I stumbled over an interesting student start up called KIVA.
This is a person-to-person micro lending online platform.
It has created great transperancy for the lenders to choose whom they wish to lend money. The website provides list of entrepreneurs all over the world, description of their business and loan amount they need.
Once the loan is made the lender can track the progress of the entrepreneur. He will receive his money back over time and can re-lend to the entrepreneurs on the website.
This starts from a small amount of $25 (~Rs.1000). Each $25 goes to a larger loan which helps the entrepreneurs in the developing economies to grow and establish their businesses. All the money crunch a developing economy experiences will be wiped out with this concept. It is very exciting for the entrepreneurs as well as the lenders.
Showing posts with label New kid in the block. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New kid in the block. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Monday, September 15, 2008
Chaiwala at IIM-Ahmedabad
Courtesy: The Telegraph
A humble chaiwala who inspired a website has been honoured with a case study at IIM-A on his business that has all the ingredients that go into a successful venture.
For the past 25 years, Ram Attar Kori has been selling student favourites such as tea, biscuits, egg bhujiya, buns, paan and cigarettes on the footpath outside the campus of the premier business school which has recognised him by “opening” a window through the border wall which allows easier access.
Today, Rambhai, 51, was in the classroom as an “observer”, listening to three management experts who presented a case study on his business model, which, as one of them said, was a humbling lesson on the untold success stories that abound on India’s dusty and bustling streets.
He keenly listened to the discussion on the case study presented by the three: Umesh Neelakantan of the DCMAT School of Media and Business, Kerala, Jaspreet Ahluwalia, assistant professor at the Centre for Management Training and Research, Mohali, and Sonal Katewa, assistant professor, Asia Pacific Institute of Management, Jaipur.
The trio are part of a batch of 38 business management teachers who are doing a faculty development programme at IIM.
“The reason why we chose Rambhai as our case study is that we noticed he had a huge clientele among the students. We learnt that he has been doing business at the same place for the last 25 years. As we have to do a case study as a part of our curriculum, we decided that instead of going to any corporate house, why not study this man who has blended various principles of management without undergoing any formal management training,” said Katewa.
Language was no barrier as Rambhai listened to the presentation on him and his business model.
“I was not supposed to say anything as I was there as a guest and observer,” said the man who had turned out for his big moment shorn of his patent stubble and smartly attired in a new olive green shirt and cream trousers.
Much like Pramod-da of Calcutta’s Presidency College and Arun-da of St Xavier’s, who has “retired”, Rambhai is a legend on campus. He has even inspired a website www.rambhai.com, which is a platform for free exchange of views, similar to the kiosk he runs where many ideas have been born.
The son of an agriculture labourer from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, Rambhai came to Ahmedabad at the age of four. After doing odd jobs, he started his teashop in the early eighties and has not looked back since.
And like any savvy entrepreneur, he isn’t willing to let out the numbers. “Let me say that I earn well enough to look after my needy relatives and educate my 20-year-old daughter, a student of fine arts at CN Vidyalaya,” he said, adding that the IIM experts had promised to help him expand his business. But students say his daily sale would be “at least” Rs 2,000.
Neelakantan said the rationale for doing a case study on the man was to show that “even an institute like IIM-A can learn a lesson from a street vendor”.
“Generally, street vendors are perceived to be tough and ill- mannered guys, but here is a man who is simple, loveable, light-hearted and yet has been successfully doing business outside an elite institute, stationing himself in one place for the last 25 years and maintaining a long-term customer relationship,” said Neelakantan.
Ahluwalia pointed out that even without formal management training, Rambhai was “practically executing all management principles”.
“Like every entrepreneur, he first saw an opportunity to start his own business outside the IIM-A campus, developed a strategy and maintained a system which ensured he got repeat customers,” said Ahluwalia.
Katewa said Rambhai mastered the concept of good customer relations: a popular management concept considered a cornerstone of success for any consumer product. “He has been observing customers. He realised the importance of location, right outside the IIM-A gate,” said Katewa.
A humble chaiwala who inspired a website has been honoured with a case study at IIM-A on his business that has all the ingredients that go into a successful venture.
