Is Money all that's Required to Build up Your Startup?

Startups have become a way of life for many.

Without customers or finance, what does the future hold for those who are engaged in these ecosystems?

One idea is ALL it took for companies to form and look at where they stand now! Ola Cabs, Flipcart, PayTM, MakeMyTrip, Zomato, Swiggy, BigBasket, Gaana, BookMyShow, Grofers, Perpperfry, Babyoye and many others. India has witnessed a significant growth of startups in its ecosystem and they make their presence felt both domestically and internationally.

One of the main reasons for their success is the fact that they are insanely focused on customer experience, right from day one! 

It is clear-cut that the funds that are available to startups are limited and perhaps Steve Jobs words it well - "You‘ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around".

For instance, if you take a look at some of the startups such as Air BnB, Oyo Rooms and Slack you can easily spot a commonality in the company culture – and that is that they are extremely consumer centric. 

 

Another addition and crucial aspect for startups is funding and fund raising. There’s no business going to get done without any money!

Any startup has to serve its business objective. Both funding and fundraising have the potential to contribute to the growth of the startup.  Now, one may wonder can a startup exist without customers and without finance? What future could one possibly expect? 

The answer is simple and its bootstrapping- which means to start a business without any external capital or help. In fact, some of the largest companies today such as Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Coca cola, etc yet follow this road.

What is a start-up?

A start up culture can be described as a workplace that has an environment, which creates values in creating problem solving, a flat hierarchy and open communication.  It is a high-risk business that has in fact high chances of failure in its early stages.

The sources of funding for startups can vary from angel investors, venture capital companies, crowd funding, early stage investors or even accelerators.  

It is a huge source of encouragement for budding entrepreneurs and young people to work on their own ideas.

For a long time, thinking about the term office or even office culture usually conjured up a similar image of rows of cubicles and variations on an uncomfortable chair. However, nowadays office culture is a lot more about the intangibles that we cannot we – i.e. the ideas. Startups, also known as young companies and are in its first stage of operations- i.e. beginning to develop.

Startup India was instituted to provide strength to the youth of the country. 

It is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, that is intended to build a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and Startups in the country and that will drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. Through this initiative, the Government aims to empower Startups to grow through innovation and design.

The Indian youth is transforming from job seekers to job creators. With 65% of the population below the age of 35 – most of which are student innovators, incubators, tinkering labs and startups.

With capital, connections and courage being the three main pre-requisites for setting up a business the PM Modi has made efforts towards providing that under the Startup India programme.

The Golden age for startups in India has truly changed business models within the country, With new ideas exploding unto business models, investors everywhere are all lined up to provide the requisite mentoring and finance; that is required to take the start up to the next level if higher valuations and funding. 

Successful startups that have valuations ballooning just within the first five years of its operation include Naukri.com, Make My Trip, Just Dial and Shaadi.com.

International organisations such as Hubspot, Twitter, Moz and Buffer explain how company culture especially in its early stages is often found as unwritten company values.

Darmesh Shah, Co-founder and CTO of the popular HubSpot believes that it is important that both your hires and how the the founders think are important to culture.

 “The culture of a startup is defined by three things: 

1. How the founders behave

2. Who they recruit, reward and recognise.

3. Who they release (let go).as said by him..

Bizstone (Christopher Isaac ‘Biz’ Stone), who is known as the co-founder of Twitter, says says “Startups have a unique ability to create a culture of compassion that helps us improve and in so doing, we are more likely to make a difference in the lives of others. It’s possible to build a business, help people, and enjoy our work. How we approach our work is often as important as the work itself because the way we treat each other, our shared environment, and the way we cooperate shapes us as people.”

Even Rand Fishkin, the Founder and CEO of Moz, states "If you’re trying to figure out what a company’s values really are, look at the decisions management makes when lots of money, risk, or loss of face for executives is at odds with the stated values. Want to know the company’s mission & vision?

Look at what they’ve intentionally chosen not to do, even though it could be lucrative. And if you’re seeking answers to why a company hires & fires, talk to the managers about their most unorthodox hires that have worked out, and the most regret they’ve felt when letting someone go (and why).”

However it was  Joel Gascoigne, co-founder and CEO of the exceptional social media start-up, Buffer, who says "There’s no right or wrong with culture, it is simply a combination of natural personality of the founding team in addition to proactive work to push the culture in a desired direction and to maintain certain values.

I think to build a culture that can inspire people to want to work for you, you will want to take the time to make specific changes to shape it. At Buffer, culture is definitely something we’re starting to be more deliberate about.”

Being an independent professional myself, I have been exposed to the startup ecosystem in many ways. I delivered a lecture on social media for startups in "Greed is Good" conference that was organised by GNIMS (Guru Nanak Institute of Management Studies) and IBF (Icon Business Forum). 

I also delivered a talk about the digital ecosystem at Headstart Foundation. I was also invited to give a talk at "'Reshaping India Through Startups" and visited the facility set up by Venture Catalysts. Besides that I have written content for a web app and written the content for several startups that have made an established  mark.

There are many factors, questions to ask yourself and things to consider before you think of starting your own startup.It is very important to research, evaluate and validate your startup idea - whatever it may be.