Ashwin Upadhyaya's Blog

We were talking with the chief of a company about our business idea and project and how he could sell his product to us but it turned out he was interested in investing in the project too. Another day, another chief, similar proposal and this person provided us the contact of a person who does similar work like us in a different country which is a great insight for us. Yet another day, another chief and this person tells us about many other places where we could implement similar projects.

Many such instances dot our day. We look out for a customer and we find an investor. We look out for a seller and find a good business contact. We look out for a consultant and find a great businessman. It is not luck. It is not just the probabilities. It is because we search for something which is not there yet. We look out for something which we want to create just out of an idea. And we believe that it is possible. When you start believing in an idea, when you stop thinking about why something may not work and instead start working on making it possible, everything starts to fall in place.

I had heard the above words a thousand times before I took the entrepreneurship path. Now I am experiencing it. And I think it is a very logical thing to happen. When we believe in an idea and talk about it, people try to build a conversation which usually centers around that idea. Talk movies with someone and she would talk more about movies, actresses and probably new movie ideas. Talk music and she would talk of more music and musicians. Then why not talk about the idea that you believe? Believe and the things just start to work.

A few days back, I had a conversation with a highly experienced CEO who had started his company more than 3 decades back. He had this to say:

When we started our industry, it was extremely difficult to bring foreign technology into India. If I required one, then I had to:

1. Advertise that I required such technology product in about 40-50 business magazines so that Indian dealers could contact me first.
2. Wait for some 40 day period in order to give the Indian dealers time to reply me back.
3. Provide a detailed explanation to the government licensing authority on ‘why none of the Indian technology is suitable for my purpose’.
4. Be at the mercy of the licensing authority for days together to obtain permission.

We used to wait for months to get permission.

In spite of such difficulties, people did business in India during those days and made it big. Those days are long gone now. There is almost nothing which stops one to do business in India now. Then, what stops more people to choose the entrepreneurship path?

It was already 10AM and I had to catch the 12PM train from Mysore if I were to reach Hyderabad for the TIE cleantech conference which I had decided to attend just minutes earlier. A flight was possible but taking that when you have a cheaper option is out of question in a startup.
8AM next day, I was having breakfast at Hyderabad for the first time. A 5 year old American Desi child explaining her grandfather that it is ‘healthy’ and not ‘hyealdhy’ meant I was not too far from Bangalore. An hour later and after a bad episode with an autorickshaw, I was at the Marriott. As I entered the conference hall lounge, I started hearing people talk my language, the green language. This was the place I belonged.
In a world which talked of financial, climate and political crises, here was a micro world which talked only of the good things. The sun, the wind, the water, energy and of course the money in all of these. This was a world of hope.
One speaker talked of the 15 years he struggled with his solar product and how he subsequently became the market leader. Another tried to sell an electric scooter 25 years ago, failed, went away from India for a couple of decades, came back a few years ago, tried to sell the same again and succeeded superbly this time. Another started his cleantech business for the love of environment. Yet another started for the money in it.
Environment, Entrepreneurship and Money, all in one place. 40+ speakers and 15+ new contacts in one day and I was still looking for more. Unfortunately, time didn’t seem to be so green.
With more than 3 hours remaining for the train, I hired an autorickshaw and traveled Hyderabad. Hussain Sagar, Charminar, Karachi bakery and PullaReddy sweets later, I sat at the railway station Coffee Day looking at my 9 o’clock train writing this travelogue.