IBM Smartcamp experience

I was in elite company as one of the mentors, in the Bangalore leg of IBM SmartCamp 2011. SmartCamp is an exclusive global program bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and experienced mentors who want to build a Smarter Planet.The finals was held yesterday (27-Apr). The Bangalore leg received a record 230 applications, which was pruned to 48 and then after interviewing, it was further shortlisted to the final 5.

Here are some observations:

• The buzzwords clearly were cloud technologies, mobile computing, green technologies (energy saving, remote monitoring etc.,) and to an extent social networking. Everyone we spoke to, had atleast two of these in their products.
• We saw companies that were just 1-2 (mainly founders) members, to about 15-20 and about 100+ is size. They were looking for funding from just about anything they can get ($250K) to about $8-10M.
• We saw passionate entrepreneurs that were so focused on their expertise, technologists that seem to have built a great technical product but struggling to market, companies with professional management that clearly know where they are going and what needs to be done to get there and folks that have created good traction but need funding to scale.
• One common theme was that they all have started by targeting the India market, but have clear global ambitions.
• Last but not the least - people seem to commit the same mistakes:

• Lack of focus - being everything to everyone
• Technology taking precedence over market - Latest and greatest? Yes. Hard to copy? Yes. Does the market need it? Not sure. Know how to market? No.
• Business model - too many untested assumptions on monetization and being too optimistic on scaling-up
• People - Not being able to attract the right talent
• The tyranny of competence - The I know all syndrome, which affects all the above four. Its so easy to see in others!

IBM has designed the format to make it very beneficial for the entrepreneurs. The mentors had diverse background - the Technologists, the VC community, Sales and Marketing and Academicians. Each panel had atleast one person from every category and the mentoring sessions were helpful because the mentors could build on each other's experience and no aspect of the business was left untouched for questioning and recommending possible solutions. We also were able to use our own network and help connect entrepreneurs to the right people.

The several carefully designed breaks allowed mentors to talk and network with each other. I had a chance to meet-up with several VCs and my pet question was what was their take on world class products coming out of India. Almost all the VCs that I met-up were emphatic and are expecting a sea-change in the next 3-4 years. They are very confident that some BIG products would come out of India. When I asked them what makes them think so, they pointed out a few things:

• Thanks to our economic growth, India is a big market. Product development is easier when you are sitting right next to the market. Indians can now buy.
• Spurt in entrepreneurial growth especially post the last recession. People returning from US and Europe helping know-how of product development
• Increased activity in the eco-system.  More and more VCs have started funding Indian companies, biggies such IBM, Intel etc., taking an active role and interest in the Indian entrepreneurial activities, increased collaboration b/w industry and academia etc.,
• Problems that are unique to India (energy management in towers is a classic example)

It was an enriching experience. Made several contacts, learnt a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the whole process.


Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com