Kochi: The technology industry in India is in for fast growth in the coming years and offers a unique opportunity for startup companies, R Chandrasekharan, executive vice-chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions, said here on Saturday.
Speaking at a panel discussion at TiEcon Kerala 2014 meet, Chandrasekharan said technology disrupts business and creates new opportunities.
“Sales on the Thanksgiving Day in the US went down by 10 per cent this year online sales went up 20 per cent on the Cyber Monday,” he said.
He advised budding entrepreneurs not set up startups for quick money, but be prepared for a long haul. Entrepreneurs must look for viable partnerships with big companies, he said.
Aruna Jayanthi, CEO of Capgemini India, said there is little point in being unique, but it matters if one can help a customer improve his business. “And it is very important to stop an
enterprise if it is not viable,” she said.
SunTech Business Solutions CEO K Nanda Kumar said domain expertise is critical to the success of an enterprise. “Entrepreneurs must have problem solving skills and should bet for the big. It’s important that one should be able to identify a need,” he said.
According to Rajesh S Upadhyaya, chairperson, IIM-K, Kochi campus, IT start-ups in Kerala may focus on tourism, financial services and Ayurveda as they offered potential for scaling up.
Ravi Gururaj, chairman, Frictionless Ventures, said entrepreneurship is pursuit of opportunity irrespetive of availability of resources.
There are areas which offered limited opportunities in which small companies can partner with the big ones, and help them improve their business.
And then there are the bigger opportunities such as education and healthcare in India where there is a huge demand for services,” he said.
“With the kind of penetration mobile phones have made in India, startups can even concentrate on mobile-only applications,” he said. V K Mathews, chairman, IBS, chaired the
session. There were sessions on agri and food processing, product, packaging, design & innovation, and women entrepreneurship also.