For the past 25 years, Ram Attar Kori has been selling student favourites such as tea, biscuits, egg bhujiya, buns, paan and cigarettes on the footpath outside the campus of the premier business school which has recognised him by “opening” a window through the border wall which allows easier access.
Today, Rambhai, 51, was in the classroom as an “observer”, listening to three management experts who presented a case study on his business model, which, as one of them said, was a humbling lesson on the untold success stories that abound on India’s dusty and bustling streets.
He keenly listened to the discussion on the case study presented by the three: Umesh Neelakantan of the DCMAT School of Media and Business, Kerala, Jaspreet Ahluwalia, assistant professor at the Centre for Management Training and Research, Mohali, and Sonal Katewa, assistant professor, Asia Pacific Institute of Management, Jaipur.
The trio are part of a batch of 38 business management teachers who are doing a faculty development programme at IIM.
“The reason why we chose Rambhai as our case study is that we noticed he had a huge clientele among the students. We learnt that he has been doing business at the same place for the last 25 years. As we have to do a case study as a part of our curriculum, we decided that instead of going to any corporate house, why not study this man who has blended various principles of management without undergoing any formal management training,” said Katewa.
Language was no barrier as Rambhai listened to the presentation on him and his business model.
“I was not supposed to say anything as I was there as a guest and observer,” said the man who had turned out for his big moment shorn of his patent stubble and smartly attired in a new olive green shirt and cream trousers.
Much like Pramod-da of Calcutta’s Presidency College and Arun-da of St Xavier’s, who has “retired”, Rambhai is a legend on campus. He has even inspired a website www.rambhai.com, which is a platform for free exchange of views, similar to the kiosk he runs where many ideas have been born.
The son of an agriculture labourer from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, Rambhai came to Ahmedabad at the age of four. After doing odd jobs, he started his teashop in the early eighties and has not looked back since.
And like any savvy entrepreneur, he isn’t willing to let out the numbers. “Let me say that I earn well enough to look after my needy relatives and educate my 20-year-old daughter, a student of fine arts at CN Vidyalaya,” he said, adding that the IIM experts had promised to help him expand his business. But students say his daily sale would be “at least” Rs 2,000.
Neelakantan said the rationale for doing a case study on the man was to show that “even an institute like IIM-A can learn a lesson from a street vendor”.
“Generally, street vendors are perceived to be tough and ill- mannered guys, but here is a man who is simple, loveable, light-hearted and yet has been successfully doing business outside an elite institute, stationing himself in one place for the last 25 years and maintaining a long-term customer relationship,” said Neelakantan.
Ahluwalia pointed out that even without formal management training, Rambhai was “practically executing all management principles”.
“Like every entrepreneur, he first saw an opportunity to start his own business outside the IIM-A campus, developed a strategy and maintained a system which ensured he got repeat customers,” said Ahluwalia.
Katewa said Rambhai mastered the concept of good customer relations: a popular management concept considered a cornerstone of success for any consumer product. “He has been observing customers. He realised the importance of location, right outside the IIM-A gate,” said Katewa.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
No Clan, No Ilk, No Limits
Entrepreneurship has become viral now a days. I see no limits with the industry, space or scale.
I am talking about today's Indian youth who dont flaunt away their enterprises but just run behind their passion. The Unstoppable.
Here are a few of them:
Name: Galeej Gurus
Space: Music - Concerts
The team comprises of folks from 21 year old to 28 year old Ananth Menon. They are a team of five who came together to start Galeej Gurus in 2000. Now this team has a bag of achievements which includes a performance at Dubai Desert Rock Festival.
Achievements: > Playing alongside the Rasmus in 2005 > Opening for Deep Purple concert in 2006 > Headlining the popular national talent hunt campus Rock Idols South zone in 2006 and 2007........phew you got to google to know the rest of their acievements.
Name: Abhishek Mazumdar
Space: Arts - Theatre
Here is our 27 year old hero who finished his engineering and MBA and started discovering himself in theatre after achieving financial independence.
