Yet another year is out!!!

I normally do not write or worry about the years that are bygone, when you get visited yet again and reminded yet again that your time is running out. Is this year a special year?. Are the issues that we encountered or solved more important to receive a mention when the time makes its call on your life?. Is one running away from reality or learning new realities as time makes it relentless forward movement?. Is truth changing it's color or social structures and moral and ethical questions varying in it's true interpretations within oneself?. Is the rigor of the modern day world of black and white representation in success and failure, with an ever moving goal-post too much to digest?. Or if I were to die today, would i have been comfortable with what i have done with my life so far?. And is means more important than the end or is the end in itself the most important?. If means were more important the death question would get settled easily, while if end was more important then, it is difficult to really answer that question honestly; So does one really look back at life as lost opportunities or great experiences and experiments?. Is doing or saying or achieving or falling in love following ones heart so important to make the fear of death irrelevant; or is it a mere manifestation of the social conditioning that makes one think that these are important? Sometimes, what that is unsaid and not attempted are more important in this journey, for it defines more of ones internal and external conditioning; than what we try to do and succeed or fail.

Passion and Entrepreneurship

Is there a relationship between entrepreneurship and passion. Is an entrepreneur driven more by passion or more by the business case or an opportunity vacuum that he is trying to fulfil. It is very difficult to say. There can be two types of entrepreneurs. One who derives passion from his business case and the other who derives a business case because of his passion. Are these the same or different.?. Interesting question?. In the initial stages of an entrepreneurial venture, the passion drives the venture through the thick and thin, but as the venture matures, it is more the business case that drives the venture, and less of the passion. However entrepreneur's who were driven by passion to derive a business case, will slowly start feeling left out and lonely as the venture matures for passion is no longer the key comepetency that drives the future, but more of practical stuff, which is more data and market driven, compared to people and passion driven. If you are of this type, it might be time, you look for a transition plan for yourself and get a professional CEO!

Go Kiss the World - Subroto Bagchi - Penguin Books

A nice book to read. How young is the IT Industry, but it's growth and dominance suddenly gives the feeling that it has matured and been here for many long years; and the problems that it poses to people are numerous. Gives a good perspective of what to expect and what not, and a lot of good insight into making best of what one has, to achieve ones goals, rather than getting carried away by the boom and bust cycles and a pseudo sense of security or in-security.

On Entrepreneurship

I keep reading articles and books on the great potential India has because of the young population and the great entrepreneurial spirit of our population. More and more educated middle-class are venturing into business. This is indeed a good sign. And more and more i read of this great potential of young India, because of the large number of business leader's that this nation is churning out; (Sometimes i do wonder why the same amount of leadership and energy does not spill over into our politics), i wonder in the back of my mind; are we trumpeting too early?.

Enterpreneurship is not about a great business idea or about making money, but in most cases it is either an accident or is for making a point; is a statement on the entrepreneurial teams ability to take financial risk's to prove a point that they have the will to achieve what they set their eyes on, and are willing to go all the way to achieve that, and will learn as they go; It is in some sense the entrepreneurs courage to take the path less trodden, question conventional wisdoms, able to ignore and withstand pressures from many who will give million reason why it is not the right thing to do; In india, we still have a large deficit of this, for we are culturally a close and protected society, with all new things seen with suspicion, and following familiar paths and footsteps make everyone comfortable.
Until this cultural barrier gets broken, we are not going to see an explosion of leadership and entrepreneurial talent. Without such a large expansion in our entrepreneurial talent, growth and innovation are going to be slow in India, and without entrepreneurial innovation we still will be an economy always in catchup mode. Rarely have we heard of any technology startups that had a unique product or patent or business model, that changed the rules of the game in the world. Rarely have we heard of a new entrant in mature market, changing the rules of the game like a Wal-Mart; We still are not using the entrepreneurial energy of young India and we need enable that to make a serious difference.
The road ahead for India and entrepreneurship is about unleashing the energy of the millions of youths and impoverished in our countryside and enabling them to earn a living with respect and allowing them to unleash their creativity to make a difference to their life and the life of people around them; If we enable them to have the courage to dream and give the required support, only then can we rest assured that India's future and growth story is secure. Our focus on the ivy league entrepreneurship or pedigree entrepreneurship is a sure shot way to disaster or follow me entrepreneurship is a sure shot recipe for disaster. If college dropt out's like steve jobs or an arkansas retail shop owner can take on the entrenched players, we have many such geniuses in our country side and they are the true messiah's who will make a difference to this country.

