The Great Indian Intellectual Ecosystem
“Power”, itself is a confusing element! Some people really have it and prefer staying low profile, while some people dwell in the shadow of a Superior face!
Rise of Pseudo-Intellects
The big bang of social media opened up possibilities for a billion citizens without any government guidelines. Everyday we witness a bunch of intellectuals pretending to have Power, but actually are struggling in day-to-day life.
Then the disaster happens and it hits the startup ecosystem the most. People who’ve never really tasted the Startup Culture promote themselves as Mentors. Peoples who are never Preneurs (who takes a bet at something) are calling themselves Entrepreneurs.
Businesses which don’t understand the minimum code of conduct to run a business are calling themselves Startups. As a result of that, India got really great entrepreneurs, mentors, investors but in social media :)
Circus of Funding & Unicorns
Our narratives are derived from movies. We aspire to see startup founders in luxury clothes, branded Cars and what not, but do they really need it?
The process of hiring has changed dramatically, because the salary is coming from investors money. Accordingly, the founders’ life style goes up because of the external Investment and dilution of shares.
From a profit driven business ecosystem, India has turned into a circus of startup valuation. In the race of valuation, by April 2022 India had crossed the mark of 100+ unicorns, but how many of them are in Profit? Most of them are not!
Need of Background Checks
Do all the people who popup in your social media feed with luxury life style and brilliant description in their bio are real startup founders or Entrepreneurs? Possibly Not!
Prior to believing someone or any company,
- Look for their website
- Check in Government registration portal (Ministry of Corporate Affairs, In case of India) to ensure that it’s a true registered company
- Check the GST (Good & Service Tax) Number to know whether they’re really in business or not
- Find the DIPP Startup India Registration Certificate to check the Govt of India recognition of the entity as a startup
Then only take your call regarding the company in which you want to be associated with or want to purchase their products or services.
The Same goes for mentors:
- Check in the Startup India Portal or your respective state-initiated Startup Secretariat/Missions that they’re officially registered as mentors or not.
- If yes, Check from how many years they are registered and what experiences and qualities they’re carrying.
When it comes to Investors, Check Whether they’re:
- Venture Capitalist
- HNIs (High Net-Worth Individuals)
Always believe in data, not in anyone’s speech.
In today’s world it’s very difficult to find the right person to move forward with. Someone needs to say NO to this bubble before it bursts, so that at least few can get saved from the illegal/fraud entities.
IRONY OF ED-TECH
On a personal note I belong to the Education Sector. Now-a-days where,
Universities are calling themselves businesses and the their admission brokers are identifying themselves as Education companies.
It’s sad but true. But what is more serious than that is copyright issues. Many companies find it easy to grab and copy products and services from the companies those are better than them and selling that out to the customers. Here we’re worried for the customers, who get average quality and because the vision behind it can’t be copied by the company who pirated it!
As a customer, if you find similar products then visit the websites of both companies or contact them. Check the course curriculum & then ask them why that course curriculum is needed, what is the standard of certification, which should come from a reputed organization or inter Governmental body. Then check the materials and the final call resides at your hand.
THE POWER DYNAMICS
Again let’s back to the point from where all this started. Power.
Few days back a friend told me this:
Needy people always claim that they’re very close to powerful people. Because Powerful people never get time for silly things. They are powerful because they are busy with utilizing the power in actions
If you are important because of power you are nobody as a person. But if people started respecting the power and chair because you are utilizing that in a righteous manner, then only you can say you are worthy of it.
On a Final Note, I’d Say, I don’t know whether all the powerful people comes from powerful places or not. But the powerful people always make the places powerful. #KGF
