Happy Diwali!

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My first three weeks working in India are coming to end and there is a lot going on in the entrepreneurship department. The first objective is to start laying the foundation for a larger scale startup incubator through the school. This establishment of such a vehicle would ultimately be a product of a public private partnership, and would utilize the resources of the government, financial players, other local specialty educational institutions and relevant industry players. Undoubtedly, expansion of the current base of incubators and support systems for entrepreneurs requires much greater involvement of the private sector and PPPs to supplement current growth initiatives. The development of more formalized entrepreneurial incubation centers is really in its infancy in India. According to India STEPs and Business Incubators’ Association, in 2006 there were approximately 100 incubators in India (vs. 1,400 in the US, 800 in China and 400 in Korea). Additionally, according to a study commissioned by the Indian Government and completed by the National Knowledge Commission in 2005, MBAs are making up a larger proportion of the entrepreneurial base. Before 2000, MBAs comprised approximately 20% of entrepreneurs and post-2000 now make up over 45% of business owners. The challenge educational institutions are facing across the board is to create and effectively interlace relevant educational and training programs in current curriculums to better prepare India’s rapidly growing class of entrepreneurs. The National Knowledge Commission study also highlighted that though over 80% of the 155 Indian entrepreneurs interviewed had a science or engineering background, less than 16% found that their education was relevant to their current undertakings. One of the particular areas noted for improvement in a 2006 study by an Expert Committee on Technology Innovation and Venture Capital for India is in the ability for early stage businesses to manage issues related to scaling up. The need to expand the support and education provided by incubators beyond the idea-stage to accommodate for issues relating to scaling up was repeatedly identified. Numerous sources have also reported the continued push for incubators to support industries outside of IT and to promote entrepreneurship in other highly skilled knowledge-driven sectors. In addition to creating a high level plan for this incubator, I will be attending a conference in Chennai on October 26th and 27th. The conference is the fourth in the Tech 4 Society event series put on by Ashoka and sponsored by The Lemelson Foundation and will be focused on Technology Adoption in Rural Businesses. There will be numerous Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows sharing their insights from their economic development activities in rural areas as well as a site visit. I will be taking the lead on the event planning from ISB’s end for the culminating event for this Tech 4 Society series which will be taking place in Hyderabad. Additionally, I am preparing a small speech for the first graduating class selected from India in the 10,000 Women program sponsored by Goldman Sachs. The condensed version of the presentation will take place at ISB followed by the full presentation in Bangalore.

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