Shifting Paradigms of Entrepreneurship Strategy.

Shifting Paradigms of Entrepreneurship Strategy
(in a new world order driven by the rise of New Media)

© mihir gajrawala
Published on http://www.mihirgajrawala.com on 26.4.14

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New Media : a phenomenon created due to the advent of social media converging with the tremendous spread of mobile technology. The key features (at this point in time), being on-demand access to data, inherent interactive feedback capability and community formation potential.

It has been an age old dictum in our business tradition – ‘it takes 1000 days for an enterprise to set up, after which one may think of driving it to above average profits’.

Does this still hold true? Try this…
It took Instagram 730 days to turn itself into an enterprise valued at a humongous $1bn, around ` 5500 crores. Around 24 months back, Facebook came up with an IPO having valuation at a staggering $100 bn; the point is it took the company less than 3000 days to reach here. This social media behemoth went on to acquire a 5 year old start up – Whatsapp-for an unbelievable sum of $19billion dollars. These are not the only events. Let’s take an Indian example. Cisco Systems, the technology behemoth took a 17% stake in a lesser known start up, Qyuki – founded by Shekar Kapur and AR Rahman, at a great pricing of `27 crores. And this was even before the beta version launch.

Just look around in the spectrum of New Media and the concept of time value of money seems to be going through a fundamental change. And if we delve deeper it seems the global consumer behavior is changing dramatically leading to sweeping transformations in the contemporary business environment. Every paradigm that we know is changing, already.

So what are the fresh paradigms shaping up?

Let’s go back in time to put our discussion in a better context.

Powered by the discovery of electricity, entrepreneur/scientists worked on it and some life changing inventions took place during the late 18th till late 19th century. These phenomena carried on in the entire 20th century leading to the invention of computer followed by the Internet. The world has changed. The skill sets existing a century before are not even known now. Who would use Human or bird messengers for communication, you had telegraph and later email. Who would have even imagined that the skill set of making earthen vessels would become redundant before steel and other metals came into being? But nothing could stop human imagination, and with it the world order went through change.

The prime driver of this change was the human craving for ‘convenience’. In today’s scenario, ‘convenience’ & ‘ease’ are being taken over by a totally new set of values, which is – the human craving to express, to share and eventually to INFLUENCE. The change occurring today is potentially far more impactful than what the world has ever seen earlier.

And we are all part of this change. We have changed. Our motives to do ‘something’ are going through a sea change. And the reason I am quoting this change to be more powerful is the speed at which it is occurring. What earlier took centuries to occur, now may just happen in decades or even years.
You don’t take pictures to make an album to show to your kids, you take them to instantly share it with your community. You do not wait for a weekly film review, but you are plugged into the first show tweet review. You do not have to wait for tomorrow’s newspaper to tell you what your favorite sportsman did on his birthday; he would have already shared it with his followers on Twitter. You do not need to have ‘contacts’ to let a film maker notice your story, you connect with an expert on Qyuki. Before we even leveraged ‘networking’, the concept of ‘community’ is taking over. While as a nation, we still haven’t ended bloating about ‘outsourcing’; the early signs and power of ‘crowd sourcing’ is out to behold!

Creative individuals from across the world come together to develop new art or commercial offerings; a phenomenon unthinkable just a few years ago. Entrepreneurs have now an option of crowd funding at their disposal, and thousands of new start ups are coming up just because of the availability of such unique funding. These phenomena are huge, considering they are bringing about a sea change in the existing understanding of the idea of ‘ownership’.

We would be blind if we are not seeing this. The new paradigms have already emerged in the world of Entrepreneurship strategy. And we all know that business has to follow where the ‘community’ is heading.

Let me list down what’s happening:
• Job creation as the prime motivator of entrepreneurship is taken over by ‘potential to co-create’
• The demise of stand-alone firm as the primary unit of competition; linear hierarchic firm structures are giving way to multi polar, decentralized structures – where the skill, power and control is spread widely across individual firms/individuals.
• The demise of nation-state as the principal unit around which international economic activity is organized and conducted.
• The focus of business is shifting from ‘the firm’ to ‘the community’

Based on all of these the over arching trend in front of us is :
‘Shifting focus from consumption economy to influence economy’

As entrepreneurs we cannot over look this trend. Every aspect of enterprise creation is changing in a phenomenal way. We will need to develop ways to identify community based opportunities for developing capabilities and acquiring the specialized resources needed to compete in today’s fluidic market place, and we need to understand our own strategic value in the context of shifting focus from Investment management to Access management.

