Want to Become the Next Flipkart? Here’s What You Need to Do

Building a startup is much more than the idea; it’s the people who make it a success or a failure.

Is the startup boom in India here to stay? (Photo: iStockphoto)

The startup boom in India has well and truly arrived with investors pumping money into various up-and-coming ventures. People are excited about joining them, or better, setting one up themselves. But venture capitalists (VCs) are keenly aware of the fact that 19 out of 20 startups fail. So what drives a successful startup?

Paddy Cosgrave has seen startup big boys like Uber set up shop with help from the Web Summit – probably the most important startup gathering globally. So it would be fair to say that Paddy has the expertise to comment on the key ingredients of a successful startup.

Startups carry a big element of risk but if your product does become successful, you’re poised to earn more than your banker friends working with multi-national corporations.

<b> Paddy Cosgrave, CEO, Web Summit</b>

Secret Behind a Successful Startup

• An idea is the first step to building a startup but not the most crucial one.
• You need a smart team at the helm and talented workforce to ensure that the idea is executed as planned.

• Both education and experience are important, and in equal measure.
• Put money into the company smartly, whether it’s your own or funds raised from investors.
• Finally, the people managing the startup need to keep up the positive energy of creating something unique.

Startups As Mentors

Talking about the second wave of startups in the country, Paddy touched upon an interesting insight about industry leaders like Flipkart, Snapdeal etc. Recently, Flipkart invested close to $50 million into a Gurgaon-based company called Cube26 Labs and Paddy says startup industries in the West and India are more similar than one would imagine.

Startups that have been running for a while now have decided to invest their<a href="#82347397"> funds</a> in other upcoming brands, mentor them and provide them with a platform for future success.

<b>Paddy Cosgrave</b>

Paddy Cosgrave speaking at the Web Summit. (Photo Courtesy: Web Summit)

Web Summit Comes to India

Paddy is in the country to talk up the Web Summit’s first event in India that is set to take place in Bengaluru early next year. After organising Collision in the US and RISE in the Hong Kong region, the Web Summit is set to address the Indian startup ecosystem with Surge.

The event will have speakers like Sachin Bansal from Flipkart, Nicolas Brusson of BlaBlaCar and Ambarish Mitra of Blippar to name a few. So what does Paddy expect to see from Surge, and Indian startups in general?

Unlike the US where most startups are born in Silicon Valley, Paddy has come across startups in India from diverse cities and says he’s excited to meet fellow entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and products. His expectations have surely risen after recently catching up with a startup plying its trade in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and he hopes that sky will be the limit at Surge.

Well, we have been talking about AI as if it has yet to hit the<a href="#54377069"> market</a> but then the funniest thing happened during my visit to Bengaluru recently. We met these people who have already worked their way through AI and that is fantastic.

<b> Paddy Cosgrave</b>

Paddy’s excitement is infectious and one is led to believe that this is indeed an interesting time for both companies and investors in the Indian startup scene.