innovative HR value in it because they are large funds organizations operating in what already and cannot invest in more than 10-11 happens to be a highly fragmented and companies,” comments Talwar, CEO, competitive industry. The HR Fund, in context to setting up an HR-focused seed fund. The fund will focus “We won’t take more than Rs.1 crore only on India for the from each investor as the fund’s first two years. “Our ticket size isn’t big real intellectual property [IP] will be enough to go outside, the brain power of these 60 people given we are a rupee who will find us quality entrepreneurs and not dollar fund,” explains Bansal. and potential investors too.” Subsequently, this Varun Talwar, CEO, The HR Fund fund will be looking at the Middle-East and the subcontinent. This The fund is anchored by six big is because the anchor investors of the names in the world of HR includfund understand these geographies beting Varun Talwar, Founder, Withya ter, a decision that was based purely on Group; Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder and certain internal reasons.
52 Intelligent Entrepreneur February 2012
A NEED THAT HAD TO BE MET The idea to set up the fund was initiated by Talwar two years ago, after the success of PeopleStrong, a human resource outsourcing (HRO) company incubated at Withya that grew to a 300-strong organization in five–six years. “I spent two years studying the HR landscape in the U.S as they are 20-30 years ahead of us,” he says. The U.S., he noticed, boasted of several ideas that had become large, publicly traded firms, while India staked claim to only Naukri, an online staffing company. Most HR companies in India, he observed, are actually mom-and-pop shops with an employee base of 10-30, usually family-owned, single person-led and of the trader mindset. Plus, they have succeeded in acquiring clients and managing their employees but have failed to attract funding, as they don’t understand investor language that speaks of IP, scale and first-mover advantage. “They have not been able to think afresh or know how to scale up either,” highlights Talwar. Alongside, Bansal had been periodically peppered by requests from investors looking to invest in more companies after receiving healthy returns at PeopleStrong, as well as queries from HR vendors on startup issues and raising capital. “There were several senior HR executives wanting to fund HR ideas but
THE BIG FOUR: Arvind Agrawal, Varun Talwar, Pankaj Bansal and Santrupt Misra
they didn’t know who to go to either,” says Bansal, anchor investor and Board Director, The HR Fund. Bansal has no executive role, but is accessible for advice or mentoring.
FOCUS ON THE SERVICES SECTOR Also, provoking the idea was the pertinent fact that India’s investment focus
has never been on the services sector, barring IT. Usually, most VCs focused on some big U.S-based ideas, as India carried negative branding in the domestic market for services. “The space was seen as low-margin business and not scalable for investors,” Bansal points out. HR firms had emerged in India post2000 only and, by the end of the decade,
sectors like banking, insurance, telecom, FMCG and auto, in particular, grew exponentially. This propelled a need for HR support and thus the market for HR in India expanded, as did the need for distribution models increase. These are the reasons that reassured those involved that the timing for a HR-focused fund was just perfect.
To read more, grab the February 2012 issue of Entrepreneur February 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 53 To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
Photos© Neha Mithbawkar, Dileep Prakash; Imaging© Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur
spot light
THE PROXY SERVER
CROSSOVER
MAN
Former Gujarat Ambuja CEO Anil Singhvi begins an entrepreneurial journey with a proxy advisory firm which promises to shake up Corporate India. By Sourav Majumdar
W
hat does someone, who has been at the epicenter of the Indian corporate and financial sector and structured one of the mostwatched foreign direct investment (FDI) deals in the country, do when he has few more corporate peaks left to scale? This was the question facing Anil Singhvi, as he weighed his options, having pretty much done everything a finance man would aspire for in his career. Singhvi, 52, is no stranger to the world of high finance. Having come into 56 Intelligent Entrepreneur ď‚„ February 2012
corporate life at a young age, joining VIP Industries in 1982 where he also sold toys, he has had a fairytale corporate career. Board member of cement major Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd (GACL) at 38 and CEO of the company, Singhvi had structured the entry of global cement giant Holcim into India. Today, after a 22-year stint at GACL, and a brief one at Reliance ADAG, Singhvi is busy doing what he probably knows best: charting out yet another exciting new course for himself.
PhotosŠ Neha Mithbawkar
To read more, grab the February 2012 issue of Entrepreneur February 2012 ď‚„ Intelligent Entrepreneur 57 To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
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special feature
INDIA’S Best Incubators Getting incubated in the early days can propel your business to greater heights. By Shruti Chakraborty
DO
you feel like you’ve had your eureka moment of being struck by a great business idea and all you need is to go out all guns blazing to chase it? It is an exciting place to be in with the idea in your head, a few months of passionate discussions with friends or prospective partners across a coffee table and, well, a lot of big plans. What you could need now is a little bit of perspective from someone who knows about the game you are about to play. Whatever sector
your startup idea is in and whether or not you have the business school banner shining bright on your CV, getting incubated could ideally be the best way to move forward. Here is a list of some of India’s top business incubators.