Driven by need of convenience we created a consumption based economic model and ended up given control and power to Investment houses. This may soon become obsolete. Driven by the desire to ‘express’, an Influence based economic model is emerging leading to hand over control and power to those with ‘Access’.

Do you wish to wait till suddenly you realize that no one uses earthen pots any more? As evolving entrepreneurs we have to understand the essence of this emerging paradigm and generate keys to long term entrepreneurial existence.

 

Inputs taken from :
1) Shekhar Kapur’s Speech at NASSCOM India Leadership forum 2013
2) “Changing Paradigms of International Entrepreneurship Strategy” Paper published by Richard W. Wright & Leo-Paul Dana in the Journal of International Entrepreneurship in 2003.

” I wish to die, now ” – available on amazon Kindle

 

I took a while to prepare myself for this. It took a basket full of encouraging words from  patrons, reading enthusiasts and academicians for me to finally put my compilation out there in the market. Yes the kindle edition of “I wish to die, now” is up and available across all major amazon online stores across the globe. All you need is a kindle or a kindle reader on your device.

I genuinely look forward to this organic expansion of my thought realm by way of connecting to thousands of readers all across the globe. I am keen to see whether my thoughts are able to find a resonance in the worlds which I have never been exposed to.

Below is a brief description of the book for you to take a buy call.

happy exploring !

MIhir Gajrawala

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“I wish to die, now”, is an individual’s tryst with himself; a passionate attempt to set the self free – a self that is holed in conventions, a self that is trapped in conditions and a self that is bound by compulsions. The author uses the medium of words to let the trapped energy of within, manifest itself. These are not mere essays or articles; these are the reflections of a sensitive soul, which is craving to break out.

The reader will encounter a variety of thoughts that will make him/her get closer to his/her deeper persona. From belief systems to communal behavior, from entrepreneurship to gratefulness, from politics to friendship, from philosophical prose to romantic poetry, from essays to opinions – it is a really broad canvas, which is a potent space for an exploratory reader to dwell in.

As Nietzsche puts it, “one must have chaos inside oneself to give birth to a dancing star”; the passages in the book will take the reader closer to the chaos that exists within him/her. It will make you question, it will make you wonder, and it will shake away all your inertia and bring you closer to your true being.

Irrespective of your interest in the specifics of subject matter, the book will connect you to the thoughts presented. The book will give a fillip to your sense of exploration and wonder.

And all of these come out as scintillating word sketches from a first time author, who describes himself as an expressionist.

“I wish to die, now” will make you want to live, even more!

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here’s the link to the amazon page.

If you happen to buy the book, I request you to take time out to give your review on the amazon page. That shall really help me to know how my thoughts are being perceived.

hgang in dharamshala

The dharamshala experience has been so overwhelming that words alone are not able to do justice to the effort to communicate it. Working on a Visual articulation of the entire experience by way of a film.

below are the links to the teaser and preview of the film :

 

ક્યાં લઇ જાય છે આ રસ્તો / where is this road taking me

‘dharam’ means ‘ones truest nature’, that part of you that cannot be taken away, that which cannot cease to exist. That is your ‘Dharam’. ‘Shala’ means ‘a designated space’. A designated space as in a  school that would teach you ways and give you means to realize your truest nature is called a ‘Dharamshala’. When we set out on this fun and getting together of friends trip , our only notion of Dharamshala was of a peaceful and serene hill station of North india.

Over 90 hours of being in mindful conversations with friends, after more than 30000 kms of collective travelling and after a soul stirring 9 hour trek in snow and walking our way to about 9000ft above sea level it dawned upon us that we happened to be in a school to learn and to understand our true nature, we found we are in DHARAMSHALA.

The trek of Triund, apart from its aesthetics and natural beauty turned out to be an experience that left me speechless. Yes, someone as expressive as me, is left speechless. This is after about 2 days that the whirlwind of overwhelming thoughts are settling down, and i am seeing some faint meaning in all that was felt. We started the trek as a fun holiday excursion not knowing that it would take a sharp turn and become a challenging trek where we will have to battle against odds like bad weather, uncompromising terrain, resource-lessness, fear and despair.

