eCell - IIT KGP : Guest Lecture by Dominique Trempont and Sramana Mitra

[The_Big_K]

January 02, 2009. Shrey Goel, IIT KGP Reports -

E-Summit 09 kick started today with a Guest Lecture by Dominique Trempont and Sramana Mitra.

Dominique is currently a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of Finisar Corporation, a public company that develops and markets products and services for large enterprise storage networks. He also serves on the Board of Directors, and Chairs the Audit Committee, of Energy Recovery, Inc., a public company that helps water desalination plants recycle energy used in the desalination process. Mr. Trempont was CEO-in-Residence at Battery Ventures, a venture capital firm, prior to which, he was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kanisa, Inc., a software company focused on customer self-service, contact centre and peer support applications. He has served as Chief Executive Officer of Gemplus Corporation, a smart card application company. Dominique was recruited by Steve Jobs to turn around NeXT, first as chief financial officer and later expanding to lead all operations. Dominique led NeXT’s shift from hardware to software and brought the company to profitability. He successfully restructured the company financially, organizationally and strategically, and sold NeXT to Apple in 1997 for $462M.

Mr. Trempont began his career at Raychem Corporation, a high-tech material science company focused on the telecommunication, electronics and automotive industries, including holding the position of Chief Audit Officer. Mr. Trempont received an undergraduate degree in Economics from College St. Louis (Belgium), a bachelor's in Business Administration and Computer Sciences from IAG at the University of Louvain (Belgium) and a master's in Business Administration from INSEAD.

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.

Writings from Sramana's popular blog "Sramana Mitra on Strategy" are syndicated by Seeking Alpha, Yahoo! Finance, ReadWriteWeb, Cadwire, Emergic, GigaOm, TheStreet.com and many other high traffic online business, finance, and technology publishers. Sramana also writes a weekly column for Forbes and syndicates her Vision India 2020 column to the Indian daily, DNAIndia.

As Sramana stepped on to the stage of a fully-packed Netaji Auditorium to deliver her lecture on “Entrepreneurship Opportunities in India”, she was greeted with a warm applause by the audience, primarily consisting of undergraduate and postgraduate students, potential entrepreneurs. She recollected how the scenario in IIT-Kgp today was at contrast with the last time she visited the campus 12-13 years ago with the aim of recruiting some Engineering graduates for one of her ventures. At that time, students stuck to the notion of working for established brands and were quite critical of job prospects in new ventures, and Sramana was not in a position to recruit even a single student. She reflected that the outlook towards Entrepreneurship has drastically changed over the years, and congratulated E-Cell for cultivating the spirit of Entrepreneurship amongst IITians.

Right before the presentation began, she urged the audience to first assume that they WILL each become important entrepreneurs. Beginning on a highly optimistic note, she went on to list the important areas/sectors which are as yet untapped and are potentially huge opportunities for our generation. The point was to pick important problems we are facing and find innovative solutions to them. Case studies, Role Models and Frameworks were presented to further stress the cause and to aid in the development of Entrepreneurship models.

The first of these areas of opportunity was WATER. At this point, Dominique stepped in to explain the seriousness as well as the entrepreneurial potential of “Fresh Water on a Shrinking Planet”. He explained that such problems need to be tackled the way it was done in Silicon Valley: Focus on one particular problem, find innovative solutions to it, and then gain profit by marketing the solution through a venture. He stressed on the fact that India not only has huge problems which need to be approached this way, but also has the creativity to find such solutions.

Dominique elaborated on the water crisis by stating that while the world population doubles every 40 years, but the demand for freshwater doubles in just 20 years, and by 2025, the demand would have outstripped the supply by 150%. Fortune magazine, in 2000, went on to say: “Water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was in the 20th century: the precious commodity that determines the wealth [and health] of nations.” In fact, the water crisis is already so acute in some regions, collaborative efforts have been made by nations like Israel and its neighbouring arch-enemy nations to deal with the problem collectively. So large is the problem, that feuds many millennia old have been forgotten in efforts to tackle it.

The problem is more acute specifically with regard to Ground Water. Water used for Agricultural, Industrial and Household purposes is comprised of 70-80% Ground Water. Importantly, Groundwater depletes 14 times faster than its replenishment. Can you guess the number of children dying from water-related illnesses EVERY DAY? 1600! It’s equivalent to shooting down 8 Jumbo Jet aircrafts full of kids every single day.
Looking from a pure entrepreneur’s point of view, water-related problems are a huge toll on the economy, on which 3% of India’s GDP is spent. Thus, it’s an unopened treasure chest. The water reserves are fast declining in India with the Gangotri glacier melting, existing reserves getting polluted, and most of the rain run-off not making it to the reserves, while the demand is skyrocketing with Agricultural Growth, population Growth and Economic Development.

