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Gandhigiri to the Software & Technology Entrepreneur – Part II

Gandhi and Customer Centricity

The progression of Economic activity as it stands in the Global Economy today has accelerated from commodities->products->services->experiences->transformations. (Pine and Gilmore)

Today we are already in the Experience Economy (Its Apple like experience, its not apple like products), but as professionals we are still grappling with how we build Products, let alone scaling the Economic activity to be staging experiences and guiding transformations!

While I am not an economist in any regard, and I do not understand the nuances of all industries and their current economic function in India (Are we building products? Are we providing services? or just plainly selling commodities?), its imperative that I comment on only Software and Services.

Before doing that, on the Gandhi Jayanti day, I would like to introspect what our Father-of-the-Nation tried to teach us, by emphasizing on making our own Salt, our own clothes with the Swadeshi Movement OR with his services at the Sabarmati Ashram. Essentially he articulated with his actions what our present day government is campaigning for “Make in India”. How did Gandhi understand the evolution of Economic activity more than a 130 years ago?

Because Gandhi was more customer centric a 100 years ago, than we are today. He empathized with every person, much better than we did. Let me quote the now cliched Gandhi’s quote on Customer Service “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.”

Customer is more important

Empathy By Design

Come to think of it, our entire Indian Cultural ethos is based on Empathy. “Karuna” is the foundation of almost every teaching in our country. Indian institutionalization and Orientation has Empathy by Design. Then how is it, that we have failed to reciprocate to the needs of People? Why is it, that we have not built products, services, experiences that cater to the needs/wants/aspirations of people, when there is Empathy by Design in our culture?

Tough questions to answer universally or generally. However focusing on Software and Services, I think we have become too focused on Systems, Processes and Technology, rather than addressing the concerns of people. We have gotten too-carried away with Western philosophy of Professionalism, which emphasizes a lot on Systems, but empathizes little with people.

Let me give you a more concrete example. High exploratory and high mortality nature of software projects is like an Industry Standard. 9 out of 10 software initiatives don’t go anywhere, seems to be an easily accepted norm. All the cash-rich service majors in IT/ITES industry have not re-deployed their capital to building an Indian Apple today, because they seem to have accepted that Software products have a 9 in 10 chance of mortality. However what they have failed to realize, is all Lean Methods today propose Customer Development first, rather than Product Development. Build it and they will come, is almost an era of the past. Every Agile and Lean technique today is about keeping the Customer-centric view first and rapidly building tools, products, services, etc which empathize with the needs of people.

Making in INDIA

India however has a renewed emphasis on the Swadeshi movement. Its now called Making In India. Every body is now encouraged to make their products in India. However, I would like to draw your attention to Gandhi’s philosophy again, which has found a new meaning, with the Lean and Agile world. Customer Development is more important than Product Development.

Let me go a little further, the first realization all product entrepreneurs need to have is this “Customer is the Product”. Your product is just a medium/abstraction through which, you continuously develop your Customer. Stop fiddling with the Features and Benefits. They are the HOW and WHAT for your Customer. WHY the customer does anything with you and your Product, is essentially what we need to understand.

Making In India, is all about making the Customer or Consumer in India happier, healthier and wealthier each day. Do you have a plan for this? Why should you think about Making in India, is it only for Export? Well, here is why. All new ideas, new software product ideas are imperfect ideas, and need to be tested locally, and refined continually, before we can think of exporting. India today lacks any credible domestic infrastructure or support, to even make little bets, so ideas never go past their imperfect states, and hence never attain Global Standards. So, lets make and try it here first.

Mahatma Gandhi

Conclusion

We are a country blessed with Empathy by Design. We are a nation which puts Emotions ahead of Professionalism. We are a nation that believes in Darshan (of all deities). Truth is, Customer is the first GOD. So, fellow Entrepreneurs, if there is one Gandhigiri that we need to learn, it is to do a full-darshan of every customer, their needs, their wants, their aspirations. We now realize Consumer Development is as important, if not more important than Product Development. Is’nt it then, not automatic, that building a Consumer-Centric Nation, is the first step to building a Product Nation. Lets go and create this change, and let initiatives like iSPIRT and ProductNation be the inspiration through which we can channel our aspirations and ideas. Happy Gandhi Jayanthi to all!

Be the Change

Read the Part 1 here Gandhigiri to the Software and Technology Entrepreneur!

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iSPIRT Welcomes Product Circle Donors

The world has been witness to several movements that have changed the face of history. India is not alien to these – Mahatma Gandhi’s silent revolution that finally led to Indian Independence is a shining example. About 18 months ago, a group of software product entrepreneurs got together to charter a course that would make India a Product Nation. Today, those 30 early pioneers of iSPIRT are joined by 50 Product Circle Donors who represent a cross section of the software product industry and add weight to the cause of the industry.

