'Pune ranks high in entrepreneurial activity in India'

Founder of Compulink Systems, now a part of Goldyne with a turnover of Rs1,800 crore per annum, Vishwas Mahajan has an experience of 20 years in the information technology industry both at international and national level. Currently he is also serving as the president and lead volunteer of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Pune Chapter. Mahajan speaks to DNA about TiE and the budding entrepreneurs in the city.

What is the basic objective of TiE? How successful it has been in its achievement?
The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) fosters entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking and education. It is dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community. TiE’s focus is on generating and nurturing our next generation entrepreneurs.

With 13,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 56 chapters across 13 countries, TiE hosts a wide range of programmes and events, including TiEcon, the largest professional and networking conference for entrepreneurs. TiE has been quite successful in its mission wherever it has been active.

What can Pune offer to budding entrepreneurs?
In India, Pune ranks high in entrepreneurial activity. Metro cities tend to have a better and larger ecosystem, but Pune is turning out to be the city for budding entrepreneurs, especially in the technology and services areas. The main input to these knowledge industries is talent and Pune has a lot to offer on those lines.

What problems are faced by entrepreneurs?
As the president of TiE Pune chapter, I discuss this question with various entrepreneurs. The key problem areas are: access to customers and finance. In addition, there are issues related to people, technology and others. Funding, however, is one area everyone expresses as a single most critical impediment to their success. Also, depending on the stage of the venture, entrepreneurs face different problems and sometimes they are not aware of the root causes.

What is the state of women entrepreneurs in the city?
Women entrepreneurship is certainly on the rise. I would not differentiate between entrepreneurs on the basis of their gender. The opportunities and challenges are the same for both. In fact, we have started a separate initiative for women entrepreneurs called ‘Stree Shakti’ and we also hold a separate conference for them. This is to encourage more women to pursue entrepreneurship.

What are the future initiatives of TiE Pune chapter?
TiE Pune chapter’s initiatives are categorised into NINE - Nurture, inspire, network and educate. We have several activities under each of these and entrepreneurs take full advantage of the same. The one initiative we are all excited about was launched a few weeks ago called ‘NURTURE’.

Under this initiative, TiE Pune aims to take selected entrepreneurs under its wings to provide high quality coaching and mentoring by its charter members who are successful entrepreneurs themselves.

This will be complimented by structured workshops on different topics and an effective programme management to help take the entrepreneur’s business to a different level. The response we have received after the launch of this initiative has been overwhelming.