ES-I: A Blog to help First-Time Entrepreneurs in India
Taking inspiration from hundreds of startups incubated at IIT Madras & elsewhere over the years Today, Incubation of startups, driving innovative technologies, is flourishing at numerous educational institutions in India. When we started some 25 years back, the institutions had a dilemma. We were often told that educational institutions are meant to pursue only Saraswati , the Goddess of Vidya (knowledge). Businesses are all about the pursuit of Lakshmi , the Goddess of Wealth. As per Indian tradition, mixing Saraswati and Lakshmi is not done. It would negatively impact the educational institutions. Therefore, our early incubation of startups were carried out quietly and largely without formal approvals. However, these startups showed that knowledge generated in educational institutions could indeed be commercialised for the benefit of society. It took considerable time, but the Saraswati – Lakshmi dilemma faded gradually. By the turn of the century, there wer...