NEW VENTURE

CONSULTING: INSIGHT

PAPER 1 Santhosh Srinivas

GJ21TM026
Individual
Assignment-1
ARTICLE: 6 Things New Grads Should Know Before Joining a Startup

If we were to join a startup as a recent graduate, we would face a variety of challenges.

Working in a dynamic and fast-paced atmosphere necessitates flexibility and the willingness
to take risks. The goals would be unclear, and one must know the knack of doing things in
cross functional roles. Most of the youngsters would want to have constructive feedback and
develop based on that which is not possible in a startup environment. The youngsters must be
their own boss and would have direct visibility. Even though some startups have hefty
packages, it is quite possible that if the employee is not able to serve the purpose, he might be
fired.

To sum up, the new grads unlike in big MNC’s are expected to learn and thrive in a dynamic
fast paced environment while working in cross functional roles with no expectation of
compensation.

ARTICLE: Figure out your company’s make or break strategic problems, then use small
teams to solve them

The large corporations tend to slow down while working on new innovative projects or
extending the product/service line. In such situations, there is a need for them to work like an
agile startup. The leaders need to identify the potential challenges ahead and use the
specialists of small cross functional teams to solve these problems. The leaders should have
strong strategy in place which identifies the specific battles to be won and design initiatives
according to it. There is also a need for the executives to step back and build trust on the
teams and should ensure that the decisions are also taken by the specialists.

To conclude, leaders must develop a strategy and must make hard decisions on which
projects to fund. But most importantly, they must take a step back and let the specialists take
these decisions on the projects and thereby building trust among them.

ARTICLE: Entering Startup Land

The kind of qualities employees need in working for a startup is entirely different when
compared to working for a big corporation. When compared to specialist roles in large
MNCs, the candidate must be open-minded and receptive to broader roles. Also, the
employee should be comfortable enough with uncertainty and be ready for multiple tasks and
roles. Unlike MNCs, you will be your own boss in a startup, and the job you do will have a
direct impact on the organization and you would be a part of the company’s growth.
In conclusion, startup life will be both exciting and terrifying and the learnings the employee
gets out of the startup is unmatchable.

ARTICLE: A Short Guide to Strategy for Entrepreneurs

A lot of Entrepreneurs who are tech driven and devoted to the product considers strategy as
an afterthought. There is no doubt that for a startup, building the MVP is of utmost priority.
But one should also have a clear minded strategy for developing upon that. While designing
the strategy, the entrepreneur should look at three aspects: Value creation, Value delivery and
Value capture. It is very important for them to determine whom they are targeting, what
problem they are intending to solve to that segment and how they are going to achieve it.
Having done all these, the next step is to identify how they are going to achieve the
competitive advantage to be successful in the marketplace.

To sum up, entrepreneurs should delve deeper into the topic of strategy and establish a theory
for creating, delivering, and capturing value.

ARTICLE: To innovate like a startup, make decisions like VC’s do

Most unicorn firms have adopted a lean approach to various areas of their businesses, such as
faster market entry, client focus, and high adaptability. However, to develop a successful
growth system, they require the attitude of VCs, also known as a growth board. Growth
boards in any company is essential to drive sustainable profit growth by either funding or
killing the initiatives. Nevertheless, there are some principles that organisations must keep in
mind while establishing growth board. They must ask the right questions considering the
stage of the product. They should also use a portfolio approach by considering a large volume
of bets. The growth boards should also be focussed on finding a bigger problem and
developing a better team, like VC’s.

To conclude, a missing piece in most of the startups is the establishment of growth board
which can help the company to stimulate growth and reap the benefits out of it.

ARTICLE: Digital Growth depends more on business models than technology

Most of the successful unicorn companies had great business models in addition to cutting
edge technologies, digital transformation, well designed platforms. One of the major driving
forces was that companies were able to satisfy the need of the customers and had a great
business model. It starts with the customer value proposition and to satisfy it, the company
must have the capabilities or key processes and key resources which includes people,
technology, and facilities. Since all the aspects of the business model are interrelated, it is
very important for the companies to have a strong customer value proposition and a stable
system which complements each other.

To summarize, in this era, turning digital does not create a competitive edge; however, a
robust and effective business model does.

ARTICLE: Innovation is as much about finding partners as building products

The requirement of innovation is completely different in this current era. Years back, if the
company was able to transform digitally it was able to sustain in the market. Now, a lot
depends on the regulations, protocols, and the physical assets. It leads to a situation where the
companies operating independently are not able to innovate and sustain in the market. In such
cases, the companies whether big or small can collaborate with each other working on an
achievable mission. It does provide a benefit in that clients from one company can draw
customers from the collaborated company. Also, the culture of startup should change, grow at
any cost does not work anymore and the company should have a clear introspection on what
the core strengths and the weaknesses are.

To conclude, businesses should rethink their entire strategy because the model of innovation
has entirely transformed in today's environment, with the collaboration economy becoming
universal.

ARTICLE: Startups need relationships before they ask for money

Any startup if it wants to raise capital has to first build relationship with the investors. One of
the starting points is to seek advice from the investors as they bring a lot of experience in this
field solving a lot of problems. It is also very important to build trust with the potential
investors by developing common relationships and having a clear strategy for the gaps. It is
also important to stay connected with the investors even if you are not raising money.

To sum up, it is very important for the startups to maintain healthy and a constant relationship
with the investors if they want to raise funding.

ARTICLE: When large companies are better at Entrepreneurship than Startups

There is a misconception that a lot of large corporations are slow to move when creating a
new scale of business. However, when compared to the startups, the success rate of big
organisation is higher when they are extending or starting a new business line. They would
use the advantages of scale and would leverage the strengths of their core business and
thereby creating better opportunities. The companies are also better paid off if they can
develop complementary services that are in line with the core business. One of the important
aspects is to look at the companies which are founder driven are more successful when
scaling up.

To conclude, the companies which have a strong core business are more successful when
launching a new business when compared to the startups.

ARTICLE: Cracking Frontier Markets

Market creating innovation would entirely create a new market, even though it is
characterized by extreme poverty, poor infrastructure and no data about the market and its
customers. It bears a lot of risk and is solely meant for the local market because it is a type of
market that is less established than the emerging market. It establishes a solid economic
foundation and builds a whole system from the ground up, such as building products,
expanding infrastructure, and finally creating jobs, all of which boost the economy.

To conclude, the key to crack frontier markets is not focussing on the existing markets, but
rather developing a new market that would tap the non-customers solving an untapped
problem.