Introduction
On Friday, February 10, we had a very engaging session by Mr Mahankali Srinivas Rao (MSR), the Chief Executive Officer of T-Hub.
About Mr MSR
An accomplished serial entrepreneur, MSR has built and scaled businesses across geographies during his 35-year stint in the IT industry.
At T-Hub, MSR is committed to making the organization a stronger innovation ecosystem enabler with high-quality outcomes. To achieve these aims, he is focused on fund-raising initiatives, facilitating higher valuations for startups, robust employment generation and building scale through active community engagement. MSR wants to raise the bar on innovation to ensure that T-Hub transforms Telangana into a leader in innovation.
Before T-Hub, MSR served as Chief Executive Officer of GAME (Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship), a social impact entity, whose mission is to catalyse 10 million mass entrepreneurs by 2030. Earlier, he co-founded Aujas in 2008, with a vision to help organizations manage risk and enhance information value through innovation and excellence. He facilitated the sale of Aujas to NSEIT, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Stock Exchange.
MSR was part of the promoter team at Network Solutions (Netsol) which he helped scale from an early-stage entity to being among India’s top 3 Network Integration entities before its acquisition by IBM in October 2005.
At the start of his career, MSR also worked at Sonata, Computer Vision Labs and Microland.
A native of Telangana, MSR holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Osmania University College of Engineering. He is a bibliophile, a cricket fanatic and enjoys quizzing. He and his wife, a special educator, are the proud parents of two daughters.
About T Hub
T- Hub has been set up to put Telangana back on the innovation map. T-Hub has been conceived of as a public private initiative involving the government, industry, and Academia. The founding partners include the Telangana government, ISB, IIIT Hyderabad and NALSAR. T-Hub operates with considerable autonomy and has an independent board. it is staffed by some 60 entrepreneurs with rich experience in launching and building startups. They are eminently qualified to mentor budding entrepreneurs.
Vision and road map
The aim of T Hub is to make Telangana a happening place for entrepreneurship. With some 10-12 million people being added to the country’s workforce every year, the need of the hour is job creation. All young people cannot become job seekers. Some of them should aspire to be job providers. In the next 5 years, T-Hub would like to impact 20,000 startups across India and the world.
The Telangana Innovation Ecosystem
T-Hub works closely with the other partners in the Telangana innovation ecosystem.
- TSIC: This is the state innovation cell that takes innovation to the districts.
- WE HUB: This has been set up to encourage women led businesses.
- T- WORKS: This serves as a rapid prototyping centre. It is the maker’s club where equipment such as 3D printers and CNC machines are available for entrepreneurs to build working models and prototypes.
- RICH: Resource and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad works closely with other leading labs in and around Hyderabad.
- TASK: This is the Academy of Skilling and Knowledge which runs various courses.
- Emerging Technologies: This arm of the government explores the possibility of innovations driven by emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI and ML.
There is room for all these different entities to operate. Care is taken by the different entities to ensure that overlaps are minimised, for creating a multiplier impact.
The impact made by T Hub
T Hub has enabled startups to raise about $ 1.9 bn so far. These startups have created about 16,328 jobs. T Hub has established 107 partnership and enabled the formulation of 22 policies. Among the famous startups incubated in T Hub are Skyroot, Gayan Motorworks, Banyan Nation, Paymatrix and AdOnMo.
The 6M 2P Framework
T Hub has put in place a robust 6 M 2P framework to strengthen the ecosystem:
The 6 Ms are: Market Access, Money, Methodologies, Mentoring, Manpower and Motivation.
The two Ps are: Policies and Partnerships.
Market Access
Marketing is an area where startups need a lot of support. T-Hub connects entrepreneurs to various market opportunities.
Money
T Hub connects entrepreneurs with both governments, corporates, and other investors for funding. Entrepreneurs can access both equity and grant funds thanks to the support provided by T-Hub. Details are given below.
Methodologies
Startups need help in refining their ideas. Timely feedback from experienced people can help. T Hub has put in place a well thought out methodology to help startups in different stages of the life cycle.
