Young Startup Leaders Lead from the Front
NURTURING
TALENTS Young entrepreneurs talk about their leadership style and how the style
is different from leading in large organizations
For Kunal
Shah, cofounder of online mobile recharge platform Freecharge, trust and
openness are the foundation stones of his leadership style.Shah, the man who
struck one of the biggest deals in consumer Internet space in India when
Snapdeal acquired his company for an estimated $400 million, believes that in a
startup, empowerment is not a word but happens by default.
“Trust to
the point that scares you...and hire people smarter than you,“ said the
32-year-old, who did philosophy in college and then dropped out of his
management course. “Leading in a startups is about extraordinary demonstration
of trust,“ Shah said.
“Result
is the only thing I am worried about. How they do it is up to them,“ said
Jaydeep Barman, cofounder and chief executive of Faasos. Entrepreneurs do not
want a boss to tell them what to do, and they should try to build the same
culture within their own companies, he suggested.
According
to Barman, his style his not always casual or lighthearted, but he does not
challenge every decision. “I don't dictate. We believe in joint problem solving
... anyone can call me up without being afraid at any point of time,“ he added.
Azhar
Iqubal, cofounder of Inshorts, leads his team by being a friend. “Yet, I
clearly define the professional expectations and desired outcomes,“ said
Iqubal. The company , which was started by three IIT alumni, has shown
exponential growth in the last one year. The average age of its team of 60 is
24. “The biggest responsibility of a leader is putting the right people on the
right job and empowering them with the ability to make independent decisions
... Each manager in our organisation is an entrepreneur in his or her own way
because everyone is constantly focused towards making things better and
quicker.“
Leadership
experts say leading in startups and leading in large established organisations
are two diffe rent ballgames. In startups, everyone has high energy and high
level of excitement, so motivation isn't a problem. “In a startup, it is easy
to connect and get across a message,“ said Vikram Bhalla, managing director at
Boston Consulting Group India. However, the challenge for startups is that
everything is fluid and hence everyone, including the leadership, needs to be
flexible. Also, the level of uncertainty of a startup is different from that of
an established organisation. “In a startup, people pour in with ideas and we
test out most ideas. Whereas in a large organization, you plan for a year and
execute. Here on a daily basis you run experiments. For us things change every
day,“ said Barman of Faasos.
BCG's
Bhalla, an expert on lea dership, said the key leadership tenets of a startup
entrepreneur is passion for an idea as well as ability to execute and, most
importantly, building a team.
Leadership
experts say that millennials look for open communication, flexibility, and
empowerment.
“At
UrbanClap, we openly talk about what is working well, what is not working well,
gaps in our business model or understanding, my own shortcomings as a leader,
etc. I openly talk about these things with everyone in my team,“ said cofounder
Abhiraj Bhal. “It helps build trust.“
For Suchi
Mukherjee, CEO of LimeRoad, finding a great bunch of people, setting them a
clear goal and managing the culture is the essence of leadership. “I encourage
radical candor among my team which ensures everyone is completely transparent
with each other in an extremely professional way,“ said Mukherjee.
Finding
the right talent is the key, she said. “Experience, for me, is secondary. It is
more important to look for the growth potential of an individual. Then, there
is continuous multi-tasking. There are no clearly defined roles for every
member of the team,“ she said.“Every individual has to have a fighter gene to
succeed. You have to be really passionate about what you are doing. And always
be prepared for failures and learn to live with bad days.“
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Rica Bhattacharyya & Prachi
Verma Dadhwal
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Mumbai | New Delhi
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ET29mar16
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