We battled it with guts, trust, hope, togetherness but mostly with a ‘careful unconcern’ and humour which is so unique to our lot. Never did any of us had anticipated that at the end of 9 hours the trek of Triund would give us the greatest lesson of our lives – lesson of conviction, courage, hope, causality, trust, friendship and above all the lesson to let go. Individuality gave way the belief in ‘interdependence’.

Most of our times are spent in planning. In trying to control the tomorrow. As they say living in the illusion of control. But if we apply only a bit of common sense, it is so evident that nothing is in your control. The point from where you start, the journey and the point at where you might end, nothing can actually be planned. All of it just happens.

I often share it with friends – that when i start writing a poem i actually do not know where it will end. Invariably rhyme precedes the reason. Infact i give meaning to it once i would have completed it. From this perspective i am actually not the writer, i am only a  medium. The poem doesn’t come from me, it comes through me. This is exactly how the entire life should be taken. That you are not the doer, you are a mere medium – is the ultimate way to live. The acceptance of this fact is the way to reach to experiences of contentment and happiness, the only path to rise above the set paradoxes. The trek of Triund taught this to us.

The verses below are an attempt to distill all of the above in the form of a poem. From one perspective it is a description of the beauty, wonder and amazement that was experienced during the entire Triund trek and from a certain perspective the verses are a metaphorical expression of life as i decipher it, at this point in time of my existence.

As i said above, I am giving meaning to it after the poem is written, these words actually occurred to me at different points during the 9 hour trek of Triund.

 

ક્યાં લઇ જાય છે આ રસ્તો , ક્યાં લઇ જશે આ રસ્તો ,

વગર જાણે ચાલ્યા કરું એના પર હું આમ અમસ્તો  .     (2)

આડા-અવળા ને ત્રાંસા પથરા થી અંકાયેલો આ રસ્તો ,

લીલાછમ ઘટાદાર વૃક્ષો થી ઘેરાયેલો આ રસ્તો ,

તાજા બનેલા બરફ થી શણગારાયેલો આ રસ્તો ,

ના દેખાતા પક્ષીઓના સંગીત થી ભરાયેલો આ રસ્તો ,

કુદરત ની અતુલ્ય ચિત્રકલા સમક્ષ વસેલો આ રસ્તો ,

ક્યાં લઇ જાય છે આ રસ્તો , ક્યાં લઇ જશે આ રસ્તો   (2)

નવા દ્રશ્યો મારી આંખ ને બતાવતો આ રસ્તો ,

મિત્રોના અંતર ને ઓળખવાનો આ રસ્તો ,

ભણેલી ફિલસુફી ની પરીક્ષા લેતો આ રસ્તો ,

નિયતિ ની યોજના થી રૂબરૂ કરાવતો આ રસ્તો ,

આસ્થા ની જ્યોત ને અખંડ બનાવી જતો આ રસ્તો ,

ક્યાં લઇ આવ્યો છે આ રસ્તો , ક્યાં લઇ જશે આ રસ્તો   (2)

જે જોયું છે તેનું સ્મરણ કરાવાનો  આ રસ્તો ,

જે નથી જોઈ શકતો એનો એહસાસ કરાવાનો આ રસ્તો ,

જ્યાં પહોચ્યો છું ત્યાં સુધી પહોચવાનો આ રસ્તો ,

જ્યાં નથી પહોચી શક્યો , ત્યાં મને લઇ જવાનો આ રસ્તો

જ્યાં નથી પહોચી શક્યો ‘નિર્દોષ’, ત્યા મને લઇ જવાનો આ રસ્તો  .

ક્યાં લઇ જાય છે આ રસ્તો ક્યાં લઇ જશે આ રસ્તો ,

વગર જાણે ચાલ્યા કરું એના પર હું આમ અમસ્તો  .

Paradox of doing and not doing.

Letter sent to The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, seeking a private audience to His Holiness during my visit to Dharamsala with my friends in coming January.

Ahmedabad, December 2nd, 2013.
© mihir gajrawala

It is our misfortune that HHDL is not available in Dharamsala at the time of our visit. The Office of HHDL informed us of his unavailability.
I am sure that many would find a resonance in the thoughts presented in this letter. Hence sharing it here on my blog.

