Do More Faster India. Brad Feld
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Название: Do More Faster India
Автор: Brad Feld
Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited
Жанр: Экономика
isbn: 9781119698913
isbn:
Registered startups also get an exemption from the angel tax mentioned above.
The ability for a startup to certify for compliances is a huge advantage since India has a vast number of laws related to labor and employment. For example, most companies require a registration certificate under the Shops and Establishments Act or the Factories Act, depending on the nature of work carried out. But each State has its own Shops and Establishment Act which regulates many of the work‐related compliances, including:
Number of paid leaves, sick leaves, and casual leaves
Number of working days and holidays
Minimum and maximum number of working hours per day
Obviously, the startup company needs to study the relevant Act before making company policies since all employers must adhere to labor laws.
But that’s not all. Every employer is required to adhere to and maintain multiple registers under the following Acts. However, a registered startup will not be subject to inspections from government inspectors and is only required to file self‐certification that they comply with the following labor laws:
Minimum Wages Act
Payment of Bonus Act
Maternity Benefit Act
Equal Remuneration Act
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act
Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act (for employers with 20 or more employees)
One other Act employers must comply with is the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. If an employer has 10 or more employees, then it must draft and implement an Anti‐Sexual Harassment Policy at the workplace, and also create an Internal Committee to be headed by a woman employee. That person is charged with hearing and resolving disputes pertaining to complaints of sexual harassment.
The vast number of laws at the Central and State level is a major concern for ease of doing business in India and the government is attempting to consolidate the fragmented and numerous labor laws into organized labor codes. An online portal called “Shram Suvidha” aims to make labor law compliance easier and allows employers to report compliance under various laws.
When in Doubt, Seek Legal Advice
There are so many compliances that are applicable, even for a startup, that it’s best to seek legal advice early in your growth. In addition to the issues listed above, there are tax issues, laws pertaining to company formation and to financing, and a host of other issues. And many of the regulations are specific to the State where a company is located. We didn’t discuss other issues like intellectual property or dispute resolution. All of these issues need to be navigated and prepared for, and the best startup founders consider India’s complex legal structure early in the formation of their company.
Introduction
When startup founders first get to Techstars accelerators, they receive the red‐carpet treatment from us. They are introduced to the Techstars team—many of whom have gone through the program, sold their company, and come back to work with us. They get to meet the mentors, many of whom are well‐known within the startup community, and have earned national and international reputations. They get to talk about themselves, their idea, their vision and aspirations, and to have interested people ask them thoughtful questions. They immediately start developing relationships with the other founders in the program.
Then, reality sets in.
If we could sum up that reality in one word, it’s intensity. The amount of work that needs to be done—data to collect and validate, meetings with mentors, follow‐up contact with people, processing of feedback, and exploration of options—all happens so quickly and in such a short, compressed time, that many founders are shocked by the daunting task ahead.
We have found that the right mindset and approach to being a startup entrepreneur is the key to reducing that shock to hours, if not minutes. The following introductory chapters provide a perspective into what successful startup entrepreneurs are doing and thinking, and how they approach the startup challenge.
Chapter 1 Do More Faster
David Cohen
David is the cofounder and Managing Partner of Techstars.
Startups do almost everything at a disadvantage. Initially, most startups have less money than their competitors. They have less credibility and fewer customers. They have fewer employees, which means there are fewer people focused on marketing, sales, and product development. Resources are scarce at a startup.
But, as in the martial arts, the best startups use the weight of their opponents to compete more effectively. Bureaucracy slows down larger companies. People do less in larger companies because making a mistake can be politically costly. Risk takers who are wrong get fired or lose power internally. The larger the company, the more likely it is to be slow and fraught with internal politics.
If there’s one competitive advantage that most startups have, it’s that they can do more faster. And because they can do more faster, they can learn more faster. Startups can immediately throw things away that don’t work, because no one cares, anyway. Nobody is trying to protect a brand that doesn’t exist, and there isn’t any reason to be afraid of small failures. Startups know that that’s just part of the process.
If you ask CEOs of major companies what they’re most worried about, one common answer is, “a couple of people in a garage somewhere.” Why would a major company be worried about that? Because their larger and more established competitors have too much to lose to try something radically different. There’s too much at stake for these large companies to try to blow up the market to disrupt the existing players. Relatively speaking, startups have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying radical or nonobvious things. Larger companies are often baffled at just how much a startup can get done—and it scares them.
One of the things we talk with startups at Techstars about is that they have to do more faster. This doesn’t mean doing random stuff—they still have to be thoughtful. But if they’re not hyperproductive as small, nimble companies, then they’re fighting from a real disadvantage. There is no advantage to being a startup if you can’t do more faster. I’m such a big believer in this that I originally named my own first angel fund Bullet Time Ventures. It’s named after the move from the movie The Matrix, where Neo is so fast that he can easily dodge bullets. To him, his enemies move in slow motion, so he has an obvious advantage over them that can make all the difference in the virtual world he lives in. The same is true in the startup world.
When Occipital was in Techstars in 2008, they were faster than a speeding bullet. As a visual search company, they tried several products before having a runaway hit with RedLaser. All of their products were interesting, but what really paid off for Occipital was their ability to try their ideas quickly and throw away what didn’t work while focusing on what did work. RedLaser was actually the fourth product Occipital worked on over a six-month time frame. On the surface, this may sound disorganized СКАЧАТЬ