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Entrepreneur Journeys – book by Sramana Mitra – Travel to the land of innovation |
| By:deepika bajaj on Wed 15 Oct 2008 7:50 PM under Business, Entrepreneurship, Global Leadership |
Sramana Mitra has been an entrepreneur and a strategy consultant in Silicon Valley since 1994. Her fields of experience span from hard core technology disciplines like semiconductors to sophisticated consumer marketing industries including fashion and education. Her current focus, however, is primarily in the realms of Web 3.0 and Enterprise 3.0, and related infrastructure. She has a particular interest in Media and Retail companies and their transition to a Web-centric world.
She is the author of Entrepreneur Journeys, Volume One (2008), now available for sale on amazon.com. This book presents an intimate glimpse into the world of technology start-ups through candid conversations with a dozen of the most innovative practitioners of our time.
I consistently follow of Sramana’s blog. I truly find it very insightful. In many ways, she is true role model for entrepreneurs and business professionals all over the world. I am very excited about the book ‘Entrepreneur Journeys’ and invited Sramana to share her expert insights on the road less traveled – entrepreneurship.
DB. Sramana, tell me what the book is about…
SM. The book is about 12 entrepreneurs and how they’ve built their companies at both a personal and strategic levels. You get a real feel of their challenges, ups and downs, strategic maneuvers as well as personal journeys. The series will have more such stories.
DB. Why is this book more important than ever before?
SM. I don’t think the tribal knowledge that has existed in the lives of successful entrepreneurs has ever been captured at such a scale before, and made available to entrepreneurs all over the world. That is what this book intends to do. Today, more than ever before, the whole world is in the brink of an enormous building phase that will require entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation. And we have knowledge to share that these next generation of leaders, I believe, will find valuable.
DB. What’s the biggest challenge for first time entrepreneurs you found while writing this book?
SM. First time entrepreneurs are the ones that I hope will find the maximum value from this book. First time entrepreneurs typically make their biggest mistakes by spending too much money too soon and on the wrong things. I have personally made those mistakes, but I can assure you, I will never make them again. This is why I opened the book with a section on bootstrapping.
DB. At Invincibelle, we stand for women to help them in their entrepreneurial ventures, why are most women entrepreneurs not able to raise funding?
SM. Women need to stop thinking of themselves as women, and start thinking of themselves as entrepreneurs. The rules are no different for fund-raising for men and women. And the rules are no different for success. I have NEVER tried to define my playing field as “women”. If women expect to be treated differently, they would never succeed in this game. They have to be convincing, compelling, powerful, and inspiring on an absolute scale, not on a ‘women’ scale.
DB. What are lessons you learned as an entrepreneur?
SM. Oh, so many. So many. I’ve learnt to fail, which is perhaps the most significant. The more you try new things, things well outside your comfort zone, the more you risk. Over time, I have come to realize that I like this experimental way of life. I think, on your question above, women are somewhat less risk-prone. They want to be more sure before taking the plunge. I personally have less need to be sure. I can throw myself in the midst of chaos and feel reasonably comfortable coping with its uncertainties.
DB. What are some critical success factors for entrepreneurs?
SM. Optimism. Conviction. Self-confidence. Courage. Resilience. Entrepreneurship is not for sissies J
DB. Given the current economic conditions, what is your advice for entrepreneurs who need to raise funding?
SM. Bootstrap for as long as you can. There are always ways to get funding from customers, partners, through consulting, … without selling huge amounts of equity. Right now, no matter where you go for funding, your valuation will be very depressed. In the last downturn, I did a lot of “wash-out” deals where the entrepreneurs got wiped out completely as new investors came in.
For now, spend as little money as you can. Conserve cash. Be resourceful. Use barter.
DB. What are your thoughts on bootstrapping?
SM. I am a big believer. I discuss the topic extensively in this book. And Volume Two will be entirely about doing more with less, aka bootstrapping.
DB. As an entrepreneur, you have become a role model for many. Who are your role models?
SM. As a child, my role model was my entrepreneur father. At 16, I read Atlas Shrugged, and that book impacted me deeply. There were great individualists in that story, and a philosophical framework that appealed to me at the time. In my thirties, I have looked for ‘greatness’ as something bigger than just making millions and billions, and the person whose story moved me the most is Dr. Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank. In general, today, I am more drawn to ‘impact’, not just business success.
DB. What motivated you to write this book?
SM. The desire to have a broader impact well beyond myself.
I have long been interested in development economics, and my conclusion is that entrepreneurship is one of the most important factors of any resilient society/economy. Yet, entrepreneurship is extremely difficult. Mortality rates of small businesses is high.
This book series is my effort to create a body of work through which entire generations of entrepreneurs can learn, and in the long term, my hope is that it would impact world economics.
Marketing Entrepreneur Journeys - Sramana Mitra on Strategy Says:
[...] to be raised by people like Mark Glaser and Mike Rosen-Molina, Bernard Moon, Rajesh Setty, Deepika Bajaj, Dan Schwabel, Ranjan Varma, Mark Harbeke, Nitin Karandikar, Noah Kagan, and Brad [...]