Start-ups : Not just a buzzword with the 5th Disrupt 2.0 - FutureX

While we prop the spirit of Silicon Valley as the carbon copy of entrepreneurial feat, the reality is that entrepreneurs exist everywhere. In countries such as Sri Lanka, surviving on the streets of Colombo as a vendor is a daily exercise in the entrepreneurial spirit if you consider Pettah, an example that requires ingenuity, spirit and resourcefulness.

But these same ingredients for success in start-ups haven’t percolated into the better brains passing out from tertiary education, according to Dr. Ajith Pasqual, Head of the Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering at the University of Moratuwa and CEO of ParaQum which is a research centric start-up based in Colombo. No graduate at his university, hailed as the crème-de-la-crème of brains in the country, has produced any start-up in its entire existence. "It's tragic," he agrees adding that the main stumbling block is that start-ups don't pay.

Passed out graduates are so in-demand at other organisations which pay them more than a handsome salary and they invariably get lured to 'those' jobs rather than exploring the path less trodden. Dr. Pasqual narrated his experience to the Business Times on the sidelines of Disrupt 2.0 - FutureX, an InterUniversity Enterprise Mobility Software Development Competition held in Colombo this week.

Born out of experimentation in academia as a project management platform, Disrupt 2.0 - FutureX is enlisting university students all over the country as part of an inter-university challenge to develop concepts for tech innovations that will address socio – economic issue in the country. This is the fifth time this is held, but it’s going to be different, Ranuka Kariyawasam, Assistant Project Manager SLAASCOM assures adding that this time they are serious on sustaining products and marketing them.

“Even the simplest action initiated by a small group of individuals can impact humanity as a whole and that's what we want to achieve from this," Dr. Pasqual says. Social view of entrepreneurship is still negative, he agrees, noting that only a few people take entrepreneurship as an occupation (usually at the very top of the social structure or very bottom).

The middle classes think they are not qualified to run businesses (as they are risk averse), Ruwan Jayanetti, Senior Manager Engineering at Zebra Technologies (P) Ltd, a partner in fuelling this technopreneur challenge, says.

Dr. Pasqual believes this technopreneur challenge will address many socio-economic issues in the country and explained to the students in his address at the launch that they need to define an issue and then find an answer through technology. Mr. Jayanetti joined in saying that there may be a business model in distributing newspa- pers safely. “That can be also done through technology.”

Dr. Jayanetti asked the students to focus their efforts in a particular direction saying, "A will to do it is all you need." Citing an example, he explained how his own start-up venture, ParaQum Technologies (P) Ltd began with just four brilliant fresh graduates from the Moratuwa Campus three years ago. He says the four graduates were head-hunted by some big firms, but realising the potential of this project, they decided to join the start-up at a 'much, much lesser pay'.

This project comes at an extreme complexity, he says adding that as software can be duplicated easily, the ParaQum team decided on developing hardware where duplicity isn't 'that easy'. He says that this was founded in 2013 as part of an initiative by the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka; to expand the electronics industry within Sri Lanka. A key objective of this initiative was to make electronics a significant contributor to the national economy and exports. "We, at ParaQum, are determined to become an integral contributor to realise this goal."

He cautioned the student audience that expecting immediate profits is a 'bad-way' to go about start-ups and advised the potential competitors to differentiate their products as much as possible. "Pay attention to detail." Along with this diversification effect, the needs and opportunities are more widespread meaning start-ups can pursue profits in different markets to need.

So are we seeing a shift in emphasis away from the mythic entrepreneur exerting one-sided vision to something more collaborative, new and sustainable? It would seem that business models, consumer demand, and new technologies are suggesting a way forward and with this competition the question no longer seems to be "if" but to what extent these students will converge and bring change.

Even the simplest action initiated by a small group of individuals can impact humanity as a whole and that's what we want to achieve from this," Dr. Pasqual says. Social view of entrepreneurship is still negative, he agrees, noting that only a few people take entrepreneurship as an occupation (usually at the very top of the social structure or very bottom).