Startup and Innovation Management

Indian Startups Dr. P.Baba Gnanakumar

Rags To Riches



VISION







• Once you start working on POWER OF INDIAN
something, don’t be afraid ENTREPRENEURS
of failure and don’t
abandon it. People who 2
work sincerely are the
happiest.

– Chanakya

AGENDA 3

Creative Confidence:

Unleashing the Creative Potential
Within Us
David M. Kelley and Tom Kelley

Empowering Others

Brain Tracy

Rashmi Bansal's book

'Connect the Dots'

STARTED WITH RS 150,
NOW RUNS A CHAIN OF

DOSA RESTAURANTS
WORTH 30 CRORES!

4

• Born in 1973. 5
• At age 17, Prem Ganapathy left his native place

Nagalapuram in Tuticorin without informing his
parents in the pursuit of making money, after a
person promised him a job in Mumbai.
• After Ganapathy completed his tenth standard, he
did not want to study further.
• He worked for about two years across restaurants in
Mumbai doing all sorts of odd jobs. He soon realised
that there was a good potential in the catering
business

• "I was scared but I was willing to 6
take the risk. We took a local
train to Bandra and I was eagerly
waiting to see where I would
begin my new career. He took me
to a tea shop and vanished. My
worst fears came true. He had
just dumped me there,"
Ganapathy reminisces.

• I started to move out of the
hotel, to give tea/coffee to
shopkeepers around that
area. I used to earn Rs 1,000,
three times more than the
other boys as this service was
based on a commission
basis,"

7

• "I used to keep a note of every person's requirement, some 8
wanted strong tea, some wanted it without sugar. So I
established a good rapport with the outside world. One
person who had a small business saw that I was
enterprising and hard working so he suggested that we
open a food stall on the street on a joint partnership. He
invested the money and told me to do the work and he
promised me half of the profit," he says.

• But declined to do so

Self Confidence 9

• By 1992, Prem had managed to save up
enough to rent his own handcart. He
started selling idlis and dosas on the
street opposite Vashi railway station. “I
borrowed some money from friends
and rented a handcart for Rs 150. It
was really difficult in the initial days.
Many times, the municipality vans used
to come and pick our handcart. But I
was very positive and determined. I
never gave up hope,”



• Ganapathy was lucky to have helpful
roommates. They were very friendly
and supportive.

• "Since they studied at NIIT, they
guided me well. They even taught me
a computer course. They also spread
the word around about my dosas. My
business did well," he says.

• "I took a break of two hours every
evening and spent the time surfing at
a cyber cafe

10

• “I took a break of two hours every evening and spent the

time surfing at a cyber cafe. I used to read about various

businesses and learned quite a lot. My brothers also played
a crucial role in making the business a success,” he says.
After witnessing the success of a McDonald’s restaurant

which started beside his cart, Prem soon decided to venture

out and start his own restaurant.
• "I was amazed to see the long queues of people who

wanted to buy a burger. What is so great about the burger, I

used to think. That's when I realised how a restaurant can

make a big impact."

111

• In 1997, Prem leased a small 12
space for Rs 5,000 a month
nearby and named it Prem Sagar
Dosa Plaza. His business grew as
he started experimenting with
dosas. In the first year itself, he
introduced 26 different varieties
of dosas,

• "In 2003, a new mall
called Centre One
opened in Vashi. The
people from mall
management team who
knew me suggested that
I open an outlet in the
mall."

13



• My father instilled in me a lot of positive
energy. This is what kept me going
strong. I have tried to see an opportunity
in every loss. Even when people teased
him, saying 'your son has ditched you
and gone far away', he always used to
tell them 'I am happy for him as I know
wherever he is, he will do well'.

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• Dosa Plaza gained popularity, got a lot of media
coverage as well. Ganapathy started offering
franchises to people who wanted to set up the outlet
elsewhere.

• The first franchise outlet opened at Wonder Mall, in
Thane.

• Ganapathy went for a brand-building exercise for
better visibility. "The brand makeover helped. We got
a new logo design as 'approved by Dr. D', and
changed the name to Dosa Plaza. This was a big boost
to the business.

15

• "In 2008, we opened franchisee outlets

in New Zealand. About 50 per cent of

our clients in New Zealand are locals.

In fact, the former Prime Minister of

New Zealand, Helen Clark and other

ministers had dinner from our outlet,"

says Ganapathy. The next outlets will

be in the US and Dubai. Today, Dosa

Plaza has 35 outlets across 10 states in

India with a turnover of over Rs 5 crore
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(Rs 50 million).

• Another interesting instance
was when film star
Rajnikant's wife visited Dosa
Plaza

• Rajnikant also invited him to
attend his daughter's
wedding

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Rags to Riches II

• ‘ragging the “riches”











CASE II

• Sachin Bansal
• Binny Bansal

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CASE II
FOUNDERS OF FLIPKART

• Flipkart is an e-commerce company founded in 2007 by
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. It is registered in
Singapore and it operates in India, where it is
headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. Flipkart has
launched its own product range under the name
“DigiFlip” with products including tablets, USBs, and
laptop bags.

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• Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are from 22
Chandigarh. Although they share the same last
name, they are not related. They both were students
of computer science engineering at Indian Institute
of Technology Delhi. Before the tremendous success
of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal wanted to become a
professional gamer.

• It was launch in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny
Basal; who used to work for Amazon before starting
this project. Bansals went to Indian Institute of
Technology for getting their graduation degrees.
They initially invested their own money into this
business and later raised capital from big guns like;
Accel India, Tiger Global and Naspers Group.

Power of Promoting • We used to stand outside Gangaram Book Stores on
Church Street and hand over Flipkart bookmarks to
the people coming out of the shop. In order to make
sure that our targeting was right, we would give
bookmarks to only those who were coming out2w3 ith
books in hands; the people who have made
purchases.