India’s Enterpreneurship Ecosystem

Sramana Mitra discusses on her latest Forbes column Innovation and Entrepreneurship in India. Here is my 2c on the subject.

Considering India’s entrepreneurship ecosystem infancy factor, and the existing and unfortunate perception of the country from the industrialized world as a tech outsourcing mecca as opposed to an innovative powerhouse (as it should be, based on its brainpower capacity) ; I am of the view that the main priority for India — if it aims to move away from the outsourcing routine and concentrate more in assuming a leading role on the global stage – is that of formulating effective twentyfirst century e-ecosystem strategies, focused on the creation of entrepreneurial awareness while instilling the spirit of enterprise into the psyche of the new generation. In this context, they should also direct their attention towards the exigency to change or catalyze an already underperforming e-ecosystem so that its instrumentality, as it relates to the fusion of entrepreneurship and innovation as one component, will be such that will allow it to function as a coherent entity. An entity in my view that continues performing only at minimal levels (when considering its leapfrogging capabilities ), and one that logically leads to restrictions on the creation and innovation front.

The 2009 ‘Doing Business Report’ noted that it takes 30 days to set up a business in India whereas in New Zealand one can operate a business within 24 hours. Insolvency procedure in India may take 10 years versus 1.3 in NZ. Infosys’s Subhash Dhar was quoted last week as saying “for Indian companies is still way easier to do business with a company in the U.S. than it is to do business today with another Indian state” [NYT]. Clearly, the overall business environment in the country still needs modifications to facilitate better efficiency. The govt. should create…actually let me rephrase that: the Indian govt. has an obligation and must create the right business conditions for the Indian entrepreneurship society to flourish based on the country’s fantastic supply of IT talent which is simply outstanding.

Past and present mainstream technologies have substantial talent oversupply in India, including the fact one can find a lot of people with natural abilities even on a cutting edge of the technology. The main question however, is whether the implementation of a number of current and new initiatives at the central and state levels aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship – will be adequate enough to fully support innovation, and more importantly, that the present and new policies are not based on a built-in concept of periodicity. That would be a serious mistake since first: systematicity is what’s required, and secondly – it will prove non-productive as it would significantly impede the possibility of aspiring entrepreneurs for self-actualization. I believe that while recognizing the fact the Indian society has progressively become an entrepreneur-friendly environment, the country’s policies so far have failed in advancing entrepreneurial flair by prioritizing outsourcing over e-ecosystem. And that has to change if they want to reward entrepreneurs or new ideas.

Furthermore, India must treat the e-entrepreneurship subject as a social phenomenon, given its economic impact in terms of wealth creation and prospects of fueling greater economic growth. Conceptually and in practice, a successful entrepreneurship ecosystem is the function of a combination of many factors, including a healthy and vibrant economic environment, education and incubation, individual motivation, access to early-stage finance etc. All these elements are based on the principal of capitalizing on the power of collaboration through introduction and dissemination of new methods and technology that if rightly executed will contribute to making India a fertile and prosperous ground. The point is that the ecosystem’s ability to perform rests in people’s hands. If we put our minds to it in terms of modifying the system, scale it up and more importantly – enrich it so that its dynamics improve and get perfected, the process will unavoidably yield growth and development.

Another point I noted from the Forbes column was the entrepreneurial mindset at this point in the country seems widespread and more significantly, the inclination to take it to a higher level remains quite active from indications of various elements including, the ability of the system itself getting progressively more commercialized via VCs, increased numbers of incubators, academic industry linkages and so forth. These and above-mentioned are all vital elements that if persistently pursued will divert India’s outsourcing addiction into creation and innovation and make the country lose once and for all the mentality “our brains are for sale.”

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