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Thought Map
A peep into our minds to explain the significance of being an audience to His Holiness

‘Paradox of doing and not doing‘

As entrepreneurship students we are educated to keep ourselves occupied in investing our energy in ‘achievements’. To work towards a better tomorrow, to work towards economic growth ; that you be more tomorrow than what you are today – is the mantra given. Yes our teacher did warn us to not equate this need to achieve with ‘greed’ and ‘short cuts’, but ‘achievement’ remains the fulcrum of our thoughts all through out.

A dozen winters have passed by since we completed our post graduation in entrepreneurship and set out to ‘achieve’. We are a bunch of individuals, separated by culture and geography, but bound by our sense of purpose.

Over these dozen odd winters, we have grown, we have changed in more ways than one; but our understanding still revolves around this word ‘achievement’. As any other individual, we have encountered both wonder and despair during our experiences and it has an impact on our comprehension on life. Over countless chats, numerous discussions, unaccounted hours of introspection, individually and collectively, we all have started to look at this term ‘achievement’ a bit more differently than what it was when we started our journey.

‘Sometimes things go wrong; that’s normal. But we have a saying in Tibetan, ‘Nine times fail, nine times try again’. @dalailama via tweeter

Yes we believe in the above. We exhibit this spirit in our endeavors; we manage to not get bogged down by failures. Having said that, readings of various spiritual masters have resulted in the germination of the belief that ‘any quantum of action if invested in a direction opposite to one’s nature will only generate disillusionment and dissatisfaction’.

At this point we all differ. Each one has a different perception of what this true nature is. But we all agree that none of us has ever experienced that infectious and innocent smile that we always see on the face of His Holiness. What is it that could give such perennial smile? If such a smile is the manifestation of being in ones nature, what direction may lead us there? And this makes us re-look at the concept of achievement. Does ‘achievement’ takes one away from ones true nature, does willful ‘giving up’ brings one closer to his true nature?

Does such a smile needs to be ‘achieved’ or it is an outcome of ‘giving up’ ?

We do not know. At this question we are stuck. We see a dead end. And so worldly speaking, we are in a situation where we have ceased to ‘achieve’; we are not growing any more (in our chosen fields of entrepreneurship). That is the paradox we are living in – the paradox of doing and not doing. The paradox of feeling ‘nothing’ amidst ‘everything’

We are TOTAL neither in doing nor in not-doing. We are neither someone nor are we no-one. We are neither fully Present nor completely Absent.

We do not claim to be seers or seekers. We are absolutely normal anybodies that exist everywhere. With all genuineness we accept the presence of hypocrisy in our expressions.

Who are we then? And why this mail?

Well we are a bunch of friends, 14 to be precise, who got united during our education some 13 years back. Many of us reside in cities quite far away from each other. We embark on this little vacation to discuss, introspect and meditate upon the above paradox, which we all are living in.

Our request is not to talk or debate. Nor do we have a list of questions. With above described mindset we wish to walk into the room of His Holiness, see His smile and just listen.

Legends say that Mahavira never spoke, He was only heard. We wish to have the blessing of hearing to His Holiness.

Thank You.

There is no shortcut to love & affection

Speech given at Entreplexus 5.0 (Bi annual Alumni Meet) welcoming the new Trustees as Board of Governors of EDI Alumni Association.

Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad, March 2, 2013.

© mihir gajrawala

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My teachers – Respected Dr. Awasthi and Dr. Shukla, my colleagues Gaurav, Mitul and Rutul, the newly elected BOG members, fellow alumni members and my dear current batch students; Good Evening and Welcome to Entreplexus 5.0.

Today is the day of ‘change’. Today is the day we celebrate ‘change’. Every beautiful flower that blooms to its peak gets its time out in the sun and it gets its time to spread its fragrance in the world around. What also is a fact is that every flower after having spent its time out in the sun, has to decay, has to fall on the ground and become part of the soil, to eventually let a new flower bloom and to let the new flower give its fragrance to the world.

Friends; Change is the law of nature; Change is a fundamental of Universe, Change is divine. We as Trustees of the esteemed EDI Alumni association are glad to have been able to bring this moment of change to you. It is a moment of pride for us to have brought the association to this stage whereby we can ‘handover’; handover the reigns of this dynamic and potent alumni body to a new team of volunteers. We give you a fresh pair of 14 hands and 7 strong willed hearts as care takers of EDI Alumni Association. On behalf of the alma mater I welcome you all on Board.

