Srikkanth bats for small ideas, entrepreneurs

Hyderabad: Batting for entrepreneurs from rural areas and those who work on a smaller scale, former Indian cricket team skipper, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, urged investors to devise an “innovative way of investing” in more number of smaller startups. This, according to him, will not only help generate employment in the interiors but also create socio economic value for the country in the long-term. Srikkanth, who is an entrepreneur too, said, “These investors have only been looking at the big daddies… If India has to grow, the small man has to grow. In cricketing parlance, it is like giving an opportunity to a youngster, who might become a superstar, but unless you give him an opportunity, how is he going to prove himself? Similarly, investors have to start investing in rural India…in Indian products.” Citing the success story of Amul, which has become a global Indian brand, he pointed out that investing in small startups, especially in the rural areas, will not only help boost entrepreneurship but also stem migration from rural to urban areas. The former Indian skipper rued that many investors in India tend to invest in startups that take ages to become profitable and the cash burn rate is high. He also asked innovators to spot the ‘Kapil Devs’ among entrepreneurs. “An entrepreneur has to be passionate. In 1983, when none of us believed that we stood a chance of winning the World Cup, it was Kapil Dev who had the passion and self-belief. We thought he was a fool… but ultimately we won. Hence, investors must find innovators and entrepreneurs who are passionate.”

For entrepreneurs too Srikkanth had a piece of cricketing advice – bat like Virender Sehwag, who has an unorthodox batting style and plays big shots without the fear of getting out even when he is nearing a triple century. The former cricketer cited the example of Sehwags’s innings at the test match against Pakistan at Multan, where he was batting on 295 and hit a six to clinch a triple century. Srikkanth said that no other cricketer would have taken such a risk and reached the 300-mark by going for singles.