In case you’re wondering where all the water is going, consider this: 1 kg of beef requires around 10,000 litres of water to produce, and even a seemingly harmless cup of coffee requires 140 litres of water. A pair of Jeans consumes 11,000 litres of water over its lifetime, while an average car guzzles over 4, 00,000 litres of water. Water resources could be subject to geopolitics in the future as well, with disputes over water rights, water dependencies and related conflicts. On a related note, the Siachen Glacier, which is at present the world’s highest battleground, could be a source of dispute in the future merely due to the fact that it’s a huge reserve of [frozen] water.

Potential solutions were also suggested for the problem. Protection of existing water resources could be one. Harvesting sources of Rain Water is another one, which needs innovative solutions. Similarly, maintaining water infrastructure requires innovations, innovations that engineering students from IITs and other premier institutes should indulge in. Another important step to be taken is management of ‘Water Footprint’. This is possible if technologies are developed to make the existing processes that consume water more efficient on those terms.

For example, one possible technological innovation could be the development of a better Reverse Osmosis system that could affordably and efficiently convert Sea water to potable water. To establish this, membrane technology needs to be explored. These are the kinds of innovations that IITians could do. Water desalination is a big problem, and any innovation in this field is sure to bring in huge profits.

Students sitting in the audience could be seen exchanging glances. The single area of opportunity suggested till then, WATER, could actually incorporate innovations from Mechanical, Metallurgical, Mining, Agricultural, Biotechnological, Chemical, Civil and other such engineering fields, and turns them into highly profitable ventures. Some of the technologies suggested to be developed are in fact being presently researched by the academia at IIT-Kgp, but no one had any idea there was such a huge potential in them. This universal water problem is a gold mine for entrepreneurs with an innovation.

Besides, the issues with other areas dependent/linked with WATER crisis could also be answered by these innovations, which translate to an even greater margin of profit. For example, huge amounts of Energy are required for water treatment. A better solution to water treatment could thus also help cope with another issue at large, Energy crisis.

Much of the audience was looking open-mouthed at the slides, completely in awe of what they were seeing. Some, perhaps, might have been sceptical about all this, feeling it all looks great in theory and fantasy, but will it be feasible? Sramana walked right in to the opportunity to present a role model: HP Michelet. Michelet is a Norwegian Entrepreneur, who came with the idea that formed Energy Recovery Inc. (ERI). ERI is the world’s leading manufacturer of energy recovery devices such as the PX Pressure Exchanger used for seawater desalination that reduces energy consumption of up to 98%. The idea of recycling energy in desalination was the simplest that could be, and ERI is slated to be a billion dollar company within a few years. India has huge opportunities for desalination plants along its huge coastline, an excellent opportunity. Are you listening?

[The_Big_K]

After WATER, Sramana took us to the next area of opportunity: IT & TELECOM. Her suggesting IT & Telecom as a sector which required more innovation and had a lot of potential came as a surprise to some initially. After all, wasn’t India already a leader in IT, and hadn’t the industry reached a saturation level which left no room for innovation? Apparently not.

She began by exemplifying her assertion. She took the example of bootstrapper Sridhar Vembu of AdventNet|Zoho. Sridhar developed an online office suite, the Zoho Office Suite, which includes tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, CRM, project management, invoicing and other applications. While the company has over a 100 people working on its software in Chennai, there are just seven in the Silicon Valley, mainly to market it. This leads to dramatic price undercutting. Products and Services offered by AdventNet cost less than one-sixth of similar offerings by rivals. AdventNet makes use of Software Concept Arbitrage to cut its costing.

Her point is, India can be in software what China is in manufacturing. After all, India has the expertise as well as labour that the west lacks. While the IT sector is already quite developed in India, it is nothing if you look at the future prospects. As of now, India is a haven for outsourcing. By 2020, India, instead of helping their western counterparts make products through BPO, should start creating its own products. This calls for a paradigm shift.

