Being an Entrepreneur

If you are reading this, then I assume that you are a budding entrepreneur. So have you ever thought what enthuses you, and so many guys like you, to try being an entrepreneur. I believe I am talking to people who are really passionate about starting-up; passionate to an extent where you do not know what to start with, but you are sure that you want to startup something.

This passion is the driving force for most entrepreneurs, and bundled with passion comes energy, loads of it. The right combination leads to the making of a successful entrepreneur. The ideal age for starting-up, in my personal opinion is the twenties. Reasons, one, the youthful vigor and thrill-seeking attitude that builds up slowly during the teens, maximizes in the twenties and thereafter, tends to fade away, although not necessarily. Two, most people are free from family responsibilities in this phase, and are more likely to take and survive the risks and the strenuous working hours. This is my impression based on most of the success stories I have come across, and it’s not a theory in any way. I have seen Adobe being founded by two guys in their forties and I have seen a nineteen year old kid deliver Firefox. As I said earlier, the driving force is the right combination of passion and vigor, which I believe, comes in the twenties for most people.

The above discussion is incomplete in the sense that so many people have the passion and vigor, some even have the idea, and some have funds as well. Yet, not everybody can do this successfully – we all have seen people with, seemingly, all the right combinations try and fail at entrepreneurship. The question is what makes an entrepreneur, what are the essential skills, and most importantly, where does the difference lie?

I have a strong opinion that the basic skill of an entrepreneur lies in building a team and more importantly, leading the team. Along with this, he should have elementary skills and understanding of all related departments, for each of which he can always have a specialized person as manager. But, building a team definitely comes with a lot of expenses, so it is very important to for the entrepreneur to prioritize what kind of people need to come first and how their capabilities need to be exercised and utilized to take the venture in a positive direction. Another important role of the entrepreneur is one of a decision-maker, which is continuous and non-transferable in nature.

This is an open discussion. Please do leave your views on the subject so that we could have a live discussion here itself.

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Unveiling Next Big Idea

Hello World. The curtains have finally been lifted and we at NSRCEL, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore are excited as well as elated to finally unveil the Next Big Idea, described most simply as a business-plan competition. But, with an organizer like the NSRCEL, IIMB and sponsors like NSTEDB, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and Intel and Intel Education, you know that this is not going to be a simple business plan competition – you have to expect a lot more. So let this be the beginning of a novel epoch of ingenious and inventive ideas being shared, discussed and enriched in such a way that their implementation would not only be revolutionary and constructive for the society but also a pleasant and enjoyable experience for all those involved.

The details of the competition can be found on the official website of Next Big Idea. We are looking forward to receiving lots of ideas, which would be handpicked by experts so as to ensure that there is no injustice to any idea. Since this has been described as a competition, ideas would be eliminated at various stages with a view to have forty teams shortlisted, which would get a chance to participate in a fully-paid rigorous workshop at IIM Bangalore, where they would not only be intensively mentored, but would get a chance to interact with venture capitalists as well. Also, there is a strong possibility of them being incubated and raising seed funds as well. So this, in a way, ensures forty winners, which not many business plan competitions can boast of. Besides this, the top three ideas would be sponsored to participate in the Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge.

But as I said, this is no ordinary B-Plan competition where the top few win, and the rest are consoled with mere participation certificates and sweet talk. Next Big Idea assures a lot of exposure and interaction and with the masters of the trade, and various opportunities other than winning this competition to help you start a company based on your idea, if it is worthy enough. If not, you will definitely learn a lot about what makes your idea infeasible as a business, and would help you rectify your loopholes. For those who have great ideas, this is the perfect platform for you to reach-out to numerous people who can help you to realize your dreams. After all, the NSRCEL thrives on the tagline of “Ideas to Implementation” and Next Big Idea is yet another step on this road. We are not aiming to simply organize a competition but to develop a community of budding entrepreneurs who would get a platform to collaborate and co-work among themselves as well as interact with mentors and superiors of the industry.

So, if you have any idea, any random thought, which you think could be implemented into a business, all you need to do is, jot down a B-Plan and participate in Next Big Idea. If you aspire to be an entrepreneur, this is one opportunity you cannot afford to miss. This would be the perfect way to not only realize the viability of your idea, but also the ideal platform for implementation of your ideas as well. So, we urge you to keep following this space for further updates, and participate in the competition that ensures a win-win situation for all of us.

The competition has been announced so that you can start writing your things. To stay updated on when we would be starting to receive your entries, join us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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