• Blog

Often, budding entrepreneurs reach out to multiple veterans in their respective fields of management, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, strategy, technology, etc. It could be either through their own contacts or through someone they know who knows someone relevant. In the informal channels, these are loosely called mentors or bouncing boards on either side of the chain, i.e., direct contacts of such entrepreneurs and those next in the chain that are approached through direct contacts.

Out of sheer enthusiasm and passion to help assist new thoughts to come to fruition, such mentors spend considerable time, effort and energy and bring their network to fore for the benefit of our young guns. Of course, their underlying passion to learn about disruptive ideas or strategies also plays its own role in the initiative they take.

What hurts a few of these Samaritans sometimes is the sheer ungratefulness of the advice seekers. It manifests in the blatant use (or misuse) of their credibility in the wider public domain for commercial benefits and, at times, either without their permission or in an unappreciative manner. Often, their network is used to win commercial contracts through strong referencing of mentors; then, such contributions are disregarded in the public forum, stating that it was the efforts of the enterprise. Blatant examples of intellectual dishonesty!

A few important pointers need to be understood:
(a) An organization founded on principles of intellectual dishonesty—by the first citizens of an enterprise, at that—only breeds further dishonesty as (and if) the company progresses to next level. This virus embedded in the conduct of the founders is likely to spread and cascade across the rank and files of the enterprise. Eventually, the impact will inevitably fall on the various stakeholders.

(b) The dishonest conduct of an enterprise gets noticed across the business environment quicker than one might imagine. The networks are strong and thick; they are frequently used for reference-checks on the capability and / or dependability of the enterprise and / or the founders in question. The reference checks could be potential investors, potential senior level employees, potential customers or suppliers. This could be even more of a concern in the case of serial entrepreneurs who need to tap such networks multiple times for different ventures.

In a recent interaction with a reputed financial intermediary specialized in arranging early-stage financing, a casual enquiry about a specific early-stage venture met with feedback on antecedents of its founder and the experiences of past financiers. Some of these narrations were unsolicited, but the unpleasant experience of the network with the intellectual calamities of the case was so strong, it exploded with cautions. Such instances of information exchange are common, and don’t take too long to spread across.

The point is this: in order to build a culture of intellectual honesty in an organization at early stage, the discipline needs to start at the founders’ end. The key is also to recognize the impact that role models have on an organization across its length and breadth. These role models get created out of the progression of successful people in an organization, and their conduct plays a strong role in influencing others, especially aspirants.

A good beginning on this count at the evolving stage of a company—with advisory and mentorship—sends a strong signal. Yours sincerely!

The views expressed here are personal.

BHARAT BANKA is the MD and CEO of Aditya Birla Private Equity.

©Entrepreneur February 2010

Tags:
Banka, Bharat Banka, customer, Rocket Singh, soft differentiation