It was certainly an anticipated ceremony at TieCon 2011, Chennai as the audience awaited the announcements of the winners of the Tie Chennai Entrepreneur Awards 2011.

Mr. Gopal Srinivasan, Chaiman & MD, TVS Capital Funds Ltd.

Mr. Gopal Srinivasan, Chaiman & MD, TVS Capital Funds Ltd. Effortlessly takes charge of the moment and welcomes the honourable chief guest for the occasion, Mr. Suresh Krishna, Chairman & MD, Sundaram Fastners Ltd.In conversation with Gopal, Suresh chats about his long journey in life and reaching a pinnacle of success iterating how he started exploring engireering merely by reading books about making nuts and bolts. Even Sundaram Fasteners started around 45 years ago with 2 machine unit in a small place with 7 lakhs seed capital. The current statistics of the company place them at 2011 revenue of Rs.2298 crore.

An informative & engaging award distribution:All thorough the ceremony, Mr. Gopal & Mr. Suresh engage the feverish audience with discussions on the bytes on the Entrepreneurs, the Indian scenario and the recent trends of organizations. Each time an award is disctributed, Mr. Gopal Cleverly attributes likeness of

Mr. Gopal & Mr. Suresh in a discussion

Mr. Suresh Krishna, Chairman & MD, Sundaram Fastners Ltd.

	Award	Winner	Company
	Start-up of the year	Mr. Vinod Harith	Co-founder, CMO Axis
	Serial Entrepreneur of the Year	Mr. Sridhar Vembu	CEO, Zoho Corporation
	Extraordinary Entrepreneur of the year award	BG Raghupathy	Founder, BGR Energy
	Dronacharya of the year Award	Ashok JhunJhunwala	Professor in the Depart of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras
	Entrpreneur of the year Award	Dr. Arun	Chairman & MD, Vasan Eye Care
	Social Impact of the Year	Dr. P. Srinivasan	Chairman & Managing Director, Jeevan Blood Bank
	Distinguished Family Entrepreneur Award	Mr. Ganesh	Chairman, RANE Group of Companies
	Lifetime Achievement Award	Mr. Suresh Krishna	Chairman & MD, Sundaram Fastners Ltd.

The Trophy given out to the Award winners

The Custom introductory video

The next big change in awareness came with our very own management guru and a TiE founding member, the late C K Prahalad’s path breaking “Bottom of the pyramid” concept which provided a whole new framework for thinking and approaching social business.

Is it not a wise idea to move when a person comes with an idea that would make a difference in the lives of people?  However such efforts are successful only when it is implemented well and efficiently reaches the people who need it the most. Markets like India are especially relevant considering the hundreds of millions categorized as below the poverty line and who form a sizeable market opportunity even with their meagre incomes.

Klaus Schwab, executive chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum, says India is a key country to look for leading social entrepreneurs. The popularity of SE is growing at a very rapid rate in our country, even through the current economic downturn. In the last three years more and more youth are developing interest in this field including those from prestigious B-schools in India and those from abroad. This new, evolving field has also got early venture capitalist interested in funding with many seeking out such enterprises that hold out huge potential. So much so, there are even SE focused funds. Earlier, organizations solving social problems were often assumed to be idealistic, philanthropic and lacking business acumen or the ability to be entrepreneurial.

With organizations like TiE Chennai, which propels social entrepreneurship with both economic and moral support, this very concept will go a long way indeed. As David Bornstein rightly said “What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up, and remake the world for the better.” Also heartening to see are growing fundamental block building initiatives like the CK Prahalad Centre for Social Entrepreneurship which is an initiative of LIBA in partnership with TiE Chennai. Social entrepreneurship is all set to flourish in India.

Blog written by a TiE Chennai member.

A key driver behind all this behind the market need or macro context has been innovation. Innovation driven by indigenous entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity in a vast under-tapped/ underserved market that is transforming from largely unorganized to organized (read corporate).

