Your advice to start up companies...
Entrepreneurship is all about having passion for an idea. Also, you should be foolish enough to believe that it will work. Foolish enough because each one of the four ideas that I started were in a sunrise area where nobody else had ventured. Whenever I started people would say that I will fail miserably.
For instance, when I went to a few venture capitalists to get funding for TutorVista.com they said it will never work. Moral of the story is I succeeded despite the doubting Thomases. Also, remember that only five per cent of the ideas work; the rest are consigned to the dustbin. It should be your attitude to think that you will be amongst that five per cent.
The other thing is entrepreneurs should always think about the larger picture. Entrepreneurs need to jump at an idea. Unless you do that you will never know. Don't worry too much about theory and business plans. None of the business plans that I made initially worked. They kept on changing and that's true of every entrepreneur. I am not saying that you should not have a plan. But be prepared to accept that it may not work out in the way you have planned it.
These are some of the lessons that I learned in my entrepreneurial stint till today.
If you are a young entrepreneur then this is your best time. India is actually rocking and opportunities are tremendous. You have venture capitalists coming in, GDP is growing at around nine per cent Indians are getting recognised globally -- not just as cyber coolies but as somebody who could actually create valuable businesses.
In terms of sheer quantum and quality of work across industries -- be it steel (Tatas' acquisition of Corus, automotives (Tatas' Nano), entertainment (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's foray into Hollywood) -- Indians are getting the respect that they deserve today.
How much money have you raised till today to create a brand called TutorVista.com and are you profitable today?
We started two years back and have raised $ 18 million in terms of venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital and LightSpeed Venture Partners. As we are spending huge money in building a brand we are not profitable today but we will be in the black in the next 12 months.
Also read: Change your signature, change your life
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