Neoterics: The Rise of Entrepreneurs

<p>दर्ल
ु भं त्रयमेवैतत ् दे वानग्र
ु हहे तुकम ्। मनुष्यत्वं मुमुक्षुत्वं महापुरुषसंश्रयः॥ </p>

<p>As Swami Vivekananada had once said- the world is metaphorically

divided into humans, epistemophilic and legends. Analogously, money minded
people are humans, scholars are epistemophilic individuals and those who
believe in personal freedom, innovation and creativity, particularly,
entrepreneurs are legends. Does this axiom from ancient times hold true in
the 21st century? Are these legends to remain mythical legends or are they to
become truly legendary? In this era of global recession, where unemployment
and cliché 9 to 5 jobs thrive, will entrepreneurs survive or will they be sky-
diving without a parachute?</p>
The Big Shot
 
When I was a kid, I would sometimes ask my grandfather what he did to earn
a living. And each time he proudly said, “I am an entrepreneur”. “Look it up”,
he said, so I did. I found out that an entrepreneur lived in a world where
creativity bloomed as blossoming flowers with hard work being the water, an
open mind being the sunlight and an array of other factors formed the
manure. With a glint in my eye and curiosity in my mind, I began to wonder if
my grandfather really lived in such a world? He owned an iron mill and
wanted to create something new. This thought was the seed that placed him
on the path of success. However, a dreamer gave birth to a realist. In glaring
contrast, my father has this conviction of ‘life in the iron mills’- a typical
business man. This ‘adrenaline rush of innovation’ is the base point that
distinguishes entrepreneurs from business men.

My grandfather raised money from investors and for years worked out of his
home at odd hours, until the money ran out. What to do now? A door closes
and a window opens. He took his unfinished product to the market where he
faced numerous obstacles along with the usual market uncertainties.
However, he crossed each hurdle with great gusto. He headed project after
project till one day, he succeeded. This is known as entrepreneurship. It is the
ability to persist when no one‘s watching you for an extended duration.
Without anyone notifying you what to do or remunerating you for your
progress, how long will you hold your conviction?

Point Blank

From ancient times, to present to future, try to imagine the world in 2100.
What do you see? Clearly, it’s not just the passage of time that we think about,
but the progress made during that time. There exist two types of progress-
horizontal and vertical. Horizontal progress means expanding the existing
idea, that is, going from one to n. Vertical progress means to conjure
something into existence from the gloomy void of oblivion, that is, zero to one,
the essence of real innovation. It is the future. How is this progress to be
made? Many entrepreneurs use the following tactics to perceive their
progress-

1. Party like it’s 2008

It’s easy to fall prey to delusional beliefs. Conventional wisdom can be highly
persuasive.  During the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, the unemployment
rate in US increased by 10.9% and its GDP decreased at an annual rate of
approximately 6% [1] while in India it gave rise to ‘positive shock’- for
example, the net FII inflows from September 2007 to January 2008 was US$
22.5 billion as against an inflow of US$ 11.8 billion during April-July 2007, the
merchandise exports recorded a growth of 13.6% reaching US$ 189 billion
[2[
etc. Jagdish Khattar, former MD of Maruti Suzuki, launched a new venture
during recession when most companies were putting their new projects on
hold. It is this realism that he wanted to leverage- resources come cheaper
than they would during the boom and newer stakeholders who are looking for
help are willing to come on board too. This is what being an entrepreneur
entails - finding optimism in the dark times using innovation as a medium of
solution.
 
2. The Mafia
Measure the competition like a scale. On one hand you have a perfect
monopoly. Companies become monopolies by - (a) using tactics against
potential customers, (b) getting licenses from the state or (c) have something
unique to offer. Entrepreneurs become the mafia of the last group so that they
leave their rivals in the dust.  
On the other end, there is a lot of competition in which the price is primarily
affected by demand and supply.  Leo Tolstoy, a Russian writer observed that
all happy families are alike, but unhappy families are each unique in their
unhappiness. This is opposite in case of business. Happy companies create
unique monopolies for the circumstances they face. Unhappy businesses all
have the same issue: competition.

