Thoroughly enjoyed the first day of my first ever TiECon event. I utilized the opportunity to gain some advice and mentoring as part of the eForum sessions, which kicked off the day's proceedings. I was very encouraged by the receptivity to the concept around TopicPhone(TM) and the resonance of our messaging around the problem we aim to solve.
The formal sessions began with the keynote address by Robert Pozen of MFS Investment management. Robert had the audience completely captured with just the simplicity of his presentation of complex issues that affect capital markets today. Key recommendations to win in this new climate, based on his analysis of the global situation today, included the advice to invest in emerging market bonds, focus on the impact of inevitable interest rate increases, the impact and causality behind high savings rates in China and elsewhere.
The last session for the night focused on some successful businesses in India.
As entrepreneurs we are constantly told about what investors look for in terms of idea, team, validation, etc, etc. So, consider this, a start up which is actually a bank that was started by an entrepreneur who had no background in business let alone banking serving a consumer base which lives below the poverty line issuing loans that are backed by NO (yes, you read that right!) collateral. Would you invest? Well, it turns out that when Padmaja Reddy wants to raise capital today, she gets 30 term sheets from various capital sources in 15 days. She has raised Rupees 12,500 crores (i.e. 125,000 MILLION rupees), built a business that delivers 60% ROE and serves a customer base of several hundred thousand! She is looking to take the micro finance institution IPO in 9 months time and diversify her focus into expense reduction aspects of small entrepreneurs. Padmaja, displaying an unabashed propensity for verbose detail, completely captured the audience's hearts with her strong, blunt viewpoints and a brutally frank assessment of the business climate and opportunities in India. It was very encouraging to hear from Sameer Manchanda (Chairman, DEN networks) about the ease of doing business in areas such as new media due to the lack of regulation in these areas. Another key point that captured my attention was the use of IT to level the playing field in the realm of education in India, specifically in areas where the physical infrastructure is lacking, to enable an education experience that is on par with what is available in the cities.
Look forward to another productive day of opening up channels of opportunities for SIPtopics as well as learning of challenges faced and solutions developed by other entrepreneurs.
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