2011 Starting Thought - What if we were not Slaves of our Egos?

2011 has arrived - I wish more power & success to new venture ecosystem in India.

If one asks me to name one defining characteristic of entrepreneurs, the answer would undoubtedly be the fact that we are all slaves of our Egos - slaves of a wish to be seen as different from others.

A strange question crossed my mind as I started 2011 - What would I do differently if I was not a slave of my ego?

The answer touched me as nothing else so far in my life -

I would create purely for the pleasure of just plain creation and not for the appreciation, or lack of it, it generates from others.

Three cheers to the new venture creation that we are all part of & a very happy new year to all who are part of this game.

Entrepreneurial EcoSystem -What is important?

In an interesting article, Blodget, Merrill Lynch tech analyst, compared entrepreneurial ecosystem in Silicon Valley to that of NY. As one of the noteworthy arguments he states that proximity to previous generation of successful players is more significant contributor to startup ecosystem success than that of proximity to great engineering institutions (read Stanford). The basis? -- An increasingly global engineering talent that is virtually accessible from anywhere.

May I venture to imagine that the flood of green-field investment by global tech firms in India will eventually lead to a vibrant tech innovation environment. Not a bad thought though.

Interesting article worth a read checkout

How Vibrant is Indian Startup Environment

In this post, I start with laying down well understood fundamental building blocks of a vibrant startups ecosystem. Later posts will carry details on how Indian environment fares on various parameter while providing benchmarks and evidence across cultures and countries.

Though results of one social context can not be completely replicated in another, a comparative study can help identify missing pieces. More importantly it can provide interested stake holders glimpses of potential opportunities for making a positive difference to Indian venture environment.

Some of the widely accepted elements of a vibrant environment for Innovation & new enterprises are

• Widespread entrepreneurial spirit
• Availability of Risk Capital
• Academic & other institutions incubating technological breakthroughs
• Culture of innovation & last but not the least
• A mature entrepreneurial social support environment, among other things, that provides
• Availability of useful information, time critical help & mentoring to budding entrepreneurs
  
• Social support for failures and second start
• Availability of Entrepreneurial Role models
• Social infrastructure of competitions, incubation, awards & public recognition

Innovation ecosystem around Stanford University is an excellent example of how these factors contribute. Additionally, phenomenal technological success of innovative Israeli enterprises and examples from European & Asian context also provide other examples of success in diverse global context.

Next in this series -- How does India fare on individual attributes & where you can help

Stanford to Boost Medical Technology Innovation in India

With a goal of creating an ecosystem to identify clinical needs & challenges and convert them into opportunities for innovative medical equipments, implants and devices, Stanford India Biodesign Programme, US Science and Technology Ministry & Ministry of science in India have announced a collaboration program to boost medical tech innovation in India.

The pillars of the program are
1. Center of innovation excellence at each of the IITs
2. Opportunity identification via active observation of patients by multi-disciplinary teams and
3. Design innovation orientation and training for faculty/involved personnel by Stanford University

This is a very interesting development. Academia driven innovation has been a key driver of US high performance entrepreneurial ecosystem. This also has been a critical missing link that India needs to create world class entrepreneurial successes.

A welcome development for Indian new venture ecosystem.