Hindustantimes wants to start sending you push notifications. Click allow to subscribe

Pune on my mind: Entrepreneurship is in Pune’s DNA, says Vikrant Vartak

Hindustan Times, Pune | ByVikrant Vartak
Jul 22, 2019 04:11 PM IST

According to Vartak, Pune’s business people believe in slow and steady growth. They believe in evolving and not exploding and they avoid debt as much as possible.

In his fabulous book ‘Maverick’, Brazilian businessman Ricardo Semler says, ‘Only two things grow for the sake of growth: businesses and tumors’.

The last decade has seen just too many businesses going up extremely fast and falling down faster. These ‘rocket’ entrepreneurs, new and old, big and small, were in extreme hurry and spoke of exponential growth and million dollar revenues in a short time.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

However, many of these entrepreneurs are now fighting debts, facing bankruptcies and acquisitions and are in jail or ‘holidaying’ abroad.

Over the last four-and-a-half years, we have had the privilege of interviewing 20 successful business leaders from Pune for our event, The Senate Talk Show, from leading organisations like Thermax, KPIT, Cybage, Zensar, Magarpatta City, Chitale Bandhu and others. There was a remarkable similarity in the fundamental business principles that each of these leaders followed while they led their organisations:

•All of them believe in ‘slow and steady’ growth. They shunned rapid growth characterised by growth spurts. They understand that businesses have to experiment, but it cannot be with ‘spikes and valleys’. Their approach towards growth remarkably matches the ‘20 Miles March’ principle explained by business authors Jim Collins and Morten T Hansen in their bestseller ‘Great by Choice’.

•They believe in ‘evolving’ and not ‘exploding’. They prefer organic growth to inorganic one. They feel that if there is a need to acquire to fill up gaps or acquire skills, it’s fine. Acquiring companies for ego is not acceptable.

•Most of these leaders avoid debt as much as possible. Despite the size of their balance sheets, some of them even have a zero debt balance sheet. They broadly do not like borrowing and would borrow only when really required.

•They all held ethics and values in business of paramount importance and made umpteen trade-offs to safeguard them even if it meant significant loss to their organisation.

In business, it is important to distinguish between ‘good growth’ and ‘bad growth’. Good growth is profitable (both the top and bottom lines should grow consistently), organic, differentiated, capital efficient and sustainable. It may not turn in the best numbers in the industry when measured over any short-term period, but the cumulative performance over a longer period is very good. Good growth also strengthens the company’s DNA by creating new competencies and strengths.

On the other hand, bad growth is growth for its own sake. It is profitless, wasteful of capital, reckless and erratic. This kind of growth has been the undoing of many business leaders obsessed with the drive for size.

The similarity of the business principles across these leaders from Pune matches the very DNA of a Puneite. While a Puneite would come across as a conservative, risk-averse individual to outsiders, if balanced with the right level of ambition, this same DNA helps build a strong, sustainable and profitable organisation which is there for the long haul. They pursue good growth rather than bad growth. On the other hand, many ‘rocket’ entrepreneurs after a small and tiring sprint end up into nothing if not a disaster.

My earliest memories of Pune

We all remember Pune as a calm, laid back city. Some even called it ‘retired’ city! There are umpteen jokes around the practice (though not followed now) of pulling down shutters of retail establishments for a few hours in the afternoon for a siesta!

State of Pune today

While the DNA of Pune and Puneites may not (and need not) change, Pune majorly lacks the startup ecosystem that cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi have. There are industry bodies and organisations fostering entrepreneurship, but their cumulative impact is far from what it should be to produce a meaningful impact.

One change that I want to see

I recently attended a business conference in Delhi which concluded with an entrepreneurial awards ceremony. While many awards were given out to successful organisations across India, there was not a single awardee from Pune! While the DNA of a Puneite keeps him well-grounded in business, it also prevents very large brands emerging from Pune. Manufacturing, automobile, engineering and IT have traditionally been Pune’s stronghold. However, we do not see any new-age brands, like OLA, OYO, Paytm, Swiggy and so on, coming from Pune.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
OPEN APP