Mentoring
Mentoring is very important for the success of startups. T Hub has a pool of 172 mentors who have provided 12,404 mentoring hours and 1239 knowledge session hours.
Manpower
T Hub enables startups to identify their manpower requirements and do their recruitments accordingly.
Motivation
Entrepreneurs need motivation to keep chugging along, despite all the challenges. T-Hub takes this seriously and organizes various events.
Policies
T-Hub works closely with the government to ensure that the startup perspectives are captured in new polices formulated by the government.
Partnerships
T-Hub has established several partnerships with leading universities, corporates, laboratories, research institutions and accelerators.
Q&A
The work we do should ideally relate to something we are passionate about. Most successful entrepreneurs launch their startups to solve a problem they feel deeply about. We have to find our calling in life. MSR recommended the book “Man’s search for meaning” by Victor Frenkel.
From 200 startups in 2105, there are 7500 today in Telangana. The state is third ranked in India in this regard. The mortality rate in entrepreneurship is quite high. T Hub has to strike a balance between quality and quality. So, it is not possible to support all of the ideas. Some amount of screening is required. Last year, LAB 32 selected 32 from the 500 applications received.
The rise of ChatGPT shows that many jobs can get automated. The skills of today can become irrelevant tomorrow. For example, Fortran and Cobol which MSR learnt in college are not very relevant today. So we must impart skills which will keep students in good stead in the long run and enable them to “learn to learn” and be lifelong learners. The curriculum should include 21st century foundational skills like Critical thinking, Creativity, Communication and Collaboration. Both students and academic institutions must focus on these 4 Cs to stay relevant. Students should also be sensitized to work for the community.
A sandbox attempts to provide a safe environment for testing an innovation. T-Hub ‘s thinking is very much aligned with this concept. A large part of T Hub’s engagement with budding entrepreneurs is about validating and rigorously examining their idea and making them understand how to make the idea more monetizable and scalable. T Hub also checks whether the entrepreneur has the right team in place. This way, the risk is reduced. We must remember that of the 88,000 registered startups in the country, only about 6000 (about 7-8%) have been funded.
Of course, risk cannot be eliminated completely. T-Hub cannot run the business on behalf of the entrepreneur. It can only help in lowering the probability of failure of the venture.
Passion is important. Entrepreneurship is a rocky journey with ups and downs. So, a mindset of perseverance and delayed gratification is key to success.
TSIC is focussed on seeding entrepreneurship in the rural areas. The government has set up 5 towers to take care of Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam, Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar. There are indications that with the right level of awareness building and support, entrepreneurship can flourish in the rural areas.
MSR gave the example of a 15 year old girl who has developed biodegradable plastic bags to carry soil. This business is scaling up nicely. There are opportunities for rural entrepreneurship in areas such as reducing water consumption for crops like rice.
Entrepreneurs should be passionate about the idea. But they should also be open to feedback and validation. Innovation is the product of an idea and its commercialization. For successful commercialization, the idea must be refined. Once they have had their idea critically examined and refined it, the entrepreneurs should move ahead with confidence. It is important to pursue our dream and ignore the noise and cynicism around us.
The trick is to engage with students and make them aware of the opportunities available in the country. T Hub is engaging with 35 colleges in Telangana and other states, through its Launch Pad program. The engagement aims at inviting ideas, nurturing the promising ones and converting them into businesses.
One positive trend among young people is that the mindset is moving away from secure government jobs to entrepreneurship. There is now less stigma attached to failure. T Hub conducts an Ideathon once in a month. This is open to the public. T Hub also offers internships to college students.
Compliance is important, indeed a hygiene item even for startups. Especially, when a startup is trying to raise funds, the books must be in order. It costs money but it is important to put in place the necessary processes and controls right from Day 1.
T-Hub is doing a lot of work in this space. Boeing is one of the partners. Under the IDEX (innovation in Defence Excellence) program, various innovations are happening like the 360 simulators. T Hub is building a prototype for vertical take off. It is an active participant in the Aero India events.