Vol IV Iss IV

8/8/2019 Vol IV Iss IV

1/12

Interview with

Indias Biotech

Queen

www.ecell.in Vol IV Iss IV

ZyngasSuccess Mantra

Funding Tips

Cheap & Efective

Market Research

Sales & Marketing: The

Diference


2/12


3/12www.ecell.in/blog

other elements that make the gameplayintricate and involving. Now one mightwonder, where is the revenue streamin this whole melting, churning pot ogame elements. Heres a look-1. Advertisements: Running ads next to

the games with a high visibility.

Sip a cup o coee whilegunning

down policemen and thugs romrival gangs. Plow your elds, sowseeds and harvest crops while beingconned within the walls o a studioapartment o a 30 foor housing societyin the midst o the urban jungle. Virtualworlds have pervaded our liestyles,deeply binding millions o peopleworldwide with their hypothetical,pixelated tentacles. Heres a look at therevolutionary business model o socialnetworking games that are ast growinginto gaming giants which churn outmoney at an amazingly high pace.

The biggest player in this genre isZynga, which has uriously capturedthe market and raced onto becominga 34 million daily user business with a100 million dollar revenue stream thatcontinues to expand. Zynga createdthe current top three most populargames on social networking siteslike Facebook and MySpace whichincludes games like Maa Wars andFarmville. At a time when the adver-tisement market is at best fat and therecession has aected every nook and

corner o business markets, to hear thata startup is making that much moneywith an unproven business model iscuriosity- generating.

Lets rewind the clocks a bit to gaininsight into the development o thesephenomenal successes. Zyngas ounderis Mark Pincus, a foppy-haired Internetentrepreneur who named the companyater his now-deceased bulldog. Inearly 2007, Pincus learnt that Facebookis about to open its doors to sotwaredevelopers like game-makers. Sensing

an opportunity, he quickly assembleda small crew to work on an onlinecard game that eventually became theTexas HoldEm Poker. It was the rstFacebook game that people could playwith their online riends, even seeingtheir aces as they placed bets.

Similarly, Maa Wars urges the users toorm their own clan or maa amily andexpand their business by perormingcriminal jobs. The money that oneearns by perorming jobs can be used to

buy new weapons or may be investedin property. Investment guaranteesa steady income while ammunitionreserves enable you to take on rivalmaa gangs. Plus there are hidden trea-sures, achievement medals and various

2. Virtual Goods: A major chunk o its

earning comes through the sale ovirtual goods and in-game upgrades.For example in Texas Poker, playersspend real money to buy chips - $5or $75,000 in virtual money and $50or $5 million worth and they cannever cash out!

3. Online Jobs: Instead o using acredit card to buy chips, gamblerscould accept some sort o an oerrom a marketer. They might installan application on their computerrom TripAdvisor, or sign up orNetfix. Zynga gets paid an undis-

closed bounty every time one o itscustomers accepts such an oer.

Zynga has a detailed and secret strategymanual called the playbook, which isapparently a very valuable document. Itcontains Zyngas success mantra withgame design nuances and gameplaytips and strategies being buried in itspages. Some salient eatures o that are: Virality is an integral part o the

game. Players are encouraged toinvite their riends to play the gamein order to expand their empire in

the game. By attaching huge weightto the strength o a players clan inthe game, Zynga ensures a constantstream o new players.

Zynga gamers oten broadcast theirexploits to their Facebook riends;riends might receive a notice whensomeone starts playing FarmVille ormoves to a new level on Maa Wars.This eective use o notications inFacebook renders huge visibility tothe game.

The games are a never ending laddero achievements and players are

always striving to get to the nextlevel o engagement. Usually highbonuses accompany a level upgradethat makes level upgrade a muchawaited achievement. With almost1-2 level ups being available every24 hours in Maa Wars to regularplayers the game keeps peopleaddicted and hooked.

Actions or turns are limited so asto reduce server loads and costs.Some regenerate slowly every ewminutes, others simply reset every 24

hours. This also serves the purposeo keeping people hooked on or alonger time as they keep waiting orthe crops to harvest or energy to bereplenished.

ContinuedonPage8

2

An You Cant Refuse

The Entrepreneurial Journey

o Mark Pincus

A ormer management consultantand venture capitalist with an MBA

rom Harvard, Pincus made plenty o

money with past ventures but never

created a blockbuster company.

Pincus got his rst taste o entre-preneurial success in 1996. He

sold Freeloader, a company that

automatically pulled content romthe Web onto users hard drives,

or $38 million. Later he startedSupport.com, which sold sotware

to automate PC tech support. The

company went public in 2000,

raising $60 million. Pincus owned

17% o the company at its initial

public oering.

Ater that he ounded Tribe, an

early social network where people

could meet and chat online. But in

2003, pre-YouTube and Flickr, there

wasnt enough to engage people onthe site. The company ailed.

The rapid growth o Facebook,

now with 300 million active users,

gave Pincus his big idea. You havethis cocktail party- youve brought

everyone together (on Facebook),

he says, but theres nothing to do.

Games played with riends are one

way to ll users time.

Case Study


4/12

The startup activity in India hasshown ast growth over pastew years. More importantly,

the dominant prole o entrepreneurshas shited away rom people withamily wealth to proessionals andeven students. This has put a largedependency on external sources o

nancing throughout the lie cycleo the company. Knowing where toraise money and when can be criticalto nancing a startup heres a quickguide.

