The promise of India's startup economy

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India has been a thriving ground for aspiring entrepreneurs, as evidenced by the fact that even in the throes of the pandemic, a whopping 16,000 start-ups were recognized in the 2020-21 period. The industry is quite diverse as well, with roughly 75% of the country’s districts playing home to a start-up. This proves that this is not an occurrence limited to the urban & cosmopolitan areas of the country. What’s the road ahead for India’s robust start-up economy? Is this a short-term dream, or a long-term phenomenon.

To contemplate this monumental question, Knowledge Factory 2022 brought together three unique view points in a panel on The Promise of India’s Start Up Economy. The panel was led by Venkat Viswanathan (the CEO of LatentView) & Ajaita Shah (Founder of Frontier Market), while moderated by Professor Neharika Vohra (Vice Chancellor, Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University).

Venkat Viswanathan had spent 15 years in other companies before starting on his own: but he thinks that he was already an ‘intrepreneur’ even when working in those companies. As an entrepreneur, his mantra is the “3 Ms: Markets, Minds, Money”. For a start-up to success, it has to pivot towards what the market is demanding right now, without being restricted; focus on hiring the critical set of people who can get the company forward; and most importantly, realize that money is just an ingredient for success, not the only factor. 

Ajaita Shah’s journey as an entrepreneur was driven by her ethos: to provide the largest value & opportunity to the community. By working on the grassroot level, she was able to develop a holistic & nuanced understanding of her market, and had resulted in her organization, Frontier Markets evolving from being a clean-energy company to being a multi-product, multi-solution platform for rural customers. 

Do they have any key advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? According to Neharika, it is to first identify why you want to become an entrepreneur. “If your dream is to become an entrepreneur because you want to be your own boss, you’re barking up the wrong tree”. An entrepreneur’s main ambition should be to solve a problem. For Venkat, entrepreneurs should focus on framing the problem correctly, by spending the time to figure out what the exact problem they wish to solve before diving into the solution. 

As Ajaita opines, there are hundreds & thousands of small companies that are driving the local economy all over the country, and the focus should be on propelling them forward.