Making History! A Conversation With Mr. Sumit Chowdhury

Entrepreneur of 'My Life Chronicles'

PGSEM 2005-08

www.mylifechronicles.com

1)    Why did you decide to start My Life Chronicles

The idea came to my mind while speaking casually to a couple of my PGSEM batch mates at IIMB. It was Dec 2008. My father passed away from cancer in 1998 and I left home right after that. My elder brother had left home earlier. Being a very organized person my father used to write journals regularly and keep all letters and other paper records neatly filed. On my visits to home town years later, I could see that those diaries and folders were gathering dust and even being sold away to the raddiwalla. I could not do much while on a short vacation but wanted to at least scan and digitize the old photos and letters. This desire led me to the idea of preserving individual and family stories and then on to preserving institute and corporate memories. When I googled I found that there is an organization in the USA called APH, Association of Personal Historians who are already doing this for 15 years. That was the time I realized that we Indians are poor preservers of our past and that needed to change and change fast.

2)    Tell a little about yourself - education, work, family - the story so far.

Born and brought up in Steel City of Durgapur, I completed my secondary education from St. Xavier’s, Durgapur and Higher Secondary education from Bidhan Chandra Institution, Durgapur. I went on to complete my BE(Hons) from REC Durgapur and chose to work at SAIL, Durgapur. This was the time my father was suffering from cancer and I cherish the time I stayed close to him. Father passed away in 1998 and I moved to Bangalore a year later in 1999 following my IT dreams. Infosys was about 3500 people and still a close family when I joined the company. I remember sitting close to NRN's cabin in the Heritage Building, Electronics City. Infosys gave me an opportunity to broaden my exposure and knowledge by sending me on various foreign assignments. This happened pretty quickly in my career and the rich interactions with customers helped shape my thought processes. I got married to Tandra in 2000, an alumna from my college. We moved to Banerghatta Road, very close to IIMB. We still stay here. Tandra works in Novellus Systems. We have 2 daughters, Ananya of 8 years and Anwesha 3 of years. 

In 2003, I went through this phase where I had a major urge to do a PhD in Operations Management (Sunil Mehta's book inspired me). I took the GMAT and applied to a few universities in the USA. Georgia Tech found me worthy of a scholarship and invited me over. Reality struck me hard as I realized the full impact of the decision. Leaving my 6 month old daughter and family for a degree which takes 5 years, by a conservative estimate sounded impossible. Taking them along meant sacrificing settled lives and careers. I sent a painful rejection note to Georgia Tech and appeared for the neighborhood IIMB PGSM program interview instead. This was the same time I moved from IT Delivery to Pre-Sales and Marketing at Infosys, hoping to focus on academics for a couple of years. 2004-2007 was a roller coaster ride juggling PGSM assignments, Pre-Sales RFPs and family. However, this is the time that gave me the confidence and courage to attempt something different, to start on an entrepreneurial journey. I felt I was not ready and to get a different perspective I challenged myself to join a completely different work environment. I joined Honeywell, an industrial automation giant working on New Product Development projects. I kept working on my entrepreneurial ideas and goals till the time I left Honeywell to start My Life Chronicles 3+ years later. My Life Chronicles has been a labor of love ever since.

3)    How did you manage the risks, how are you paying the bills

Having a working and supportive spouse helps. It has been more than a year and I continue to depend on her to meet our bills. However, I am planning to start taking a small monthly salary from My Life Chronicles to ease the burden.

4)    Are you happy 

I am having the most enjoyable albeit the most hectic time of my life. I am no more known by Infosys or Honeywell but by My Life Chronicles alone. This is a fundamental shift in thinking and can give entrepreneur nightmares in the initial months and years.

5)    Would you want to go back to Honeywell

No, unless I am compelled to because of financial or other pressures.

6)    What next

My Life Chronicles, I would like to believe, is at an inflexion point. I will be joined by partners in the next few months, partners who see value in what I am doing and who would like to share the risk. While stories of individuals is where my heart lies, corporate chronicles is showing a lot of promise. I am working with CRISIL (A Standard & Poor's co.), a well-known brand with a tremendous reach across India and even globally. In the process, I have been personally interviewing Senior Management and Board members of large corporate and all of them have been very positive about the idea. Making high quality memoirs and chronicles affordable and easy, still remains my dream.

7)    Advise to those who want to take the Plunge

Follow your heart but have a safety net. Prepare for the worst case, take your family into confidence and take the plunge. The 'right time' will never come. The right time is now. You are not going to die if you take the plunge!

