What does the Indian entrepreneurship eco-system want from the new government?
The country has been caught in the grip of elections from the last few months and the signs of change are glaring us in the eye. This is also probably the first time that the youth of the country we've always been boasting about is in the thick of things as well. Entrepreneurship and startups have never been a priority for the government but with India hitting a good mass in terms of number of startups and a thriving ecosystem evolving, it is high time the startups were heard. We asked two questions to entrepreneurs all across the country and here is what they had to say:
Q-1) What are you expecting from the election results?
Q-2) What do you want from the new government?
Ankur Garg, iForIndia
A-1) A businesses and entrepreneur friendly Govt. that recognizes the need and value of promoting entrepreneurship in India for the next growth wave. Also, a clear indication of the increasing intelligence of Indian citizens/consumers of what is good for them and they refused to be taken for a ride.
A-2) Get economy back on track - control inflation and corruption, bring out policies that boost entrepreneurship and also generate large scale employment.
Ravishankar Shiroor, Stellapps Technologies
A-1) I am expecting an unambiguous message to come through from the people of India that they want a strong an decisive government. I am proud to be one among the citizens who have delivered a clear mandate!
A-2) I expect the government to focus on true development and encourage people of India to become truly productive, efficient and self-sufficient. I ask that Modi government delivers on the promise of "Minimum Government, Maximum Governance".
Shikha Arora, MAZ Digital
A-1) Expectations are to have a stable, decisive, business friendly and transparent government
A-2)
a. Being Business Friendly, especially startups
i. Make it easy to start a new business.
ii. Reduce amount of compliance required for smaller companies
iii. eGovernance for all govt. business interactions
b. Make contracts enforceable
i. People should fear and be incentivized to follow rule of law.
ii. Simplify rules so that many civil cases need not be required.
iii. Increase trust in business transactions
c. Constructive asset creation
i. Focus on infrastructure
1. Internet backbones
2. Uninterrupted Electricity
3. Creation of more cities and thus giving a chance to demographic dividend
ii. Skill Development
1. Making higher Education competitive
2. Making youth ready for Corporate life
3. Developing tertiary skilss
d. Incentivize HNI’s to invest in risky startups as compared to black money dominated Real Estate.
Sankara Srinivasan, RealtyCompass
A-1) Since the result is almost out..no expectation
A-2) Stable, progressive government which encourages Entreprenuership and innovation
Gaurav Munjal, Flat.To
A-1) Well, I wasn't supporting Modi as such, but I am happy that it's a stable government. I was also expecting Kejriwal to win which alas, did not happen.
A-2) To do at national level what they claim to do in Gujrat. To bring a drastic change, to put India back in the Super Power race of the world.
Haritash Tamvada, Warrantify
A-1) Clear and decisive mandate!
A-2) Good governance, minimum bureaucracy, Catalyst of overall development, Encourage and nourish entrepreneurship!
Shubham Agrawal, Roorkites Pvt. Ltd
A-1) People overcome caste/religion prejudice and the best candidate wins from their respective constituencies, irrespective of his party and religion.
A-2) Encouragement to entrepreneurship, less bureaucracy, Impartial policies.
Sumit Jain, CommonFloor
A-1) I am expecting BJP to come in clear majority. I would have loved to see AAP getting some more traction so that we have some vigilant people in the house. Anyway, it's the Modi wave and not BJP.
A-2) I want a stable government. Clear policies and plan of action for the development and make Indian an attractive investment destination. I would like to see the businesses and consumers more confident about the future prospects. I simply want the new government to deliver the promises.
Kulin Shah, Wishberg
A-1) Well there is nothing much more to expect now its out in the open. Just that with a clear majority BJP can concentrate on building the nation instead of managing egos of its alliance. Guess what's important is NaMO as PM, should build a formidable cabinet. Guess like investors, we have backed a great team and now its all about execution. Now from promises made on social media, lets see them being executed!
A-2) One the basic expectations every common man has (wishberg.com/acommonman). Looking forward to some disruption in the tax structure (direct & indirect) for startups. Looking at the growth of startups in India and the attention they are getting, there should be a separate ministry for SMEs which helps to expedite reforms.
Zankrut Oza, Mera Bharosa
A-1) A clear and stable Narendra Modi government.