Savings, Friends and Family: Thisremains a key source o startupnancing at the very early stage. Therst ew lakhs o nancing, even inscenarios where the entrepreneur isbootstrapping, oten comes rom peoplewho know the entrepreneur. It is seldombased on a buy in into the business

plan, i one exists at that stage. It cansometimes be in orm o cash, but otenin terms o oce space or other assis-tance. This is the surest way to startout. O late, business colleagues andbosses have also become a rich sourceo this startup capital build relation-ships and credibility when you areworking, and you might have a betterchance tapping into pockets when youstart out! While the role o this capital iskey in getting one started, this orm ocapital is oten not scalable or manybusinesses, especially those requiring

upront investments, this will need tobe supplemented with other sources ocapital. So read on.

Side Business: Given the relatively lowavailability o risk nancing in India,many entrepreneurs have a cash-fowbusiness on the side. While they arebuilding out their grand vision, theywill take up something that providesregular income and also und the bigidea. It might be consulting, projectwork, teaching assignments, oralmost anything else. This derisks thebusiness substantially by providingsustenance power. At the same time, itcan shit ocus away rom the big idea

onto day-to-day res. Proponentso ocus scorn at this mix, but i

managed well, it can help you

conserve equity and build the businesson your own dime. I you are in a job,be sure you are cultivating relation-ships with potential customers whoeel condent o shelling out such workto you your customers might be youreventual nanciers.

Angel capital: Angel investors aretypically people who have made theirmoney in startups, and get a kick outo being involved in early stages othe company. They invest or returns,but also or the involvement andvalue they can bring in. Angel inves-tors are perhaps the rst ones toprovide an external critique to yourbusiness, besides consultants! Veryoten, credible angel investors canbring domain knowledge and industryconnections to the table, which canhelp the business grow beyond what

money can. In India, most angel invest-ments range between Rs. 10 lakhs to 1crore, the higher end o spectrum typi-cally being available through angelgroups, such as Indian Angel Networkand Mumbai Angels. Look or whatangels can bring in besides money.Angel capital can again have scal-ability barriers ew angels will stepup to the next 5 crores you might need.Hence it is important that you remainsolidly in control o your company, andstructure angel investments in a ormthat allows later round institutional

investors to come in.

Venture capital: Venture capital repre-sents the rst stage o institutionalinvestment into startups. Ventureunds are oten large in corpus ranging rom Rs. 200 crores to Rs. 2000crores in India and hence can providecapital not just or present, but also oruture needs o the company. Ventureunds also provide the value additionand industry connections, as well ascredibility as a partner, which are keyto growth o a startup. They tend tohave super-normal rights in a companyto protect their investment interest,and one should get a good under-standing o how these rights workand how to negotiate around these.The comort with the rm as well as

the partner one is associating with isrrequally critical given the intensityo this relationship, trust and comortare critical oundations. It is importantor all parties to create incentives sothat ownership o the ounders and keymanagement remains intact, and theyare aligned to create the best outcome

or all stakeholders.

Debt: Conventional corporate debtis available to companies when theymeet the requirements around collat-eral, or other orms o guarantee.Sometimes this can be acilitated atan earlier stage i the promoters havethe ability to personally guaranteethe debt. Financing is also availableagainst receivables rom crediblecustomers. There is also an evolvingclass o venture debt providers whoprovide some leverage behind equity

nancing. Overall, debt can be thecheapest source o capital. However,it does not share the risk that equitydoes, and has the rst charge on thebusiness assets.

Public markets: Once the companyscales to a certain point, in terms orevenue and prot, as well as stabilityo the business, it can tap into publicmarkets to raise capital. This is avail-able relatively to more mature compa-nies, but there are eorts underwayto create an SME exchange, where

the listing criteria can have a lowerthreshold. This may allow relativelysmaller growth stage companies toraise money rom public markets andpassive institutional investors.

The availability o nancing to startupsis undergoing a dramatic change, andwill enable a broader set o entrepre-neurs to realize their aspirations. Atthe same time, each source o nancingcomes with its own nuances, and entre-preneurs will do well to understand therisks and obligations that come withmoney.

AlokMittalistheMDofCanaanAdvisors

inIndia.Canaaninvestsinearlystage

technology-drivencompanies.Alokisalso

co-founderofIndianAngelNetwork.

Vol IV Iss IV3

Tips & Tricks


5/12www.ecell.in/blog

Your concept o a jacket that would

adjust itsel according to the ambient

temperature, came into being betweendegrees in technology policy and

mechanical engineering at the

Massachusetts Institute o Technology.

What inspired you in this direction o

having an apparel start up?The innovation was made to solvea personal problem while I was

studying. I had to wear multiple layersand take them o when I was insidea building, so I decided to make ajacket which kept me comortablein all types o weather conditions. Ihave made multiple prototypes orseveral products and this prototypewon awards. So, I was more excitedto make this idea successul and romthere, came the start up.

Yours has been a technical back-

ground as ar as your graduation is

concerned. How dicult/easy was it

or you to get into entrepreneurship?While at MIT, I was involved in manybusiness plan competitions and hadtaken many courses at Sloan Schoolo Management at MIT. The startup experience was however quitedierent rom what I had learned inthe class. All you have to do is justjump in, and you will learn as you go.It is very intuitive.