CENTRE FOR INNOVATION, INCUBATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (CIIE), IIM AHMEDABAD The incubator at IIM Ahmedabad was set up three years ago. It has amongst
ENCOURAGING: CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad
its portfolio companies social gaming company Hashcube, an artificial intelligence start-up Gridbots, cloud-based high definition video conferencing and webcasting solutions company VMukti, amongst others from diverse sectors. Pranay Gupta, Joint CEO of the CIIE says, “We encourage startups to be where the customer needs them to be.” Therefore, the incubatee companies are based in various parts of India and don’t necessarily use the physical space provided by the organization. The organization
CIIE, IIM AHMEDABAD Duration of incubation allowed: 11 month terms, extendable on the basis of review to a maximum of three terms. Do the incubatee companies get a stipend/salary during that period: No Number of companies incubated so far: 55 Incubation capacity: 15-16
To read more, grab the February 2012 issue of Entrepreneur February 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 71 To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
special feature can house on its campus 15-16 startups at a time. In its last three years, the center has incubated 55 companies, of which only five have been started by IIM students, says Gupta. The center incubates startups with interesting ideas and has no restrictions on educational background. The center was started by a group of IIM alumni and other members who bring to the startups the required mentoring and industry experience. They help startups get in touch with the stalwarts in the VC space to help them get funded. The most popular sectors at the center have been clean technology, healthcare, internet and mobile technologies and social sector startups.
SOCIETY FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (SINE), IIT BOMBAY, MUMBAI One of its best known success stories is that of Webaroo Technologies, better known for being the ones who started
SINE, IIT BOMBAY Do the incubatee companies get a stipend/salary during that period: The companies are charged a subsidized rent and a subsidized rate for access to the infrastructure at SINE Number of mentors: SINE has a team of 14 members which also mentors the companies. It also may suggest external mentors depending on the need of a company. Number of companies incubated so far: 43 Incubation capacity: 15-17
72 Intelligent Entrepreneur ď‚„ February 2012
INNOVATORS INC: SINE, IIT Bombay
SMS Gupshup. This tech-based incubator came into existence in 2004. The organization incubates startups that are begun by students at IIT Bombay. SINE can house 15-17 companies at a time. Amongst its other startups are ThinkLABS Technosolutions, an educational robotics venture. Companies graduating from SINE have gone on to raise VC investment to the tune of Rs.1.2 crore like elnfinitus, while Myzus Technologies raised over Rs.3 crore. SINE also helps startups with legal, human resources and accounting facilities, amongst others. While SINE is open to accepting startups to incubate that are not essentially started by students of IIT Bombay, Sushanto Mitra, member of the governing board at SINE, says that since there is such a rush of students at IIT Bombay itself with innovative ideas for businesses, it has not yet incubated any startups coming from outside the technological institute.
ANGELPRIME This is the newest business incubator on our list and was launched in October 2011. The company is currently incubating 2 startups, a mobile payments company and a smartphone and tablet start-
up. Based in Bengaluru, the incubator has been started by well-known names of the tech sector Bala Parathasarathy, Shripati Acharya and Sanjay Swamy. Swamy was the founder and CEO of mCheck and played an important role in the UID project. Parthasarathy and Acharya were co-founders of photo sharing website Snapfish that was bought by HP in 2005. The sectors AngelPrime will be focussing on are e-commerce,
ANGELPRIME Duration of incubation allowed: 8 months Mentors involved in the incubator: Sanjay Swamy, Shripati Acharya and Bala Parthasarathy Number of companies incubated so far: 2 Incubation capacity: The goal to incubate 3 to 4 companies in a year
mobile payments and smartphone and tablet applications. Companies will be incubated for a period of 3-8 months at the office space in Bengaluru. Parthasarathy says, “We are insistent on the companies being incubated at our office space. Since it is a vibrant and fast moving environment, we need to be involved closely in the early stage functioning of the companies.” The founders have a strong network of people working to help the startups with various issues like human resource and other services. AngelPrime will work with startups to help co-ideate, come up with a prototype and get feedback from the market. The incubation process will end with helping the companies raise capital and make them capable of standing on their own feet.