3. The Power Law

The human endeavor is consistent across many different areas- there are few
players whose output eclipses those around them. Economist Vilfredo Pareto
named it the 80-20 rule. Pareto found that 20% of the peapods in his garden
produced 80% of the produce. This propensity for the few to dominate the
many is called the power law.
It forms the backbone of venture capitalism in which investors believe that
high risk can bring in high reward. Many companies will fail, but those who
succeed will become the part of the dominant 20% that win 80% of the
earnings. Before starting a company, they consider that it will likely fail
because it’s much better to yank your star to a company that has rapid
growth. You might own 100% of your startup company, but there’s a big
possibility that you may end up owning 100% of nothing. It would be much
better to own 0.01% of a company like Amazon.

In The Land of ‘Baniyas’

“It’s all in their genes, they watch and smell money, they conquer any field”
are some traits that define a Baniya. What one can learn from them is their
ability to not miss new developments. The success story of Ritesh Agarwal,
Founder and CEO of Oyo Rooms corroborates my point. In the times when
seeking for a hotel manually was a tiring job, OYO abbreviated as ‘On Your
Own’, originated as a virtual hospitality with aggregated economy hotels and
guesthouses across India that could be found and booked online. As stated in  
Anekantavada of Jain doctrines that don’t get blown away by fads, but decide
what is right in the given situation.
In this land came the godfather of all, N.R Narayana Murthy, Co-Founder of
Infosys and ‘father of the Indian IT sector’. He started with just 250 dollars,
borrowed from his wife and grabbed the opportunity of supplying customized
software in the 1980s. Mr Murthy says- “he cleans his lavatory without fail
every night when he returns from his office”. This taught him kindness and to
never feel conceited- qualities that define an entrepreneur.

Take Your Drive in the Pit-Stop

Looking at the present scenario, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about a
global lockdown. During this time, the aforementioned tactics may or may not
work. The entrepreneurs have been banging on about ‘pivot’. In business a
pivot occurs when the business isn’t meeting the demand requirement of
business and needs a fundamental change. For some it is a course correction, a
strategic move to encourage growth and for others, ‘plan B’. The pivots that
will occur in the next gen are-

1. Mastering the Remote Work

Remote work is the new normal. It is the need of an hour- for productivity and
for the planet. The core component of far- flung work tradition is learning
about leadership. It becomes more efficient when teams are formed within
teams. And every team will require its captain.

2. Balanced Aggression
People mistake aggression as the precursor to violence. But a certain level of
aggression is needed if greatness is one’s goal in life. Aggression becomes a
problem when it is directed towards themselves. It must only be channelized
into one’s work and express itself as discipline and performance. Aggression
should be directed towards the creation of value-adding products/services.
The process of taking breaks and still working with discipline is called
balanced aggression.

Fly Beyond Blues

Skydiving disciplines and entrepreneurial disciplines go hand in hand.          

Just like in (1) Angle flying, the aim is to fly at the same level and angle, the
entrepreneurs aim to stay above the water in the early stage of
commencement of business and then progress in a phased manner.                    
In (2) Cross-country, participants open their parachutes immediately after
jumping and try to cover as much ground under the canopy as possible, in the
same way, entrepreneurs reach to as many people as possible through
intensive marketing techniques.
                                                                                                           
 Experienced divers also perform (3) Night jumps. Once, entrepreneurs have
established their monopoly, they now plan to expand their business.
            
(4) Swoop and chug means, at a later stage, some entrepreneurs aim to grab
every new opportunity and chug a beer after every win, but some get lost in
the beer blues that blur their future plans.

3…2… open the parachute! Is it missing? Will the situation give birth to the
entrepreneur in you? Or will you die a painful death? Only one way to find out.
Don’t let the gears of your brain rust. Oil them and make them work again.
Innovate. For mankind has always thrived for it. 

References:

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932008#Effects_on_the_global_eco
nomy

[2] https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/india/global-financial-crisis/global-financial-crisis-and-its-
impact-on-indias-growth/10947