Your company Dhama Apparel

Innnovations has carved a niche oritsel when it comes to technological

entrepreneurial ventures. What werethe major challenges that you aced

during the journey?We were working with very littleunding so we were not able to explorein many directions that we wantedto. So it took us longer to achieve anoptimal solution in the design. Wehad to go without some thingsnoincome and no revenue or quite sometime. Besides, social pressure is hugebecause people in India do not under-stand the concept o entrepreneurship.

While raising unds, the huge chal-lenge was selling the idea, as we hadonly an idea and a prototype. Themajor thing was convincing the VCsthat this technology will lead to asustainable business.

What have been the key learnings

or you so ar (both in launching the

business and VC und raising)?There are two important learnings thatI have got out o the whole process:1. Valuating your company: VCs

generally ask or more stake inthe company. However or therst round, it is advisable to keepmore than 76% with the oundingmembers.

2. Selecting the right VC: It is criticalas they play a key role in shapingthe ethics o your company.

Dhama sells temperature-controlled

apparel to deense orces. Dontsoldiers have these kinds o apparel

already? How are your products able

to beat the competition?Soldiers already have these kind oproducts but we are 400% lighter thanthe current available solution and haveno moving parts. So we are way aheado competition.

Kranthi Vistakula is the CEO o Dhama Apparel Innovations which providesapparel with variable heating / cooling to people living and working in dicultclimatic environments. Its jackets using conductor chips that work on the Peltiereect, are ast gaining popularity among army personnel, construction workers

and sports enthusiasts. Tanushree spoke to Kranthi regarding the various aspectso his start up and his journey as an entrepreneur. Excerpts rom the talk:

Innovation: Air-conditioned Apparel

A lot o products which look very

attractive in the research labs , lose

their sheen , when theyre brought tothe market. How did you make sure it

doesnt happen with your product?

The most important thing we keptin mind is simplicity. We wanted theproduct to be as simple as possible andour product does not involve majormanuacturing or new kind o mate-

rials. Mostly in research labs, lot onew materials and methods are usedand thus scaling up production o suchproducts becomes an issue.

How have you saeguarded your tech-

nology rom being copied by rivals?

Could you elaborate on the patenting

involved?We have one patent and we areworking on other patents. Patentingis an expensive process and it is abusiness strategy rather than justprotecting your ideas. We are using

multiple strategies such as multiplevendors to keep the copiers away. Andhaving a VC rm like Reliance Tech-nology Ventures on our side helps us tokeep the copycats away.

Any advice that youd like to give tothe youth entrepreneurs out there

I you have a dream, just ollow it. Iyou get into a job and want to startup on your own later in lie, it will nothappen. I you think that, First letme saeguard mysel by working orsome years, then you cannot be an

entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is allabout risks (but very calculated ones)and moving ahead without the ear oailure.

AstoldtoTanushreePrasad,2ndyearstu-

dent,ChemicalEngineeringDepartment.

4

You had visited IIT Bombay recently

in February 2009, in the InvestorsPitch conducted by The Entrepre-

neurship Cell. Could you tell us

about your experience there?It was a great one. I had met oneo the people who invested in mycompany during that Investors Pitch.

Dhama Apparel Innovations ClimaGear

rangeofjacketscanheatorcooltheuser

dependingontherequirement.

Out of the Box


6/12

Dr.KiranMazumdarShawistheChairmanandManagingDirectorofBioconLtd,thebiggest

biopharmaceuticalrminIndia.Againstallodds,shehasgoneontobecomeIndiasrichestwomanandahighlysuccessfulentrepreneur.Wetalkedtoheraboutherlife,biotechnology

andBiocon.Excerptsfromthetalk:

In Conversation withKiran Mazumdar Shaw

5Vol IV Iss IV

What are your views about government policies with regards to entrepreneurship? Do you eel that the policies now are

more conducive to starting up than in the 70s? Or is it the other way round? What more can the government do?Today there is tremendous encouragement or entrepreneurship and rather than keep turning to the Government, privateinvestors are the ones who need to invest in new businesses.

Aside rom Biocon, you advise government on policy matters, you do work or charities and you collect art. How do you

balance your time? What would you suggest to our readers, student entrepreneurs who also have to deal with a lot o

things like their startup, along with their academics and other extra curricular activities?

The early years o any entrepreneur requires 100% dedication to ones business. Extra-curricular activities are important tobalance ones lie but one has to make some sacrices. I could only take time o ater the 3rd year o starting my company.I now nd that I need to orce mysel to balance my time between work and my personal lie.

ContinuedonPage8

When you started Biocon, in the 1970s, biotechnology

wasnt a very hot industry. And you were 25 years old

with not a lot o money. What gave you the convictionthat it would work?

I was ascinated with the concept o enzyme technologyand its ability to replace polluting chemical technolo-gies and its resultant green eco-riendly approach.As a biologist, the thought o applying my knowledgein creating such a new business was what gave me

my sense o purpose. I have always enjoyed a spirit ochallenge and the combination o business purpose andtaking on a challenge is what got me started. StrangelyI did not eel daunted as I elt I was doing somethingpioneering and I was determined to succeed.

Being a woman, was it dicult to convince people

that you had a great idea that you really believed in

and really wanted to try and develop? Have you ever

elt the existence o the invisible glass ceiling that a

woman trying to make it big in India, is supposed tobe constantly pushing against?

