In my experience working with Entrepreneurs for the past 9 odd years and possibly have seen a few thousand startups, there is one key attribute that instantly sets apart the startups that just might make it, to the ones that would struggle – the clarity on the problem they are trying to solve. While we […]
Building a Scalable Sales Process
To ensure a predictable business plan it is important to have a repeatable and scalable sales process in place. Thereafter, increasing revenues as per the business plan would only mean increasing the sales team and the geographies that you intend to address. Once the sales process is in place, the sales team would only need […]
HR Ideas : Fresh Talent Acquisition, Campus Hiring, Tests for Hiring, ...
In this blog post we would focus on one of the key aspect of any building fresh talent pool for growth. Every growing organization cannot ignore this essential method for talent building. This method is successful based on the Job market, Industry awareness & Social Influence on the Young Generation in that market. There are […]
“Accelerators should not try and be all things to all people”
At the recent Venture Intelligence APEX’13 Summit, Sateesh Andra of VenturEast Tenet Fund provided what I thought was very useful guidance to entrepreneurs on which type of early stage investor to approach – depending on the type of company they were creating. Accelerators should not try and be all things to all people. They are […]
Things to know about Angel Investors
As a start-up, if you are looking for angel investors, it would help to remember the following: Have a complete Business Plan: Remember, you don’t need a 30-page plan. Investors do not have the time to go through such huge plans. They need all the information in a precise and concise form. It would help […]
Launching StartupCatalyst.in
Canaan Partners is pleased to announce the launch of StartupCatalyst.in – an online startup community, bringing practitioners insights and Canaan’s global expertise. Check it out!
Is India ready for Online-only Banks?
WSJ has an interesting article on online banks. In India, there has been rightful emphasis on financial inclusion as a key direction for banking sector. However, there is a segment of current users who could enjoy the efficiency of an online-only bank. Are Indian banks ready to make that transition? Is the regulator ready to […]
Nielsen Report – The Global Consumer
Interesting report from Nielsen regarding the mobile consumer. Has a ton of data on mobile usage patterns, and includes India as a key coverage market. Happy reading! http://nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reports-downloads/2013%20Reports/Mobile-Consumer-Report-2013.pdf
Tech Startups: We are NOT on our own
As much as Vijay would like us to be left on our own, doesn’t look like we have that option 🙂 The budget seems to continue to impede the pace at which Indian entrepreneurship wants to grow. Some key elements below. The tax passthrough status to angel funds is welcome. It seems that this immediately […]
Surviving the Series A Crunch
In the recent past, I have been asked on several occasions about how a founder can improve his/her chances of securing Series A financing. In many cases, these entrepreneurs have successfully raised seed or angel funding, but have struggled to raise the next round. I have written a column on my views/suggestions on how to […]
Tech Startups: We are on our own.
I remember this TED talk by Hans Rosling as he echoed the sentiments that I’ve heard working closely with Market Research firms: Even with quantitative data, you have to be careful because as much as they are hard numbers, they usually are averages of two extremes – and the markets are full of extremities. Truth is, if you […]
MobilePOS – a few questions
One of the primary reasons for this post on mobilePOS – is that we as a company are being inundated with requests from various mobilePOS start-ups from India, Europe and US, who seem to be replicating/inspired by the Square Inc. model and want to leverage , ‘Our network of merchants’. To explain ‘Our network of […]