If you have been following the entrepreneurship ecosystem for the last decade or so, you will agree that there has been considerable increase in the number of start-ups. And not just in India! Many countries around the globe have witnessed this rise. In fact, growth in the number of start-ups is seen to strengthen the economic position of the respective country.
Appropriately enough, it seems wise to ponder upon what boomed the startup culture in the first place. True that the cost of starting-up has reduced significantly, for example with the likes cloud computing many software companies have reduced their expenditure. One can further on note that the rise of internet and telecom sector has helped entrepreneurs in shaping up their companies. However there is more to this rising trend.
Media and social acceptance have played major roles in the start up boom. Entrepreneurs today are accepted and acknowledged at a nascent stage. Eerily enough, the fame they thus obtain attracts large amounts of people with fundamentally weak projects.
” One cool innovator with good idea and then the money flows in.”
The quote in itself may make you feel like speeding off to create the next big idea. However brace yourself ladies and gentlemen, entrepreneurship isnt a twinkling career path.
Pushkar Gaikwad the founder of Work Monk (taken down) rightly quotes,
“there is no glamour in start-ups. Surviving on ramen noodless, working 80+ hours a week and the desire to build the next big thing works well for first 6 months but after that you will realize that it is just life and business.”
He further on adds,
“Startups are fun but there is no glamour in it, you seeing your name in newspapers/TV will be exciting for the first time but unless it convert into company growth, it is meaningless.“
There are certain co-founders who agree with his point of view. They were the unfortunate ones who found themselves too caught up in local newspaper features and interviews, only to realize that they had missed upon getting their skills sharpened. Sadly enough, these entrepreneurs ultimately failed to survive.
Tech Crunch Editor-in-Chief Erick Schonfeld presented his views in an article published in Austinchronicle.
” while there may not be a new dot-com bubble, there’s definitely some worry frothing in the start-up market, and someday soon, the froth is going to pop.”.
He advocates for sticking to the traditional business model approach, and adds
“We’re in The Twilight Zone, where things that are normally seen as virtuous don’t help”
One can certainly concur from the above that some of the emerging start-ups are in truth “froth”. It is wisely said that only 1/10 start ups will succeed, and there is a need for start ups to research, evaluate and eventually gear up to build a product/service that is needed in the society (It is meaningless to create products that are eventually not going to be required by the consumers).
We sense that people are entering the entrepreneurship boogie only to climb upon what they think is the fastest train to success. Entrepreneurship is beginning to lose its essence.