The scope for innovation is immense and what we are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg. For example, daycare surgery centers, birthing centers, cafes in hospitals, healing interiors at in-patient facilities, looking at newer approaches like centers for rare diseases, specialty catering for healthcare facilities, specialized architecture services for healthcare facilities, specialized disposal management systems, the list of new and arising opportunities is simply endless.

Finally, considering India is now going through a revolution in healthcare due to broader changes in lifestyle and culture, it is predicted that this is one sector that will never see a sunset, so long as there humans and other living beings! To top it, there are endless niche opportunities as well that are not fully tapped. So, if you are a wannabe entrepreneur, this might be an area to put your thinking caps on and come up with a winning idea. Hope then I can take the credit for inspiring innovation in the sector through this article.

Blog written by a TiE Chennai member.

Just the other day I was talking to one of my friends and the talk came around to quick ways and ideas of scaling a business. Well, some of the points may sound clichéd or weird but I am sharing it here so each one of you can pick up and draw your own conclusions.

Hoard your cash! Convince your early investors not to take dividends for a while till the venture finds its feet. In those happy cases where the start-up becomes profitable in the first year, this could also mean founders not taking dividends. The founder also can take less than market salaries and the additional money thus available can be ploughed back into the business. This may not be,large but even if it is in lakhs, it is of great help as it helps you invest that much more.

Be clear about separating the wheat from the chaff all the time. For example once it goes beyond the initial core team and more employees join it often happens that many of the new lot are not as dedicated or passionate and instead of adding value may actually be negative vibes or even non productive. Quickly let go of these and replace them with better ones who fit the culture and ethos better. All the while taking care of your core team well. This means cash otherwise spent on salaries stays with the company and can be productively utilized till the next effective replacement comes in.

Keep consultants at bay. Often, while scaling up, it is tempting to spend money on consultants, analysts and market researchers to help us understand the best path to undertake. While helpful sometimes, it  sometimes pose an issue, as the practicality of the usually relatively small business is often not taken into consideration by many consultants. So, for an intelligent approach, it is important for us to realize the real depth of our pockets and our situation in the market. So, if we network and keep ourselves connected to key influencers, intermediaries and consultants informally, as also discuss with peers and seasoned pros, it is possible to at least know when and how much to invest, and more importantly for what? This allows the outcomes to be more effective and at better costs. These resources can also then be tapped for newer markets to foray into or newer product lines. This, along with the core team’s analysis and experience, can lead to better decisions.

These are just a few tips, and I am sure there are many more. The trick is to be innovative and know when and where to cut your costs without cutting corners!.

Happy saving and scaling!

Blog written by a TiE Chennai member.

This is just a small effort from my side to all budding entrepreneurs out there to keep you motivated. I believe in the process of this introspection as both of us are equally going to benefit and learn. As a solo entrepreneur I too, like you people, faced the same anxieties, challenges, negative thoughts and doubts. You have to just understand -such thoughts are very normal and each of us go through the same scenario at some point of time in our entrepreneurial journey.  When these thoughts are crossing your mind, just take a step back, reflect, and let it not ruin your way to success. There are various obstacles that come your way and hold you back such as loss of focus, fear to venture, fear of success, negative thoughts, lack of self belief etc. A winner is one who has overcome all these fears and strives for success. Confucius put it well when he said, “Failure lies not in falling down, but in not getting up when you fall down.”

Firstly I reaffirm you that in this beautiful journey of yours “you are not alone”. Any thoughts holding you back are as natural as sunrises and sunsets. With each step, believe me, you will get better and stronger; the motivating factor is challenging those obstacles and reigniting and finding a better solution for them.  Motivation just keeps you going provided you re-energize yourself everyday and remember your long term objectives. This is not a sprint, it is a marathon and only those who run every day succeed!

I have come across many start-ups that are hell bent on execution every day that they missed planning their way forward.  Businesses are all not about only execution, it is often more about planning too! Sometimes at the end of the day you need to see what is working for you and what is not? And be prepared to let go of things that are not working..