WADHWANI CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT, INDIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (ISB) The incubator facility at ISB was set up in 2008 under the institute’s Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, which was set up and funded in 2001 by the Wadhwani Foundation. The center’s Entrepreneurship Development Initiative incubates companies and helps
NEW INITIATIVES: ISB Hyderabad
students of ISB who have a business idea to with financial support, mentoring and business resources to create and sustain their own ventures. The Initiative educates and assists young entrepreneurs in the area of business planning, and promotes entrepreneurship as a valid career option. Till date, 17 businesses have been incubated under this initiative. To be accepted for incubation at the center, an entrepreneur must be a graduate of ISB, must have an idea that is scalable and sustainable that generates employment and the entrepreneur must work full time towards the business idea. Some of the ventures from ISB’S incubator are Orkash, a niche management
INDIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Do the incubatee companies get a stipend/salary during that period: No; they do not have to pay rent either Number of companies incubated so far: 17
consulting and high-technology services company and Richcore Lifesciences, an application-research based bio-pharmaceutical company.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP PARK, TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS INCUBATOR, IIT KHARAGPUR The Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park at IIT Kharagpur can accommodate up to 50 companies and provides a number of advisory facilities for the startups like patenting solution, legal and accounting solutions amongst others. There are currently 44 companies being incubated at the center. The sectors in which startups have been incubated include clean technology, education, healthcare, mobile and internet-based technologies. The center also helps students get funded through government grants that go up to Rs.45 lakh in loan on a low interest rate and up to Rs.1 crore from the Technopreneur Promotion Programme of the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India. The incubator was established in 1986 and has incubated more than 125 companies since its in-
IIT KHARAGPUR Do the incubatee companies get a stipend/salary during that period: No; they do not have to pay rent either Duration of incubation allowed:
3 years
Mentors involved in the incubator:
Managing Director Professor Dhrubes Biswas and General Manager S.C. Santra are the mentors during the incubation. Incubation capacity:
Up to 50 companies
To read more, grab the February 2012 issue of Entrepreneur February 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 73 To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
tech department [Editor’s Pick]
S FOR SMART Sony is late again to the party, but like in the past, it is well-dressed and bound to get its admirers. By Ankush Chibber
TABLET S PRICE Rs.26,990 DIMENSIONS 241.2 x 174.3 x 10.2- 20.6 mm WEIGHT 598 g SCREEN SIZE 9.4 Inches, TFT LCD, capacitive, 1280 x 800 pixels CAMERA: 5 MP, 0.3 MP secondary CONNECTIVITY: Wi-Fi MESSAGING Gmail, Push Mail, IM BATTERY 8 hrs on regular use
SONY IS LIKE THE DIVA that likes to stroll in last to all the parties just because it is fashionable to do so. Go back to all major tech product innovations in the last two decades and you would see that Sony strolled in much after the market had already exploded. But it is also prudent to note that this diva is also kind of hot and, thus, knows that even if late, she would manage to grab eyeballs. And that is what the company is hoping for again in the Android tablet space where all and sundry have launched tablets over the last two years. The company is finally taking a crack at it with a set of two tablets—the regular form Tablet S and the dual screen Tablet P. While the dual screen Tablet P is definitely eye-catching thanks to the clamshell dual screen form, the Tablet S is where Sony will compete with others on the form of the market. Sony has launched two models of the Tablet S in India—a 16 GB Wi-Fi only model and a 16 GB 3G + Wi-Fi model. Currently, only the former is available in the market; though we are told that
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by the time of publication, the latter too would be launched. Having got our hands on the Wi-Fi only model, we were impressed on two counts. The first and very important bit was the price. At Rs.10 less than Rs.27,000, this is the first time Sony has got it right with product pricing at the first go in a long, long while. OH, THEM LOOKS! Secondly, we like the way the Tablet S looks. But
this is not the universal view. What we like about the Tablet S is the fact that it has tapering form, thick at one end, and thinnest at the other to give you an impression of a folded book. In a way, it also mimics how the iPad looks with its cover folded back on the table. We like this because it makes using the Tablet S on a flat top pretty easy without the need for any support on the back. This provides a general incline for typing that you would otherwise need to buy an accessory for. We also like the curves on the thickest end of 0.8 inches that make the
unit easier to hold in the portrait mode—something that other tablet makers tend to ignore. Sony had said that the device is on par with Apple’s iPad 2 in terms of weight of the device in one’s hands. And that is true—even holding it from the thicker end, you feel that the Tablet S is as light as the iPad. We are told that this is because of an engineering trick of using an offcenter weighting of the components along with the wedge design. CLEVER TWEAKING TO FILL THE GAPS