Achievements: > In 2006, he won the Charles Wallace Fellowship and continued to learn more about theatre and performing arts from then on...
Name: Vishal Talreja
Space: NGO - Empowering Underprevileged children
Vishal is 29 who set his foot as a social entrepreneur as the managing trustee of Drea a Dream (DAD). He gave up a lucrative job when he was 24 and involved himself in the social sector.
Achievements: > Regional finalists in the India NGO Awards 2007 > Received Ashoka Fellowship.
Courtesy: India Today
I am talking about today's Indian youth who dont flaunt away their enterprises but just run behind their passion. The Unstoppable.
Here are a few of them:
Name: Galeej Gurus
Space: Music - Concerts
The team comprises of folks from 21 year old to 28 year old Ananth Menon. They are a team of five who came together to start Galeej Gurus in 2000. Now this team has a bag of achievements which includes a performance at Dubai Desert Rock Festival.
Achievements: > Playing alongside the Rasmus in 2005 > Opening for Deep Purple concert in 2006 > Headlining the popular national talent hunt campus Rock Idols South zone in 2006 and 2007........phew you got to google to know the rest of their acievements.
Name: Abhishek Mazumdar
Space: Arts - Theatre
Here is our 27 year old hero who finished his engineering and MBA and started discovering himself in theatre after achieving financial independence.
Achievements: > In 2006, he won the Charles Wallace Fellowship and continued to learn more about theatre and performing arts from then on...
Name: Vishal Talreja
Space: NGO - Empowering Underprevileged children
Vishal is 29 who set his foot as a social entrepreneur as the managing trustee of Drea a Dream (DAD). He gave up a lucrative job when he was 24 and involved himself in the social sector.
Achievements: > Regional finalists in the India NGO Awards 2007 > Received Ashoka Fellowship.
Courtesy: India Today
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Entrepreneur Population growing
Courtesy: TOI
With a great job at Infosys that offered a long-term relocation to the UK, life couldn’t have gotten rosi
er for Santosh Rao. But Rao (29) gave it all up for an idea that caught his fancy while at B-school — to offer cost effective web portals for educational institutions. He quit Infosys last October to set up Vrixx Education Solutions in February and was soon joined by fellow Infoscian Arvind Singh (27). Today, they have a basement office in Indiranagar with three employees — all in th
eir 20s. “We’re not very cash rich and projects are trickling in by and by. But it doesn’t seem like work to Arvind or me. This is what we enjoy doing,” says the IIM-Kolkata grad. Like Rao, there are an increasing number of young professionals — mostly in their 20s — who’re quitting cushy jobs for the challenge of entrepreneurship. “There is no official record of the number of entrepreneurs in the country, so there is no way one can get exact figures on the increase of entrepreneurs. However, there are many indicators that one can look at to see the increase in entrepreneurs,” says Laura Parkin, executive director of National Entrepreneurship Network, a body that seeks to promote entrepreneurship by bringing together students and entrepreneurs. “For one, there has been a heightened participation of students in NEN — from 500 five years ago to 55,000 today. Another is the number of entrepreneurship societies that have been formed.” Clubs like Kickstart, Mobile Mondays, Proto.in and Open Coffee Club (OCC) have opened in the past five years across the country and the membership numbers in each city run into hundreds. “Out of the 50 core entrepreneurial members in our club, at least 40% are below or around 30,” says Amarinder Singh, co-ordinator of OCC Bangalore. “There is also great interest from students and professionals who come in wondering if they’re up to taking the plunge.” Venture capital companies too have noticed a marked increase in projects that flow in. “From about 10 projects in a month, we now look at around 50 every month. And although there has been a marked interest in entrepreneurship across board, there is certainly much more buzz from the age group of people in their early 30s,” says Kanwaljit Singh, MD of Helion Venture Partners. VC companies estimate that there has been almost 40% increase in young professionals who have quit their jobs to be their own bosses. “I met an IIT-Delhi grad a couple of weeks ago who came to me with a project. He told me that 80% of his batchmates are now entrepreneurs,” says Anjana Vivek, founder of VentureBean Consulting. Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are leading the entrepreneur brat pack, with Pune and Hyderabad catching up. In Bangalore, most of the entrepreneurs are in the technology, internet, mobile and telecom space, while Chennai sees more action in the service and software product segment. Mumbai’s entrepreneurs gravitate towards internet companies and non-technology ventures like retail, particularly F&B retail. “At least 40% of today’s entrepreneurs in the mobile and internet space is dominated by people in their late 20s and early 30s. Mobile related applications see huge interest in India because of the enormous market size,” says T C Meenakshisundaram, MD of venture capital firm IDG Ventures India. “The quality of deals has gone up. We now see more organized projects, greater products and better business models.” It’s mostly corporate executives — with average experience of eight to ten years — from IT services companies like Infosys, Wipro and TCS who are turning into entrepreneurs. “But I would like to see more people from companies like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Nokia. We need more product-based companies rather than service companies,” says Meenakshisundaram. Yet to mature However, entrepreneurship and the venture capital (VC) community in India is not a mature segment. “Most start ups lack organizational and managerial skills. They want to start their business but lack professional management. When a VC comes in, the young guys find it hard to share their space with someone senior from the industry,” says Harish Gandhi, executive director of Canaan Partners. “Along with our funding we bring in professional management, which the start ups can’t always handle.” Murugavel Janakiraman, CEO of Consim Info (formerly Bharat Matrimony), reminisces his initial days of VC participation in 2006 with a smile. “I was not used to answering anyone for the eight years that I ran the company alone. And suddenly you find yourself facing a board of directors,” he recalls. “It’s not easy. But you learn to appreciate their experience, which enables them to give you great advice in times of crisis.” The network and contact base of the more experienced members too is an advantage that young entrepreneurs take time to appreciate. VCs feel that most start up teams are either an all-techie bunch without much business acumen or are a marketing team without much knowledge or understanding of technology. “To find a complete team is the biggest challenge with new companies. I would rather fund a great team with a good idea than a good team with a great idea. A great team can quickly learn the market nuances that make a successful venture,” says Meenakshisundaram. When Sunil Maheshwari (33) and his partner Lekh Joshi (32) floated Mango Technologies two years ago, the biggest challenge was to get funds to start their venture. The company provides mobile applications platform for low cost devices targeting emerging markets. “Most of the venture capital firms are US-based. Their mindset is different so while funding they think in terms of the US business environment,” says Maheshwari. “They need to understand that the way business functions here is totally different. Entrepreneurs who have only lived in India and not in the US, display a cultural difference in their estimation of money required for a venture and utilisation of funds. Getting angel funding is not difficult in the US but in India it’s not easy to get even Rs 20 lakh to 30 lakh.” Maheshwari faced challenges in accessing seed money to start the company and do the initial setup. “The product market is a longterm game and you need to understand that every product may not be successful but returns are also very high for a successful product,” he says. “Seed money was a constraint, but all of us at Mango have really enjoyed going through this phase. It gave us the strength to save every rupee and give our best in a constrained environment.” At the end, nothing succeeds like success. “The concept of entrepreneurship has been romanticised a lot. A lot of people jump in thinking it’s ‘cool’. But it’s a lot of hard work and it takes a strong team to stick it out,” says Rao. MORE STORIES 1 Praveen Jain (29) quit KPMG to start E-Media Genie — a retail marketing firm to install LCD screens in pharmacies — in August 2007 with childhood friend Naresh Kothari (29) and already has 100 pharmacies as clients. 2 Anand (30) quit Amazon to join hands with Aparna Sharma (28) and Prashant Gyan (25), both of whom quit Oracle, to start Kuliza Technologies, an offshore product development firm in September 2006. Today, they have 40 people on payroll and generate profits. 3 Jay Gupta (33) plunged straight into retail after college and four years ago started discount store The Loot on banker support. Today he runs 30 stores in 15 cities. 4 Prodipto Ghosh (35) quit KPMG and started Math sQuotient, an operation consulting services firm, in 2004 and has Tata Tele Services and Siemens on his client list.
