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<\/i>Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya, TechinAsia<\/i><\/p>\n <\/i>Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya, TechinAsia<\/i><\/p>\n
Bengaluru, 12 December 2016<\/i><\/p>\n
The entrepreneur overcoming all hurdles to emerge as an icon for\nmillions – that’s the typical positive story startup media is abuzz\nwith. Such narratives are often considered the only way to attain\nstartup goals. In the clamor, we can forget that each startup journey\nis unique: before tasting success, even successful entrepreneurs have\nfaced failure. Shakir Basha couldn’t agree more. He’s the\nfounder of Zippon, a packing and moving service, which eventually had\nto shut shop. <\/p> “I believe in setting up a profitable\nbusiness on a small scale and gradually taking it to higher levels,\nespecially when you lack business skills and you are a first-timer. But\nmany in today’s generation want to aim for the sky, forget to keep\ntheir roots intact and hence fail at what they do. I have personally\nfaced that,” he says. (Right: Zippon founder Shakir Basha. Photo credit: Shakir Basha)<\/span><\/p> <\/span>Little\nwonder then that Aishwarya Raman, who started auto-rickshaw app\nAutoRaja, found peace working as a zonal head for Ola Auto.<\/p> “My\nmain motive of starting AutoRaja was to make the auto-rickshaw drivers\na part of the organized sector. Here at Ola Auto, I’m working with the\nsame motive – of course, on a much bigger scale,” says Aishwarya. <\/p> In\nSeptember 2015, AutoRaja shut down mainly because of lack of funds.\nAfter lying low for a few months, Aishwarya decided to give her dream\nanother shot. This\ntime, the approach was different. “I didn’t want to start another\ncompany immediately. Though my parents encouraged me not to give up on\nmy dream, I thought I should gain experience by working in a similar\nindustry but with a different setup.” She approached Ola and they were\nmore than happy to hire her, given her relevant startup experience. It’s all about timing<\/span> 2015\nsaw many startups shutting shop. For Akash, Delivree King and Fitfood\nwere victims of market corrections. Delivree King specialized in\nfour-hour delivery and guaranteed same- and next-day delivery, besides\noffering promotional services for its clients. It had to be shut down\nfor want of funds. For Fitfood, the timing, unfortunately, was not\nright. Entrepreneurship\nis a place of constant comparison. There is a pressure to raise a\ncertain amount which will eventually land them adequate press coverage.\nHowever, raising funds from VCs is no cakewalk – especially if one is\nnot part of the networking circle. Graduates\nof IITs and IIMs typically have large networking circles, of which\nventure capitalists are also a part. “My experience with VCs has not\nbeen pleasant. I had met many of them during my startup stint but the\npurpose of their funding is different from what we wanted to achieve as\na startup,” Sukanth says. Failure\nis not taken lightly in India – or, for that matter, in any country. <\/p>
The startup narrative can be one-sided, observes\nSharad Sharma, co-founder of Indian tech industry think-tank iSPIRT.\n“So many startups fail, but there’s no focus on those entrepreneurs.\nThen there are small companies which do not enjoy high valuation[…]\nTheir learnings can make a big impact in the startup ecosystem.”
Rude awakening<\/span>
<\/p>![\"\"](\"..\/images\/life-after-startups-shakir-basha.jpg\")
<\/span>True.\nNot all entrepreneurs have to be the next Sachin Bansal or Mark\nZuckerberg. And this should be fine, as long as they are fulfilling\ntheir dreams. <\/p>
<\/p>![\"\"](\"..\/images\/life-after-startups-aishwarya-raman.jpg\")
(Above: Aishwarya Raman founded rickshaw aggregator AutoRaja. Photo credit: Aishwarya Raman.)<\/span>
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It’s\ncommon to battle a funding crunch after your startup closes: that’s\nwhen working a regular job provides a much-required cushion. Case in\npoint: Akash Sharma, who founded Delivree King, a tech-enabled logistic\nstartup, and Fitfood, a healthy food delivery company. He now works for\nMobieFit, a fitness app. “To say that I am disappointed as my previous\nventures did not work will be an understatement. But I’m happy to be\npart of the food and fitness industry, which I’ve always wanted. What\nlife has to offer in terms of opportunities is not known yet, but for\nnow I am happy working and gaining experience,” says Akash.
Not all entrepreneurs have to be the next Sachin Bansal or Mark Zuckerberg.
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<\/p>![\"\"](\"..\/images\/life-after-startups-akash-sharma.jpg\")
<\/span>“I\nstarted Fitfood when food-tech companies were growing. However, by the\ntime it reached a stage where we needed funds, none of the venture\ncapitalists we approached were ready to even look at the company. The\ntiming was bad,” rues Akash. (Left: Akash Sharma founded FitFood and Delivree King. Photo credit: Akash Sharma.)<\/span>
For\nTapan Kumar Das, access to venture capital wasn’t a problem. The\nfounder of online meal service iTiffin faced a different problem: low\ninvestor confidence. “There was a lot of negativity around the food\nindustry. I had to choose between burning my money or shutting down,”\nhe says, adding that there’s still scope for innovative food-tech\ncompanies despite negativity around the industry.
Knocking at the wrong door<\/span>
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“There is an expectation that\nall entrepreneurs either have to be from an IIT, IIM or one of the top\ntwo-three institutes in the country,” says Sukanth Srivastav, who\nfounded Tooler, a laundry startup. He’s referring to India’s elite\nIndian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of\nManagement (IIMs). “The fact remains that a business can be run by\nanyone who has an aptitude. We don’t need to complicate things.”
It’s a tough world out there, especially if you are not well-networked.
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The experience taught Sukanth an\nimportant lesson: don’t go by the hype. “Newspaper reports are replete\nwith stories of VCs out there looking to fund you. This is not the\nreality. It’s a tough world out there, especially if you are not\nwell-networked.” Aishwarya’s experience with VCs was also unpleasant.\n“I guess I approached the wrong VCs; they never believed or understood\nwhat I wanted to do.”
Pressure-cooker scene?<\/span>
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