Usage is really what the USP of this device should be. For the first time in a while, we have come across an Android tablet that tries to offset, with design and clever tweaks, the inherent gaps that the native user interface has. We like that everything on the Tablet S seems to come together for better usability. A small example is the placing of the power button. Unlike other tablets, you will not have to pick it up and look for that button. You flick the power button on the right edge, swipe on the screen, and are good to go. Seamless. Not restricted to design, Sony has also modified the Honeycomb interface to make the whole experience more intuitive. The widgets and shortcuts on the home screen look a lot better placed. The swipe is more receptive on this touch screen. The tile-based favorites screen is a quick way to access what you have been working on a lot. Even the apps tray gets a makeover. One of our greatest complaints with Honeycomb, the onboard keyboard, gets a look into as well. Sony’s designers probably used a few to realize how painful that keyboard was and replaced it with its own custom designed keyboard. And it is a joy to work with—receptive and easier to transit to from a PC keyboard. Further evidence of Sony’s clever tweaking is how a number pad pops up within the same keyboard space when you are expected to type some numbers in, like a password field. So simple a tweak, so large an impact. The Tablet S is the first PlayStation certified device from Sony’s stables. That means you could use it to play PlayStation games on it. There is also a gimmicky remote control app that allows you to control electronic devices including TV, DTH, projectors etc. An app to note is the DLNA app that allows content sharing with other DLNA compatible devices, including mobile phones, laptops and others.
SMARTNESS OFFSET BY SMALL IRRITANTS
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN ANDROID TABLET, YOU COULD CONSIDER THE S WITH THE XOOM AND THE TAB.
A shout out must also go out to the display. The Tablet S boasts a 9.4-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Our only complaint with the whole form factor experience, however, lies with the screen as well. For any mobile device, a protection layer is needed to help protect from falls and inadvertent scratches. The Tablet S skims on that, and scratches are evident after a week of use. Ports on the Tablet S are standard, with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a pullout flap for a micro USB port and an SD card slot. The flap is sort of like the ports on the first Macbook Air, but looks much more fragile. And oh! There is a bit about the SD card slot that you should know. It cannot install and run apps. It is there for read and store from the card. So, no expansion. In addition, the S has volume controls on the same edge as the power button, a charging port at the bottom, and Sony class cameras on the front and back which, while efficient for a tablet, are not the ones you would be snapping around with. There are onboard stereo speakers, but you are better off using external ones. Sony does not give you free ones. Also, someone needs to go to charger-design class. This charger is too big for a tablet. And there is no USB charging option. Which means if your charger goes kaput, you need to buy a similar one from Sony. That adds on to the overall ownership cost. And yes, Sony gives you no pouch or cover with the unit. OUR CALL? BUY.
For the road warrior, the battery life brings mixed news. With basic office-like use, the battery made it to about 10 hours. But the minute we switched to playing media content and surfing on the Wi-Fi, the life dropped to about 7 hours. Not the best in class, but will do for a tablet. So what is our verdict? We like how the Tablet S is designed both on the outside and inside. We love the price, which makes it the most ergonomically designed tablet available at that price. The price is offset somewhat by the lack of earphones and pouch, and that expensive looking screen for which you would have to buy a cover. Still, the S punches way above its weight.
To read more, grab the February 2012 issue of Entrepreneur February 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 89 To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
start ups
Hot Wheels GREEN IDEA
A college project has evolved into Kerberon Automation’s automated bicycle sharing system ATCAG. By Shonali Advani
A
nyone who has lived in Bengaluru, India’s version of the Valley, will be aware of the nightmare that haunts its inhabitants—congested roads and pollution in multiple forms. The newly inaugurated metro is a long-term effort to decongest traffic and help the average commuter. For the fitness-conscious lot, the city now boasts of yet another novelty, thanks to Bengaluru-based techstartup Kerberon Automations Pvt. Ltd., founded by three engineering graduates who have developed ATCAG (Automated Tracking and Control of Green Assets). It is an automated bicycle sharing system in the city as an option for last mile connectivity and an alternate mode of public transport too.
BOOKS TO B-PLAN When in PES Engineering College, Srinidhi Sridhar (Co-Founder and CTO, Kerberon Automation) and Syed Haseeb Arfath (Co-Founder and CMD, Kerberon Automations), were working on a final semester project. The initial idea was to develop an automated system for collecting money from parking lots. “The government loses a lot of money from parking dues. Yet, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike [BBMP], doesn’t track the collection,” says Arfath. This insight was shared by his father who works with the BBMP. 110 Intelligent Entrepreneur February 2012
The idea was bounced off college principal J. Surya Prasad, who saw in it business potential and suggested modifications to create a network of bicycles instead, given that infrastructure for the former would have been an issue. So, they worked on a prototype and, by the end of the semester, Sridhar and Arfath (both 23 years old now) decided to go in for their startup, instead of enrolling for further studies.
