Ketan Kapoor, co-founder of Mettl, an online assessment platform , passed out of IIM Calcutta in 2004. Mettl was launched in September 2009. Before setting up his own company, he worked with other start-ups. BLoC asked him a few questions about entrepreneurship and experience. Excerpts:
How important is experience before a student decides to start up?
I started when I was 30, and I had a couple of start-up experiences under my belt. But could I have started at 25? Probably, yes. I would say it depends on circumstances. If one has done a lot of internships, and been exposed to the corporate world while studying, then probably he, or she, could start right away, especially if there is the right perspective and hunger to learn as much as possible.
But if somebody hasn’t seen the world, hasn’t gone out and dirtied their hands, then a few years’ experience is definitely helpful. Otherwise, everything is just theoretical. You need to get a practical realisation of how things work — what works, what doesn't.
As I mentioned, if you have that exposure while you’re studying, then you can start right away. I think the best start-ups come out of campuses because you have the right people around you, you can build the right team with complementary skill-sets.
Speaking of teams, how do you pick your partners?
Picking a partner is very similar to choosing a spouse (laughs). You probably get married to your founders and co-founders. But the most important factor is that you should be able to blindly trust them.
Whoever you chose, the person should have complementary skills. If somebody is a sales person, then you need to have someone on the team who is good at product development or technology. If people have different viewpoints or a different way to look at the world, it definitely helps.
While complementarity and different skill-sets and points of view are necessary, similar thought processes in terms of ethics, of doing or not doing certain things, are equally important.
Statistics show that most start-ups fail after the first year. Why does this happen? Is there a way to cushion failure?
I think the main reason is that the first year is filled with euphoria of having started something on your own. But the realisation and practicalities start dawning from the 13th month. That is why you see a lot of failures there.
Reducing failure is obviously dependent on various things, such as the kind of idea or problem that is being solved. Is it far too complex or too easy? Does it have a market? Will somebody pay for it? Does it require technology solutions? Can it be scaled over a period of time?
One litmus test that people can do early on is to ask themselves if they will put their own money into the set up. Would they bet their own house and everything they have? If you can’t do it or you don’t have the money, would your friends and family bet on you?
I believe that if you start with your own money, or their friend’s or family’s money, failures can be drastically reduced because the sense of responsibility is much more. And you will think five times more before spending.