People who have launched startup ventures in the city as well as budding entrepreneurs got a chance to find out how successful companies can be built with ‘Startup City’, a one-day event for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, which was held in the city on Saturday.
Featuring frank talks by founders of successful companies like Sonata Software and Reva, ‘Startup City’ was a gathering of about 100 companies started by entrepreneurs.
Advising people who want to start their own outfits, Sonata Software CEO Srikar Reddy said, “We were not successful for a very long time. We did not lose hope. Back then, it was about having fun. You have to stay focused on your idea.”
Part of a discussion in a CEO’s conclave on best practices to be adopted by the IT industry, Shoaib Ahmed, president, Tally Solutions, advised future entrepreneurs to carefully consider macro economics of the industry before approaching local customers. “Many times, customers will have other worries on their mind and pitching for your product at that time will not be a good idea,” he said while giving an example of his own sales team pitching for accounting and inventory software at a time when gold prices in the world were unstable.
Delegates also got an insight into venture capital funding. Satish Kumar, CEO of Glopare IMS, said the right time to go in for venture capital funding was when you had something to offer investors. “There must be some returns and, for this, the company must make internal changes before approaching others for funding,” he said. However, this viewpoint was debated by Sanjay Nayak, CEO of Tejas Networks, who said that initial funding will serve as a check on the company owners, who will perform diligently under pressure.
Earlier in the day, Chethan Maini, founder of Maini Industries which made the Reva electric car, outlined his journey from the time when the country’s first electric car was conceptualised to the time when automobile major Mahindra decided to partner with them.
‘Startup city’ is an annual event conducted by Silicon India, an online publishing company.