FINE-TUNING THE PROTOTYPE By June 2010, the startup was formally incorporated as a company and the duo worked on redeveloping the prototype. “The product went through several challenges till rubber met the road, not only on the computer science side but engineering too,” says Prasad, project guide and mentor to Kerberon Automations. The second attempt evolved to create a track that carried with it a locking unit to lock each bicycle when parked, as opposed to the first which had locking units placed on each bicycle. This form secured a patent for its technology in November 2010 and, in the same month, third Co-Founder Srinivas Ramesh, 26, joined the startup to give business direction to its innovation. “The founders have adapted the final product to meet current needs of customers,” states Prasad. Sridhar Varadarajan, Head of Research, SRM
Research Institute (a unit of SRM University), Bengaluru has been mentoring them on various aspects of process, product and market-positioning. Commenting on the venture he says, “It’s all about timing; the product addresses a critical requirement in a niche domain and is a key component with the current need for multiple modes of transport, specifically usage of non-motorized modes in overcrowded cities.”
OVERCOMING ROADBLOCKS But a product’s true worth is valued based on the number of people adopting it. “When we started working we targeted campuses which were over 25 acres in size. Our first customer was PES Engineering,” mentions Ramesh, COO, Head Business Strategy and Development, Kerberon Automations. Having experienced life on large campuses, the founders knew that interblock connectivity was a problem and hence proposed installing the system, which cost Rs.6 lakh at that time. Some corporates were interested, but not willing to pay for it. The only option presented was paying a monthly fee for using this service, “Which would not give us an ROI,” explains Ramesh. Needless to say, rejection by 20-odd potential clients began dampening their enthusiasm, so they went over
“The news about the government’s plans to provide exclusive bicycle lanes, coupled with the launch of ATCAG’s pilot phase in Bengaluru, is an indication that the planners are thinking ahead.” Sridhar Varadarajan, Head of Research, SRM Research Institute
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Srinivas Ramesh, Srinidhi Sridhar and Syed Haseeb Arfath Photos© Maximage
To read more, grab the February 2012 of Entrepreneur February issue 2012 Intelligent Entrepreneur 111 To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in
back stage
ANATOMY OF A RUMOR How the office rumor starts, proliferates and can be stopped. By Jason Daley
GOURMET CUPCAKES
THE IMPACT
Almost every business, no matter its size, swirls with rumors about layoffs, promotions, cutbacks—even the boss’s liposuction. Most of the time, the chitchat is harmless, but occasionally, backchannel chatter can destroy trust and sabotage productivity. We asked Nick DiFonzo, rumor psychologist at the Rochester Institute of Technology and author of The Watercooler Effect: An Indispensable Guide to Understanding and Harnessing the Power of Rumors, to help us map the progression of an office rumor— and suggest a few ways to keep one from getting out of hand.
“Employees can lose trust in management and one another. I saw that happen in one company. There were rumors that were entirely negative and entirely about management. It contributed to a feeling that the people in management were aliens, totally out of touch with employee concerns.”
THE CREATION “There are rumors about everything, but the three most prevalent categories are the quality of someone’s work, tenure (whether or not someone’s keeping their job) and personnel changes. It’s counterintuitive, but it turns out that office rumors are extremely accurate. If people care about the subject and there’s a way to check the facts, the rumor will get more and more accurate over time.”
THE SPREAD “Rumors are circulated quickest by people who have a lot of connections or are social hubs. Secretaries, managers, supervisors—anyone connected with many branches of an organization.”
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THE MITIGATION Rumors “can last forever-but if they’re handled effectively, they can die off. Go to the super-spreaders, issue a detailed refutation and ask them to spread that. Limit the uncertainty people are experiencing. State a timeline in which news will come out. And respond to rumors quickly based on the truth. If you deny something that’s true, you’ll eventually be found out and lose all power to rebut rumors later.”
THE ACCEPTANCE “Rumors are a natural part of social networks. We must respect the power of rumors, both negative and positive ones. The best approach: manage them ethically and properly.” ©Entrepreneur Inc. All rights reserved JASON DALEY lives and writes in Madison, Wisconsin. His work regularly appears in Popular Science, Outside and other magazines.
Illustration© Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur