I really like and enjoy learning from people and one way I do this is to attend meetups and talks , connect with others and listen to their stories and their plans for future .
I recently attended a meetup by iSEED organized as a part of their community outreach. Thanks to Girdharee Saran and others at iSEED for organizing an awesome session .
Talk by Rohit Mehra onStartup Valuation process and term sheet
Here are the key points which I remember from both talks by Rohit Mehra and Sidhartha Tripathi in, no particular order :
- Sanskrit origin of word “Entrepreneur” : I got to know about this from V A Shiva earlier at meetup by startup grind . ‘Antah Prerna’ , a Sanskrit word meaning ‘Inner Calling ‘ is origin of word ‘Entrepreneur’ , which may or may not be true but seem more logically related to concept of Entrepreneurship than the french origin ‘entrependre’ which means to undertake .
- You can get co-founders: It is more common currently with a growing ecosystem than earlier where most probably friends would be co-founders .You don’t have co-founder , advertise about it , discuss with like minded people , figure out who’ll suit your venture’s vision best and get them with you .
- Know your own value : As a entrepreneur , it is crucial to not get swayed away by what others think about you/your venture and it is only possible if you have put thought into estimating your value .
- Work for a Higher Calling : Successful entrepreneur or great people in general do not work for temporary or short term gains , although money is necessary to eventually succeed in realizing that “make world a better place ” idea , but what drives them is the purpose of what they’re doing . In words of Mark Divine , if you know your WHY ,you won’t quit . Sidhartha told that he would be keen on hiring a person , who by working for him is actually working for his/her Higher calling of life.
- Angel or Devil : Angels / VC’s /PE , all are here to make money at minimum risk . So , as soon as these guys invest in you , you’re surely going to loose some control and some checks will be put on you . Mature Angels are those who understand and maintain a critical balance between keeping a check on the entrepreneur and minimizing the risk he’s taking .
- Keep Angels updated : Even though an Angel you approach now , may not invest in you immediately but keep them in loop and send them regular updates about your venture .
- Find your type of Angel : Although Angels want to make money and unlike VC’s are sector agnostic , however one question they would ask themselves before investing is how can they help you besides money , for e.g. mentoring , connection etc . So , it’s important to know the nature of your venture and get in touch with right Angel .
- Sustainability : Both Sidhartha and Rohit had the view that business should be sustainable by itself and should need external help while scaling up .
That’s all for now .I’ll update the post as soon as I get presentation from Girdharee .
CS WORLD 