At today’s roundtable, we had entrepreneurs presenting from Brazil, Israel and India. In fact, I was pleased to even see an entrepreneur from Kolkata, India, the city in which I was born and raised.
Estate Lister
First up, Siddhesh Joglekar from Mumbai, India, pitched Estate Lister, a real estate portal along the lines of Zillow, targeted to the Indian market. Siddhesh has already validated his business and is catering to home buyers, sellers, and brokers, generating revenues from advertising and sponsorships as well as brokerage revenue sharing.
As I keep reiterating, 99% of the businesses that go out for financing get rejected. One of the primary reasons they get rejected is that they go in to pitch way too early and without doing their homework.
Real Estate is one of the best investment vehicles in India and is still a relatively unorganized market from a Web enablement perspective. The business looks extremely promising and with proper execution, can become a sizable enterprise over time.
JobVoyage
Next, Nir Savitzki from Israel, presented JobVoyage, a social CRM service for job seekers. Nir is contemplating various different business models and channel options, all the way from Freemium B-to-C to white labeling the solution for universities and colleges. He wants to penetrate the Indian market. I advised him to focus on the for-profit colleges and business schools in India and sell them a white label solution, hence a B-to-B business model.
ServiceSutra
Then Pradeep Chaudhary from Kolkata, India, discussed ServiceSutra, which aims to be an online provider of reviews and ratings and recommendations for local service providers like movers and packers, wedding planners, interior decorators, etc. Pradeep has already validated the model within the movers and packers space and asked questions about business models – lead fees versus commission on transaction. He also asked for guidance on positioning, like whether or not to have separate sites for separate segments. All in all, a very promising venture.
ledface
Up last, Leandro Telles from Brazil, pitched ledface, a knowledge management technology company that still needs a business strategy. We discussed all sorts of options, and I provided a basic framework to make the business decisions that are critical at this point. Ledface is not ready for financing, even though that was one of their first questions. As I keep reiterating, 99% of the businesses that go out for financing get rejected. One of the primary reasons they get rejected is that they go in to pitch way too early and without doing their homework.
In 1M/1M we ensure that you do homework, based on which a reasonable investment decision can be made, and that you don’t get dismissed prematurely. You need to learn what it means to be a fundable business. Please take the 1M/1M self-assessment test here, and see if you can answer the nine questions adequately. If not, please join 1M/1M premium and short-circuit all this bouncing around from door to door. We can help you prepare for funding. In fact, this is the fastest and most efficient entrepreneurship education system you would be able to access to rapidly fill the gaps in your understanding of how to bring a startup to market.
Overall, I saw several promising businesses. What is interesting is that international businesses are not only happening now with companies in Brazil wanting to sell to American customers, but also companies in Israel wanting to sell to Indian customers. The world we live in today is truly global, and I am proud of the 1M/1M initiative’s ability to support this global business network.
What is interesting is that international businesses are not only happening now with companies in Brazil wanting to sell to American customers, but also companies in Israel wanting to sell to Indian customers.
You can listen to the recording of today’s roundtable
. As always, I would very much like to hear about your business, so let me invite you to come and pitch at one of our
. We will be holding future roundtables at 8:00 a.m. PDT on the following dates:
Thursday, September 22, Register Here.
Thursday, September 29, Register Here.
Thursday, October 13, Register Here.
We will be holding our 100th roundtable on Thursday, October 6th. To celebrate the occasion, the 1M/1M initiative is inviting a dozen 1M/1M premium members from all over the world to step in front of the camera to share their entrepreneur journeys — their ups and downs and next steps — as inspiration for other startup entrepreneurs. They will also share how they are using the 1M/1M program in that journey. You can register to attend here.
If you want a deeper relationship with me, you are very welcome to join the 1M/1M premium program. If you have any questions about the program, please, first study the website, especially What to expect from the 1M/1M premium program and the FAQs. If you have additional questions, please email me, and I would be very happy to respond. Please note, that I work exclusively with 1M/1M entrepreneurs.
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About Sramana Mitra
Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, an educational, business development and incubation program that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant. She writes the blog Sramana Mitra On Strategy and is author of the Entrepreneur Journeys book series and Vision India 2020. From 2008 to 2010, Mitra was a columnist for Forbes. As an entrepreneur CEO, she ran three companies: DAIS, Intarka, and Uuma. She has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Photo by peapodsquadmom
