New Delhi, February 2023: “For any entrepreneur to succeed, you have to be able to create trust across the table with all your stakeholders. Honesty and ethical practices in business are important for long-term sustainability, making corporate governance really important,” said Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Info Edge, speaking at the 17th India Digital Summit (IDS 2023), being organised here by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), in association with Google and MessageBird.
Mr. Bikhchandani was at a fireside chat with Mr. Manish Vij, Managing Partner, Smile Group, deliberating on ‘Bridge over Troubled Waters: Building the Indian digital services ecosystem’.
Mr. Bikhchandani highlighted the importance of a determined and resilient founder and the criticality of them understanding the concepts of true and fair accounting, not window dressing and maintaining high standards of ethics throughout the organisation.
Speaking on prioritising profitability over growth, he said, “Initially, companies should figure out how much capital they need, and raise that much. If they can’t raise that much, they should realign their plans to need less. Moving on, as the business progresses, their priority should then move to raise a little more than they need to create a buffer.” Lastly, he advised new entrepreneurs to remember that the “customers’ money is always better than the investors’ money’”.
Discussing how to navigate through troubled waters, Mr. Bikhchandani opined, “Founders should lead from the front. They should cut costs first. Even if the decision is painful, it will help the company to live to fight for another day.” The key to surviving during such times was to ascertain how good a founder was at execution and innovation, he added.
IDS 2023, being held on February 20 and 21, 2023, is bringing together over 150 speakers, including policymakers, regulators, industry captains, and subject stalwarts in more than 60 sessions, with a representation from over 500 digital brands, and participation of over 3000 delegates.