8)    What role and importance would you attribute to PGSEM in your journey so far?

Without PGSEM I would not have had the confidence to venture out. Through PGSEM I have come to know a few people who have helped me with their thoughts, suggestions and encouragement.

9)    How did you evaluate the opportunity in terms of the critical elements of success? The competition and the potential market? Did you make a business plan?

This is a new concept in India. There was no data available as such. We did some primary research which didn’t throw up positive results. It was more of gut feel and the passion to do something I enjoy that led me to plunge.

10)  Any specific learning’s you would like to share with the budding entrepreneurs.

Meet as many potential customers you can and listen to what they want. Meet start-up founders and understand/learn from their challenges/mistakes. Moonlight.

Tête-à-Tête With Mr. Shamit Bagchi

Entrepreneur of Dhonuk.com

PGSEM 2008-11

1. What was your background before you started the venture?

I was a software engineer (total experience of 7 years) who had worked for 2 years in public sector – Bharat Electronics Limited, and just above 5 years in Honeywell in avionics embedded/real-time software and business development, marketing (about 9 months).

2. Who/What was your biggest influence that made u interested in entrepreneurship? Any role model?

A creative endeavour is what I sought to bring forth. It is this creative urge to create a platform for young and budding artists that made me create a forum of this sort that would also make business sense. It was also my urge to showcase my own art works. It was also the love of art and the feeling that just coding/development in the IT industry not being my calling that added to the urgency in creation of Dhonuk along with a supportive IIMB culture – the professors and students. A unique course by Prof Balasubramaniam Shekar at IIM Bangalore also paved the way to create something unique in the management space related to the arts.  

3. Did your educational/professional/social background helped u in starting the venture?

Yes and no. Yes in terms of some technology aspects. No as the area was niche and there was a lot to learn and that was really fruitful (the learning). I was quite initiative driven and had conducted events and been an active volunteer having managed (being the editor-in-chief of Xpressions) and enjoyed the experience having worked with creative people in house magazine in Honeywell - Xpressions. Social yes I was always a volunteer with the local Durga Puja activities and this always helps – volunteering is a very important if I may say so ‘feature’ of an entrepreneur/potential entrepreneur.

4. Was this your 1st venture?

Yes.

5. If no, please let us know the details of the previous venture(s) and did it(they) help in any way for the current venture?

I was quite initiative driven and had conducted events and been an active volunteer having managed (being the editor-in-chief of Xpressions) and enjoyed the experience having worked with creative people in house magazine in Honeywell - Xpressions.

6. How did you spot the opportunity for Dhonuk? How did it surface?

It was this rise in the middle class’s disposable income and the growth of social networks and internet usage that combined to signal a possible market opportunity. It was also as I mentioned a love for arts and Indian art formats and artists that propelled the idea and pure profit motive was not always the objective.

7. How did you evaluate the opportunity in terms of the critical elements of success? The competition and the potential market?

We did several projects both at PGSEM level and in my personal capacity. I along with others in the team also created studies and research at IIMB to drive the study of the business of art – which was indirectly related to Dhonuk and I feel has added to the overall increase in knowledge of the arts and also its appreciation/feasibility as a business venture. It was a way for introducing art in the management studies beyond just elite organizations such as Saffronart etc. A case on Dhonuk has also been created with Prof Ramesh Kumar of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour.

A business case study on Dhonuk titled 'www.dhonuk.com – Marketing Art in an Emerging Market' written by Prof S Ramesh Kumar, Marketing area, IIM Bangalore and Shamit Bagchi was published by the Richard Ivey School of Business , Western Ontario, Canada (known worldwide for its business case studies) in its case collection.

8. Can you please share any specifics of the business plan you had.

I can share the entire plan – I see Dhonuk as a means of management/entrepreneurial learning and will be ready to share all aspects of it with you! I will send the plan, as a document.

9. Was it a one-man show or did you have partners?How did the financing come in for the venture?

Self financed and largely a one man show except some branding and promo material by Anshuman Majumdar. The idea also was to create a social organization wherein content and ideas would be from members of Dhonuk (online) acting as pseudo employees. During exhibitions this actually worked. The open innovation concept (P&G) was also an inspiration for this.

10. What all were the external sources of help (if any) u got for Dhonuk to start and float? Any one who stands out in your mind.

