Doing great things is difficult. Doing them alone, more often than not, is a near-impossible feat. Exemplary leaders and start-up founders have mentors. Bill Gates learnt from Warren Buffet and Steve Jobs’ invaluable advice influenced Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for Facebook. Founders bring an idea to a table that is disrupting, however, scaling up into a profitable and mature organization needs guidance and mentorship.
As a start-up founder, you might think that hard work, talent and perseverance are all that you’d need. In the long journey of entrepreneurship, every start-up needs an experienced mentor for scaling up – somebody who blends corporate wisdom with the founder’s entrepreneurial energy and steers the firm to greater heights.
Value addition at each stage
As an industry veteran, a mentor helps founders navigate business aspects that they have no experience in, be it corporate management on an expansion opportunity or hiring the right leaders. Apart from providing guidance while envisioning strategies and decision-making on cost structures, a mentor offers necessary inputs for entrepreneurs to understand the intricacies and complexities of a growing business.
That’s not all. Mentorship is a guaranteed way to gain experience not shared in books. Your chances of succeeding in scaling up your entrepreneurial venture get amplified, with the mentor’s timely advice and confidence boosters. You can also tap into your mentor’s vast pool of colleagues and friends, to expand your horizon.
Having cruised through the highs and lows of business voyages, a mentor offers ideas that help you navigate to success. In the absence of an experienced professional in the equation, businesses could commit mistakes too challenging to overcome. A case in point is the rise and fall of Adam Neumann, the co-founder of WeWork. Contrastingly, a well-versed Eric Schmidt guided a young Larry Page about being at the helm of a growing start-up and overcoming hurdles through smart, strategic judgements.
Three power-packed combos unlocking newer opportunities
Back home, here are three pairs of founders and mentors who have shown the ways to successful growth and create wealth, through their combined expertise:
1) Flipkart: Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal + Kalyanaraman Srinivasan
Founders of the Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart took on a mighty Amazon in India, one of the most lucrative retail markets in the world. The accomplishment extraordinaire was driven by Kalyanaraman Srinivasan, formerly Amazon’s global technology head for retail and the COO of Groupon.
As a mentor from the same industry vertical, Kalyanaraman helped the Bansals understand the nuances of e-commerce. Moreover, his in-depth expertise on evolving technological trends and shifting market dynamics helped Sachin and Binny to scale up. It led to a leadership position of Flipkart, through online advertisements, subsidiaries like EKart and LetsBuy and acquisitions like Myntra and Jabong.
From an initial investment of USD 5,600 in 2007 for an online bookstore to its alliances with Tiger Global for raising USD 10 million in 2010 and USD 20 million in 2011, Flipkart has an enviable growth story. The powerful combo of Bansal brothers and Kalyanaraman took Flipkart to newer heights, with Walmart purchasing it at a USD 16 billion valuation.
2) Ola: Bhavish Aggarwal + Sachin Bansal
Bhavish Aggarwal, the young founder of Ola Cabs, has teamed up with Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal as a mentor. At a critical phase of expansion, Sachin is guiding Bhavish take on US-based rival Uber. Familiar with negotiations with investors, Sachin is helping Bhavish get an extra edge on the negotiation table, leveraging the offers of Didi Chuxing, a Chinese cab aggregator.
As someone who has ‘been there and done that’, Sachin’s presence has bolstered investor confidence. Instrumental in closing a USD 1.5 billion funding round, the mentor has also connected Bhavish with Ather Energy, to support Ola’s futuristic electric vehicle strategy. Having evoked the interest of Ratan Tata for Ola Electric, this combo is now redefining Ola’s approach to the Indian mobility ecosystem.
3) Oyo: Ritesh Aggarwal + Aditya Ghosh
Ritesh Aggarwal, the founder of hospitality chain Oyo, has found a mentor in Aditya Ghosh. Having successfully built Indigo, a low-cost carrier, from scratch, Aditya Ghosh is now helping Ritesh and Oyo scale to high-quality and affordable services for its hotels.
With his robust experience in scaling up, Aditya is supporting Oyo through strategic decisions, standardization of services and going global. In an industry as unorganized and cyclical as hospitality, where margins are thin, and customer frequencies are influenced by seasonal trends, the duo is all set to make Oyo one of the largest hospitality brands in the world.
Experience and Energy: The keys to scaling up in a high-powered startup ecosystem
Through the lens of their knowledge, mentors find creative solutions for current problems and look at the bigger picture. When founders and mentors gel together for a grander vision, we can nurture the dream of a robust startup ecosystem in India that is scalable, and sustainable.
Note: I have been an investor and mentor to a few start-ups. The energy and fresh idea of the youngsters often help me in reverse mentoring; I learn quite a few things that can be done better and faster in today’s corporate world.
