• Give real world problems rather than typical analytical question
• See the approach taken for solving the problem
• Try to see if the candidate get influenced by confusion caused by you and see for how long he can defend his original answer

You are settled in India? Hmmm…not good if you are thinking to become entrepreneur. Disappointed? Don’t be, because scenario is fast changing and its just matter of time. Bytheway, did you happen to read not so recent issue of Economist couple of couple months back? No? It wasnt extraordinary except a single piece of article that said India has around 15 million successful entrepreneurs and its just that not all of them belong to IT field. So, even a guy who sets up a simple kiryana store and devises his own business model so well that he or she ends up running it sustainably most of the time. What does this mean? No, not what you thought. It means, chances are entrepreneurship is in your blood. You would know how to sustain when things go bad bcoz sustaining is more like do or die for you….and obviously nobody wants to die as there isnt’ any incentive in that

So, that brings us to point as to what matters when you want to be your own king? Wanna know for sure? Take a break and get back because that’s going to be shattering for you when you know it. Ok. You are back? Great.

Its called ‘Start now’ or ‘First step’. We Indians have so many things to worry because of social life that we live and kind of responsibilities and liabilities that we like to carry, we often see the wall bigger and thicker than it really is. In reality, size ratios of obstacles doesn’t matter – what matters is the First step. Taking first step not only sets physical or material things forward towards your goal but also sends out your thoughts process out in the universe and guess what, universe is designed to work for you provided you ask it so. God damn it, its so simple and yet difficult [frustrating notwithstanding] to make anybody understand that. So, the point is: With First step comes the attitude – a positive attitude and positive thought and with that comes manifestation of reality and passion inside and with that comes commitment and with that comes….hold on…I am digressing here. Ok. Stop. Wait. You take a breath and me too

Ok. Back. Hmmm…not bad.

Now comes the scenario part. Check sites like Startups.in or Startuphub or Venturewoods and many more. They weren’t there couple of years ago. Google for ‘VC looking for india’. What do you see? Enough huh hah? But how does it matter to people like you and me who aren’t connected or networked?. Honestly, it doesnt’. So what the heck?. Yeah, you are right. To prove that you got a case, you still have to ‘work’ and that too ‘harder’ as you would if scenario wasn’t better. But, tell me, how many eyes are now scouting for the work that you have done? isnt’ it tripled in size? isnt’ it advantage? Simple probability logic, dear friend. Not exciting? Hmmm….that isnt’ enough for you to take that ‘first step’ I poured over. May be VCs or warren buffet should line up in front of your door and ask for your favour. How touchy that would be, I ask.

You are here? Great. Go get it champ. It belongs to you. You are responsible for world’s 50% wealth accumulated with those 1%.

More later….

PS: Atleast contribute via post.

Venture Capitalists are actively looking to become entrepreneurs because this brings them closer to reality. This way they really start appreciating what the guy on the other side of the table is trying to say. This also helps them avoid clueless goof-ups that they would have made without being aware of it. It also helps become more sensitive towards people seeking VC money. Some of the VCs have realized that running the show from scratch up is more satisfying than just doing the VC thing.

Author has interesting quotes from different VCs. Just check the quotes from the full post.

Much of Toyota’s success, as well as that of numerous other Japanese manufacturers, is based on what Fujimoto Takahiro, a professor of economics at the University of Tokyo, calls suriawase, which literally means “grinding” but is better translated here as “integration.” Fujimoto asserts that there are two main approaches to manufacturing in this day and age: assembly and suriawase.

Suriawase involves integrating a vast number of individual parts and components to make a fine-tuned whole product. Rather than simply putting the different parts together, it entails ensuring that each of the parts complements the others and contributes to maximizing the performance of the product in question. This is achieved by maintaining close contact among all the different divisions involved in the production process, such as research and development, design, production technology, purchasing, and sales.

The key to Japan’s success in global markets lies not in simply assembling products but in nurturing companies with the cutting-edge technology that will enable them to take advantage of the suriawase approach.

Author describes the differences she found between her visit to India in 1980s and in 2005.

Although India is riding on cost advantages it is soon going to face similar problems like high wages, lack of skilled force etc. which corporate America is facing now. India’s huge middle class is transforming into upper middle class and their needs are increasing which can be tapped by American companies to tailor made products for Indian cities thereby finding new markets and new avenues of business growth. India too has startups e.g Cosmic Circuits and they are more like virtual cousions to Silicon Valley startups.

Author makes a subtle point by telling how rising India isn’t threat to America. A ok-type post though.

• Traffic is generated by participating in the community; not daily posting – Traffic is generated by successful bloggers linking to you either in their posts or in their blogroll.
• Traffic is irrelevant to your blog’s success- What matters most is whether you are reaching your target audience. Engaging with the audience you want to have a relationship with is a much smarter strategy than posting frequently
• Loyal readers coming back daily to check your posts – No. Loyal readers subscribe to your blog via RSS feeds and have new content pushed to them. They will remain loyal because they have subscribed, not because you post frequently.
• Frequent posting is actually starting to have a negative impact on loyalty: With too many posts, you run the risk of losing loyal readers, overwhelmed by the clutter you generate. It leads to poor quality content and also threatens the credibility of blogosphere.

A good post. Check it here.

No great a post. Skip it.

• Entrepreneurs who succeeded in a prior venture have a 30% chance of succeeding in their next venture. First-time entrepreneurs only have an 18% chance of succeeding and those have previously failed have a 20% chance of succeeding.
• Entrepreneurs are much more likely to receive first-round funding at an early stage (60% of the time) if this is their second or subsequent venture than first time entrepreneurs (45% of the time).
• Failed serial entrepreneurs are more likely than successful serial entrepreneurs to get funding from the same venture capital firm that financed their first ventures.
• First-Timers or failed(s) benefit more from VC expertise and having experienced VCs certainly helps.
• Serial Entrepreneurs end up extracting better terms from VCs.

A good paper. Read it your way back home.