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ISB alumni Subramani Ramachandrappa, from the Class of 2004, and Founder and CEO of Richcore Lifesciences, was the apt moderator for the panel on ‘Business Opportunities in Emerging Markets’, which was hosted at the ILS 2008 by the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (EVC) club. The panellist comprised Santanu Paul, VP & Head of Global Delivery Operations, Virtusa, Anand Shah, Founder Indicorps Vishal Vashisth, Cleanpartner, and DD Ganguli, CEO, DimDim Inc.
The format was an interactive one. Budding entrepreneurs among the student community had a list of questions which the panel took up, and this lead to a series of interactions, Q & A and learnings from each other.
“How can the present economic scenario be turned into an opportunity?” Ganguly suggested that we need to keep our perspectives about the slowdown in line with today and not compare this with the dotcom burst or the Great Depression. “One good thing is that people now will save money, and you could go to them with the value proposition of helping them save their money,” he said.
Paul urged those present not to sensationalise this “gloom and doom” scenario, and rather use it to build better transparency and better check and balance systems. Shah added, “In such times be more accountable, more disciplined. Be smarter about opportunities.” Vashisth said that the macro picture supports the long term picture for emerging markets. He said that in these times it is necessary to have a “builders mentality” and not a “traders” one. “This is the best time to start up, assemble a great management team, a time when everyone seems scared,” he said. To another query on “what ticks?” Vashisth said that one should look inward to answer that. “What is it that you are good at 24/7, build on that," he advised. Is it the right time ? was another question put up.
Shah said that it was always the right time , and again never the right time . “The right time is now if you are willing,” he said. Paul said that in these times of uncertainty a mature investor and a mature entrepreneur must come together and co-create as there can never be a win –lose situation is such cases. Subramani pointed out that India is copying business models of developed nations – will it work?
Vashisth, mentions that we need to understand the nuances of our country before adopting models and customise it to emerging markets. Paul also spoke about two kinds of entrepreneurs - the fair weather one and the real ones . He observed that the first kind often don’t survive long. Tenacity, he said, was crucial in such an environment . The panel agreed that ultimately it was all about building a great company, and that in a winning team there are no losers
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