Note: The views & opinions expressed in these essays are strictly my own, and not those of any entity I may be associated with as an employee, consultant, promoter, investor, etc.

ARCHIVES

Pune

› Technology Venture Investors in Pune

Technology Entrepreneurship in India - Teams

› Entrepreneurial traits

› Picking cofounders

Technology Entrepreneurship in India - Generating Revenue

› Is your business model well-defined?

› Your industry's value chain

› What is your value proposition?

› Which distribution channels will you use?

› Who will drive business development?

Technology Entrepreneurship in India - Raising Capital

› Venture capital & venture capitalists (VCs)

› Corporate venture capital

› Angels & angel networks in India

› Government support for Indian startups

› Proof-of-concept funding

› Do you need a business plan?

› How much money should you raise?

› Startup valuation

› Pitching to investors

› Figure out the term sheet

› Negotiating with investors

› Due diligence - A necessary evil

› Time to sign the investment agreements

Equities, ETFs, F&O

› Oct 2011: Equity Risk Premium for India

› Jun 2011: Investing in Indian equities

Technology Enterprises in India

› Nov 2010: Technology investment in India - WATER

› Aug 2010: Technology enterprises in India - 3 avatars

Risk Capital for MSMEs

› Mar 2010: Risk mitigation for investors in MSMEs

› Mar 2010: Why don't (Indian) MSMEs get risk capital?

› Feb 2010: Angel investing - Will it work for Indian MSMEs?

› Feb 2010: What's so special about innovative MSMEs?

› Feb 2010: Where do Indian/NRI (V)HNIs invest?

› Feb 2010: Funding options for innovative MSMEs in India

› Jan 2010: Innovative MSMEs in India

Business development (aka BizDev) is a catch-all phrase used to mean anything from sales & marketing to partnering, deal-making, and relationship building. In a technology startup, the BizDev role changes as the company searches for a viable business model, executes it, and revises it to drive rapid growth.

Early-stage BizDev is as much about defining and positioning the product/service, as it is about signing up partners, building a sales pipeline, and profiling competitors. This requires a mix of creativity, analytical & sales skills, ideally in the founder-CEO.

As a first-generation science/technology entrepreneur, you must:

• Pick a co-founder with relevant BizDev experience - but does your network include such people, alongside whom you've worked?
or
• Hire in a BizDev professional / engage a BizDev consultant - but can you evaluate and pick the right one, on the right terms?
or
• Do it yourself - but do you have the time and ability to do so?

Tools

• Market databases for India: CMIE, IndiaStat, ISI-EM, RBI, Capitaline, etc.

• Khosla Ventures' rifle framework for market targeting

• Market/Competitive analysis: PEST, SWOT, Strategy Clock

Perspectives

• Modeling the adoption of technology-intensive products/services in India: two speeds.

• Marc Andreessen on why product - market fit is all that matters, early on.

• Startup BizDev versus big company BizDev