I have had to paraphrase some of the quotes - at the same time, trying to preserve the essence of what was discussed.
Abstracting Product risk as you bootstrap.
We have always built our products with our first customers.
- Anand Soman.
Product Timeline - on reaching milestones in IP development, Sales and Growth.
Bootstrapping is to…
Survive as long as it takes to get past that first milestone. Avoid putting financial pressure on your personal savings.
- Shridhar Shukla.
Products and Services - using Services aligned to your Product to Bootstrap your company
One way to look at a Product is an encapsulation of Services… what if you were to invert that?
- Tarun Malaviya.
On VC’s versus Bootstrapping. It is unfortunate that the discussion descended in to a VC-funded versus bootstrapping.
By itself, bootstrapping is a complex topic. First-time entrepreneurs need to understand bootstrapping better in order to create financial security and therefore be in control of their companies. This is where input from the panelists should have been directed.
Several VC’s from leading Valley-based funds have gone on record to state that their primary motivation to set up base in India is financial engineering and not seeding innovation. Tarun also asserted during the panel discussion that less than 1 out of 10 companies will receive seed or venture funding. With that in mind, I feel that bootstrapping is a crucial skill for all entrepreneurs targeting India as a market.
I recently met a young Canadian girl who has chosen Pune for her startup too.
She has been a yoga practitioner for over 8 years and came to India in 2005. She has been traveling and teaching in different parts of the country and finally decided to start up her business in Pune. I enrolled for her first batch of Power Yoga and have loved every minute of the 75 minute class she conducts twice a week.
A lot of friends commented on the irony of learning yoga from a “firangi” especially in Pune. Well, competition in all areas is always good for the city. I look at her class just like another startup, that comes with a lot of enthusiasm and energy, and delivers a compelling product that makes me keep coming back for more. Every startup needs early adopters and her’s is no different.
In my conversations with her, she explained the poor economics for yoga teachers who are associated with gyms. Branded gyms offer them a measly Rs. 200 per class not to mention the problems of loud music while trying to teach शवासन. These new gyms offer a “pay once and try any of our activities” vs. a “pay as you go” pricing model. This ends up de-motivating (by underpaying) the teachers of various activities (power yoga, salsa, bollywood dancing) and the really good ones have to step out to create their own brand.
For customers like me it’s a bonus to go to her, A) The difference in attitude and health that comes with a good yoga teacher is worth every penny and B) it’s actually cheaper than paying the gym for stuff I’d never use because I want to focus on this activity.
So how did she bootstrap her first batch of students? Well, she attended Shiamak Davar’s dance classes as a student for a few months (associate yourself with a known brand) and collected friends and referrals who would be her first customers when she started up. That’s where I met her and so did most of the others in the class. Incidentally, DARE magazine recently featured a story on Shiamak’s entrepreneurial journey.
The problems she faces are no different from those faced by the startups in the Pune Open Coffee Club - power backup during classes, balancing rent vs. attracting customers in popular locations in the city, and most importantly, building a brand from scratch. Her being a foreigner with no family or financial support makes it no easier.
I’d like to see entrepreneurs like her join the Pune Open Coffee Club. Despite the heavy majority of tech-startups, I’m hoping the Club format will always stay Open and encourage all kinds of entrepreneurs.
Success in new markets for Startups is a lot like Bowling, where you have to hit the right pins first with all the right angles in order to get a ricochet effect and down all the other pins. Focus your energy on the right pin, but don’t lose the big picture. — Paraphrased from our conversation with Mohanjit Jolly.
The Bowling Pin analogy first appeared in the book “Inside the Tornado“, Geoffrey Moore.
After 48 hours of non-stop talking, interspersed with few hours of sleep, we’re finally getting back to answering an avalanche of unread emails.
We presented Lipikaar at the summer edition of Proto IV 2008 (July 18-19, at I.I.T. Delhi) along with 15 other finalists. Here’s a video of the 6 minute presentation we made to an audience of over 400.
The highlight of the event was the enthusiastic response we received at our stall after the presentation. Lipikaar’s simplicity struck a chord with everyone as they came over to narrate their past experiences and their pain points with Indic language typing.
Our entire team is super excited with the possibilities, and we realize that we have miles to go before we can celebrate. A big thank you to the committed team behind Proto, and to all our friends, colleagues, and mentors who made it happen.
Lipikaar is a simplified typing method for both monolingual and bilingual users. The tool is designed to encourage extensive usage of Indic languages beyond a casual remark or a phrase. For example, typing a document, an article, an email, a presentation, a blog - all of these currently happen in English because we have a mechanical typing method (keyboard). — Proto Coverage Blinkmagic,Ferox Foods, NextBit, Lipikaar, Eko on Plugged.in
The desktop version of Lipikaar allows you to create all types of documents in Windows XP, Win 2000, Vista, ME while the plugin enables the same functions online. Lipikaar also empowers instant messaging in local languages.
We really liked the product and it was one of our favorite companies that presented at Proto this year. The Alootechie editor downloaded the plug in and is very happy with the way it works! — Proto 4 - A Winner’s Showcase, AlooTechie.
Rahul Khanna’s Take – “Interesting technology, but needs a compelling application to drive adoption.” - A Quick VC Take on Proto Startups, VCCircle.
Lipikaar is a patented solution we’ve been working on to ease Indic language typing on the desktop, mobile and on the web. You can try a live demo here - http://www.lipikaar.com. Lipikaar enables typing and interaction in all Indian languages. In order to use Lipikaar, all you need is knowledge of the regional language script and familiarity with the regular keyboard.
In every Pune OpenCoffee Club meet, you can’t help but notice the energy that Entrepreneurs bring with them. It is exciting and infectious. However, the Pune OCC is proving to be more than just about youth and learning. On July 3rd, Neeraj Arora of Google’s Corporate M&A wing, Neill Brownstein and Anjana Kaul of Footprint Ventures spoke about their respective organizations and philosophies. Over 50 Pune OCC members turned up for the event. Keep reading →
When I started the Pune Open Coffee Club in March 2008 on the suggestion of a friend, Vijay Anand (Founder, Proto.in), little did I know that in a short span of three months, the Club would attract over 200 members.
Anjali and I used to brainstorm ways of marketing POCC, and one of the ideas that really helped was coinciding our first major POCC meeting with the VC Circle conference in Pune in April. Since the conference was filled with investment bankers, the VCs who wanted to meet entrepreneurs came to the POCC event
It’s exciting for us to see new members joining the Club every week, especially with all the action they’re bringing with them.
Here are some of highlights of June and July in case you’ve missed something.
Sukshma.net is dedicated to understanding the path that leads to startup success.
Your hosts are Santosh Dawara and Anjali Gupta. Both of them are entrepreneurs, have founded, been a part of, run and flipped several startups in the past. They are based out of the Mumbai-Pune area.
Santosh
Anjali