These Product Circle Donors role model the industry. For instance, 60% of the company’s focus on Enterprise Software, 30% on B2C software and the remaining 10% focus on the SMB space in India. 55% target the US market, 30% India and around 15% on the Emerging markets. 60% companies are funded and around 40% are bootstrapped. 65% companies are SaaS based, 30% are On-Premise and 5% are using Tech to enable their business (like Ola Cabs, Taxiforsure, CommonFloor), 50% companies are at a growth stage… 40% are early stage and 10% are Hyper growth stage. The Software Product Companies represent Enterprise Mobility, Big Data, Cloud, analytics, Security, Heatlhcare, Elearning, Workflow, collaboration spaces.

This group of 80 is now small and niche enough, yet deep enough to champion the industry cause.

Though the intention was not to exclude (there may be many who are not part of the group), the invitation to join was designed to build the momentum slowly yet surely by including companies that have visibly demonstrated their zeal in championing the software product movement in the past. And these champions will certainly grow over a period of time. Rest assured, for those who still feel the urge to volunteer there is room for everyone! (email: [email protected] and become part of the movement).

Then, the question is often asked: Why handicap yourself by not having VCs, MNCs and Service Companies as Product Circle donors? We believe that Donors provide the financial muscle for iSPIRT to achieve its mission of making India a Product Nation. While we appreciate this contribution, there is a risk, albeit, a small one that donor clout can result in mission capture. We manage this risk in two ways. First, we ensure that we have a broad base of donors and no one company is a dominant donor. Second, we exclude categories of donors where future mission conflict can happen. For this reason we don’t have certain categories of donors on board.

Finally, while our steps are still baby ones, be assured our voice has been heard. Our resolve is even stronger with the 50 new Product Circle Donors on board. The time has come to join hands and redouble our efforts to make India truly a Product Nation.

As Anchor Volunteers for the Donor Campaign, we’d like to thank Sandeep Todi, Sanket Nadhani, Peter Yorke, Avinash Raghava, Harrshada Deshpande and Sagar Kogekar from BillBooks for pulling together the collateral and logistics for this.

Shekhar Kirani and Anand Deshpande
Anchor Volunteer for the Donor Campaign

Below is the Donor Campaign deck that the invited companies received:

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Gandhigiri to the Software and Technology Entrepreneur!

Many of us in the software industry, for more than 2 decades have not only been the direct beneficiaries of the opening up of the Indian economy in 1991, but we also pride ourselves for creating an industry that today supports the livelihood of millions of software engineers, bpo executives and call-center operators. But have we done enough, could we have done better?

India is today struggling with C.A.D (current account deficit). Simply put, we import more than we export. Some people argue that we have gone back to 1991, in effect, all the glorious 22 years which we think we have created have some how evaporated. If we had spent the past 22 years creating Indian software products, could we have not today exported more than just services, based on labor arbitrage? In fact, I would say its largely because we did not think ourselves as a ProductNation. We became pseudo-intellectuals, happy with the easy money flowing into our economy.

Good thing is we can still learn from our legacy. 300 years of British colonial rule, and all the well educated software industry professionals, fail to understand that we are no different than our fore-fathers. Its quite fascinating, and really important to see the parallels outlined below. As software professionals and business owners, its time for us to introspect and learn a little bit of Gandhigiri.

Economic Impact during British Raj

Any chapter from our history books will have paragraphs which read like this…..

Indian Economy was transformed into a colonial economy whose nature and structure was determined by the needs of the British economy.

India supplied all the raw material required for Britain’s Industrial needs, especially the cash crops like jute, cotton, iron ore, silk, wool. In-turn, became the ready market for Britain’s large-scale finished products which were also cheaper than Indian finished-goods, since they were mass-produced, for e.g. the ready made shirts, pants, sweaters, machines,etc. The economic policies of the colonial government was to reduce India to a feeder economy to Britain’s industrial base and hence with out any domestic policy support, the cottage industries within India were destroyed systematically.

Added to that, the zamindari system also meant all profit accruing out of the agricultural sector went to the zamindars instead of the cultivators. High revenue demands and rigid manners of collection forced peasants into the clutches of the moneylenders, who were controlled and financed by the colonial government’s banks. Expanding population put greater pressure on viability and sustenance, and as there was no corresponding domestic development of both urban and rural infrastructure, the economy collapsed and India became a poorer nation. Britain’s policy of trade ruined India’s urban and rural industries.

Economic Impact from 1991 to 2013…

Indian Economy was transformed into a “global” economy whose nature and structure was determined by the needs of the US/Western economy.