I had many hurdles to overcome as a woman. Bankswere unwilling to lend to me or two reasons:

1. My gender2. Biotechnology as a new and poorly understood

business.People were reluctant to work or a woman and my agewent against me as people elt I was too young to leada company. Regardless o this, I persevered and whilstI did encounter the glass ceiling in the rst 5 years omy business, it disappeared once I succeeded to realizegrowth in my business.

Was there any infection point in your journey where

you elt everything was going wrong and how did you

manage to emerge rom that?

I dont think that there was a time when everythingwent wrong. Yes, there have been ailures and disap-pointments along the way but none that made me eeldeeated. Having said that, I have always believed thatyou emerge stronger when you learn rom ailure.

Interview


7/12

There is a big dierence rommaking a B-plan and impressinga VC to actually implementing

the plan and executing it. One o themost important actors that decidesthe success or ailure o a productintroduced by a start up, or or thatmatter any company, is how muchtime and eort has been spent in

conducting good market research.Market research is the study o groupso people in order to determine i thereis a market or your product or service.I you rely on the same dusty old datathat once anchored your business plan,there is a good chance that the serviceor product you are oering might allfat on its ace. It might have interestedthe VC who put his money into yourrm, but tastes change and marketsmorph rather too quickly in todaysworld. Thereore, its quite important todo market research o a product beore

entering a market. An idea might soundgood. Your amily and riends mightagree it is good. How can you reallyknow? One o the biggest mistakesentrepreneurs oten make is to attemptto solve a non-problem, leading to a loto wasted money, time and eort.

Not so long ago, market research wasprimarily about how much money wasspent and whether the best consul-tancy rm was recruited to do that job. For small businesses with lightpockets, it meant spending big bucks.

But the internet has made this job a loteasier and cheaper than you think.

Take this case or example: DeepNishar, Vice President o Products othe popular proessional networkingsite LinkedIn was in IIT Bombay on23rd September. In a chat with studentshe mentioned the case o a Chineseentrepreneur who started a magazine.He posted the layout, designs and manyideas he wanted to incorporate in hismagazine, on a proessional networkingsite and within a ew days he received

some excellent eedback on his ideas bypeople all around the world. This inor-mation, i gathered through conven-tional channels o market research,would have set him back by atleast$20,000 - $30,000, i not more.

Google Trends and InsightsThere is a wealth o ree inormationout there, and it is upto the person whoneeds it to bend his back or rather hisngers to search or it. Where shouldone start? The most obvious source,and one where everybody should start,is Google. Google Trends and GoogleInsights, though not as widely used as

other Google products, can provide awealth o inormation. Google Trendsshow trends in searches over time. Itlists behavioural trends by locationand time. You can nd the needs othe customers and nd out whetheryour product or service is hot or not.But the real gold in market researchcomes rom Google Insights; it allowsyou to determine the seasonality o anymarket, or establish the geographicaldistribution o any given term. It allowsyou to have a measure o your potentialcompetitors and the oothold they have

over dierent markets. You can makesearches time-based, gauging themood o a market on estive seasonslike Diwali or Christmas or duringseasons like the monsoon and decidingthe right time and place to make yourmove.

Starting with Google is denitely agood move, but one must give othersearch engines a try too. There is agood chance that youll get quite a ewdierent results. The variation mightbe quite useul, since dierent search

engines work on dierent principlesor deciding its top searches, whichmight refect the dierent criteria onhow people and the market decidetheir top priorities and needs.

Social networking sites, Online

surveys and Community orumsThere are a huge number o websiteson the internet that maintain somereally good databases, column posts byCEOs, entrepreneurs and economists.This inormation is in most cases reelyavailable, or sometimes subject to

registration o the company/personon the website. Social networkingsites, online surveys and communityorums can give you very useul andinsightul eedback as you can gener-ally nd a lot o relevant people eager

to give their opinions. Following trendsand the online activities o users, ore.g. membership in various groups,status messages and posts gives a lot oinormal inormation on the likes anddislikes o various classes o peopleand usually this inormation is veryhonest as it is public opinion beingexpressed.

Government DatabasesAnother rich source o inormation isgovernment databases. Inormationon income, age, population, educa-tion o dierent areas and localities aswell as changing trends is collectedby the government. Although this isconducted every 10 years but i youare looking or specic inormationthat might relate to your product anddierent income groups in a locality,you wont nd a better place oeringthis inormation. For e.g., a rm

specializing in inant products couldmake good use o the inormation onbirths in dierent places.

Hiring B-school studentsI you are not able to aord marketresearchers, its a good idea to hireBschool students, who might well behired by consulting companies to dothe same work ater they graduate.You will generally nd students enthu-siastic to do this kind o job as it addsto their experience. A marketing classmight not have the access and depth o

conventional market researchers, butyou will denitely get a rigorous studyalong with novel ideas and suggestionsat little or no cost.

There are many more ways in whichmarket research can be carried outwithout burning too deep a hole in yourpockets. It all depends on the inno-vative, insightul and creative abili-ties o the entrepreneur. Interestinglyenough, these are also the qualitieswhich gure in the very denition oan entrepreneur!

CompiledbyShrayankGupta,2ndyearstu-

dent,ChemicalEngineeringDepartment.

