‘Entrepreneurs build organisations, not venture capitalists’
Venture capitalists say there is lot of scope for funding for startups provided founders come up with out-of-box ideas and stick to golden rules of pitching
Published: 27th November 2017 02:52 AM | Last Updated: 27th November 2017 07:35 AM | A+A A-
(Left) Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi shaking hands with IT minister KT Rama Rao at the venue of the Ink conference in Hyderabad on Sunday | R Satish Babu
HYDERABAD: Debunking the idea that getting funds in start-up space is becoming difficult of late, reputed Venture Capitalists (VCs) stressed that there is lot of scope for funding for startups, provided they are good with their idea and execution and stick to the golden rules of pitching.
Reputed venture capitalists including Sashi Reddi, Sateesh Andra, Sarath Naru, Prasad Vanga and others came up with invaluable advices for startups at the Ink Conference at Hitex on Sunday, as part of road to Global Entrepreneurship Summit scheduled to start from Nov 28.
“We get too many startup pitches which are uber-like models or more into deep learning. It’s time startup enthusiasts do away with ‘copy-paste’ models and come up with out-of-box ideas. Startups need to come up with unique ideas to get funded,” said Venture Capitalist Venkat Vallabhaneni setting tone for an engrossing conversation attended by startups from across India.
Moderated by T-Hub CEO Jay Krishnan, the session came up with several useful lessons for startups and entrepreneurs.
“Just because a startup fails in getting funding from a pitching does not mean that it is not a right model. May be it might not be a model which the VCs or investors are looking for, or does not fit in their plans. Startups need to handle rejection to make it big,” said Sarath Naru of Ventureast, chipping in with inspiring words for the startups.
The golden rules of pitching like sharing the data with investors while pitching, maintaining good relationship with VCs before and after getting funded and seeking support and mentorship from VCs were stressed by Sateesh Andra, MD Endiya Partners in his advice to budding entrepreneurs and startups.
“It is entrepreneurs who build organisations and not VCs. Therefore startup ideas should bring value to the existing eco system, should be able to pitch in an attractive way,” summed up Prasad Vanga of Anthill Ventures.
Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarathi, IT Minister KT Rama Rao, and others spoke at Ink Talks on Sunday.
