Sanjay Mehta's session at the NEN Webinar on 'Entrepreneurs and risk taking'

1. Risk Taking and what it means to
Entrepreneurs
Sanjay Mehta
Jt. CEO, Social Wavelength

2. There’s risk at every stage
• Very early stage: risk of “still death”
• Early stage: risk of “infant mortality”
• Growth stage: risk of “survival”
• Later or mature stage: risk of “becoming
irrelevant”
Risk is everywhere, but only in case of
entrepreneurship, there is often survival risk!

3. Risks at the early stage of startups
• Starting up for all the wrong reasons: doomed
to failure
• Business Model challenges
• Finance issues
• Team challenges
• Sales and Marketing challenges
• Partnership Issues

4. The “what-if” to ask as you startup
• Even if you seem to have the perfect business
plan, things may not pan out; then “what-if”..
– You don’t get funded, or don’t get funded soon
enough?
– A competitor springs up from nowhere?
– Not only a competitor comes up, but he prices
much lower than your proposed price
– Your development cycle goes longer than what
you had in mind – maybe, much longer?!

5. Your personal risk, then..?
• Is there a family dependent on your income?
• Did you plan for a length of time, when you
may not earn any money for yourself?
• Are you putting your family under pressure?
• Were there EMIs needed to be serviced?
• When working professionals jump to
entrepreneurship, risks are different – are you
prepared to give up ‘the good life’??

6. Myth: entrepreneurs and risk taking
• So you think, entrepreneurs and risk taking
are synonymous??
• In fact, to the contrary; the role of the
entrepreneur is to de-risk the business
• Responsibility on behalf of various
stakeholders – investors, other shareholders,
employees, customers, families, etc.
• Sudden change in business model, new
ventures, product lines etc. need to be
thought through for the extent of risk involved

7. Summary
• Do not wish to discourage entrepreneurship!
• Yes, risk exists – but that is the entrepreneur’s
DNA
• Understand risk, understand downside
involved - don’t be pessimistic, but don’t be
blind to risk as well!
• Once those are understood and clear, work on
a good, strong business model, and FIGHT ON!
• ALL THE BEST!!

8. Thank you
Sanjay Mehta
Jt. CEO, Social Wavelength
http://greyhairwisdom.com
Twitter: @sm63