WEBINAR

Application & Evaluation

11th September 2017
SEQUENCE

1. Introduction
2. Description of the various questions in the application form
3. Which Startups should get Incubation ?
4. Steps to be taken up for entrepreneurs who approach
5. Evaluation of an application - stages
6. Q&A
 INTRODUCTION
Typical Selection Process

Intervention / Help
E / I visits Incubator

Preliminary Interaction
Application Form First Evaluation by Shortlisted applications
filling Manager to Selection Committee

E / I visits Website
Intervention / Help
Questions in Application Form

The questions in the form can be categorised into:

• General questions – 1,2 & 9
• Entrepreneur / Team related – 6
• Company related – 4,5 & 8
• Product / Service related – 3 & 7
Note: - An application form need not be filled out in full (depends on
the stage where the entrepreneur is)
Lets run through each question ???
Which Startups should get Incubation
1. Primary role of Incubator
• Depends on the eco-system – good, fair & poor
• Good – Hyderabad, Mumbai
• Fair – Aurangabad
• Poor – Ludhiana, Bhubhaneshwar
• Good ES – focus should be on entertaining Scalable Ideas that would become
ventures in quick time
• Fair ES – focus should be on a balance between opportunity and scalable
ideas
• Poor ES – focus should be on giving opportunities
Please Note that a STARTUP need not be a registered company
Which Startups should get Incubation – contd…
2. Competence / background of entrepreneurial team
• Ideal scenario – competent, has the background in the area of business,
reasonably good technical and business skills, good professional qualities
• Quick Learners – show willingness to get mentored / take advise, realise their
shortcomings
3. Type of Idea
• Very promising – good level of innovation (significant features that make it
very exciting)
• Addresses a “real” pain point (user feedback taken) - how did the Idea come
about
• Adequate Market Size (will users “buy”)
Which Startups should get Incubation – contd…
4. Business Plan
• It is always preferable that a startup has a Business Plan in place – it gives an
important indication regarding the passion and seriousness of the
entrepreneurial team
• Sometimes a “tech” entrepreneur may not find it easy to develop the
Business Plan – so “pre-incubation” may be required
Steps to be taken up when entrepreneur approaches
Preliminary Interaction (refer to evaluation guideline)
• Get hold of the General Information and ascertain all that is to be known about the
entrepreneur – qualifications, experience, family background, where the idea came
from, broad level details about the idea, why do they need incubation and how they
came to know etc.
• Give a tour of facilities
• Indicate the kind of services etc. that you offer
• Discuss the charges in detail
• Discuss application form and encourage them to fill the form – you could provide
assistance for the same
SOME IMPORTANT TIPS:
• Give them a time frame within which you would revert to them
• Make them comfortable and give them a good hearing – please remember that
these are the guys who will become your ambassadors to the outside world
• Do not keep them waiting for too long
Evaluation
1. Stage 1 evaluation
• Completeness of form – in case submitted online, then call them or email them to
get the information
• Decision on PRE-INCUBATION or not – most of the time this will be required in cases,
where it is still purely an idea and not much progress has been made or in other
cases where the Business Plan is not there / not much clarity from the entrepreneur
• REFER TO THE EVALUATION GUIDELINE – points 2 to 8
SOME TIPS FOR MANAGERS:
• Update your knowledge on a continuous basis, based on your interactions – there
will be many aspects that you are not sure of – get to know more immediately (do
not postpone)
• Make notes and be meticulous till such a time that you start to feel more
comfortable
Evaluation
2. Stage 2 evaluation
• Option 1 – Constituting a Selection Committee (min. 5 members with good
representation from outside) – startups to make presentations before
committee for selection – TO MEET WHEN 2-3 APPLICATIONS ARE READY
• Option 2 – Evaluation by experts in remote mode (email / online etc.)

Option 1 – preferable – WHY?

• Startup gets the advantage of getting inputs from different experts (this is a
great value add for them)
• The Incubator manager / team, get a first hand experience and knowledge
gathering of inputs being given by the experts – this will help in Stage 1
evaluation over a period of time.
• Having outsiders will eliminate “bias” of internal persons
Evaluation
3. Stage 2 evaluation – contd.
• Composition of Committee
• Outside Representatives:
• 1 -2 successful entrepreneurs
• 1 investor (angel or VC)
• 1 – 2 domain expert (senior technical person from Industry or Professor from reputed
Institution or Senior Scientist from an R&D Lab)
• Chartered Accountant or Financial expert
• 2 internal persons from TC (1 head of TC / Senior Staff and 1 Manager)
Note: In case of option 2, experts can be the same as above
• Committee Evaluation – normally by consensus after discussions – scoring
system is not preferable as it leads to more complications than results
Evaluation
4. The Selection Committee could also be considered as Monitoring
and Advisory Committee of Incubator
• This will give the committee members a sense of greater purpose
• Since they would come and meet on regular basis, it becomes very easy to
monitor progress of Incubator
• Many of the members will become the brand ambassadors and will bring
their networks for use by the Incubator
Q&A
THANK YOU VERY MUCH