With a great job at Infosys that offered a long-term relocation to the UK, life couldn’t have gotten rosi
er for Santosh Rao. But Rao (29) gave it all up for an idea that caught his fancy while at B-school — to offer cost effective web portals for educational institutions. He quit Infosys last October to set up Vrixx Education Solutions in February and was soon joined by fellow Infoscian Arvind Singh (27). Today, they have a basement office in Indiranagar with three employees — all in th
eir 20s. “We’re not very cash rich and projects are trickling in by and by. But it doesn’t seem like work to Arvind or me. This is what we enjoy doing,” says the IIM-Kolkata grad. Like Rao, there are an increasing number of young professionals — mostly in their 20s — who’re quitting cushy jobs for the challenge of entrepreneurship. “There is no official record of the number of entrepreneurs in the country, so there is no way one can get exact figures on the increase of entrepreneurs. However, there are many indicators that one can look at to see the increase in entrepreneurs,” says Laura Parkin, executive director of National Entrepreneurship Network, a body that seeks to promote entrepreneurship by bringing together students and entrepreneurs. “For one, there has been a heightened participation of students in NEN — from 500 five years ago to 55,000 today. Another is the number of entrepreneurship societies that have been formed.” Clubs like Kickstart, Mobile Mondays, Proto.in and Open Coffee Club (OCC) have opened in the past five years across the country and the membership numbers in each city run into hundreds. “Out of the 50 core entrepreneurial members in our club, at least 40% are below or around 30,” says Amarinder Singh, co-ordinator of OCC Bangalore. “There is also great interest from students and professionals who come in wondering if they’re up to taking the plunge.” Venture capital companies too have noticed a marked increase in projects that flow in. “From about 10 projects in a month, we now look at around 50 every month. And although there has been a marked interest in entrepreneurship across board, there is certainly much more buzz from the age group of people in their early 30s,” says Kanwaljit Singh, MD of Helion Venture Partners. VC companies estimate that there has been almost 40% increase in young professionals who have quit their jobs to be their own bosses. “I met an IIT-Delhi grad a couple of weeks ago who came to me with a project. He told me that 80% of his batchmates are now entrepreneurs,” says Anjana Vivek, founder of VentureBean Consulting. Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are leading the entrepreneur brat pack, with Pune and Hyderabad catching up. In Bangalore, most of the entrepreneurs are in the technology, internet, mobile and telecom space, while Chennai sees more action in the service and software product segment. Mumbai’s entrepreneurs gravitate towards internet companies and non-technology ventures like retail, particularly F&B retail. “At least 40% of today’s entrepreneurs in the mobile and internet space is dominated by people in their late 20s and early 30s. Mobile related applications see huge interest in India because of the enormous market size,” says T C Meenakshisundaram, MD of venture capital firm IDG Ventures India. “The quality of deals has gone up. We now see more organized projects, greater products and better business models.” It’s mostly corporate executives — with average experience of eight to ten years — from IT services companies like Infosys, Wipro and TCS who are turning into entrepreneurs. “But I would like to see more people from companies like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Nokia. We need more product-based companies rather than service companies,” says Meenakshisundaram. Yet to mature However, entrepreneurship and the venture capital (VC) community in India is not a mature segment. “Most start ups lack organizational and managerial skills. They want to start their business but lack professional management. When a VC comes in, the young guys find it hard to share their space with someone senior from the industry,” says Harish Gandhi, executive director of Canaan Partners. “Along with our funding we bring in professional management, which the start ups can’t always handle.” Murugavel Janakiraman, CEO of Consim Info (formerly Bharat Matrimony), reminisces his initial days of VC participation in 2006 with a smile. “I was not used to answering anyone for the eight years that I ran the company alone. And suddenly you find yourself facing a board of directors,” he recalls. “It’s not easy. But you learn to appreciate their experience, which enables them to give you great advice in times of crisis.” The network and contact base of the more experienced members too is an advantage that young entrepreneurs take time to appreciate. VCs feel that most start up teams are either an all-techie bunch without much business acumen or are a marketing team without much knowledge or understanding of technology. “To find a complete team is the biggest challenge with new companies. I would rather fund a great team with a good idea