Poverty - A state of mind

During my last visit to our office on the outskirt's in a 2nd tier city in south india, i took time to talk to the local village panchayat and the local self-help groups. Was surprised to hear that there are a huge number of needy in the different wards of the panchayat. In many cases the reasons for the problem lie with the alchoholic male members of the family, who earn and drink leaving nothing for the family, and in other cases, the only earning member being severely ill and thereby unable to earn any money. And if these families or the earning members have no work for a day, and the money does not come into the household, they go without food for that day. And all help that the local self government or even the state government can do in such cases is an emergency fund of a maximum of Rupees 500, which might not mean much to cover for the expenses. And the saddest part of all is that many people who are afflicted by Hepatitis, TB or other serious illness, will keep on ignoring the symptoms and work or male members drink to forget the symptoms, for if they do not work, they have no food for that day, untill they can no longer stand up and work, and by then it would be too late. Can we do anything about it?. Can we give these people hope for the future?. Or they are to blame for they had had their chances and let it go again and again?. Or the governments responsibility is to provide affordable health care to all, but their economic upliftment out of poverty is for theirs to mend?.

Satyam and promoter holdings

It is important that if the promoter holding goes belows a thresh-hold in family owned companies, the company management should be entrusted with professionals and not run by the promoters, for the incentive for promoters to increase shareholder value reduces as their holdings reduce, and syphoning money out or investing in other companies of promoters where there is sub-stantial holdings and fraud is the end result. This will be especially true of family owned companies with very low promoter holding in India. Expecting corporate governance to un-earth such fraud might be too much to ask of the board, especially in a country, where corruption in our social setup and mindset is norm than exception.

Banker to the poor - bringing people out of poverty with dignity

Making business sense at the bottom of the pyramid and there by making a huge impact on the lives of millions and enabling a third of them to come out of poverty with dignity is something spectacular and that is what Muhammed Yunis and Grameen Bank have shown in Bangladesh. His book 'Banker to the Poor' is a well written biography and does touch a real chord in all, especially people in the Indian sub-continent. His is an exemplary story of having changed the conventional wisdom on its head and made business sense, which has ushered in an era of micro-credit that has changed the way people look at the bottom of the pyramid.
All have a right to dignity and self respect and any program for the poverty alleviation or education for the poor that does not involve them in the process with dignity and self respect is bound to fail.

On Satyam, greed and corruption

Are the heroes that we worship really true.?. Are the brands we talk about really profess the value that it is said to carry?. Or the market and society too competitive and harsh, that one when faced with the wall, takes short-cuts and loose moral fortitude?. Or can the society be corrupt only in the public sector and not in the private sector?. Or is that corruption is a state of the mind in India, and all our great men in public life, government and private sector are corrupt by their circumstances and environment, and it is just a matter of time, when it comes out in practice, and a matter of chance that it get's caught; for the state of mind of India society is attuned to this?.

It is strange that with all the modern day regulation and technology, for years an Index stock could have created or cooked up almost 2 Billion dollars. It seems true that, the nation collectively believes that our politicians cannot fail, our heroes cannot do wrong and our stars are allowed a few minor mistakes and the system keeps looking to the other side, and do not want to open a Pandora's box, but the poor men and women of India are just another arithmetic for the census and for whom the system profess democracy and rule of law and then lets to rot.

On emancipation of poor and education

The state of being poor, illiterate or un-educated and not having access to basic amenities are serious issues that we in the developing world see, hear and read daily, but tend to assimilate as another aspect of our social setting. And very rarely do one see of efforts where charity by the haves or by the people with guilt transcend the realms of individual self esteem in their charitable activities.

Kudumbashree is one such movement that has tried to address the issue wholistically and the results and achievements are impressive.