Who wants to join a start-up?
SRUTHI KRISHNAN
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There is little room for complacency when opening a start-up or joining one.
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Photo: M. Karunakaran
BOLD MOVES: A spirit of entrepreneurship is vital to succeed.
With an idea and a laptop, 20-somethings are working 24/7, driven not by a pay-cheque but passion. Welcome to the world of IT start-ups. A start-up is a fledgling firm. When it comes to IT, it is easier to start a products or services firm because the initial investment is very low.
“Opinions about start-ups must change,” says Kausikram, an engineering graduate who joined Silver Stripe Software, an IT start-up in Chennai that deals with both IT products and services. Insecurity is the first thing that comes to people’s mind when they think of start-ups. “The assumption is that they always crash, but that is definitely not the case,” he says.
“Answer this question — how much experience do you have? After you answer, ask whether you have five years of experience or five years of the same experience. That is the difference between a big firm and a start-up,” he says.
“The training is hands-on,” says Lakshmi Narasimhan, who is part of One-i, which makes “web-based applications that can do cool stuff like data analysis, information mining, search and media processing,” as their website puts it. “As the pace is quicker, there is much depth in what you learn,” she says.
There are flip-sides too. “You cannot expect plush offices or someone to go and mail that letter. And there may not be any opportunities to go for that ‘foreign travel’,” she warns.
“Make sure that you can take some financial risk,” says V. Karthikeyan, who founded Excedos, a market research firm. “If you need to support your family, then think hard before you join a start-up. There may not be much money, compared to bigger firms, at least initially,” he says.
“You must be able to sell this idea to your parents,” says Rupal Surana, of Inasra Technologies. “Convincing people around you who matter is a major factor,” she says.
For those who are interested in joining a start-up, Kausikram’s advice is, “Get out of your comfort zone.” Use the Internet, meet people. Just take initiative, is his mantra.
“Events like Proto.in and blog camps, which are organised for people involved with IT start-ups periodically in cities, help you meet people,” says Karthikeyan. Updates are given on the Internet about when these events are conducted. Open Coffee Club, a forum for start-ups, has a chapter in every city. Kausikram met the other member of his two-person firm in Blog camp.
Next week, we will look into what it takes to start a start-up.
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