India supplied all the raw material required for America’s IT/software needs, especially the cash crops like software engineers, creative designers, app developers, analysts, bpo executives and call-center operators. In-turn, India became the ready market for America’s large-scale finished software and technology products, which were also cheaper than Indian-finished goods, since they were mass-produced with patent protections, for e.g. the Office software, ERP software, Accounting software, Routers, Switches,etc. The economic policies of the Indian government was to reduce India to a feeder economy to America’s Technology and Software base and hence with out any domestic policy support, the local software industries within India were destroyed systematically.

Added to that, the funding eco-system also meant all profit accruing out of the software/technology sector, went to the venture-capitalists instead of the entrepreneurs. High revenue-multiple demands and rigid manners of exit-funding forced software entrepreneurs into Mergers or Acquisitions by American companies, or to the clutches of the Angels and VCs, who were in turn controlled and financed by PEs or LPs from America. Expanding population put greater pressure on viability and sustenance, and as there was no corresponding domestic need for software/technology in both urban and rural industries, the economy collapsed, the FIIs fled, leaving India poorer. India’s own policy of trade for 22 years, ruined India’s technology and software industry.

Conclusion

Well, do I have to take a pessimistic approach and assume that this how its going to be? Should we wait for another Mahatma to lead the new movement to becoming a true Product Nation? An emphaticNO. Gandhigiri to the software and technology entrepreneur provides the vision and direction, so we don’t have to go down the same path our forefathers went. We need to be the change the world wants to see. Lets go and create the change, and let initiatives like iSPIRT and ProductNation be the inspiration through which we can channel our aspirations and ideas. Happy Gandhi Jayanthi to all!

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India’s Need For Entrepreneurs and the MindSet

In 1991, the second Independence of India took place – there was an opening up of the economy that led, in its own tortuous Indian way, to the opening up of the minds of a section of the population. The educated middle class that had till then either left the country for greener pastures or taken up jobs in the government or with the few MNCs operating then started looking around at opportunities that were being created in India. Entrepreneurship still seemed like something only two sections of society ventured into – those with family wealth or traditional business backgrounds or those without any other option namely, the roadside food shop, the barber and the small store owner. Very few consciously chose entrepreneurship as an option. Then, towards the end of that decade, a remarkable thing began to happen. Young educated middle class Indians suddenly started taking an interest in India: a host of environmental factors played a catalytic role in this phenomenon: the rise of Indian entrepreneurship in the US, the emergence of 1st generation educated middle class Indian entrepreneurs, the creation of aspirations in a increasingly mobile workforce and the media, increased availability of capital and the like. India started getting noticed in the West and India’s arrival on the global stage started getting reported in breathless hyperbole. However, all this euphoric talk about India’s growth and success hid the fact that crony socialism had quietly given way to crony capitalism which was as insidious. Governance and policy making took not just the last rows in the stadium that was cheering “India’s arrival” but were not even in the stadium! The penny naturally dropped on the India story.

Today, we’re confronted by the stark realities of India that the breathless comparisons with China and other countries had somehow managed to paper over. The hubris is slowly and painfully giving away to the realization that the parties celebrating India as a super power had begun too soon. And that there was, quite simply, an enormous amount of work to be done.

In 2012, as India enters its 66th year, our first prime minister’s rousing speech “Tryst with Destiny” is yet again worth reading. Are we anywhere close to redeeming the pledge made, has the new star of hope provided succour and whether hope still springs in the hearts and minds of all of us? While very impressive strides have been made in many areas, especially given the desperate condition at the start of our country’s birth, it is important that we keep in mind the fact that 15% of the world lives in India and over 68%  ie about 700million of our people live on less than US$2 a day. Over 17 million people are born (equivalent to the population of The Netherlands), an estimated 40million are unemployed, over 500,000 students graduate each year from various colleges and over  12 million join the workforce each year . The investment required to educate, train, and deploy these large numbers into gainful jobs is in the tens of thousands of crores. And remember, these millions of jobs have to be yet created! Now imagine the public healthcare, water and sanitation, education, travel, housing, electricity, entertainment, banking and financial services that need to be provided to these huge numbers assuming there’re jobs that lead to incomes being generated leading to consumption and investment. Imagine a scenario where tens of millions of young energetic citizens become disillusioned job seekers – the social upheaval possibilities are terribly explosive even to contemplate, particularly in our country.

For far too long, we have been plagued by poverty – of ideas, of ideology and of course economically. Misplaced socialistic policies in the early years of India ensured that poverty was distributed while cronyism ensured that a few made unconscionable amounts of money and enjoyed the trappings of power.

Jobs are created by entrepreneurs. Governments are facilitators and regulators to make sure that everyone’s playing fairly and by the rules that have been created to facilitate the creation of jobs. Wealth is then created by entrepreneurial actions. Only when wealth is created, can there be investments in creating the support infrastructure and services necessary for India to seriously consider redeeming its pledge. And a crucial pre-requisite for this is the need for an entrepreneurial mindset.

