I listened with much attention to the points of view raised by Goa’s IT Minister Rohan Khaunte during his speech at the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s launch of the ‘Startup and Corporate Bridge’. He opined that the Goa government is endeavoring to position Goa as the ‘Creative Capital of the World’.
I have to say that this is the first time in the history of the state known to me that a Goa Minister holding the portfolio of IT has hit the nail of the potential of Goa in the Startup space on its head. The thought is not only futuristic but it is based on the true assessment of the prowess of Goa. It stems from the root belief that Goa has to create an identity of its own and not ape other states in their effort to create a mark in the global startup phenomenon.
Goa must not attempt to be like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, or Hyderabad. It simply does not have the population to create a startup ecosystem that is based on the market size and the potential for scalability. But what Goa has, is an air of creativity, incubation, and innovation. That is what Goa must capitalize on and it appears that under the leadership of the current IT Minister and Goa’s Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, they have understood the positioning that Goa needs to compete in the global startup world. Goa has the beaches, it has the hinterland, it has the greenery and it has the talent, build good internet infrastructure and Goa will slowly climb its stairs to success in the startup space.
People from all over India and other countries in the world are shifting their home bases to Goa. These are people who are tired of the rigmarole of metropolitan city life and want to live peacefully with a small enterprise of their own. Most of these seekers who migrate to the idyllic state of Goa come from the creative and innovation fields. They believe that Goa has the right ambiance to inspire creativity and innovation. I agree with most of them, whom I have interacted with that the state does have what no other state in India has to offer, serenity to explore one’s creative, and innovative bent of mind.
More than people coming from out of Goa and settling in the state to explore their startup ideas, it is Goans in Goa and some Goans from out of Goa who are now exploring the potential of Goa’s startup ecosystem and our coming back to home base. They believe that it is better to innovate at home in Goa and then scale the product or services in other parts of India or globally.
Goa does yet have an eco-system to encourage startups from Goa, India, or other parts of the world, that is the truth as of now. However, the notion that Goa has missed the bus in the business of startups is foolish. Goa has just started its journey. It has a long way to go and creating a startup ecosystem is about getting the right mix of the players in the startup world to be in Goa and focus on Goa. Any startup ecosystem, not only in Goa, requires people who believe that creating an ecosystem is possible and are willing to take the risk for their belief, and the second most important facet of the promotion of a startup ecosystem is people willing to put their money where their mouth is.
The mistake most governments make in fostering a startup ecosystem is to fund startups, while that is no doubt encouraging, seed funds help in bringing an idea to realization but it cannot take the realization of the idea to an economically viable and long-term sustainable business. Therefore if we were to analyse the utilization of most seed funds given to startups across India, most of the startups would be struggling to meet their business goals in the long run. Besides, seed funding, startups require mentors from the corporate world to guide them startups in understanding the nuances of the business world. An idea is not worth an idea if it does not put money in the bank of the founders or the employees who believe in the idea of the founders. That is why the initiative of the GCCI led by its current President Shrinivas Dempo and GCCI Chairperson Startups Innovation and Growth Taskforce Lalit Saraswat – GCCI ‘Startup and Corporate Bridge’ – is commendable because it is allowing young innovators to learn from the corporates and they are even getting an opportunity to pitch their ideas to the corporate houses. Young innovators need guidance and the guidance can only come from people who have won and lost in business.
The other folly most startups do and sometimes the government falls for this folly in the urge to promote a startup ecosystem is that everyone wants to become a unicorn. That notion defies the law of averages. The purpose of setting up a startup business is not to become the next unicorn. The purpose of a business in my 13 years of being an entrepreneur is simple, we get into business to solve a problem, recover our costs of operations, and carve a decent profit to reinvest to grow our business. I see government as a facilitator in creating an ecosystem that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. It must ease doing business in the state and make access to finances for startups non-cumbersome. Startups do not want free money, they want the government to give them opportunities to compete with seasoned business houses for projects or services.
Confidence in startups does not mean giving them an opportunity to compete in a government-sponsored hackathon and then offering them a pittance for their innovative idea, product, or solution. Confidence in startups should be driven by policy that even if startups do not have years of experience or cash resources like a large business house for a government project, the government must make it a point in their policies to ensure that startup companies get an opportunity to bid for lucrative projects of the government.
Doing business is not a new phenomenon, people have been doing business for decades, the advent of new-age technology and the creation of Palo Alto and Silicon Valley gave the world a new name for doing new business – startups. Creating an ecosystem is going beyond fancy jargon. The ecosystem must enhance the chances of the young creator or innovator to turn the startup idea into a profitable business. I remember a brief chat with one of the award-winning startups from Goa which is now finding it difficult to keep its business moving because beyond a point of identifying the problem which was the core value proposition of its business, it does not have a long-term sustainable solution to the problem identified, therefore no sustainable business model. Yet another, startup business from Goa took the seed funding from the Goa government but remained stagnant for over 12 months because it did not create a sustainable business model to survive and grow their business. It is now just a website with no tractions at all.
There is no doubt that Goa has a huge untapped potential to create a robust startup ecosystem with a focus as the IT Minister Rohan Khaunte rightly said, on creativity and innovation. Goa must go beyond IT-focused startups and look at innovation in all business sectors because technology is not only IT but let me also state that IT is the backbone of the growth of all present and future businesses. Not everyone making an app is going to turn into a profitable business or a unicorn but everyone will need IT-based technology to scale their products or services in the months ahead.
Go Goa and keep going, we have a long and promising way to go in the global startup world, we have just started walking fast. Soon we will run.