To have reached here, to be able to do all that we could, let me tell you it was not easy. It was daunting and extremely challenging for us to bring the association at this stage. And I specifically wish to talk about those challenges, particularly to the newly elected team and the young students who would soon be alumni, and warn you that it is not going to be an easy role to play. All the challenges that we have faced and I am sure which you shall face too, can be summed up as follows:

1. The first challenge that we had to confront was – Accepting our own limitations.

You will pass through a phase where you would feel “maine to itna kiya, usne to kuch nai kiya”, “ye mera kaam nahi, ye mujhse nahi hoga” etc.  So many ideas you will come up with, and realize that it’s not becoming possible to achieve them.  And this would be extremely disheartening. You will have to learn to understand yours and your team’s limitation, and prepare yourself to accept those limitations. Unless you will accept them, you would not be able to function as a team and give value to a public forum like ours.

2. The second challenge to hit you will be – Disillusionment.

Imagine you have done a lot of hardwork, taken a lot of pain, invested your heart and soul in creating some value for the alumni community, and when the day of event turns up, you do not see any participation. When you have to get on stage and talk to empty chairs, it will disillusion you to the core. And it has happened to us quite a few times. I remember as I went back to home, retire on my bed, a tear would roll down my cheek and I would question myself, “What and for whom am I actually working? ; Am I doing the right thing? , Should I continue?” Yes we as a team have experienced such disillusionment, to the maximum magnitude possible; but than we learnt to confront it; overcome it; and the same would be expected of you.

3.  The third and the deadly challenge to face is – Not becoming Bitter.

A voluntary task or for that matter any task that we undertake is bound to have constraints. Environmental and external constraints manifest more and affect greatly in voluntary and part time endeavors.  It is very normal to accuse the constraints and say “isme to kuch nahi ho sakta”, “ye to aisa hi rehne wala hai”, “chhodo hame kya”. Out there in the world there are two set of forces or energies that are trying to enter your system – The bitter forces and the better forces; and it is absolutely upto us to make the choice. At the end of every challenge do you wish to become ‘bitter’ or do you choose to become ‘better’; that choice will decide the course of your life.

Its not that these challenges would show up only once; not at all; we have faced them frequently and adequately during this course of 6 years. We had our moments when we would have thought to ‘give up’. But some how during this journey we learned to overcome this feeling of ‘giving up’. Today I stand before you, and with immense pride I say that inspite of every challenge, we managed to survive, sustain and deliver.

And it was possible for us to overcome these challenges because we are filled with genuine love and affection for this institute, for this education and for the teachers who delivered this education to us. Every brick that you see around, every wall of this complex, we are in love with every bit of this institute; we love the individuals who have graduated from this illustrious institute. That is the reason that every challenge had to lose against our armour of love and affection.

It would be unwise to say that we came along with truck loads of love and affection inside us. It wasn’t as if whenever required we pulled out a bucket full of love and affection from our stock and pour it on our challenges. No, that wasn’t the case.

In our journey we have met such amazing individuals, rare gems, who reinstated this value in us, time and again.

During our initial days in EDIAA office, while we were working on the first Entreplexus, we came across this extraordinary volunteer called YK (Yaduvendra Singh). He along with his amazing team mates from batch 10, likes of Ryan, Minal, Minakshi, Zalak, Trupti showed us the meaning of working with love and affection for the alma mater. As we progressed we met more gems from batch 11. I must mention this amazing lady namely Shuchi Roy, first. Along with her we met Nibha, Sonali, Nikhil, Bhushan, Ashish, Vikrant and likes. This team has resulted in the most impactful Entreplexus till date. There came a time that our interaction with students went down, particulary with batch 12, and we were skeptical about the result of fourth entreplexus. At his juncture we came across Deepak, a rare species in volunteerism who just reconnected us with the batches here and we managed a wonderful event under his leadership. Look I might be missing out on names, but I am sure the people whom I am talking about, know that I am talking about them. Finaly it has brought us to this batch, you guys – the batch 14. And if I were to put it in one line I would say – Entreplexus 5.0 has been made possible by one guys conviction and that is GG (Gaurav Gupta) – the latest find in my collection of priceless gems. Some 8 months back when we first met GG and his team of Raunak, Sonu, Hardik and likes for the first time they made us realize our age. Yeah guys, their spark and enthusiasm proved to us that you guys are not ten years behind but ten years ahead of us. And I must compliment them for it.

