Media committee: What made you inclined towards Finance?

Mr. Kaushal: I had to make a choice, either I would have continued with my
Science background and would have gone for P.H.D or other option was M.B.A. It
was a practical choice; first route would have taken 7-8 years in the first go
whereas second route was much faster to achieve what I wanted to achieve. So, I
went for second option & I was not decided at that time for Finance or something,
but it was just that I wanted to do something that can add value. Otherwise I was
good in science I would have gone for it and became professor, as I love teaching. I
enjoy teaching, I still do teach in certain Engineering colleges probably this is a
way I can be still in touch with my background.

Media committee: How do we ensure that start up can survive in such a

dynamic market & how can be VUCA applied here?

Mr. Kaushal: Every existing organization in a market has its own strengths &
own set of problems, same as with start-ups got lot of strengths & lot of challenges
too. If start-ups can recognize that what are their strengths and leverage it to the
maximum level, then no problem. One of the biggest advantages that they have as
compared to existing larger organizations is agility, they can move much faster.
They can leverage opportunities in much better way than larger organizations can,
this is their strength. If they can leverage it to grow their idea, they can survive. Sir,
quoted one example of his team members “We used to work together in Bank & then
he left the HDFC Bank to start his own start up, and he and his friends worked
together on technology for fishery culture, there are lot of fishery farms in Southern
Gujarat, so there were large ponds. There were ponds which were checked
manually for its ph., cleanliness, what they did to help was they developed sensors
& software’s and fitted them in ponds to keep a check on oxygen & other factors. So,
each pond can be tracked & checked through software’s and if problem in any pond
can be identified & rectified easily. So, this was a ides created by them to help
farmers with making use of existing technology.”

So, now if you are able to leverage technology like this, you have a seed of a idea
which you want to grow using technology, it is amazing. I would suggest there is
one website of Reliance is Next step hub- It is an incubation centre of Reliance
where we welcome a lot of start-ups, and start-ups who need help in terms of
management support. They need the right direction; we provide them the
opportunity to clear the concepts. Suppose there is someone who wants to create an
app, we give them insights & help them that how start-ups are managed & can
managed.

At Incubation centre, many start-ups approach with their ideas and the ultimate
pitch out of them is chosen in terms of their start up idea. I have been part of it last
year & seen student coming with great ideas and not just idea, start-ups come with
their working models. He quoted one last year example “One student came with
packing material which was biodegradable & using fungi- not just idea but came
with working model. He came with an idea & along with commercial norms and
policies. In case he is funded, how he will grow, how he will scale it up.”
The Media Committee thanked Mr. Kaushal Mehta for taking out his valuable time
to share his insights with the students. Mr. Kushal Mehta signed off with his best
wishes for the students of the institute.