6 years young .......

This is a thank you note for all those beautiful messages and public wishes on startupmentor.co.in completing 6 years in the industry as a Business consulting firm

Startupmentor.co.in was a vague idea put into motion in the year 2016. The entrepreneur in me wanted to formalize all the free lance consulting I was doing with the prestigious Big 4 and other firms. So what better way than to float an organization and consult formally.

As a business model, it took me 2 years to firm up the acquisition, revenue and business model. It was profitable from year 1 but growth took some time.

Covid almost bought the curtains down! Not on account of lack of clients, but the difficulties my clients had in making payments. And I did not have the heart to go in the payment recovery mode. So I thought of taking the easy route. Get employed again.

Then I learnt that the job market had no justifiable engagement for a 55 year old! Even if this 55 year old was absolutely fit and full of energy, had achievements to back up success claims, the industry had reservations! I would not fault them as there is no dearth of young talent in our beautiful country.

There was no option but to bounce back! And I did it! And this also solved my problem of growth.

So Covid did that to me. Taught me to not to back out when adversity knocks your door. A big big thank you.

Startupmentor gave me a fulfilling experience to my search for newer sectors, technologies and meet new people with aspirations and innovative streaks. Thus I discovered the reason behind my trend of changing jobs every 3 years! I wanted to learn new things!

I could consult industries like data analytics, air cargo, organic food, hydroponic, logistics, drones, health service providers, online pharmacy, artisan, marketplace concepts, technology, sustainable apparels, fantasy sports and the list goes on.

Startupmentor gave me opportunities to tie up with Venture capitalists, Angel investors, Funds and make my experience of building investable ventures richer.

Associations with IIT Mumbai, SDA Bocconi, Hult Prize, UNDP, Ciba and being on EDC panels of colleges of repute gave my search for newer concepts, innovative ideas, interesting people a huge fillup.

While I learnt so much in terms of sectors, sustainable economics, investment dynamics, building blocks of business and growth formulas, I also unlearned quite a few things.

Living in past glories is a huge mistake. Every business and its founding team is unique. There are no fixed formulas for this unique combination. Innovation lies not only in product or service, it also hugely lies in the execution.

The other thing I unlearned was academic pedigree of founding team cannot be a singular yardstick to measure the probability of success of a venture.