Graduation (By Shobhit Chugh)

This blog below was written by someone who just graduated from the TiE Leadership Program, that I have run for two years. Since it captures the essence of the program, I am posting it here.

I cannot believe that 9 months have passed since we started the TiE Leadership Program! As I look forward to graduation today, I began to think what I had gained from the program? Am I a different Individual than what I entered the program as? Were these merely 9 months of classes at the end of which one gets a certificate of completion, and goes on his journey, or was it a true transformational experience?
So let’s reflect on what I went through this program….
• Inspiration: Our monthly meetings bring one speaker one successful entrepreneur to talk about their experiences. The 2 most memorable sessions for me were Desh Deshpande talking about lessons he learned throughout his amazing career , and David Berry talking about 6 ventures he had already created despite being under the age of 35. These talks, while providing important lessons, serve as key inspirational moments to me. Moments that will hopefully encourage and inspire me when chips are down
• Branding: Anupendra Sharma, our Coordinator, guide and friend, gave a short presentation on branding, talking about how every action we do reinforces our brand. Our brand = Packaging + Messaging + Value (Substance). I remember the whole class being completely silent, and Anupendra being concerned that he had sent the whole class into some sort of depression. The presentation made us all think, as to what our brand was. Had we ever thought that we were being judged and evaluated constantly based on each and every action we take? And what was our substance? Why were we there? I still don’t know the answers to many of these questions, but at least I feel that I am on the journey to finding these answers…
• Why do you want to be an entrepreneur: I invited Dr. Pravin Chaturvedi to speak at our Tie Leadership Bootcamp which we organized as the last program in June 2008. We requested him to speak on the topic “Lessons from the trenches on building and leading an entrepreneurial team.” The 45 minutes he spent talking about Entrepreneurship were amongst the most inspirational talks I ever attended. Key takeaways
o For an entrepreneur, the key is the dream. The dream must always live on – even if the entrepreneur needs to cede control to others who might be better skilled to make the dream a reality
o Building the right team is the only thing that matters. If you are capable of bringing the right team to the right idea, you have won half the battle
o Talk about your idea to everyone. Constantly. You never know where the right feedback will come from. Listen to everyone, and don’t unnecessarily defend your idea against their criticism. This is the only way you can refine and adapt your idea
o Talk to people, constantly. Email doesn’t work as a mean of communication. A key strength of an entrepreneurial venture is building relationships with your co-workers. Don’t let that chance slip away
• American Idol: At our bootcamp, we had the privilege of 3 very accomplished TiE Charter Members judge our one minute pitches. The judges were Vinit Nijhawan, Entrepreneur and former president of TiE Boston, Al Kapoor, President of Millennium Ventures and current president of TiE Boston and Dr. Pravin Chaturvedi, life sciences entrepreneur and CEO of IndUS Pharmaceuticals. They provided just the right mixture of critique, encouragement and advice for our ideas.
• Healthcare: I know nothing about healthcare. But Alok Sathaye, my partner in this project, did know tons! We worked together on refining the business plan of a healthcare startup (name confidential), focusing on their pricing and go to market strategies. In this process I learned a lot, not just about healthcare, but about the consulting process, about business plans, pricing and go to market strategies, and sales
• Socials: Another key part of the program was all the socializing after class. Through this, I got to know several of my batch mates; which ultimately, like B-School, might be the most important part of the program! And had a great time in the process.

Enough said – the program leaves me with a lot of memories. But above all it leaves me inspired. With a much greater understanding of what I need to do to succeed as a entrepreneur. With hard and soft skills, with lessons about life.

But above all with great friends. I am sure I can call anyone in my class of 2008, our super cool program managers Tamara and Vikas, and of course Anupendra, whenever I need help. Or just friends to play beer pong with…. I am very glad I joined this program, and hope that the next class likes it as much as I did.

Call for Applications: The TiE Leadership Program 2009

The Leadership Program 2009
Startups. Leadership. B-School

The TiE Leadership Program is a fast-paced, exciting two year old program that brings together young outstanding and determined youngsters between the ages of 24 and 35.

We will select 10-15 candidates and immerse you in a 9-month program that will bring you close to some of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs, venture capitalists as well as top-notch lawyers and accountants and others in the ecosystem. We meet once or twice a month for a couple of hours and have a couple of full-day workshops. Through meetings, workshops and fireside chats, you will learn many hard and soft skills about pitching, negotiating term sheets, modeling and business plans. This will be an opportunity to brainstorm, test and refine your ideas. As part of this program you will get involved in leading and planning panels and events for TiE. You may also a chance to meet and mentor real companies.

