I am hesitant to say what is important to an entrepreneur because entrepreneurs come in various sizes and shapes and they also tend be different for different industries, and also change with time and place.

But if I were to find some common elements, they might be – clarity of vision in terms of the goal and the dream to be attained, ability to inspire and rally teams and people towards that goal, perseverance in face of many upheavals and obstacles, enterprising – ability to adapt and innovate not only in technology but in business, and optimism so that you can keep hoping that things will eventually turn for better.

Innovation and breakthroughs happen at startups because they are the ones who think 'why not'. Having many startups creates a healthy atmosphere for businesses.

India definitely needs more entrepreneurs. We need many small companies – many more than what we actually have. Also, those small companies should be in various areas- not just in IT or Web. Startups form an important role in the ecosystem. We are yet to realize the full potential of such an ecosystem.

Even communist countries like China are coming up with innovative ideas to foster entrepreneurship in their country. In reality, Chinese entrepreneurs get much more support in terms of financing than Indian entrepreneurs.

Our government should allocate more funds to fund startups. Big companies that have become successful should become more aggressive in funding startups. In IT, many successful giants do not fund or aid startups. That's not a good idea.

Image: Sujai Karampuri. | Photograph, courtesy: Sloka Telecom

Also read: Management lessons from Chanakya

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