TiE-ISB Connect 2009: Partnerships and Business Plans

Hyderabad is a charming city and the biryani more than lives up to its name. Unlike previous years, the Marriott, off the majestic Hussain Sagar, was the venue for TiE-ISB Connect 2009. The event has also gotten bigger. About 500-plus delegates were in attendance. But there was one key element missing this year. The Business Plan Showcase was not part of the schedule. The organizers, said Sateesh Andra, program convener and venture partner, DFJ India, are working on a revamp to give the showcase more teeth. This implies some kind of funding commitment to the winning startup, which has not been the case in the past.

The event started with the ‘Jumpstart Your Venture – Workshop’ and following are excerpts from some of the parts that I found particularly insightful:

Atul Phadnis, What’s On India

Phadnis founded What’s On India, a company that provides television electronic programme guide solutions, in 2005. It is backed by Nexus Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital and is based in Mumbai. Phadnis spoke about the importance of partnerships for startups. Edited excerpts:

In all my working career, I have always gravitated towards models that require a lot of a collaboration. Both between rivals and different players in the industry. Our business required us to collaborate with hundreds of broadcasters and many more distribution companies. Partnerships are critical to a startup because they enable it to grow faster than it would on its own. It also allows the startup to leverage expertise that may be otherwise difficult to access or inherit.

These are some of my learnings on the key aspects that define successful partnerships:

Identify Mentors: It is very critical to find a trustworthy mentor or professional within the potential partner. He becomes the first bouncing board for any collaborative idea that you might have. Try to engage this person in an intellectual conversation, before or during product development. That way, he becomes a co-owner of that idea. These people become our key flag bearers when we launch our product within their companies and managements.

Talk to Middle Managers: If the product has not been communicated to the middle manager in the partner company, it could fail. We communicate both with top and middle management.

Win a Friend: One big challenge is to nurture a relationship once the formal contracts are in place. Strategic alliances can run into trouble, teams start accusing each other of delays, etc. At such moments the best thing to do is to confront the problem directly and be absolutely transparent. It is better to win a friend rather than win the agreement.

Manik Arora, IDG Ventures India

Arora co-founded IDG Ventures India, a $150 million venture capital fund which focuses on technology companies, in 2006. Its portfolio includes 3D Solid Compression, Aujas Networks, Kreeda and Manthan Systems. Arora spoke about the best way to approach venture capitalists and what such investors look for in a business plan. Edited excerpts:

There are good and bad things to remember when raising venture capital. The good thing is that you will get a third party perspective on your business, access to customers and, most important, credibility. But, when you take venture capital, you give up two things. One, you give up some level of ownership. Two, you will give up some level of control. The venture capitalists will be on your board. In the term sheet there will be elements that suggest that on certain things you need to get the venture capitalist’s perspective. For instance, if you want to hire any guy who costs over Rs 25 lakh, you need the venture capitalist’s permission. You need to confer with them if you want to start a new business, because that is not what they signed up for. If you set up a good working relationship with the investor, such decisions will be taken in partnership.

In terms of approaching venture capitalists, a lot of entrepreneurs are very frustrated that emails are not responded to, etc. Last year, we at IDG, got over 700 business plans. We spent time with around 30. And funded two. We have a six member team. How can they intelligently go through all that and understand your business as well as you can? The best way to connect with a venture capitalist is for them to contact you. We have an outbound program for promising companies that we have heard about or read about and contact them. So take every opportunity to get your company profiled in the media, etc. Get people talking about you. A company that nobody has heard of is probably one nobody will interact with. When it comes to companies contacting us,  typically we like to get referrals from people whose judgement we trust. So it is important to think through whether you are putting in an ecosystem around your company with people who can be helpful to you in raising venture funding. These could be angels or senior people from industry who know investors. Cold calls and emails are at the bottom of the list. That is the sad reality.

Some of the things we look for in business plans and startups:

Team: We spend time on the execution experience of the team. Have these people spent time in the trenches and delivered excellent results. Have they been excellent in school? Have they been excellent at their jobs? Have they demonstrated a passion for excellence and delivered on excellence in some form? Equally important is the domain expertise. If you are doing something in an area you know nothing about, the chances of failure are more likely. The third aspect to look for in a team is how well how well do they know each other? How well do they get along and how complementary are their skill sets? As you put together your team it is important to get people who are different from you but with whom you still have good chemistry.

Core Competence: If the startup is in a domain that we don’t understand well, we tend not to seed invest in it. We would rather wait and come in a little later.

Simple Plans: The business plan should contain things that are business oriented and not technology oriented. Ideally, if it is a very good plan, your grandmother should be able to understand it and you should be able to explain it in 10 slides.