This brings us to this one person – who like a tower – has stood by with the association forever. He was there even before we came into office and will remain even after we leave. Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Ganapathi. Tears swell up in my eyes, when I think of acknowledging his love and affection for the alumni; an extraordinary human and the greatest support of EDIAA. Today during the morning meeting with the new team, he states to the new team that  “24 x 7 x 365 I am available and you can count on me always”; there’s no one else who would do this for EDIAA.

And friends let me make it clear, that none of these individuals were on board, neither were they remunerated nor were they honoured or named. It is a sheer exhibition of volunteerism fuelled by love and affection for the alma mater. These individuals, Gems as I would prefer to call them, showed us that the only way to fight a challenge –

• to prevent oneself from getting disheartened,
• to save oneself from being disillusioned and
• to control oneself from becoming bitter

is by building genuine love and affection for the purpose in question.

I thank all of these extraordinary individuals for being our guides and showing us the way.

And I strongly believe, without any doubt in my mind that the only way to build great institutions is by cultivating a culture of giving out of love and affection.

I must also tell you that it is easy to learn the tricks of the trade and skills required to get various things done, but remember that there is no short cut to love and affection. It has to be cultivated.

I wish and I pray that you guys, the new team, experience this emotion during your time and tenure.

Thank You.

‘Happy’ Birthday to me? – not yet!

“I truly believe that Teaching and Medicine are the noblest of vocations, among all. And they should remain like that. Any institute or individual who takes up these vocations for greed or any other motive other than teaching and curing will only dilute its true delivery. I am a teacher and I would never be my student’s consultant.”

That’s how Dr. KVSM Krishna, my teacher and Course Director responded when I generally queried about his view and interest in associating himself with the ‘so-called’ A-Listed business schools around.

Back in 2000-2001, when I did my PG at Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Dr. Krishna was then the Course Director and our teacher for Economics and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. But for me he turned out to be my Teacher for Life. Innumerable lessons on Life and Self Awareness that were bestowed upon me by him. All of these occurred during those hundreds of hours of class room talks as well as countless after class room discussions that happened in his office. Even after the course completion, till date I have the privilege of being blessed with his teachings through various e-mail and phone conversations; though he has been moving to different geographical locations we managed quite a few meetings over the last decade. Each and every of this interaction, be it a casual 5 minute call, he has never left without giving – giving to his student pearls of wisdom from his vast ocean of knowledge.

I credit all my successes to HIM and I accept all my shortcomings as my inability to understand and/or follow his teachings.

His understanding of things is very in depth and focused. His teachings sound simple but takes a lot to understand and comprehend its true meaning. He comes across as a grumpy ol’ chap; but a true student will see a TEACHER in every cell of him. His dedication and commitment towards his students is unparalleled and he would stretch himself to newer limits to touch and teach his students.

As our course started off, it didn’t take me much time to bond with him. The lessons had started flowing and soon, over a year – an introvert, shy, low on confidence, hyper anxious and clouded youngster who could barely understand his self and the world around, some one who had no drive and no ambition – turned into STUDENT OF THE YEAR, scored maximum in almost all subjects and most importantly gained confidence to embark upon an enterprising journey. All of this happened because of an intervention called Dr. Krishna.

At every point, smallest of issue to biggest of resistances that I would have discussed with him, each and every time he has come across as a Teacher to me; and that has helped survive the student in me. His strongest impact on me has been in making me realize the value of “LEARN TILL YOUR LAST MOMENT”.

He would tell us “I want you all to be LEARNERS and not become LEARNED”

The lessons were just not limited to economics or entrepreneurship. We would have talked and discussed almost every subject on this planet. From human development to spirituality; from inter gender dynamics to family businesses; from poverty alleviation to self development; from marriages to education system every topic was put across in a light so as to understand its significance. Most importantly, over all this years, till date his sole effort through every talk is to make his student know and realize his latent potential.

This belief – a strong and honest belief of my teacher in me forms the seed of my awareness; forms the basis of my understanding of me, it powers my vision of life and energizes my every attempt of developing myself. My thought processes and cognitive mechanisms have evolved from the seed of knowledge that he had sowed.

I attained the form of flesh and blood in 1979, whereas I derived my mind in 2000. My teacher gave me REBIRTH.

I feel that I am no way near in being a worthy student. If his teachings manifest themselves in my doings and I truly embody all that I am learning only then will I feel happy and contended.