HOT orNOT

Find out Cheap

6www.ecell.in/blog

Ahow-toofconductingcheapandeectivemarketresearchwhileoperatingyourstartup

onashoestringbudget

Tips & Tricks


8/12

WILCOMor Wireless

Communica-

tions is a start up

by Pro. Girish

Kumar o the

Electrical Engi-

neering Depart-

ment who been

teaching at IIT

Bombay or the

last 30 years.

7Vol IV Iss IV

W

ilcom was started inJune 05 when theIndian government allowed IIT proes-sors to start up their own companies. It

was started with a core ocus on antennas, powerdividers and couplers or the telecom industry. Inthe same year, Wilcom was incubated at SINE, IITBombays business incubator as Wilcoms teamwas ready with its product prototype and engi-neering plans. It was ready to roll out productsand the market was ripe or its products.

Product RangeWilcom received angel unding o Rs. 1 crorein late 2006. It set up an assembly line or itsproducts. It moved to new oces in suburbanMumbai. It expanded its portolio to includesignal enhancers and silencers. Silencers canjam the whole mobile network in a given region.

Wilcom- made silencers have been eectivelyinstalled in various places like auditoriums,places o worship, conerence halls and studentlecture halls. They have also been installed at theMahindra & Mahindra auto plant that manuac-tures CNG automobiles to prevent sparking. In2008, Wilcom expanded its oerings to includehealthcare products like radiation shields andtiles to saeguard people and structures romthe hazards o electromagnetic radiation. Theseradiation shields can be put in ones pocket andthey will protect body organs rom the highenergy microwaves. A distinguishing eature othese shields is that they contain LEDs whichlight up as you bring your mobile phone close tothe shield, giving you a eel o the magnitude o

electromagnetic energy in the air around you.The next set o customers that Wilcom is lookingat are builders, who can use radiation shieldsto saeguard their constructions rom nearbytelecom and TV towers.

FundingWhen asked about the venture unding thatWilcom received, Pro. Kumar said that the inves-tors were rather happy when they were able tosee the product working in ront o them. Thebest time to approach the VCs is when you havedeveloped your product to the ull extent. Also, acomprehensive Business Plan is always welcomewith the product when you are pitching or

unding. He says that since he did not have muchexperience in the eld o marketing, he took aleave rom IIT or about 8 months and studiedmarketing strategies. Ater that he was able toormulate a realistic and working business modelwhich was appreciated by the VCs.

Experience o working with studentsproessionallyDuring the product development, Pro. Kumarhad a team o about 70 IIT students workingunder him. Pro Kumar says IIT students aresuperb learners and grasp the basic concept veryast. The limitation comes in the implementa-tion o the theoretical knowledge. They want tolearn only. That is, once they learn the concept,

they leave it and do not try to develop the ullproduct which requires a huge amount o inputbecause even i a single eature o a product is not

working properly, then there is no scope or itssale in the actual market. Thus, he decided

that he would give stipend only to thosestudents who could provide him with a

physical product which prompted the students towork harder. He got 3 products at the end romthe students themselves.

Opportunities in wireless communicationsPro. Kumar points out that there is no dearth oopportunities in the eld o wireless communi-

cations as it is a eld where the current scenarioo technology will demand more and more. Thetelecommunications sector foated a tender oaround 5 billion dollars which went into the handso oreign players like Ericsson, Nokia, Motorolajust because there was no bidder rom our side.The deence department procures huge inven-tory or wireless communication rom outsidejust because o the same reason. The space tech-nology is a sector which is ull o wireless relatedinvitations. GPS trackers which we nd in mobilephones nowadays, WiMAX and other wirelessdata transer techniques pose huge possibili-ties o development in this particular sector. Byand large, there are innite opportunities andno immediate competitors at least in the Indian

market as there is no company which actuallydevelops the physical products in the wirelesssector. Wilcom will also be targeting the trans-port space next with GPS trackers and radars.

Wilcoms GrowthWilcom generated revenues o around Rs. 40lakhs in the last scal year. Its projected revenueor 2010 is Rs. 1.5 crores. In ve years, Wilcom hasgrown to include more than 500 products and itemploys more than 100 people. Its growth hasbeen spearheaded by retail expansion and orayinto new markets.

The Road Ahead

As o now, Proessor Kumar is actively engaged inthe advertisement and promotion o his productsin the Indian market by not only targetinghouseholds and educational institutions but alsobig players like Vodaone, Airtel, departmento deense. He also plans to start up an AngelInvesting Firm by December 10 in which he willespecially take care o the start ups at IIT Bombay.

In the end, Pro. Kumar urges all o us to thinkseriously about entrepreneurship as it is the solesolution to every problem in the Indian economy.And when we have the support o our seniors andproessors or the development o the product, thelab acilities o IIT, IDC to design the packagingo the product and the SOM people to market the

nal product, there is no actor which can stop onerom starting up but the lack o hard work alone.

CompiledbyAbhinavAgrawal,2 ndyearstudent,

ElectricalEngineeringDepartment.

Creating Waves

Campus Buzz


9/12

The Entrepreneurship Summit isan initiative by The Entrepreneur-ship Cell. It is an annual day-long

event, and is open to students andworking proessionals around the globeand corporate invitees. The meet gives

the business community a social orumto interact with the most enterprisingstudent teams rom colleges across theglobe, and a chance to meet other entre-preneurial leaders. There have beenthree E-Summits so ar, each having anunderlying theme that caters to relevantissues or starting up.