than a good team with a great idea. A great team can quickly learn the market nuances that make a successful venture,” says Meenakshisundaram. When Sunil Maheshwari (33) and his partner Lekh Joshi (32) floated Mango Technologies two years ago, the biggest challenge was to get funds to start their venture. The company provides mobile applications platform for low cost devices targeting emerging markets. “Most of the venture capital firms are US-based. Their mindset is different so while funding they think in terms of the US business environment,” says Maheshwari. “They need to understand that the way business functions here is totally different. Entrepreneurs who have only lived in India and not in the US, display a cultural difference in their estimation of money required for a venture and utilisation of funds. Getting angel funding is not difficult in the US but in India it’s not easy to get even Rs 20 lakh to 30 lakh.” Maheshwari faced challenges in accessing seed money to start the company and do the initial setup. “The product market is a longterm game and you need to understand that every product may not be successful but returns are also very high for a successful product,” he says. “Seed money was a constraint, but all of us at Mango have really enjoyed going through this phase. It gave us the strength to save every rupee and give our best in a constrained environment.” At the end, nothing succeeds like success. “The concept of entrepreneurship has been romanticised a lot. A lot of people jump in thinking it’s ‘cool’. But it’s a lot of hard work and it takes a strong team to stick it out,” says Rao. MORE STORIES 1 Praveen Jain (29) quit KPMG to start E-Media Genie — a retail marketing firm to install LCD screens in pharmacies — in August 2007 with childhood friend Naresh Kothari (29) and already has 100 pharmacies as clients. 2 Anand (30) quit Amazon to join hands with Aparna Sharma (28) and Prashant Gyan (25), both of whom quit Oracle, to start Kuliza Technologies, an offshore product development firm in September 2006. Today, they have 40 people on payroll and generate profits. 3 Jay Gupta (33) plunged straight into retail after college and four years ago started discount store The Loot on banker support. Today he runs 30 stores in 15 cities. 4 Prodipto Ghosh (35) quit KPMG and started Math sQuotient, an operation consulting services firm, in 2004 and has Tata Tele Services and Siemens on his client list.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
22 year old MD
Aadith Vikram, 22, MD and Vice Chairman of PGC Industries and Group asks "Where is my boss?"
If you are wondering what this is all about.........well it is about a new portal started by PGC Infotech which offers online live interview between employee and employer.
To know more about his innovations visit http://www.whereismyboss.com/.
He proudly mentions that 670 companies have shown interest in participating on this portal.
With other major players like naukri, ibibo, monster...we need to wait and watch how far this innovation would go.........
If you are wondering what this is all about.........well it is about a new portal started by PGC Infotech which offers online live interview between employee and employer.
To know more about his innovations visit http://www.whereismyboss.com/.
He proudly mentions that 670 companies have shown interest in participating on this portal.
With other major players like naukri, ibibo, monster...we need to wait and watch how far this innovation would go.........
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Entrepreneur behind passion
Here is a budding entrepreneur who works for his passion. He calls himself a simple guy with big dreams.
He has created a very interesting and up to date website about the events happening in Bangalore which help Bangaloreans to know their city better.
He is working on many such projects which are useful to people.
Anybody who would want to know more about branding should reach him at his blog netbramha.
He has created a very interesting and up to date website about the events happening in Bangalore which help Bangaloreans to know their city better.
He is working on many such projects which are useful to people.
Anybody who would want to know more about branding should reach him at his blog netbramha.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Small ideas lead to big incomes - Choco lady
The 25 year old chocolate lady, Rashmi who started selling chocolates as diwali gifts turned to be a great hit. She started it with an investment less than a lakh which was funded by her father.
This concept gained a great acclaim and has been welcomed by many corporates.
The Rage chocolate is handled by her with the help of a small team of 8 assistants for packaging and 2 chefs.
Great going young lady......... To know more follow the link above.
This concept gained a great acclaim and has been welcomed by many corporates.
The Rage chocolate is handled by her with the help of a small team of 8 assistants for packaging and 2 chefs.
Great going young lady......... To know more follow the link above.
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