Date: 17th August 2006
The students of Amrita School of Business were indeed fortunate to have amongst them Mr. José Shutte Aine, a professor at the University of Illinois on the 17th of this month. He is also the co-founder of Xindium Technologies (est. 2001); a company that deals in Power Amplifiers used in transceivers in cell phones. The company was started with help from venture capitalists and started its operations in April 2001. They initially had a small workforce of 10-12 people, all engineers. Initially they started work on the development of high speed devices, working at speeds as high as 40 GB/sec while the fastest devices available at the time had a maximum speed of just 2.5 GB/sec. But by the time they came out with the device the market for it had dwindled and they had to switch to the Wireless market. Although the shift was risky Mr. Shutte Aine and his company somehow managed to pull through. Although Mr. Aine returned to his teaching career in 2004, he still takes an active interest in the workings of Xindium, his brainchild. His experience as an entrepreneur has give Mr. Shutte Aine a wealth of knowledge and “given the chance”, he says, he would do it all over again!!
Mr. Shutte Aine started his talk by giving us a small idea about his company, its initial years, the problems it faced and its current activities. He then went on to talk about the various factors that an aspiring entrepreneur has to consider before he takes the final leap namely, the Market, the Technology, the Team, the Investors and the Business.
He went on to say that before entering a market one has to ensure that the market is experiencing growth. One should also know the other major players in the market and the time of entry must be perfect. He said that as far as a company is concerned timing is of utmost importance because the slightest delay might turn out to be a matter of life and death for the company.
Another important factor is the technology employed. One has to have a clear understanding of the existing technologies, identify the possible threats to your company, and make sure that the technology you offer is better than the others. He also talked about IPR in relation to this.
Mr. Shutte Aine also talked about the importance of working as a team. The success of a company lies in hiring and retaining the best people. The company should be able to instill a certain “Company Spirit” in them, make them feel as if the company belongs to them. Team play should be encouraged and hard-work rewarded.
As far as investors were concerned, it is always a safe bet to consider a fleet of investors rather than a single investor. The former option ensures that the investors have only minimal control over the enterprise. Before choosing an investor or rather investors one should check their portfolios and be ready with an exit strategy in case of any eventualities. An endorsement from a Fortune 100 company can work wonders for you when you need an investor.
Finally coming to the Business as such, one should have a clear business plan. And the plan should be the best fit for the company. And as “Customer is King”, securing customer traction is important.
The session was an interactive one and the students came up with a number of questions regarding financing a venture, long term and short term investments, market research, packaging the technology and the like. Mr. José handled all questions patiently and ensured that all doubts were clarified.
It was a pleasure to listen to a person like Mr. Shutte Aine, who has both the experience and the expertise, who has been out in the field and has gone through the ups and downs of the market and who still has the enthusiasm and the zeal to do it all over again. We look forward to many more talks like this that enhances our knowledge and broadens our horizons and strengthens our belief in the fact that “Impossible is Nothing”!!
-Rajeswari Mani
CPG06BM085.
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