Secondly, remember why you wanted to be an entrepreneur? Was the pull innate or were you the sheep in the herd? If things don’t work in one venture, try others. The bottom line here is, once you have decided to be an entrepreneur, you will always be one(mostly)! They say “97% of the people in this world operate in the comfort zone, 3% of the people in this world operate in the effective zone. The difference between comfort and effectiveness is called growth, and growth is uncomfortable”. Walking that extra mail is what entrepreneurship is all about! It is all about to what extent you can go to.

Let me leave you with these beautiful lines I picked up online.

Give things a chance to happen!

Give success a chance to happen!

Do it. Try it. Quit talking about it and do it!

How will you ever know if you can paint that picture, run that business, sell that vacuum cleaner, earn a degree, hold that office, make that speech, win that game, marry that girl, write that book, bake that soufflé, build a house- unless you try it ! – Richard.M.Devos

Blog written by a TiE Chennai member.

I am short of adjectives and other assorted words to explain to you how it feels, but I for sure had this most queasy feeling on earth. Placing your baby in someone else’s hands is quite a task. So, let me make an attempt to share with you budding entrepreneurs on what it takes to present a winning pitch to venture capitalists or investors.

Firstly, let’s focus on ways to grab the audience’s attention; it takes a lot to keep your audiences on their feet.  (P/S: please keep your PowerPoint presentations aside until you capture your audience’s attention. We don’t want premature death by PowerPoint!) Power Point presentations as a matter of fact are just ancillary tools that help to accentuate your facts and figures.  It is general human tendency for us to get inspired by a story or a parable , so the first cue is to tell a story on what motivated you to come up with this plan, causes, effects, your emotional connect to it, your hardships etc.

Once you have become the cynosure of your audience’s eyes, then comes your description of what the problem is, how you would be able to solve it with your products and services, how different it is from others. Basically the USP of your product/ services, this finally helps in establishing a relationship with the potential investors. It is very natural for the audiences to keep asking themselves why they are where they are ; your duty is to take them through the journey and make them realize how. This is equally easy as well as difficult!

Basically there are two types of communications involved in here, verbal and non verbal. The former is what you convey through your information and the latter is the body language that you exhibit and other cues you give, often unknowingly. Remember, both are equally important since there are a bunch of dyed-in-the-wool investors observing you. In fact, there are studies which show that style and manner of presentation can often overtake content. .

The next important thing is to ensure a high level of trust and credibility. Care needs to be taken to see that both your verbal and non verbal communication go hand in hand. You may be the best speaker but if your body language is disappointing so does your impression. Remember- you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression! Non verbal gestures sometimes make for awkward situations. You are implying something but the gestures are speaking a lot more than that, for instance you have your fingers stuck in your ears and you are explaining figures to the audiences. On the contrary good mannerisms can take you places.

Be confident on what you speak, engage your audience, keep smiling. You know you are confident about what you have so show that confidence. These may be very small actions but remember “actions speak louder than words” Maintain eye contact with all in the team and not just  with who you think is the Boss. Even VCs have attrition rates and you can never  know – the one you looked in the eye could be their next managing partner.

These may seem like the simplest things, but sometimes the smallest of things do matter a lot!  I think and believe that this would help budding entrepreneurs as it helped me. Good luck to all those entrepreneurs who make the world a better place with their ideas.

Blog written by a TiE Chennai member.

Another factor which can prove fatal to a startup is sketching a bad business plan. Usually confidence – (read over confidence) causes budding entrepreneurs to undermine the importance of a proper and comprehensive business plan. The fact is, it is only when we plan our business with great rigor and greater candor, that certain flaws, normally overlooked, emerge. Foreseeing and factoring it can help in devising solutions to combat probable hiccups.

When it is your baby, you sometimes, tend to push the limit by setting unrealistic expectations which can be fatal. We usually assume instant profitability but in reality, this does not happen often.  Hence, it pays to be conservative about revenues and very cautious about spending. This helps bridge many gaps and sustain the venture through rough times. Another idea would be to get higher capital than necessary as a cushion.

