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- Canaan Entrepreneur Pitch WorkbookDecember 3
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Here is a short presentation that outlines the information that we, at Canaan, like to see in business plans. It is also a useful tool to think about what questions one should try and answer, besides just ensuring that a certain format is used. Personally, I don’t fancy paper copies much, especially when all of the audience is in one location, but other than that, this is a good starting point for discussions.
- Why Not A Political StartupDecember 3
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Given the mess that our political system is in, I wonder why professionals have not seriously looked at creating a political startup. Present service providers have been providing low quality services for decades in what really should be a buyers’ market given that we are a democratic country. People have been crying for a better deal but those who can make a difference seem to be indifferent.
The present political parties are beset with the following problems which in turn have resulted in a loss making entity called India.
1. Corruption at the highest levels of governement and the bureaucracy
2. Short sighted decisions based on electoral concerns
3. Putting self (i.e. power) before national interest
4. Nexus with criminals and businessmen
5. Low level of educationThese are all surmountable if the political party consists of highly motivated professionals who run the show (and the country) like any well managed company which treats the shareholders (citizens in this case) with respect.
The founders will require a transformational mindset.
The opportunity is huge and so is the required investment. Are there any VCs/Angels willing to invest in a political party startup which will function like any professionally managed company and provide a clean and effective government?
I would love to be part of such a startup. We owe to ourselves if not to the country. If anyone in this community of entrepreneurs is i
- Do we need Teams who have delivered before?December 1
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In continuation from my last post “do great startups solve a problem”, I’ve got another pressing question, which seems to perplex me, but seems to be required by just about every VC/startup I have ever interacted with.
Having looked at some really good startups (my criteria for a good startup is quite simple…its big, people know its name, and it makes money), rediff, naukri, google, facebook, twitter (not sure on this one), orkut, netscape, aol, skype (exception), ebay, alibaba, lycos, monster I could go on, but you get the point, I cant see many if any that had teams which had delivered before. Of course I have not done a in depth study, but I don’t think the founders etc in many of these companies had delivered similar size companies before, or after. So my question is why do VC’s again insist in experience teams, even if you have a look down the ranks in these teams, especially in the early formative years, there were not many grey hairs on the board/management teams.
Of course I maybe proved wrong here, and I guess that would make me sleep better at night, but surely alot of these companies succeeded because they took what was out there and did it differently, rather than just going with the flow. They broke the mould, they changed the way the company operated.
I will take a personal example here, several times I have come up against “old skool (showing how hip I am here :-))” teams who say we should
a) market like this — b - Citizens in GovernanceNovember 27
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One of the areas where some of us have been thinking of late is how to increase awareness of citizens regarding policy and administration - things like which new bills are being introduced in parliament or state legislature, and what options are being considered? What are the relative merits/demerits of the options? Which way are our representatives inclined? What impact does it have on us? or, How has the local administration performed? Where can I go if I need to get something done? How do I participate in improving my local infrastructure and administration? What progress has really happened over last few years? How does this apparatus work?
It is interesting that several initiatives already exist at the ground level which seek to answer these questions for different stakeholders. Yet, these don’t seem to reach the general public. Perhaps, digital media can seek to bridge that gap and increase awareness of citizens about governance. Over a longer period of time, awareness drives participation and a healthy democracy.
It would be great if you can participate in a survey we have created to assess people’s need and willingness to engage in the above, as well as to get your suggestions. Please click here to take survey - even if you think this is useless, we’d love to get that feedback.
- US Health Care IT: Big Opportunity for Indian EntrepreneursNovember 21
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The US spends $250 billion in health care administration. Indian entrepreneurs can very well look at solving various problems within this vertical and build nice businesses. Read my Forbes column for some pointers.