Firstly, let me apologize to my readers for not blogging for a while. I’ve been really busy with decidequick. It’s been a real rush and an awesome journey. Thank you all for your support and for believing in us. We’ve hit our milestones and hope to hit many more in weeks to follow.
Now onto the reason for this post. I recently came across a blogpost titled The Saga of “Lumpen Visionaries” of Kerala. I respect the author for his candid writing and for voicing his opinions.
But, and this is a big but; there are a lot of things that I do not agree with and may not have been brought to light in the blog. Let me first start off with what I agree with on the blogpost and kudos to the author for bringing it up :
1. Yes, there are people in the community who are promoting Entrepreneurship and there is buzz about it.
2. Yes, over 99% of the startups fail
3. Yes, there are many who don’t have experience in tech, wanting to create a tech startup
4. Yes, experience does matter in success
But here’s what the blog fails to throw light upon –
1. An entrepreneur doesn’t need to understand technology, but should be agile enough to find solutions to problems fast. The entrepreneur can hire the right people who know the technology. Technology is simply the business enabler, not the business !
2. The times are changing or have changed. The new generation (like it or not) are influenced by global events, companies and icons as well. Not to mention there are enough and more local mentors and icons to look upto. Today’s youth believe that there is a purpose of being and that it’s to create value. The commonly used phrase “Job Security” is irrelevant today and with two waves of financial crisis, the cost of IT infrastructure reducing, the cost of starting up reduced, the risks involved have also reduced.
3. “Entrepreneurship is just another way of making a living as Engineeing .. so, Entrepreneurs are not people from the other world… People having back-papers,poor academic backgrounds,social “misfits” are trying to fit into the mainstream by squeaking through the entrepreneurship channel .” – from a follow up chat on Facebook regarding the blog. Uh, yes entrepreneurship is another way of making a living, but a really cool way ! But yes, the author is right in saying that many who lack in academic backgrounds etc are trying to squeak into the entrepreneurship channel. This is a separate discussion altogether. Entrepreneurship can never be an escape from anything. One should also ask why they weren’t doing great in their respective courses, where does their real passion lie. No one can become an successful entrepreneur without a real passion. The passion cannot be imparted by someone else, but has to be ingrained. I’ve met with many student entrepreneurs and have seen a common trait – they all have a vision, a passion to do something.
Note that I said – a passion to do something. Most of them are passionate about solving a problem with a solution that their startup would develop. But there are others who are focused on technology or their idea that they lose track of the problem or pain point of the market that they are trying to solve. This clarity of thought or vision needs to be there in an entrepreneur.
4. No one should force anyone to take up Entrepreneurship. If no one has told this to budding entrepreneurs, here goes –
a. Entrepreneurship is a real painful job. It requires serious grit and determination
b. There will be many lows, frustrations, pressure from peers and family
c. You may make losses, go without any pay for months while you pay your employees
d. Entrepreneurs make huge sacrifices in terms of quality of life, time, vacations, parties
e. Entrepreneurs hear many NOs and NEGATIVE feedback before ever hearing any success
But if you make it through after all this and identify what works and repeat those steps to progressive milestones you have success!
Finally, if anyone asks “Have not you started it yet ?”, I think its a question you should ignore or point them to this blog because it would answer why entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.
Shameer Notes 