Another remarkable example she gave was Carol Realini, founder of Obopay. Carol realised that majority of the population in the world accesses technology not through computers but through cell phone. This is especially very easily understandable in India, where cell phones have infiltrated deep into the rural areas where there are no other signs of technology. So while banking has gone online, she realised there’s a much bigger innovation waiting to take place. She took banking to cell phone. So now Obopay enables you to make payments, and do all sorts of banking activities from your cell phone. Now that’s innovative thinking, bringing in millions of dollars. There still remains a lot of scope, say, integrating microfinance with mobile technology. Watsay?

She also talked about her rural BPO venture, Maya Ray. At times like these, Indian BPO industry is facing serious trouble. The problem is, the Indian BPO industry till now, is concentrated in urban India, and caters to large US enterprises. The US has approx 5 million small businesses which have a potential for small-scale outsourcing. Even with an annual budget as low as $5000, it adds up to a whooping $25 BILLION. The biggest problem with Indian BPOs: rising costs, can be totally avoided since Rural BPO means large number of people- simple demand & supply equations will lead to huge cost-cutting. It’s a win-win!!!

There are many other large markets to explore as well. The US healthcare market needs IT support, and it’s a perfect opportunity for Indian software industry to capitalize on. Similarly domestic security and defence industry is now a big money game, and needs IT support as well. The opportunities just don’t seem to end.

Sramana also discussed the driving force behind Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurs are driven by PHILOSOPHY (Yes! Knew it!). Successful innovation may involve years of hard work and countless hurdles to clear before any sign of success. Lots of risks, lots of experimentation, lots of obstacles, before any fruits of success are visible. If one does not believe in the self during this time period, it’s very easy to give up. Sramana suggests reading up on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead (Yes! Knew that too!) for inspiration. Who’s John Galt, anyone?

[The_Big_K]

Sramana Suggests Healthcare to be the next big thing. And how so? Healthcare facilities, while abundant in urban India, are pretty scarce in rural India. Now how do we capitalize on that?

One brilliant idea is Doctor-At-Hand: A pharmacy based healthcare franchise for rural India. It makes sense because while enough doctors and nursing staff may not be available for all the half-a-million villages in India, pharmaceutical availability can go a long way in improving the health situation, while cashing on the Base of Pyramid market.

A corollary to DAH is Doctor-On-Wire: Regional healthcare franchise with tele-medecine facilities. Regional hubs may be created for doctors, which may be immediately dispatched on call. Proper planning is required to perfectly execute this plan.

After all this is Doctor-For-Sure: Health Insurance for everybody. In the villages of India lies a huge untapped market for Health care services.

Home-Based healthcare: It’s an idea about providing healthcare services to the elderly and the disabled. This has great potential in India since service is very cheap here, and the need for care for invalids is also huge.

After these suggestions by Sramana, some brilliant ones were to come from the audience too. One member of the audience enquired about the future of psychology/psychiatry in India. Sramana was highly positive about it, since at present there’s said to be one psychologist for one lakh people in India. While seeking psychological therapy in India has been a taboo in the past, outlooks are changing, and a huge market with almost no players may be created instantly for psychotherapists.

Another listener suggested providing paramedic services in epidemic-prone areas. Again, it was something that made perfect sense. Another huge market to tap, another million dollar opportunity. Some audience members were though sceptical about running profitably in poor rural India. Sramana, at this point, made it very clear that non-profit should be the last option. Besides, this is what the Base of Pyramid concept is there for. BoP says that the lower the strata of the society, the greater its population, the higher their collective wealth, and consequently, the larger market to tap.

Another question, though unrelated, was asked regarding the future of the tertiary sector in India, the consulting market. Sramana was very sceptical about it, and did not see much of a market in the immediate future. Her experience had taught her that it’s very difficult to sell consulting serices in India, since people do not accept that problems exist. Well, fact is, Indians are cheap. I suppose it’ll take years before people realise the value of consulting in India, and then again, an instant Boom. But there’s time...

[The_Big_K]

Sramana then went on to have a look at the opportunities in the Education sector. In her opinion, the education system in India is highly overrated. I, personally, agree with her completely. While we have the IITs, IIMs, BITSs and a few good NITs and other colleges, the higher education industry is not in its best form. And the school level education industry stinks!! Giving up on my temptation to further pursue this debate, let’s move forward with her ideas:

MIT India: An idea for an Engineering School Franchise. India needs a huge number of engineers. And good engineering students make good teachers as well. In India, outside of a few premier institutions, the people who teach are themselves no good at the subjects. It’s a blind-leading-the-blind problem. And it’s not only India, but pretty much universal. Maybe if teaching could be made more attractive as a profession... A similar suggestion is a Medical School Franchise: Harvard Medical School India.

