The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.
February - 2007 - issue > Last Word
Being a successful entrepreneur
Vani Kola
Investment decisions are driven by two key factors—market opportunity and the quality of entrepreneur. Various investors have personal philosophies on whether market is more important or the entrepreneur. My personal opinion is that building a successful company starts with the Entrepreneur.
Defining Entrepreneurial traits
Entrepreneurs have a passion to conquer problems, the capacity to work hard, and the commitment for results. They have the supreme sense of self-confidence and belief-in-self to take the first step and see it to the end. With this courage of conviction, entrepreneurs look at risk differently. In essence, they are betting on a belief in their abilities to view and process data in a different way that creates opportunities others do not see.
Sometimes being a successful entrepreneur doesn’t directly translate into becoming a successful business leader. Entrepreneurs bring a purity of focus and produce broad value. A business leader needs to systematically analyze and scrutinize options in order to avoid being blind-sided or locked-in to one idea. Being a successful entrepreneur and a successful business leader requires an optimal balance between listening with a willingness to admit errors or change direction, and having courage of conviction.
Principles of Leadership
Leading an organization is a juggling act. Entrepreneurial leadership is not a popularity contest, but the inner discovery of right and wrong. Making decisions based on short-term kudos or seeking someone else’s approval is not effective long term. Doing so leads to compromise and breeds politics in an organization. And the impact of decisions made cannot always be judged in the moment. Difficult decisions may take long term perspective to decide if they were correct or not. These values must be sustainable in an environment where risk and uncertainty are high. Without core principles, trust in its leadership is undermined.
Defining Entrepreneurial traits
Entrepreneurs have a passion to conquer problems, the capacity to work hard, and the commitment for results. They have the supreme sense of self-confidence and belief-in-self to take the first step and see it to the end. With this courage of conviction, entrepreneurs look at risk differently. In essence, they are betting on a belief in their abilities to view and process data in a different way that creates opportunities others do not see.
Sometimes being a successful entrepreneur doesn’t directly translate into becoming a successful business leader. Entrepreneurs bring a purity of focus and produce broad value. A business leader needs to systematically analyze and scrutinize options in order to avoid being blind-sided or locked-in to one idea. Being a successful entrepreneur and a successful business leader requires an optimal balance between listening with a willingness to admit errors or change direction, and having courage of conviction.
Principles of Leadership
Leading an organization is a juggling act. Entrepreneurial leadership is not a popularity contest, but the inner discovery of right and wrong. Making decisions based on short-term kudos or seeking someone else’s approval is not effective long term. Doing so leads to compromise and breeds politics in an organization. And the impact of decisions made cannot always be judged in the moment. Difficult decisions may take long term perspective to decide if they were correct or not. These values must be sustainable in an environment where risk and uncertainty are high. Without core principles, trust in its leadership is undermined.
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