For Indian entrepreneurs looking for scalable venture ideas, here is a list to work on. I have modeled one venture for each category, which you will be able to access from the Vision India 2020 series:
My new Forbes column “Water Firm Enlivens IPO Market” is yet another story on ERI, the water desalination technology company. The stock is up almost 50% in a week of trading.
The Economist has an excellent overview of Water Desalination in the current issue. The Sea Water Reverse Osmosis technique that it discusses has been discussed here and on Forbes (Read Hydro-Alchemy) by me before in the context of Energy Recovery, Inc. which is about to go public.
My new Forbes column, Hydro-Alchemy, discusses the world’s upcoming water crisis and an entrepreneurial venture, Energy Recovery Inc., that is tackling the problem with a Sea Water Reverse Osmosis technology for water desalination. You may have read my interview with Hans Peter Michelet last year. ERI has recently filed to go public.
SM: Do you wish Raychem was around as an independent company today? PC: Yes, yes I do. SM: Why did you make the choices you did regarding Raychem? PC: I made the decision to retire at 66 because I believe the CEO has to be young and vigorous. When I retired I decided the best
SM: When it comes to selling, what kinds of customers do you look to sell to? PC: In our business it was all industrial customers, we didn’t have any consumer products. SM: When you are looking at a customer’s problem and finding solutions, you are essentially selling concepts. You don’t always have the product ready
SM: We talked about the organization, pricing strategy and how to scope out the technology and market. Anything else? PC: The other principle I think is critical is to hire outstanding people. That is the absolute key; those are the people who are going to make it. You have to spend time recruiting the best
SM: The core research remains with the central development team? PC: The basic technology is being developed by a research group which is trying to solve problems for the divisions. The divisions in turn focus on solving the customer’s problem. The sales problem is typical sales except you have to learn what the customer’s problems