Then there was an idea about a knowledge base for teachers to consult: Lucid. The ideology is to implement central planning on pedagogical techniques. Speaking from my own experience, this is an excellent idea, and has quite a few players in the market. I had the opportunity to work with one of them , and believe me, this is going to go places.

Talking about sensible ideas, edutainment takes the cake. Sramana suggests coming up with educational games that are addictive as well. WOW!! For once parents and teachers will be worried if their child is NOT hooked on to the game. This is truly a million-dollar idea, and I never use this expression loosely. All one needs to do, in Sramana’s words, is to understand “The Psychology of Addiction” (Expression of the day).

If you thought Social Networking was old hat, meet Educational entrepreneur Edward Fields. His initiative, Hotchalk, aims to provide support through social networking between parents, teachers and students. Community and Content!

[The_Big_K]

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY. Sramana started off with the perfect example to demonstrate her BoP point of view. SELCO, started by Harish Hande, provides solar energy services for villagers without electricity. Solar energy has enabled them to double their productivity by enabling them to work after dark. Can there be a better example of a social enterprise that successfully gets past so many goals, solves so many problems, causes so much social upliftment, and yet, is for-profit. Kudos to Harish Hande!!

Other examples that may be explored include: AdiShakti (Solar Utility), Wind Energy, Nuclear Energy and BioFuels.

The RETAIL sector holds great promise as well. She exemplified this with Urja, an initiative in fashion. The idea here is targeted marketing, i.e., personalisation in retail. Thus, a customer does not have to go through thousands of samples and catalogues, but is offered the products based on their preferences.

Another similar idea is behind Oishi, but with Gifts. Besides these, retail has great space for innovations. For example, Indian artisans can work in tandem with designers from France and Italy. The resultant product will have both quality and innovation, and great marketability. Such products can do well on the export front, and could be tied with Global Brands.

For India, Sramana saw great potential in the TOURISM and HOSPITALITY SECTOR. Examples of good execution would be Tea Tourism in Darjeeling and Renaissance Luxury Hotel Rentals. The tourism sector in India needs to be aligned to serve Higher-End travel. Think High-end tourists, and the cash registers are already ringing in my ears, plus it’s great for the economy.

Similarly Sramana covered ENTERTAINMENT, which needs to go beyond Bollywood in India. She sees great promise in Framed Ivory (which produces period films) as well as Elixar (Animation Studio). Also, Non-Cricket Television Channels and Sports academies (NCTV) have got a great scope for entrepreneurship too.

The fields of REAL ESTATE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT and TRANSPORTATION, LOGISTICS & INFRASTRUCTURE hold great potential as well in India.

Now time to do some Homework!!

[The_Big_K]

Sramana Mitra and Dominique Trempont give points for effective visioning:

¡Start a journal

¡Write out the vision for your life

¡In present tense, as if you have already achieved it

¡Taking into account your unique gifts, talents, passions, dreams, and expertise

¡May include expertise you plan to acquire over time

¡Keep updating as you go along

¡Keep your journey focused

What did you learn from this series? Your comments are more than welcome.

[durga]

I found the Teleocm part interesting.
there are many reasons why India can be considered as a hot attarction for TELECOS.

firslt, markets are saturating super fast in western world. for eg in Taiwan each person owes 1.3 mobile phones i.r. no of mobile phones is greater then number of people. not only Taiwan but other countries as well.
INDIA can be considered as attraction point here as there is still very high % of population without telephones.

Vodaphone intervened in INDIA for this basic reason.

[The_Big_K]

Very well written by Shrey Goel. I am expecting him to join CE.

[shreyg]

Hello everyone, this is Shrey Goyal here.

I'm a Crazy Engineer as well now And Thanks for the appreciation

The articles have been published on my semi-personal blog, The God of Small Things. I have added 7 new posts after the above 6, all of which would've been published by today evening. To read more:

Day 1
Guest Lecture by Sramana Mitra & Dominique Trempont: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Conclusion

You may follow me on twitter for regular updates on the Esummit blog. I will soon be writing on other important lectures such as the one by Naukri CEO Sanjeev Bhikhchandani, and on the startup fair.

Also, you may want to see what Sramana says about Esummit.

Cheers

[The_Big_K]

Shrey, I believe there is some miscommunication. I had asked him to introduce us to you; but he never replied back.

Please get in touch with Mr. Subhendu Panigrahi of IIT Cell KGP, who asked me to post the articles.