They’ll share their experience to see others stay guarded
KOZHIKODE: Mirshad Kulamullathil, 27, of Nadapuram, dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur right from his college days and it was that passion which made him launch two startups after graduating in electronics and communication from the College of Engineering, Adoor. But in the past six years, he could only earn a ‘struggling entrepreneur’ title as his ventures failed one after the other, pushing him deep into financial crisis.
Not just Mirshad’s, but thousands of startups make big loss and vanish into thin air while success stories are discussed in detail. In a first of its kind, the Kerala Startup Mission (KSM) has decided to bring together people behind failed startups to make them share their experience with fresh entrepreneurs. An event called ‘Failure Nights’ will be held on December 8 in Kochi to provide the unsuccessful entrepreneurs with a platform to share their personal, painful experiences and the mistakes they committed with the youngsters.
A study by the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics found 90 per cent of Indian startups fail within the first five years. Answers to questions like ‘Why do entrepreneurs fail?’ ‘What happens in the minds of entrepreneurs living through failure?’ ‘Why do some try again and others don’t?’ have become so relevant. As per a KSM report, there are around 700 startups in Kerala, with 400 in IT, 50 each in health, education and retail. Mirshad will be one among the speakers at the event. “While chasing his dream to become an entrepreneur, a person will come across a lot of situations which other entrepreneurs have faced. By sharing the experience, we can learn many lessons,” he said.