Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: Low Appetite for Risk

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Why has Kolkata’s startup ecosystem failed to thrive thus far?

One hypothesis is that the Bengali population has low tolerance for risk. There is, obviously, truth to this, especially in view of the evidence that the bulk of entrepreneurial progress in Bengal has been led by the Marwari and Gujarati communities.

I do think, however, that entrepreneurship today can be partially de-risked by starting the early learning and validation process while holding on to a salary-paying job.

In other words, the magic bullet for de-risking founders is Bootstrapping with a Paycheck. 

You see, India is going through an enormous transition. 

People understand that the passport to climbing the economic pyramid is through education, especially technical education.

Young people coming from modest backgrounds feel responsible for their families. In them lies their family’s entire hope. You cannot blame them for wanting to mitigate risk. They have a lot to lose. High paying jobs are easy to come by.

Contrast that to the progeny of those who have already climbed the economic ladder. Children of affluent parents have safety nets. As a result, the bulk of entrepreneurship in India happens in this segment.

This stratification, however, will increase inequality.

To achieve a scalable solution, we need to enable risk-mitigated entrepreneurship.

And that’s where my silver bullet comes in: Bootstrap with a Paycheck. Manage your risk. And you still get to play the startup game.

This is another reason why I don’t diss Services companies. 

It is another way to mitigate risk.

Bootstrapping a Product Startup Using Services works. 

And with these two strategies, people with lower safety nets can still participate in the startup tournament.

Photo Credit: Devika/Flickr.com

This segment is a part in the series : Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata