Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: A Word From Tagore

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

If you understand the language, listen to this in its Bengali original.

Here’s my English Translation of the poem for those who do not understand the language:

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Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: Excess is NOT a Requirement for Success

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

Let me finish this series with a bit of personal philosophy.

Excess doesn’t always breed happiness.

It often generates arrogance, hubris, jealousy, and a host of unappetizing side effects.

Keeping your feet on the ground, preserving social awareness, a sense of responsibility towards a set of goals bigger than yourself, nurturing healthy, warm relationships – these are the true drivers of happiness.

Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: The Importance of English

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

India’s success in the global technology firmament has been driven very significantly by the country’s prowess in English.

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Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: No Unicorns, Then?

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

By de-emphasizing Unicorns, am I recommending that we should be less ambitious for Kolkata? Bengal? Eastern India?

No.

Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later is a GREAT strategy for building Unicorns.

Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: New Technologies Bring New Opportunities

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

I am sure many entrepreneurs are chomping at the bits to get a Generative AI startup going.

And, you are reading about hundreds of millions of dollars in VC funding being splashed on this quest.

Well, I want you to think differently.

Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: Lack of Big Ideas

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

Unicorn chasing VCs are looking for big ideas.

Their philosophy: Go BIG or Go HOME.

My philosophy: PLEASE DON’T GO HOME.

There are many more $5M, $10M, $20M ideas out there than billion dollar ideas. 

Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: Low Appetite for Risk

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

Why has Kolkata’s startup ecosystem failed to thrive thus far?

One hypothesis is that the Bengali population has low tolerance for risk. There is, obviously, truth to this, especially in view of the evidence that the bulk of entrepreneurial progress in Bengal has been led by the Marwari and Gujarati communities.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped a $10M E-commerce Business

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

E-commerce companies are relatively easy to bootstrap. In 2015, Steve Acree shared his journey bootstrapping Seismic Audio to almost $10 million in revenue.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go back to the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Steve Acree: I was born in Tennessee, about 60 miles north of Memphis. I went to school for computers but I’ve never used my degree. I chose the wrong computer industry. I chose the repair side instead of the software side.

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