Most importantly you will have a lot of fun and make friends with alumni as well as become life-long friends to your classmates, all of whom will be very successful through many parties and bar events that the class holds throughout the year. Several people in this program go to the world’s top business schools, and this is an opportunity to build content for your application as well.

Application form, Program Brochure and bios of the class of 2008 are coming soon. Meanwhile email anupendra AT gmail.com if you have any questions with the TiE Leadership Program in the subject line.

We’re looking forward to hearing from all of you !

Open letter to current & recently minted MBAs

Dear MBAs:

I hope you are all getting a good experience at b-school. I am sure these are difficult economic times for all of you. I am sure some of you are all going through some soul searching, wondering whether this was the right thing to do, how the loans will get paid, will you ever find a job, and how long this downturn will last.

I've lived through some very difficult economic conditions myself, and faced the brunt of it (remember the post-internet bubble in 2000 and 9/11). I saw a venerable investment bank's M&A staff get decimated (going from 600 to 70) and a financial services startup with great products and outstanding young people fold two days after the tragedy of September 11, 2001. I've also seen many suffer through it - so depressed they could not get out of home (and sometimes bed) for two years, settled people moving countries with families, and even being out of work for three years.

Usually those who suffer through tough times do so because they take a long time to get through the denial phase - that there are no high paying jobs in i-banking, consulting, hedge funds or private equity at the moment. By then its quite late in the cycle and they need to wait till it works. The important thing is to be agile, flexible and open to options.

In case you are going through similar pains and personal struggles yourself, I have eleven recommendations.

1. Grab a brand name job in tough times: When you try to get out, the brand name will help. E.g. if you want to be a banker (later) working in a brand name company may allow you to get into equity research and eventually into banking. If you cannot get that brand consulting job, take something else, and have a two-year strategy to get back in. If you cannot get a brand name job, work part-time or as a "consultant" to a brand name company.

2. The cycles are predictable: Remember that this economic cycle (or any economic cycle) will be behind you within years; you just have to find a way to sit tight for 2 years and then you'll get a chance to move to do what you really want to do. [For those of you from India] I've seen people move to India and return to the US to get into sales & trading jobs at investment banks when the markets turned. The important thing was that they had the skill set to get back in.

3. Feed, nurture and grow the network: Don't withdraw. Make friends. Keep a bold face. Be kind and helpful to those with your own rolodex. If you cannot help yourself, help someone else.

4. Be good. Do right by the people who need help in this job market if you are doing well - or even if you cannot help yourself, if you can help someone else. These people will remember you when things are good for them.

5. Keep your eyes and ears open: Anecdotally, for example seem to be jobs in the Healthcare sector in Boston (consulting with smaller companies). Also watch out for the big layoffs. Biopharma - if you are in Sales appears to be in trouble. Long term I believe healthcare is a sector that does not have violent cycles so if you like this space, try to build a career in this sector.

6. Follow the early-growth hot spaces: Cleantech is one of those spaces. In cleantech, the hot spaces are water and solar (from what I hear). Read equity research reports and follow the markets, download all the ppts and you can become a knowledgeable person in this space quickly. There are few people with experiences in this area.

7. Free work is better than no work: If its international its likely worth even more (long-term): Work for someone important or a good position for free. Think carefully before you give up a chance to do a free internship instead of no internship. If it takes you to India or China, take it ! Make sure you learn from friends from Asia and Russia. You may end up there and it may do wonders for your dreams.

8. Hang with people who protect your confidence Do a simple test of the people you are with. If you walk away after hanging or talking to them and are left with a bad feeling about yourself, you're hanging with the wrong people. They are bringing down your confidence.

9. Always surround yourself by diversity of thought and background: If you are in Finance, find out what the marketing people are up to. Know what's going on in high-tech if you are non-tech. Stay open minded. You may bring perspectives they don't understand. E.g. financial modeling is a valuable skill for those in marketing. There is a lot of tech invested in financial services. Once you get a job, make it a point to hang with people that aren't like you regularly. When things are bad for people like you, chances are that those similar people will be in a similar situation. So always hedge your networks; also remember that best ideas come from groups that are different from each other. That's what has made America so vibrant and innovative (and frankly very difficult to replicate)

10. Look at the facts: I don't know any bankrupt recently minted MBAs with repossessed houses and no Indian MBAs like myself whose careers careened off a cliff in tough markets. I am sure there is the exception. However, if you are tenacious, persistent, focussed and an inherently good person, good things will happen.