Entrepreneurship Summit 10 is basedon the theme o Explore, Evolve,Enterprise. This mega event, goingto be held on 7th February 10, has a lotto oer or budding entrepreneurs andstudents in general. Lets take a look at

what E-Summit has in store:Panel DiscussionsThe panels consist o eminent person-alities with varied experiences andbackgrounds in starting up so that eacho the panelists adds a new dimensionto the discussion. The topics are chosento realize the theme o Explore, Evolve,Enterprise. Here are some o the topicsthat will be dissected during the PDs :

Attracting Top TalentBeing a startup, it is very dicult to attractand retain top talent. This session ocuseson best possible recruitment and reten-

tion strategies or startup ventures. It willalso create awareness among the peoplewho are opting to work or startups.

Unorthodox Marketing StrategiesIn todays world o cut-throat competition,rms have to leave behind the orthodoxways and look at new and dierentavenues or marketing to captureconsumer attention. This panel discus-sion will throw light on innovative buteective and cheap ways o marketing.

Expansion: Domain or RangePlanning a growth strategy to develop

new markets and expand the outreacho the venture beore the current marketfattens will not only help your businesssurvive through tough times, it couldalso give you considerable edge over thecompetition. This session will take youthrough some o the easy-to-ollow stepson market expansion strategy.

Opportunity Cost: Eective DecisionMakingTaking the right decisions at the right timeis the key to all entrepreneurial successstories. Should I seek venture unding orbootstrap my venture? Should I go or aproduct-based or a service-based startup?

The dilemmas aced by an entrepreneurare endless. This panel discussion willmake the decision-making process easierby showing you how to weigh the prosand cons.

Vultures Nest FinaleVultures Nest is a unique initiativetaken by The Entrepreneurship Cell.Set in a reality show ormat, which willbe aired on ET Now, the participants getan opportunity to pitch in ront o inves-

tors about their startup. The best teamswill be selected rom the regional stageswhich will happen in Bangalore, Delhiand Mumbai in mid January. The nalsare scheduled or the E-Summit, wherethe participants will get exposure tounding opportunities rom top venturecapitalists.

Apart rom the participants, it will be agood opportunity or onlookers to get anexperience o how VC pitches are andwhat sort o preparation has to be donebeore one. The eedback that the inves-tors give will be useul not just to partici-

pants, but the onlookers as well, i theyhave their own start ups or are planningto start up.

Single Speaker SessionsEntrepreneurs with outstanding, inno-vative ventures (such as JumboKing,Dhama Apparels) and highly inspiringindividuals present their story in a trulyunique way to an audience. This time thesingle speaker sessions are inspired bythe ormat and content o TED sessions.

Start-up ShowcasingPromising start ups rom across the countryshall showcase their innovative products,

services or technology on this platorm andtry to woo potential investors. It promisesto be an awe-inspiring display o cuttingedge innovation and some really uniquebusiness ideas.

MentoringMentoring sessions shall provide aspiringentrepreneurs an opportunity to networkwith and receive personal mentoring romstalwarts o the corporate and academicworld who have been there, done that.

Global Conerence o E-CellsRepresentatives o entrepreneurship-

promoting student bodies rom institu-tions across the globe, will come togetherto discuss the dierent ways to equipstudents in colleges with the requiredskills and resources or starting a newcompany.

Eureka! 09 FinalsThe nals o Eureka! 09, Asias biggestBusiness Plan Competition, will be heldat E-Summit 10.

Networking Tea & Lunch SessionThis will provide an opportunity tobudding entrepreneurs to interactamongst themselves as well as with

various corporate individuals attendingthe event.For more on whats happening atE-Summit 10, please visit:www.esummit.ecell.inHopetoseeyouthere!

E-Summit Summons!

8www.ecell.in/blog

ContinuedfromPage5

What are the opportunities in thegenetics/biotechnology industrycurrently, that you eel young peopleaspiring to be entrepreneurs in thiseld, can take advantage o? Also,what are the actors that impactgrowth in your industry?Biotech is a vast eld and there areumpteen opportunities spanningacross enzymes, agri-biotech, pharmabiotech, diagnostics, bio-uels etc.

The main actors that impact growth inBiotechnology are investment and R&D.Given the long gestational time lines in-volved, investors are reluctant to committhemselves. R&D is also an integral and

an expensive part o the Biotech sectorand most people are unable to managethe risks associated with R&D.

What would you advise our readers,budding student entrepreneurs who arethinking o making it big by themselvesin that big corporate jungle out there?I India has to grow in a sustainable wayand create millions o jobs, entrepreneur-ship is the only way to do so. For everyjob that you seek as an employee youcan create 10 more as an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is an exciting jour-ney but a very unknown one at that. Iwould say to every entrepreneur, justtake that rst step.

AsdiscussedwithShrutiChoudhary,2 nd

yearstudent,ChemicalEngineering

Department.

ContinuedfromPage2

Zyngas size and its breadth o gamesenables it to use its enormous marketbase to popularize its new products.Novice users o Ca World might seea teaser or Maa Wars when theyrst log in, inviting them to try themob game. Zynga also plows protsback into advertising on Facebook.