Some very excited and talented volunteer’s whose works were showcased in specific Anshuman Majumdar from Bangalore, Pritesh Ananthakrishnan from Sweden. Towards the initial stage Parashar Shah helped with some technology aspects and later stage Adarsh Natarajan also helped out to think on reviving certain areas.

11. Any specific "aha" moment in the venture you would like to share?The most challenging moment you have faced till date in the venture.

A research project was seed funded by IIM Bangalore on these aspects although not directly related to Dhonuk it was on the area of business of art. A related paper was also created and was just published recently as it was selected as part of a recently concluded conference COGNITIVE 2011 at Rome, Italy. The paper 'A Framework for Creativity-oriented Autonomy based on Online Social Networks' can be found here:  http://www.thinkmind.org/index.php?view=article&articleid=cognitive_2011_6_20_40077

Another was being the creative partner with IIM Bangalore’s Unmaad 2011 fest. See this page: http://www.unmaad.com/dhonuk.php. Not being able to get a solid team going as it was a niche field is/was the most challenging and daunting aspect. Part time interests don’t always work out and at least one more person needs to be there all the time. By the time someone wanted to join in as a genuinely interested partner I was already in the process of moving into a corporate role. We met Sarnath Banerjee the graphic novelist and wanted to create a graphic novel wing to Dhonuk. It didn’t take place. Some testimonial are here: http://www.dhonuk.com/page/testimonials-1 This will give you an idea of how value is being generated as part of this online ecosystem (art buyers, art sellers and art enthusiasts predominantly visual arts). So that is in itself a very encouraging!

12. Now that you are back into corporate world, do u feel its going to affect the dedication level to Dhonuk?

Yes ofcourse! The forum is running as an online social network and with minimal intervention from my end. Let me see how I can revive other plans on generating revenues and ROI etc. It is in a non-revenue generating state now! Plan to reposition it as a creativity hub – was discussing this with a former co-founder Anshuman Majumdar.

13. Being in a niche business, what are your future growth plans for Dhonuk?

Who knows what the future holds!

14. As you look back, what do u find personally rewarding and satisfying as an entrepreneur?

Yes a rewarding learning experience that also helps me identify my own strengths and weaknesses both personal and interpersonal. I could have done better and let us see what the future has in store, there is always scope to improve once you know. Also it was a experience that made me that much more strong - mentally. 

15. Any specific learnings you would like to share with the budding entrepreneurs.

I think to get a strong team going is very important. This would be something in my view, I didn’t do very well as my idea was to get a loosely fit team going and I did get carried away with assuming interest from many others. Assumptions don’t work when building the team, they may mean good, and may give ideas but they will not be able to contribute in any big way for the enterprise, be it your friends even close ones – doesn’t work out that way! In some aspects they can help and ultimately it is left to a few of us (what I’d call the core team). They need to have a solid interest and belief in the idea. Part-time members can rarely fulfill this long term need for a strong team.

Trust factor has to be slowly built and people with different values from the core team can and should not be allowed to hijack – that said I reiterate ‘trust’ is the cornerstone in my view in setting up and growing an endeavour such as an enterprise. Genuine sincerity and interest in the idea also plays a role. Being solo can sap a lot of energy out of you! My thought was to have each artist as an entrepreneur and then get them to create value for potential customers and not have an in-house team per se (even if it is 2 strong). This did succeed to some extent as the forum itself and the few exhibitions we did was running purely due to talented artists and their works. So my strength was in getting the social system going – of course my frequent interventions were needed. But a core team is very important to have – collocation of the team may be secondary.

Also although starting up is an emotional journey the practical aspects of planning is very, very important. You can always improvise on the go but have a basic plan and keep building on it as a form of guidance.

The firm’s Value Proposition is very important to hone into. I always had this conflict regarding Dhonuk’s value proposition i.e. was it for the artist (as a community) vs the customer (as an ecommerce portal) orientation. Although you can try to cater to different types of people, it is better to focus and build later after you get a strong foundation or build strengths in one area.

I think entrepreneurship calls for perseverance – a great deal of patience and this is repeated all the time yet is absolutely true.

Entrepreneurs Boot-camp: 4Startups Series

NSRCEL of IIMB organized a one day Boot-camp for all those interested in Entrepreneurship on 8th January in the campus Auditorium. The workshop was conducted by Ms. Saras Saraswathy - Professor in Darden School of Business and one of the most famous scholars in the area of new venture research . For those students of PGSEM who have read her thesis on Effectuation, to hear Prof Saraswathy in person and know more about her research was truly a fascinating experience.