11. Don't be afraid to ask for help. These may be bad times for very smart people, so don't let personal pride and unnecessary ego get in the way. If you are in desperate need of help, please tell people around you. Take that pay cut. Be humble.

Good luck. Remember it gets better. I've been through it, as have all my friends. Getting out of the problem is game of probabilities and street smarts. It is controllable for highly educated people like yourself. It is not controllable for most people less fortunate.

And once you've been through the storm, you realize its not the end of the world. You can go through it again and be a better person for it.

Take care and good luck.

Anupendra

Open letter to current B-School students (struggling with loans and jobs)

Dear MBAs:

I hope you are all getting a good experience at b-school. I am sure these are difficult economic times for all of you. I am sure some of you are all going through some soul searching, wondering whether this was the right thing to do, how the loans will get paid, will you ever find a job, and how long this downturn will last.

I've lived through some very difficult economic conditions myself, and faced the brunt of it (remember the post-internet bubble in 2000 and 9/11). I've also seen many suffer through it. Usually those who suffer through tough times do so because they take a long time to get through the denial phase - that there are no jobs in i-banking, consulting, hedge funds or private equity at the moment. By then its too late. The important thing is to be agile, flexible and open to options.

In case you are going through similar pains yourself, I have ten recommendations.

1. Grab a brand name job in tough times. When you try to get out, the brand name will help. E.g. if you want to be a banker (later) working in a brand name company may allow you to get into equity research and eventually into banking. If you cannot get that brand consulting job, take something else, and have a two-year strategy to get back in.

2. Remember that this economic cycle (or any economic cycle) will be behind you within years; you just have to find a way to sit tight for 2 years and then you'll get a chance to move to do what you really want to do. [For those of you from India] I've seen people move to India and return to the US to get into sales & trading jobs at investment banks when the markets turned. The important thing was that they had the skill set to get back in.

3. Feed, nurture and grow the network. Don't withdraw. Make friends. Keep a bold face. Be kind and helpful to those with your own rolodex. If you cannot help yourself, help someone else.

4. Do right by the people who need help in this job market if you are doing well. These people will remember you when things are good for them.

5. Keep your ears open. Anecdotally, for example seem to be jobs in the Healthcare sector in Boston (consulting with smaller companies). Also watch out for the big layoffs. Biopharma - if you are in Sales appears to be in trouble. Long term I believe healthcare is a sector that does not have violent cycles so if you like this space, try to build a career in this sector.

6. Follow the early-growth hot spaces. Cleantech is one of those spaces. In cleantech, the hot spaces are water and solar (from what I hear). Read equity research reports and follow the markets, download all the ppts and you can become a knowledgeable person in this space quickly. There are few people with experiences in this area.

7. Work for someone important or a good position for free. Think carefully before you give up a chance to do a free internship instead of no internship. If it takes you to India or China, take it !

8. Do a simple test of the people you are with. If you walk away after hanging with them, and you have a bad feeling about yourself, don't hang with those people. They are bringing down your confidence.

9. Always surround yourself by diversity. Find out what the marketing people are up to. Know what's going on in high-tech. If you get a job, don't hang with people like yourself. If you are in a difficult spot, chances are that they will be too - so always hedge your people; best ideas come from groups that are different from each other.

10. The most important fact: I don't know any bankrupt MBAs, and no Indian MBAs whose careers careened off a cliff. If you are tenacious, persistent, focussed and inherently good, good things will happen.

Good luck. Remember it gets better. I've been through it, as have all my friends. And once you've been through the storm, you realize its not the end of the world.

If anyone is in desperate need of help, please email me (or this group) and we will try to help you to the best of our abilities.

Take care.

Anupendra

http://anupendra.blogspot.com/

Musicians & Dancers of South Asia

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Oscar Pistorius: Let the man run !

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is known as the "Blade Runner" and holds the world record for paralympic sports in 100, 200 and 400 m races. The ban on the use of "devices" for running was overturned, and he was allowed to compete. Should Oscar quality for South Africa, it will be one of the most important moments in the Beijing Olympics, raising a whole host of questions.

Medical devices are already making us part bionic part human. Although we are a long way away from the Hollywood's potrayal of bionic human beings, Oscar's struggle to race against able-bodied men is the beginning of a turning point in medical history.

It is important to note that an MIT Professor conducted significant testing to prove that these feet don't give him any technical superiority. This topic will be the subject of many debates, but eventually it will be replaced with the inevitability and presence of bionics in the world around us.

Norway and 1% of the European Capital Markets!

