TiE summit ‘will inspire’ entrepreneurs to ‘think big’

Nearly 3,000 delegates, including some iconic entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley, global investors and venture capitalists, are to converge in New Delhi on December 16-17 for The Indus Entrepreneurs’ (TiE) Global Summit 2016.

The main purpose of the two-day event is to “inspire entrepreneurs in India to think big”, not only in terms of success in India, but also achieving global success, Venktesh Shukla, Chairman, TiE Global, told BusinessLine here.

To be organised in partnership with NITI Aayog and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the conference will provide a platform for all the breakthrough innovation to reach entrepreneurs and investors looking for the next big idea other than opening yet another e-commerce venture for selling shirts online, Shukla said.

Shukla said the conference will also give an opportunity to entrepreneurs to directly convey to the government the next round of steps that may be needed to further improve the start-up ecosystem in India.

He said the situation in India has improved considerably in the last few years, although “things are yet to come to the level of Silicon Valley”.

“As far as the Indian journey is concerned, this is one of the most interesting times. Entrepreneurship has caught the imagination of the population, and the government has now understood that most jobs are generated by small businesses, putting appropriate emphasis on it . The future is nothing but good now,” he said.

Asked to mention the areas where Indian policy-makers could increase focus, Shukla said one area where improvement is needed is “exits”.

“One must consider how easy is it for people who have invested in India to sell their companies and take the money out of the country; how will it be viewed for tax purposes; these issues need clarifications. IPOs are not the only channel for exits. There should be internal and external markets for acquisitions also. It should be easy for other companies to make acquisitions.”

Shukla said it is not be right to generally describe that there is a slowdown in venture-capital activity. “The slowdown is only in last-stage venture capital. From an early-stage investing standpoint — which is the most crucial one — there is no slowdown at all. In fact, there are more players, more money and more appetite when it comes to investing in India.”

He also said that even in the US, areas such as Boston, New York and Las Vegas do not have a entrepreneurial ecosystem as robust as that in the Silicon Valley.

COMMENT NOW