The whole boot-camp was organized into four broad sessions. The first session started with Prof Saraswathy introducing the participants to the idea of Effectuation in such an interactive manner that the whole audience was in raptures for her skill in witty facilitation. The second session was an interview of Mr R. Sundarrajan, entrepreneur and CEO of Just-Books. Post lunch was a panel discussion on VC funding chaired by Mr. Rahul Chowdhri of Helion Venuture Partners. The final session was for Q&A and synthesis. The audience registered themselves into various groups - Greenhorns (still thinking of ideas), Red & Orange badges (those with ideas and thinking of starting off), Lavender (those who have made the great leap). This division was a great idea.. simply because many people were seen all through the day identifying those with differing colors and walking up to them to talking to them.. networking made easy.

'Do the doable' is one of the fundamentals of Effectuation. And this new theory challenges the idea of 'Causation' to spell-out the makings of a successful entrepreneurial venture. The theory tries to explain the 'Entrepreneurial Mindset' by 4 simple principles -

·       Bird in Hand Principle – Start with your means. Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity. Start taking action, based on what you have readily available: who you are, what you know, and who you know.

·         Affordable Loss Principle – Set affordable loss Evaluate opportunities based on whether the downside is acceptable, rather than on the attractiveness of the predicted upside.

·         Lemonade Principle – Leverage contingencies Embrace surprises that arise from uncertain situations, remaining flexible rather than tethered to existing goals.

·         Crazy-Quilt Principle – Form partnerships with people and organizations willing to make a real commitment to jointly creating the future—product, firm, market—with you. Don’t worry so much about competitive analyses and strategic planning.

The story of Just-Books is a classic example of how the theory of Effectuation plays out in reality. Mr. Sundarrajan had never heard of the theory till date, but acknowledged at one point in the interview that how incredible it was that his venture so closely tracked the principles of Effectuation! And what an incredible story Just-Books itself is in the humble works of its founder. For those of us who have heard our professors talk about ideas like 'ready-fire-aim' or 'thought-action-together' it felt like the ideas had jumped out of book and onto the stage!

Professor Saraswathy has herself been an entrepreneur of five ventures. She expertly drew parallels between the story of Just-Books with those like Kirloskar, Starbucks and Sears. Those in the audience pitched forth their own ventures in areas as diverse as catering, garment design and ERP software and tried to imbibe where they stood on the ladder and what the theories could say on what lay ahead.

The VC panel discussion threw light on insightful things like - go for VC funding as late as possible, go for VC funding only when the 2nd VC interested in your venture calls you, different categories of VC, typical funding percentages, E-commerce VC, pro's and con's of being on the VC radar, importance of a well rounded team backing your venture, what the VC typically look in the entrepreneur and so on..

To me, however, the comment that took the cake was this observation by a VIP - in America, if you hold a seminar on Entrepreneurship these days, the biggest point of discussion is law/lawyers. While in India, the debate hinges around funding. And its easier getting progressively easier in our world to overcome financial bottlenecks than legal issues everywhere and anywhere!

Harish Hande, MD SELCO at Eximius 2011 - IIMB's Entrepreneurship Summit

It was a fitting finale to Day 1 of Eximius 2011 @ IIM Bangalore. I am referring to the keynote lecture by Harish Hande, MD Selco Solar. His thrust on helping asset generation for the rural poor rather than just selling to them struck me as crucial.

Starting on a humorous note with ‎"At IIT Kharagpur I ragged Saurav (Prof Saurav Mukherjee), Arvind Kejriwal ragged me and now he is ragging the country ... " Harish Hande, Magsaysay Award winner went on to highlight the areas SELCO works on and how his journey started.

He focused on the importance of market linkages, technology and financial products for the rural or urban poor. "I told him straight on his face that the concept was exploitative. You take money from the poorest at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) and pass it on to the wealthy top of the pyramid without enabling any asset creation at the BOP", Harish Hande referring to his conversation with Prof C K Prahalad on Fortune at the BOP.

A recording of the talk here:  http://www.justin.tv/eximi​us2011/b/292491928

Harish Hande of SELCO India: Shedding Light on India's Underserved Markets - India Knowledge@Wharton - From knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

How SELCO is spawning off entrepreneurs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=Pjn1X96_oa0

Yale case study on SELCO: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/SOMcasestudy#g/c/2C521A547D69B421