The Speaker session was well put together by the E-Cell NSUT Team, and the audience queried on varied topics such as, including but not limited to, whether every student needs to start a startup and where one finds the motivation to do so, prepping up to be an entrepreneur, building a diverse team and trying to raise funding from investors during the college years, and common reasons why startups fail.
The recorded session is shared below, as also some of the ideas are shared right after.
NSUT E-Summit 2020: Speaker Session: Monce C. Abraham, THEV
Though questions were taken up on varied topics, we will address whether every student needs to start a startup, and where one finds the motivation to do so.
STARTUPS AND THE PURSUIT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
I. There is no One Road to Success.
Everyone is built differently, has different gifts and motivations, and their own journey to go through. What works for one might not necessarily work for others.
Not everyone needs to start a startup. In addition to choosing a goal that stretches you a bit (or more) beyond your current comfort zones, seeing the bigger picture and working for the longer term, hard and smart work, a bit of speed and timing, and a bit of luck; there is actually no playbook.
As much as you would like to believe that the world of entrepreneurship is full of glamour and glory, the truth is, to make it work you will have to dive in head on and work on it unlike anything you have ever been remotely passionate about.
Entrepreneurship seldom works part time (9 AM – 5 PM, or, 7 PM to 2 AM) – once you have tested waters, and are convinced this is something you should be doing : there is only one way to go – diving right in. This means making the venture your full time and all other initiatives part time.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, you are always thinking of taking your venture to the next level and creating something worthwhile good enough to be used outside your circle of immediate influence.
If you are not passionate enough to the extent of going the whole way : do yourself a favor, save yourself some heartache and misery… and don’t start up. If you love what you are getting into just enough to consider working on this the whole day, the whole week and then the next 3 years (at least) without much hope of early signs of reward, go for it.
Keep your eyes and ears open, take feedback on your venture where you catch anything relevant, check with your gut feeling (this comes in quite handy when taking on tough decisions)… and keep on moving with what you know you have to do next.
Be ready to embrace rejection and disappointment too: You might be working super hard to make your vision come true and pulling out all stops, but sometimes things just aren’t meant to happen. Sometimes it’s the team, other times it’s the product-market fit, sometimes you might just run out of runway and then again sometimes the time for the idea might not have just come yet. Be prepared to see your life’s work burn before your eyes.
Remember you have chosen this path, and that you alone are responsible for all things that come with it. Get out of your comfort zone, expand your boundaries, and make things happen, and of course… enjoy whilst you are at it, you only have so little time.
The lack of motivation usually comes when you are pursuing someone else’s dream. Work on your dream, not on anyone else’s dream.
– Monce C. Abraham
*Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT) is amongst the leading technology institutions in India.