To keep the game going, Zynga

keeps releasing new eatures andassets within the game requently.The Maa Wars users may nd a newMoscow expansion pack one day andanother set o achievement medalsa ew weeks later. A huge eort ismade to take real time eedback romthe users by the support sta which isthen put to use in the uture upgradeso the game.

Zynga is probably the biggest marketplayer in the eld o online socialnetworking games. But, or how long?Investors and entrepreneurs have justbegun realizing the potential o thismarket. With the cost o entry as low as$10,000, there may very soon be anothergaming giant who emerges out onowhere to seize a chunk o the business.How well does Zynga keep its tight holdon the market share, is yet to be seen.

CompiledbyNikunjJha,3rdyearstudent,

MechanicalEngineeringDepartment.

Sneak Peek


10/12

QI want to start a sports estival in my college. Somepeople tell me that the correct way to go about thisis to print posters and put them up in all the hostels sothat everyone comes to know about it. That way everyonealready thinks it is happening and hence they dont put upquestions like why, when and how. So, I have gone aheadand done that but now I am mysel conused regardingthe organizational structure o my team which is responsibleor the execution o the estival. I cant ask anyone becausethey already think that I have it gured out. Please help me.- Khiladiyon ka Khiladi

Dear KK,

Apart rom hiring publicity campaign managers and pilingup printer shop bills, you should have ormed a good organi-zation committee to plan and execute the events you want.And beore ormalizing things, it is good to decide whatkind o a business entity would be suitable to model yourorganization on. Following examples should make thingsclear

1. Sole ProprietorshipSole proprietorship means that there is a sole owner whounds and operates the business. Very much like the B2B-SUNe Club that you have in your college or peer to peerinteraction and collaborative drinking, it is totally ree oormalities and away rom the public eye. You dont need tokeep nancial records and audits o accounts there is nolegal distinction (in SUNes case even physical) between youand your company/club.

2. PartnershipPartnership is a type o business entity, where you partnerwith other individuals to own and run the business. Anexample rom your college would be the cultural councilpartnering with the cultural estival to present the collegesrst ever national debate. By partnering with other individ-uals, you get access to their bigger pool o capital, skills andother resources to und and run your business.

3. Limited Liability CompanyThe most common and preerred type while starting a

company, a limited liability company is a separate legalentity rom its ounders, shareholders and managers.Examples close to home would be the institutes indepen-dent bodies. The liability o the shareholders is limited to thepaid-unpaid capital that is issued as part o the company.Thus, in case o bankruptcy, personal assets o the ounders/managers are not aected. Limited liability companies alsond it easy to get unding rom venture capitalists and othersources by selling a stake in the company. There are basi-cally two types o limited liability companies:

A. Private Limited CompanyPrivate Limited Company is a company limited by shares inwhich there is a given maximum number o shareholders

and no invitation is made to the public or subscription oshares or debentures. This is similar to the structure o thetop secret Deb. Soc. (Debating Society) in your college. Aprivate limited enterprise is a good way to evade scrutinyby the public, authorities (DOSA) and almost everyone.However, the perils o such an enterprise expose theounders/owners to unlimited liability, since i you ail, orail miserably, you have no one to blame but yoursel. Andno one to share the losses with.

B. Public limited CompanyA Public Limited Company is a company limited by sharesin which there is no restriction on the maximum number oshareholders, transer o shares and acceptance o public

deposits. For example, the Dimly-lit club, Glitterati is an openenterprise o which anyone can be a member (convener?)and everyones part o a big amily and everyones important.The liability o each shareholder is limited to the extent o theunpaid amount o the shares ace value and the premiumthereon in respect o the shares held by him.

And so we come to the end o the sermon. Hopeully by nowyou have a very good idea o the various roads ahead oyou. Choose wisely. Choose well. May the orce be with you.

CompiledbyMukundMadhav,2ndyearstudent,PhysicsDepartment

andNikunjJha,3rdyearstudent,MechanicalEngineeringDepart-

ment

Know It All

AGONY ENT

to the rescue!

9Vol IV Iss IV


11/12

www.ecell.in/blog

The Tagline ContestSuggest a suitable tagline or thisbeer-lled USB drive:

Submit your answers to enspace@

ecell.in beore the 20th o January.The most catchy tagline will win a prize!

The prize winning tagline or the lastedition o the competition is:

Playwhenyouplay!

Congratulations to Rishi Deora!Mail us at [email protected] to collectyour prize.

FeedbackAll suggestions/comments/eedbackregarding this issue o ENspace arewelcome! Also i there is somethinguseul about any aspect o entrepre-neurship that you would like to sharewith us and the other readers, please

mail us at [email protected]

Editorial TeamEditor - Ritika Goyal

Layout - Mustaa Saiee

Execution PanelAbhinav Agrawal, Arpit Agrawal, GauravParashar, Gouri Nawathe, Ishan Shriv-astav, Larunika Gaur, Mukund Madhav,Nidhi Shanbhag, Nikunj Jha, Raj Doshi,Sahil Patwa, Shrayank Gupta, ShrutiChoudhary, Smeet Bhatt, Swati Agrawal,Tanushree Prasad, Vinit Atal

Lighter Side

Just the other day, a riend cameup to me with the prospectus oa B-School in hand, thoroughly

conused by two separate specializa-tions in marketing and sales. Theyrethesame,right? I decided to do someresearch o my own and asked somepeople around (all students o IITBombay), what they gured was thedierence between the two and hereare some o the answers that I got:

Person A: Marketing:when a companythinks its product is goodSales:When it has ooled the multitudeinto thinking the above

Person B:For marketing excellenceyou go to IIMA, or sales expertise yougo to Chor Bazaar

Hilarious, arent they? Fact is, the twoterms: marketing and sales, are, moreoten than not, used interchangeably.But an understanding o the subtledierence between them would go along way in making business strat-egies eective and in pushing uprevenues.

