Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, once said: “Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”
Today’s generation believes in driving the world with their own innovation and perspective rather than being silent onlookers. Entrepreneurs are emerging as role models for the youth and providing a direction with their own business narratives, aiming to bring positive disruption in the current ecosystem.
However, the startup trend is not new to India. India is developing as an “entrepreneurial” economy, enabling young people to become potential entrepreneurs.
It’s interesting to see how engineering and management graduates from India are taking up the entrepreneurship challenge rather than opting for employment in multinationals. A study by the International School of Entrepreneurship Education and Development has projected that approximately 87 per cent of students aspire to become entrepreneurs; 90 per cent believe India offers immense opportunities to entrepreneurs.
The government has also taken initiatives to support the development of entrepreneurs and is creating an ecosystem in order to empower potential business leaders. The government and the private sector are working together to set up a network of incubators, accelerators and mentors. The National Skills Development Corporation, academic establishments such as the IITs, Delhi University, some tier -2 technical institutes, corporate and industry chambers such as IESA, FICCI and CII are adding their weight to the startup network. For example, IESA recognises the best startups and promotes entrepreneurship in the ESDM space through programmes such as Technovation.
Promote hardware There is no doubt that the tremendous growth achieved in the software and internet space has helped the nation to create a startup ecosystem in this space. Nevertheless, it’s heartbreaking that India never took off in the electronics hardware space despite its ability to innovate for the world. HCL, Micromax and Wipro have been some motivational success stories, but we have not seen the momentum to drive and expand the entrepreneurship in this segment.
But the situation is changing. With the government’s ‘Make in India’ agenda, and its intent to promote hardware and electronics manufacture, we may now witness another business era with the rise of ‘electrovation’ (electronics innovation and design) startups.
Today, India is at an inflection point to create the next big innovation. With proven expertise in the software and internet domains and being a high potential market for electronics, India is poised to deliver multiple Silicon Valleys and electroprenuers to the world.
The writer is a member of the Project Management Group, Electropreneur Park