Volume 20, Number 2 Article by K Kumar June, 2008
Leveraging Context-specific Innovation for Growth : Context of Interview with Manoj Upadhyay :
Entrepreneurial ventures vary widely in their characteristics and high growth businesses are more likely to be a manifestation of opportunity based entrepreneurship, whereas necessity based entrepreneurship is generally practised as a self employment option resulting in marginal businesses. Entrepreneurship in India has been predominantly seen to be more necessity based than opportunity based. However, if India is to achieve its potential for high economic growth, it is vital for high growth businesses to overcome the environmental constraints. There are indeed a few entrepreneurs who have succeeded in achieving higher levels of growth in an environment not known to be very conducive to rapid growth. The interview with Manoj Upadhyay, founder and Chairman and Managing Director of Acme Telepower Ltd, is one of a series on what it takes to build high growth businesses in India.
Acme Telepower is a core energy company providing innovative solutions to the telecom infrastructure and other sectors. The interview highlights the role of innovative technological solutions to local problems as the basis of a high growth business venture. Other important facets of this venture are the way the promoter used the conventional bootstrapping methods and his social capital to overcome the constraints posed by his limited financial capital; the creation of a new market through innovative and affordable solutions; and the global strategy of the company, used both to build scale and to overcome the limitations posed by the weak intellectual property protection regime in India.
Reprint No 08203 a&b