On the pricing side, many smaller companies usually tend to follow the market leaders, especially on pricing where they go pretty close to the leader or “Penetration Pricing”. In both cases, they can end up charging too little for their products and services, which in turn hinders growth in the initial stages.  This would be a classic instance of using an intelligent step at the wrong time. Unless you are in the league of “Wal-Mart” and the like, your venture will not see gushing footfall  at the very beginning. Hence, being practical along with intelligent, pricing based on customer feedback is vital

Last, but not the least, comes marketing. Poorly thought out marketing strategy is equally impacting. For example, over-spending on advertising is tempting in some businesses while some others err too much on the side of caution. There is also not enough thought on what exactly is my USP and how to present it effectively to our target customers.

So, hiccups are the way of life in any start-up. The more one is pragmatic and prepared for ups and donws, the more sustainable the venture and  its prospects. Happy venturing!!!

Blog written by a TiE Chennai member.

Hey bloggers, here is a great opportunity to reach wider audience for your blogs and your views and win cool prizes a dozen, on top for that as well. Can’t get better,right?

Here is what you have to do :

• Send your name, email id, contact no and  blog link details to blahblahtiechennai@gmail.com  post which you will receive a confirmation of registration from us
• Once your registration is confirmed, blah blah in your blog about TiE-Chennai, TIECON Chennai and entrepreneurship and make sure you share the link on TiE-Chennai’s Facebook, Twitter and  Linkedin accounts

Here are the cool prizes on offer!!!

• Top 10 winners get free delegate passes worth Rs. 2500*/- for TiECON Chennai 2011
• Top 2 winners get not just the free pass but also an invitation to the pre-event by invitation only curtain raiser at Hyatt Chennai Hotel; they will also get to tweet, blog live on TiECON Chennai 2011
• The best one will walk away with an awesome E–book reader besides the event pass and invitation to the pre-event dinner and also the chance to blog and tweet live from the venue

All entrants/entries will be judged on a weighted measure of the number of posts, quality of the posts and popularity of the posts as evidenced from comments and interactions around it. The jury consists of one executive from a social media firm, one from the TIECON Chennai 2011 Promotion committee and one social-media savvy TIE Chennai member. The contest closes 12.00 noon on November 22, 2011 and winners will be announced on the morning of November 23, 2011. All winners have to make their own arrangements for travel irrespective for wherever they are and TIE Chennai reserves the right to not allow post it finds inappropriate or irrelevant. Other terms and conditions apply.

What is stopping you  - go ahead and do what you have always loved to do and win some really cool prizes for that.

The following quote captures the essence of entrepreneurship – the opportunities, challenges, frustrations et al!
“Entrepreneurship is a game of risks versus rewards. It’s you against the world, with the odds in the world’s favor. It’s exciting, frightening, frustrating and fulfilling – sometimes, all in the same day. In an increasingly paternalistic civilization, it is one of the few remaining endeavors where a small group, banding together in common cause, can apply their skill, savvy, guts and determination to changing the world, and see it happen. For those who are up to it, it’s the only game there is!”

This quote is extremely relevant today when every entrepreneur is faced with the daunting prospect of having to fight the slowdown, in the midst of opportunities,. As an entrepreneur we usually handle this all alone and palpably feel the absence of a peer group where some of these challenges can be discussed. TiECON 2011 at Chennai on November 2011 is a perfect platform for entrepreneurs to validate their thought process. To know that they are not alone, there are others out there who understand what they are going through!

Many regulars at these conferences are unequivocal on the benefits and here are 10 reasons as to why an entrepreneur should be participating in such forums!

1. Entrepreneurship is all exploiting an opportunity!
2. TiECON Chennai 2011 will help you to identify the opportunity
3. It will help you determine if it the right one for you.
4. It will facilitate figuring out how big it is and probably how many others are going after it!
5. It will trigger a thought process on how to seize it
6. It will challenge you to determine your unique proposition or angle
7. Hear some marquee speakers who have successfully identified and exploited opportunities.
8. Participate in panels /unconferences which will help you understand how others cracked many challenges
9. Finally meet people who have done it before, network with other entrepreneurs and have loads of fun!
10. Overall, TiECON 2011 can help you “See it, Size it, Seize it”