Norway's sovereign fund (The Government Pension Fund of Norway) reportely has holdings in 7000 companies representing more than $350 billion in investments.

This extraordinary country of 5 million people now holds 1% by value of European Capital Markets. Norway is fortunate to be the world's third largest exporter of oil and gas, with large reserves in the North Sea.

There's much more that remains untapped. Norway is estimated to have 7.7 billion in oil reserves. At $200 a barrel, that's $1.5 trillion in value - equal to the entire global hedge fund industry. This may not be a large amount yet since global capital markets are valued at $150 trillion. However, as sovereign funds balloon to $20 trillion thanks mostly to oil, it would be interesting to see how sovereign funds impact global capital markets.

Lets hope large sums of oil money are spent on technologies we need to protect our own futures - life sciences, nanotechnology, energy, and hopefully donated towards programs that support the world's poorest. After all, oil-rich nations and world's poorest are both largely accidents mostly of geography.

Biopharmaceuticals: Are the Japanese coming ?

Back in the 1980s, the media reacted hysterically as Japanese companies bought up real estate and invested in assets in the USA. After a long hiatus, they're starting to make some big moves that have certainly piqued my interest.

It started with MGI's $3.9 billion acquisition by Eisai in December 2007. Then Millenium Pharmaceuticals ($8 billion sale) and Alnylam ($1 billion agreement) both inked deals in early 2008 with Takeda. This month, Ranbaxy's family sold their entire stake to Daiichi for $4.6 billion.

I'm going to try to find out what's going on.

Where are VC exits headed

There were no venture-backed IPOs in the 2nd Quarter of 2008, the first time in a very long time that this has happened. Since IPOs typically provide the highest valuations, and our industry raises $25 billion a year, this is definitely a disturbing data point. CardioNet was the last company to go out on March 19. The last time we had a quarter-long IPO drought was from December 2002 to March 2003. We've had twelve companies back off going public. Of the six that got out, four were in healthcare.

The good news is that biotech is enjoying a robust M&A market. Several companies have been acquired at excellent valuations.

The Leadership Program Workshop: School's Out!

Saturday was a day of learning. It was the last day that the Class of 2008 of The Leadership Program, a program I started two years ago. Click here to learn more about this program. The day started early (8AM) but it was a rich day providing hard skills to the young and very talented Senior Associates in the program.

Here's what the day looked like:

How do I start a company: An hour with NSR, co-founder of M-Cube and a new mobile mCommerce company

Financial Modeling: An hour learning about intricacies of the valuation, cap table, liquidation preferences, revenue build-ups, P&L, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow statements.

Entrepreneurial Leadership - Lessons from the trenches on building and leading an entrepreneurial team. Pravin Chaturvedi, serial biotech investor and phenomenal mentor talked about his experiences.

1 minute Elevator Pitch: 12 senior associates pitched a range of ideas. The winning pitch was Rajit Kamal about inexpensive overseas insurance.

Fundable Business Plans: Roger Walton of Castile Ventures gave good practical advice on what to do and not to do at the VC pitch.

Term Sheet Basics and Negotiating a deal: Three top lawyers took the senior associates through term sheet negotiations and preparing one's company to receive venture capital

Investor Pitches: 4 senior associates completed 10 minute pitches. Hooman Hodjat of iRelai won the first prize for the best pitch.

Vinit Nijhawan (Former Chairman of TiE Boston and Serial Entrepreneur), Al Kapoor (President of TiE Boston and Managing Partner of Millenium Ventures) and Pravin Chaturvedi (Serial Entrepreneur and President of Napo Pharmaceuticals) provided two hours of detailed individal feedback on all 1-minute pitches and presentations.

An extraordinary day !

Bob Langer wins the Millenium Technology Prize 2008

Bob Langer of MIT wins the Millenium Technology Prize of 2008. This short video captures some of his work. An extraordinary inventor, Bob Langer has created the field of drug delivery systems using biomaterials. The Millenium Technology Prize instituted in 2006, is given by several institutions in Finland, and is considered equivalent to the Nobel for Technology.

Future of American Power: The Rise of the Rest

Read a great article by Fareed Zakaria in Foreign Affairs. Zakharia talks about Britain's rise, peak on June 22, 1897 and the eventual decline of the country's influence as an economic power. The article explains why the US will not emulate Britain's decline. Instead, R&D spending, nanotechnology, life sciences, college education, creativity, entrepreneurship and an incredible ability to attract, accept and assimilate the rest of the world will allow us to muddle through. An outstanding read I recommend to everyone. Click here to read the article.