An evening with Dr Annurag Batra
On Friday, April 21, we had a very engaging webinar by Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of BW Businessworld.
About Dr. Annurag Batra
Dr Anurag Batra is a serial entrepreneur, media mogul, a journalist and an eternal optimist rolled into one. Since taking over BW Businessworld, Dr Batra has expanded the media organization into digital, events and BW communities which cater to niche audiences in different sectors.
The exchange4media group(e4m), founded by Dr Batra, is India’s leading media industry company which houses several brands under its fold. The brands include: PITCH – India’s only Advertising, Marketing and Media Magazine; IMPACT – The Marketing Weekly; Franchisee Plus – Business Opportunity Magazine; Realty Plus – India’s leading monthly real estate magazine and samachar4media.com – leading media industry website in Hindi.
Dr Batra mentors many budding entrepreneurs. BW Accelerate is an initiative he has launched to provide a structured platform to entrepreneurs for mentorship and growth. Dr Batra also enjoys the process of reverse mentoring.
Dr Batra is happy to collaborate with budding entrepreneurs. He likes to get involved where he feels he can add value and where there is chemistry. During the session, when one attendee wanted some guidance on taking forward an idea for automated evaluation of handwritten answer scripts, Dr Batra immediately agreed to help.
Dr Batra wants to give back to the industry. His love for teaching comes into play in his position as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of FMCC (Futuristic Media Communication Centre), a leading Media and Communication School in India.
Dr Batra describes himself as a serendipitous entrepreneur. He set up a B-B space for advertising time and space. It was an idea ahead of time. He has come a long way since then.
An extremely grounded person, Dr Batra acknowledges the blessings of God and his parents. He believes that everything is preordained.
Dr Batra is a B. Tech in Computer Science, and an MBA from Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon. In 2006, MDI conferred on him the “Most Distinguished Alumni of the Decade Award”.
Introduction
Dr Batra’s session was focused on Entrepreneurship, Empathy and Equity.
There is no doubt that entrepreneurship is important for a country like India. There is a lot that is happening to enable entrepreneurs. But much more can be done.
Empathy is key to success for an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs who are empathetic are more likely to create products and services that are accessible and inclusive for everyone, regardless of their background or socioeconomic status. Without empathy, entrepreneurs may fail to identify customer pain points and fail to develop solutions that truly address their customers' needs.
Equity in entrepreneurship refers to creating opportunities and access for individuals who may have been traditionally underrepresented or marginalized in the field. This can include women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and individuals from low-income backgrounds.
On choosing a profession
We must love the work we do. And we must keep improving our work. Then there will be a virtuous cycle. Dr Batra’s firm belief is that if you make your hobby your profession, you don’t have to work, and life will be a blessing.
On the importance of media
Dr Batra believes that media is a very important industry. There are several opportunities for entrepreneurs in this space. The media controls the information flow and the narratives. There are some very good media entrepreneurs. Those who have good ideas, can work hard, and mobilize capital can do well. Later in the session, Dr Batra mentioned the names of Arun Poorie, Rajat Sharma and Pranay Roy. Unfortunately, the tolerance for honest reporting has come down.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship has got a major fillip in the last decade. As the Prime Minister has mentioned, it is ok to fail. There is nothing bad about failure. Experience is what we get then we don’t get what we want. But entrepreneurship is not easy. It involves sweat and toil. Dr Batra referred to a book,” The hard thing about hard things”. In recent years, India has produced may successful ventures: Naukri, Paytm, Zomato, etc. And entrepreneurship will continue to grow.
Dr Batra summarized the six rules of entrepreneurship.
The six rules
- As Confucius once said, “Make your hobby a profession. Then you do not have to work.” If we can enjoy something which makes a great impact and at the same time gives us money, it is the best situation to be in. In other words, we should build the venture around an idea we are passionate about.
- Learn to do a lot with frugal resources. We should not complain about lack of resources.
- We must deal with uncertainty.
- Entrepreneurship is a leap of faith. We can never predict accurately what will happen. We should go ahead and try things out. Then only we will know what works and what does not.
- Entrepreneurship is a team sport. It is not about one person. Partners, team members, investors and customers must come together to make the venture a success.
- Entrepreneurship is a marathon and not a sprint. It is important to take a long-term view.
Empathy (Karuna)
Empathy is about feeling what the other person feels. It is about putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes. Empathy makes us calm and enables us to develop better relationships with people. Empathy gives us happiness and fulfilment, personally and professionally. When we demonstrate empathy, we will get God’s blessings. Empathy is energy in motion. Empathy leads to new ideas, solutions, and business models. Without empathy, we cannot understand what customers want.
There has never been a greater need to practise empathy. In today’s cutthroat corporate environment, empathy is needed to encourage and build on the strengths of people. Empathy is needed to connect at a human level and to work with a group of diverse individuals. Empathy is the medicine the world needs. To be happy we must make others happy. Empathy plays an important role here. Compassion and empathy go together.
We all have a mysterious, invisible connection to each other. Empathy already exists. We do not need to find it. Sometimes, we do not deploy it. For example, if we are in a hurry, we may not stop to help someone.
Empathy is between equals. There are situations when we need a shoulder to cry on. We just need to listen to the other person.
During a discussion with a colleague, if we cannot see eye to eye, at least, we must see heart to heart.
Equity
Equity is about creating opportunities and access for others. Equity is about involving people and giving them ownership. It is about giving people a seat at the decision-making table. Giving 100% attention to people and being in the moment (mindfulness) are also forms of equity.
Dr Batra spoke not only about giving equity but also about asking for it. We should feel worthy of it and ask for it. Equity should be seen as a compensation for hard work and extraordinary contributions.
Empathy and equity together ensure that we enjoy good relationships with people, unlock the doors of abundance and ensure that we are always high on energy.
An MBA program only sensitizes students. It does not provide what is needed in the real world. Experience is needed. Prof Prasad, from his own experience, added that ventures can teach us 10 times more than what an MBA program does. Some 15 years of experience are typically needed to understand the environment. It also makes sense to get some relevant experience as intrapreneurs, ie entrepreneurs within the company. For example, we could take up a new project and take it to closure.
Dr Batra feels that introductions play an important role. One classmate enabled him to get funding. Another provided him office space. A third informed him when BW was up for sale.
Dr Batra believes BW has made a lot of progress in recent years. But there is still a long way to go. The group has not scratched the surface when it comes to Digital. And that will need heavy investments. But some good work has happened. There are some 27 B-B communities. BW is also expanding the universe of business readers with a Hindi edition.
While BW has entered new areas such as event management, the core editorial product has been strengthened. So, there is no risk of brand dilution. The future looks good.
Going forward, BW will further expand, host bigger events, keep improving and pursue operational excellence. In response to another question, Dr Batra added that print will remain important for the foreseeable future. As digital grows, print will also grow. Dr Batra is excited about the next edition of the Marketing White book.
Compared to the US, we are far behind. Facebook was for example nurtured on the campus. But things are changing. In Bangalore, there is a startup fund that targets only campus entrepreneurs. In the next 3-6 years, 10% of the ideas that become big, will come from the campuses. Things are changing for the better. So, we must be hopeful.
While education by design must be broad-based and holistic, educational institutions should take up research in specialised areas and consulting seriously. In Europe for example, archiving knowledge about museums is an important field.
Government can only create polices. Entrepreneurs must seize the initiative. The current government is doing a great job be it UPI, ONDC or infrastructure. The speed with which the policy on drones was enacted last year is remarkable. The government also decided to play the role of market maker. As a result, we are on our way to becoming a drone economy.