Many Birthday’s have since gone by, it really doesn’t matter to me; but it is the ‘Rebirth day’ that holds greater significance to me. And I Endeavour to give myself a HAPPY RE BIRTH DAY – the day I shall be contended, the day I feel a sense of pride, the day I feel worthy, not in anyone else’s eye, but in my own assessment.

That day, I shall wish myself a Happy (re)Birth day!

PS : I have always debated with Dr. Krishna about attempting to publish his thoughts or atleast to blog so that a large number of ‘students’ be touched. However he remains so involved with the students around him that he hardly thinks of documenting himself. On this birthday of mine I initiate this segment on my blog in which I shall attempt to present the various talks that I had with him. It’s going to be a task to put various chats that I have had with him over varied contexts in the most correct manner. I take it up with a hope of letting more STUDENTS reach to a true TEACHER.

RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

~ When you come to the edge of a cliff, the solution is not to run faster, We have to step back ~

These are tough times. To make it gullible to you guys let me put it differently. These are different times.

The PM is asking for austerity. All that the analysts are able to predict is uncertainty. Economists all across are at their conservative best. Inflation has already over taken growth in the last quarter; and the gap only seems to be widening. Our consumption is growing but we aren’t. Many environmentalists have started the countdown towards dooms day.

These are not the bytes that we are used to in recent times. Doesn’t this seem a bit dodgy; a bit contradictory to you. If we say we are CAPITALIST than uncertainty should excite us and austerity should put us off…but as I told you these are different times. Just a quarter before we believed in consumption fuelled growth. And now we are advised to restrain.

Something’s going wrong. Sample this….

India is self-sufficient in its agricultural production; which means we produce food grains that should suffice 120 crore population. However, 35 crore odd sleep without a meal and other 35 crore odd have only one meal a day!

We consumed the most mobile phones (after china) globaly. Whereas we still do not have a decent school in every taluka!

Its said the developing Organised Retail scenario and booming Mall culture is boosting consumption and thereby fuelling growth. It’s a different story that a single mall consumes energy that can electrify an entire village!

Reports say that Insurance is a booming industry and is doing very well. Though the fact remains 75% of the people who get affected by a calamity (natural or man-made) remain uninsured.

It’s not so difficult to accept the fact that all our collective entrepreneurial energies are not taking us where it should. All that we are doing is either leading us to inflation, disparity, consumerism or environment degradation. As entrepreneurs it should matter to us – because a disturbed environment would never provide sustainable growth. If our progress is not endearing enough, than our efforts are not worth it.

So where are we? So what are we talking about in here. The answer is as simple as it is complex. The effects suggest we have missed an important factor in our viability equation. What is that factor??

And let me make it clear, we are not talking about socialism out here!

The point that is being made is IF WE WISH TO GROW ENTREPRENEURALY and IF WE WISH TO MAKE A MARK GLOBALLY we need to completely change the way we think about business and the way we understand ‘marketing’. Let us understand that profit and return are not the only variables to consider; impact on society at large is the factor that would lead us to economic and environmental stability.

Some have talked about ‘COMPASSIONATE CAPITALISM’ and some have deliberated upon ‘SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP’.

We may like to put it as RESPONSIBLE ENTREPREPRENEURHIP.

WE need to respond. More so as entrepreneurs of an emerging economy we have to respond; We need to create businesses to inspire and realize sustainable enterprise growth and social development. We need to learn to connect our aspirations for global citizenship to opportunities on the ground.

And we are not talking about austerity here. There are tremendous entrepreneurial opportunities that we are completely blinded to.

Fast food chains are exciting but community kitchens aren’t. Cities are lighting up but no ones investing in solar technologies. Instead of bigger-hollow-costlier schools a smaller-better-cheaper version might make more economic sense. Tremendous PPP (public private partnership) opportunities in the field of rural health care, children and adult education, agriculture technology development etc.

All this is not totally alien to us. In bits and parts, in small pockets somewhere some such initiatives are taken. Our task is to add scale to it and design a unique growth for ourselves. It’s about putting the social concerns out there in the market and turning them into entrepreneurial opportunities.

In the ring we have value creation vs consumption and accumulation. MAKE YOUR BETS NOW!

IMPACT MAKING ENTREPRENEURS is not at all a new term for the alumni of this institute. Initiative, Alertness, Adventure and Adaptive-ness is what EDI has taught us. Entrepreneurs as change-agents are what EDI believes in.

To move forward, lets take the first step, back!

– MIHIR GAJRAWALA