Marketing is a multi-dimensionalprocess which entails: Various research and promo-

tional activities to know whatproducts are wanted.

Work on products/services tomeet these needs.

Making potential customers aware

o the product and packaging itin such a way so as to impress itsutility upon them and create awant or it.

Provide ater-sales support orcustomer reerrals and loyalty.

Salespeople, on the other hand,normally want three pieces oinormation: Who the company is? What are the eatures and

benets o the product? What will it take to close the

sale?

Marketing and sales are inherentlylinked to the classical Economicstheory o demand and supply: Market-ings role is to create the demand;

whereas, sales aims towards supplyingthe demand. This makes you realisethat, these two are not the same butare two processes that must workin tandem or a successul business.Sales without marketing leads to amultiold increase in eorts withoutbuilding up either the brand image orthe emotional connect with customers.Marketing without sales is, obvi-ously, like throwing the bait to a sh,

waiting or it and orgetting to pull outthe rod once the sh has been caught.

Imagine that youre running amassage parlour. I you are only

trying to booka massageappoint-ment, you areselling. But iyou recognisepeople withback achesand oer

them massages as a solution to theirproblems, then, you are marketing.

Asking the potential customers ques-tions and recognising their needs sothat you can educate them and helpthem make a decision is commongrounds to both marketing andsales. The selling concept tries tomake consumer demands match theproducts on oer while the marketingconcept intelligently str ikes a mutualbalance between their product and

the consumers demands and wants.

At the end o the discussion, however,you must keep in mind that marketingand sales are not two alternativeconcepts to choose rom but rather,marketing provides the material orthe salespeople to clinch the deal.Marketing is not and can not beresponsible or individual sales andaccordingly, it is the salespeople whoreceive incentives and commissions.

CompiledbyVinitAtal,1styearstudent,

ElectricalEngineeringDepartment

Sales & Marketing:Two very Different Sides of

the Same Coin

Marketing withoutsales is like

throwing the bait

to a sh, waiting

or it and orget-

ting to pull out the

rod once the shhas been caught.

10


12/12

Eureka! Mentors MeetAs a part o the mentoring process o Eureka! 2009,Mentors Meet was conducted on 13th December atthe IIT Bombay campus. The daylong event served

as a platorm or the nalist teams to meet around40 corporate individuals and venture capitalists andget valuable advice and eedback or their businessplans. Mentoring was done in our sessions with anetworking session during lunch. The teams wereallocated mentors based on the sector o their plan.The mentors took great interest in helping out theteams with the business plans.

The mentor panel was diverse with venture capital-ists, company proessionals, industry experts andmanagement proessors. Krishna Jha, Partner inTelnet Ventures and a mentor at the event, said thathe considered the event , a platorm or interactions

among participants and mentors, a reward in itsel or the top 50 teams.

The participating teams had a very enriching experience and ound thesession extremely helpul or their entrepreneurial journey. Team leader oPower-ull solutions rom Vellore, one o the nalist teams who are workingon privatizing water supply by setting up desalination plants, said It hasbeen a very good experience. We got a dierent take about our plan romthe mentor and he connected us to other marketing people who can help us.Vinamra Agarwal rom Pune ound the session very inormative. We cameto know about the nancial side and the marketing side o our B-plan throughthe help o mentors. It was a very good platorm to meet people and know theeasibility o our idea and how to make it more viable. We are working on a management system or online conerences orbusinesses and we have got invaluable insights on aspects that we had never thought about beore.

With business plans ranging rom using lasers or power generation to improving the present coee machine, these planswill now be urther rened by the participants, as they now have suggestions rom mentors which they will incorporate intheir plan. The Mentorship Sessions are an integral part o Eureka! to try and help the teams at dierent stages during theirpreparation or the nals. Mentoring to the nalist teams will continue until the top 10 teams are selected or the nal roundto be held at the Entrepreneurship Summit 2010.

Virtual Stock Market & Stock Market WorkshopThe virtual stock market is an online event which was started by The Entrepreneurship Cell last

year, exclusively or IIT Bombay students. At that time, it was only a stock market simula-tion. This year a workshop was associated with it to support the event and make it

more eective. The response to the game was overwhelming. More than 1000people participated daily. The number o transactions increased exponentially

every day.

Along with the game, to impart some concrete knowledge about stocks,and to make the game more meaningul or the players, a workshopwas organised. Around 300 people attended the session at the

F. C. Kohli Auditorium. It was conducted by Abhishek Vishnoi whois a market analyst with ET Now. The workshop covered basicaspects o the stock market including basic terminologies and

associated dynamics. This was ollowed by a discussion o realsituations in the stock market. The session was terminated with adiscussion on career opportunities in the eld o nance, that are

available to IITians.

Entrepreneurship @Campus

Documents

Vol IV Iss IV