Change in every society, in every age, in every sphere of human endeavor has come about because some people, a minority, decided to put their entrepreneurial mindsets to work. And they were able to put their entrepreneurial mindsets to work because they were incredibly passionate about what they believed in. This minority is the entrepreneurial community. And while the term “entrepreneur” is generally used in the context of business and startups, it is important to realize that the entrepreneurial mindset has been, is and will be on display all around us.

Anyone with an entrepreneurial mindset dreams big, is interested in solving problems, seizes opportunities, is unafraid to experiment with new ways of doing things in order to achieve the dream, demonstrates leadership in creating new resources while marshalling existing resources, energizes people to work collectively to executing the dream, is conscious of the need to be fair, is respectful of the laws of the land, realizes the need to act with speed, engages and responds to feedback with a recalibrated approach, is unapologetic about effecting positive change by challenging a prevailing status quo and works incredibly hard. Possibilities of effecting change and making a difference to oneself and to others as against complaining about constraints (“I have no resources, I don’t know too many people, don’t have the knowledge or experience”) is what distinguishes those with the entrepreneurial mindset from the others. They spend positive energy in figuring out ways to create, seek and aggregate resources (team members, finances, networks) to make the possibilities come true. They are not afraid of failure but instead as Vinod Khosla says, “My willingness to fail gives me the ability to succeed”. In other words, keep shooting multiple arrows at the target.

What is it that drove Andrew Wiles for 30 long frustrating and difficult years to solve Fermat’s Last Theorem – ever since he first came face to face with it at the age of 10 – that had confounded mathematicians for over 350 years? What is it that makes a Reinhold Messner, the greatest mountaineer of all time, climb mountains on every continent, losing several of his fingers and toes and putting himself through extreme life threatening hardships such as climbing Mount Everest without oxygen? Surely, it wasn’t the money! What is it that made a significantly deaf, unschooled child grow up to become Thomas Edison, one of the most prolific inventors of all time with over a 1000 patents? Well before IPL, the stuffy establishment of cricket was changed forever in 1978 when Kerry Packer an Australian media baron challenged status quo by signing up 51 of the world’s top cricketers and introduced limited overs cricket under flood lights, with fielding restrictions, with coloured clothing, cheer leaders and the like. How come no one else thought of this before Packer? Would there have been a Nano if not for a Ratan Tata daring to think of a $2000 car for the middle class Indian?

The mightiest empire the world has ever known was shaken to its very foundations by the incredible demonstration of the entrepreneurial mindset by Mahatma Gandhi. For example, he had this to say about Swaraj “we must have a proper picture of what we want before we can have something approaching it”. Landing in India in 1915 as a 46 year old without any real understanding of India and without any mass following, but shaped by his South African experiences on the need for social justice, driven only by a set of passionate beliefs about the need for freedom for India, developed his concept of Satyagraha and energised people through his own unique blend of non-violent politics, lifestyle and use of symbols like the Dandi March.

We all have heard of Amul. It is India’s largest branded impact making organization Amul today impacts over 3 million milk producers and generates over $2 billion in revenues. It is world’s largest vegetarian cheese brand, India’s largest food brand and the largest pouched milk brand. It would be hard to imagine that an Amul could have been created without the entrepreneurial mindset and leadership of Dr Verghese Kurien, who led Amul as it innovated across the value chain. Amul incidentally was founded in 1946 before India’s independence!

From the few less than obvious examples cited above, it is clear that the manifestations of an entrepreneurial mindset are visible across very many areas of human endeavor.  As we contemplate an India that can  redeem its tryst with destiny, where jobs create economic security for hundreds of millions, we absolutely cannot ignore the seemingly intractable problems that confront us all as citizens. I have long believed that change in India will gain irreversible momentum when the generation born after 1991 enters the work-force. This is the generation that is confident, knowledgeable, technology savvy, is aware, well traveled and is impatient. Fortunately, India is the home to the largest number of such people anywhere in the world.

Resolving these problems requires the energizing of the entrepreneurial mindset that’s latent in each of us. Each of us can make a difference if only we dare to think differently. Changes in the way things are done in government, in politics, in society, in business, in education, healthcare are all eminently possible through entrepreneurial thinking with job creation and facilitation as the important outcome.

Here, therefore, is a question for us to ponder over:

Is it possible for us to imagine that each of us, in our lifetimes, creates – either directly or indirectly – a 100 jobs? Are there not 100,000 people – educated, experienced, entrepreneurial and energetic – who can each take up this challenge? Ten million jobs can be created by this group, indirectly benefiting 50 million.

If it is possible, it is do-able!

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishada has this to say:

“You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.”