Seed Capital: Independent Investor Rehan yar Khan

The entrepreneur ecosystem in India is growing by leaps and bounds. Still, almost all of those who apply for funding are rejected, and it’s not always because they don’t have viable products or services. Often, entrepreneurs get rejected because they pitched to the wrong investor. An entrepreneur with an e-commerce company should not be pitching to an investor who specializes in green tech or manufacturing. Read carefully, entrepreneurs, if you want to pitch to Rehan yar Khan. >>>

Seed Capital: Independent Investor, Mukund Mohan

Sometimes, the reason an entrepreneur is denied funding isn’t because he doesn’t have what it takes to succeed. And it’s not because he doesn’t have a viable idea. Sometimes the only reason an entrepreneur gets turned away is because he didn’t pitch to the right investor. Read on to see what Mukund Mohan and his wife are looking for in a company and in an entrepreneur.

Sramana Mitra: Hi Mukund. Tell us briefly your background.

Mukund Mohan: My wife and I have been investing as individual investors in early stage technology companies for over 10 years, since 2001, in the Bay area, and since 2008, in India. We have invested in seven companies so far in India, and in the US we had invested through an investment vehicle called Zodiac Ventures LLC. >>>

Ownership Matters

For those of you rushing to raise venture capital with a deck of slides or a minimum viable product, let me offer you a challenge: How can you get to a $20 million pre-money valuation in Series A, raise $5 million, and keep control of 80% of the equity? >>>

Calling All Angel Investors

We are doing a retrospective on my blog on Seed Capital from Angel Investors as part of the 1M/1M project. As we speak with a variety of angels in different regions, what strikes me is the number of startups out there looking for seed capital. >>>

These Companies Are Built To Enjoy

In my November 14, 2011, column Reengineering Capitalism I introduced the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) project. My proposal is that if one million entrepreneurs can reach $1 million each in revenues, that would translate into 10 million jobs. Over the past few months I have been studying the entrepreneurs who come to pitch at 1M/1M roundtables. There are exciting opportunities for angel investors to join hands with competent, pragmatic entrepreneurs and make a great deal of money. >>>

Families: Nurture Entrepreneurs

Of late, graduating from college has been a source of anxiety rather than excitement for many families. Youth unemployment is at 17%. Parents are concerned about their children’s future. Here’s one way parents and families can help: support their children’s entrepreneurial ambitions. >>>

An Underused Tool For Job Recovery

As the U.S. economy continues to hiccup, large-scale entrepreneurship is a badly needed remedy. In transitioning hundreds of thousands of people to self-employment and job creation through entrepreneurship, incubators look like an extremely helpful tool. But we need to produce more of the most effective incubators. >>>

Why B-Schools Set Up Entrepreneurs To Fail

By Sramana Mitra

I know I am entering highly contentious territory. Academia generally looks down upon entrepreneurs even as they teach entrepreneurship in business schools and other university programs around the world.

Meanwhile, I have come to observe that most business school programs have an extensive emphasis on fundraising, especially from venture capitalists, and little pragmatic understanding of what it really takes to get a venture off the ground. As a result, business schools launch students into the real world with completely unrealistic expectations, and in doing so they set them up to fail. I recently launched a discussion on my blog asking my readers in academia to weigh in on teaching bootstrapping in business schools. It generated an active discussion from which I will synthesize a few points. >>>