A-2) Personal Safety & National Security with good economy.
Priyadeep Sinha, Gyan Labs
A-1) Expecting the formation of a stable govt with total majority (no reliability on coalition). In the last couple of governments, the minority parties in the with small number of seats were a major problem. They are self centered and a major hinderance.
A-2) All I want is economic growth and a hard stand on international issues. I also don't want the govt to constantly keep blaming the previous ones in case they are unable to deliver on the promise of a better India.
Kumar Rangarajan, Founder, Little Eye Labs
A-1) My heart was hoping for AAP to become the second largest party.
A-2) Hope that government will enable everyone to dream and everyone to believe that if they can work hard, anyone can be successful!
Rohan ChandraShekhar, BuzzValve
A-1) Much to my disappointment, it looks like the NDA is poised to win this one. I would have liked AAP to win, although it seems that they aren't even in a position to play spoilsport & divide the votes either.
A-2) As an entrepreneur and as a businessman, I'd want the new government to reform taxation laws in the country. Businesses end up paying a dizzying number of taxes, it's a miracle that they have anything left of the income, after tax deductions! I also think that the individual rates of the taxes concerned need to be moderated more (i.e. brought down), especially for young businesses who're < 3 years in operation.
On a more “civic” level, I’d want the new government to be more responsive & accountable to the everyday citizen. More ethical public-private collaborations, a keener eye towards sustainable environmental practices, and a greater desire to clean up the system (of corruption within the house and of garbage/waste outside it.)
Shiladitya Mukhopadahyaya, Rasilant
A-1) I'm expecting that the results reflect the total voice of the country in who they have elected, whatever said and done, if the nation had this chance and they have taken it despite both sides having their own misgivings.
Given the overall sentiment and exit poll numbers, I believe the BJP will be able to come to power in some form and then take some immediate steps to improve upon a lot of their promises to uplift our broken economy. Even though they have a lot of negative history I am hoping they will be smarter and more open minded than they are known to be and help the country really grow.
A-2) I expect something that is near impossible, I expect the new government to be quick with decisions -- I know it's hardly something that is likely given the average age and sentiment of the old school politicians in either ruling party -- but to be honest I would be the happiest if the new government ran more like a startup!
Make hard decisions and pivots and product changes, all of them towards the overall big picture goal of improving the nation, act on a lean budget but make their actions matter. All the qualities that we applaud in a startup should be reflected in our government as well! This is the only way we can try to fast forward the country to growth and progress.
We need a growth hacker in the government! Maybe Modi is the guy?
Jitin Pillai, AirStream
A-2) My expectations are same as the rest of the country - development across all sectors. Being an entrepreneur I would like the new government to provide a better environment to do business, better tax systems, open up the markets to FDI, high-speed connectivity to more regions of India, instill confidence in foreign investors, you know the list goes on.. I feel that if the agenda is strictly development, then many things will automatically fall in place :)
Raveesh Bhalla, Haptik
A-2) Honesty more than anything. Simplifying the taxes a bit, more business friendly (to avoid situations like the Vodafone tax case), and stronger net neutrality rules. Carriers shouldn't be allowed to provide Whatsapp/Facebook/Google browsing for free, since it hurts any startup that enters their fields.
Subramanyam Kasibhat, Aureole Technologies Private Limited
A-1) Expectations from this elections: End of bad leaders ruling and ruining this country
A-2) Expectations from this governmnent! Clean up the shit! Get us back to track!
Ash Gairola, Socialert
A-1) I am expecting BJP will cross the 272 marks and form a governement without burden of coalition adharma - a conclusive victory
A-2) I expect as promised governement to focus on inclusive development and favorable environment for entrepreuners and favorable reforms for startups; Growth in economy with open policies focussing on more job creation and growth
Avinash Saurabh, Zoojoo.be
A-1) Expectations from election results: A stable government that has enough seats to take difficult decisions
A-2) Expectation from new government:
- Ease the process of starting up by making it easy to start and close a company,
- Ensure that entrepreneurs have access to smart capital at early stage (The number of early stage deals in India is way below than that in US and EU)
- Give support to entrepreneurs who are solving India specific problems by removing the bureaucratic hurdles
