Entrepreneurship is a Strict Discipline

By Jaya Kishore B | Tuesday, 25 November 2008, 17:00 IST

Dr. Krishna Tanuku is cool, calm, articulated, and compassionate. As the Executive Director of Wadhawani Center for Entrepreneurship Development (WCED), he dreams of transforming Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem. After spending several years at the helm of various multinational companies, he began his association with the Indian School of Business (ISB) three years ago. His current passion is to help build the next generation of global enterprises based on innovative business and customer models of partnerships. Under the able leadership of Dr. Tanuku, WCED is all set to help create an encouraging ecosystem for entrepreneurship in India. Currently, it is working on bringing up governmental policy frame works both at the state and national levels. Recently, he spoke to Siliconindia on his thoughts about entrepreneurship. How do you see the evolution of entrepreneurial ecosystem in India? We've been talking about entrepreneurship in India for the last one decade or so. In fact, entrepreneurs have been there all along as one can see from the pages of evolution of any industry in India. When the Ambanis, Tatas, Narayana Murthy, or Premji began their ventures, nobody called them entrepreneurs. But in fact they were. Today they stand tall as matchless role models. However, the culture of entrepreneurship started to evolve here as a ripple effect of the progression of startup ecosystem in the Silicon Valley during the late '80s. India per se, witnesses a vibrant situation today. Especially, in the IT, BT, and pharmaceutical segments we can see a lot of vivacity. In India, to be an entrepreneur, how tough it was before and how less or more tough it is now? Today, people are more open for challenges and have greater risk appetite. Previously, the situation was tough because there was a lack of encouraging atmosphere to connect, share, and build the knowledge pool among the people sailing in the same boat. Today, technology and connectivity have made this simple and have helped building great knowledge pools. Entrepreneurs can now access the VCs very easily. The bigwigs like Intel, Sun, and IBM are increasingly investing in startups. Moreover, global exposure has made Indian youth much more confident. Yet, India still has a very long way to go to match the Silicon Valley. There are over 700 entrepreneurial development institutions in the U.S. startup ecosystem, while the number is around just 20 in India. There are at least 400 plus chaired professors in the field of entrepreneurship in the U.S., whereas you can hardly find any in India. What is your definition of entrepreneurship? Broadly speaking, entrepreneurship is a discipline, which can be nurtured by putting up an apposite ecosystem, with mentors, role models, and investors within it. Entrepreneurship is not only about starting a new business. It may be innovating on something already existing. It's not only about building something new, but is also about how intelligently you sell that stuff. What is your say on 'social stigma' attached to entrepreneurship in India? This is changing slowly as today's youth have lot more independent thinking. One can find this kind of stigma in the youth who are in their late thirties, but not in the youth in their twenties. They are brave. Actually it's not the stigma, but inadequate risk appetite. A venture can be successful only if the entrepreneur has the four key qualities in him ï¿½ honesty, patience, perseverance, and risk taking ability. What is the good time to become an entrepreneur you feel? There is no such 'good time' to become an entrepreneur. One can kick start his venture any time if he has a true passion to tackle challenges. It is important to have an open mind to learn from reality, which could be totally different from one's perception. He or she should be serious and committed about what he wants to do. However, if he waits for some more time, he can leverage the blend of passion, practical knowledge, and maturity. More importantly, an entrepreneur should be able to execute his vision out of available resources. He may be brilliant, but he may not essentially get people who are as bright as him. So, he should get his work done by average talents available and that's not an easy job. Ultimately, it all depends on how effectively you manage the resources and how they make it easy for the customers to access the offerings.

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