1) The document discusses the characteristics and challenges of the modern political entrepreneur. It outlines how political entrepreneurs must face uncertainty, pressure, and leverage institutions, people, and power to succeed. 2) Key aspects that political entrepreneurs must focus on include developing sophisticated people strategies, using technology and social media, fundraising, quality campaigning and interactions, and developing strategies to win competitions. 3) Political entrepreneurs also need leadership skills, the ability to take action and deliver on promises, harness institutions to drive development and reform, and unite and productively engage the people. Overall success requires balancing many competing demands.

1. Political
Entrepreneur:
Time Has Come
By Dr. Sreenivas Rajan

2. Introduction
• Political Entrepreneur has to face uncertainty
like any other entrepreneur (Nohria and
Anand,2001)
• From ideas to execution, the pressure is on
the political entrepreneur
• Insititutions, people and power are the
hallmarks
• Sophisticated People Strategy
• Information technology, Social media and
social movements are key to success

3. Introduction
• Bangalore and the outsourcing revolution are
political opportunities.
• Political workers and their ability to influence
the poor and needy
• Political entrepeneur has to influenced by
great traditions of India.
• Political Entrepreneur has to use to the
organization to leverage political issues.
• Fundraising and financing is very important
to the entrepreneur.

4. Introduction
• Quality of campaigning, quality of interaction
with workers, quality of delivery to
voters, quality of political process.
• Feedback to the party and learning about the
voters requirements is a key asset of the
political entrepreneur.
• Strategies and plans to win in the face of
competition is important to the political
entrepreneur.

5. Characteristics of the
Political Entrepreneur
• Hubris is the cause of the fall of many
political leaders.
• Teamwork and humility is required in the
modern days.
• Every Krishna has his Sudama, an humble
friend who is a reminder of the problems of
the voter.
• The ego of the entrepreneur like Gandhi
should be in the service of the nation

6. Characteristics of the
Political Entrepreneur
• Run a vast network of contacts to get first
hand information of the country.
• Cultivate contacts at the government and get
information , energy and policy tips which
will help the government programs and the
entrepreneur
• Various regions in India and various
institutions, Entrepreneurs has to maintain
contacts and use social media to raise
resources for the people

7. Characteristics of the
Political Entrepreneur
• Resources (resource based view of the firm)
are very important to the entrepreneur.
Financial resources, human resources are
required.
• Core competence is required in raising
unique political capital and approach to
issues.
• For example, Narendra Modiji is able to raise
resources by offering a unique mix of religion
and development.

8. The population ecology of
politicians
• Cautionary note on the failure of most
entrepreneurs including political
entrepreneurs.
• Inertia and not responding to voters and
changes in the constituency are key culprits
in the failure of political entreprenuer
• Some politicians like AK Raja misuse office
for power and corruption and criminalisation
lead to the failure of political entrepeneurs.

9. Entrepreneurial Action:
The need of the hour
• In the days of illiteracy, rigging and
corruption, the voter had no choice, Political
entrepreneur has to offer the choice to
voters.
• The voter has seen some development and
the entrepreneur has to mobilise the voters
for more development
• Uncertainty, ambiguity and doubt plague the
voters, and the entrepreneur has to send
clear signals about the growth of country

10. Entrepreneurial Action:
The need of the hour
• Action has to be clear/ Indecisiveness and
little action are seen negatively by voter
• Action on security and economic fronts is
required.
• Right to Education has been recognised but
raising the resources and implementing the
decision requires political skill
• Action is required against corruption and
neptoism, moral challenges are to be faced
with strict action

11. Where to Begin: The long
road to success
• Incomplete thoughts have to be broadbased
by feedback to have impact on the voters
• Quality of ideas should be improved by
leveraging schools of thought in universities
• For e.g Barack Obama has benefited from
the Chicago school of economics
• Ideas should be expressed in the media and
expanded on until they are accepted by the
voters

12. Where to Begin: The long
road to success
• Baseless allegations and media rigging has
to be countered by the entrepeneur
• Foreign powers such as CIA could well try
dirty tricks and entrepreneurs should counter
these dirty tricks
• Gandhi said that India lived in the villages.
(Gandhi 2011) Political entrepreneurs are
very much required to advance rural isssues.
• Promises have been made and the
entrepreneur should deliver them

13. Where to Begin: The long
road to success
• Entrepreneurs have different styles such as
creative, softspoken or hardhitting
• Entrepreneurs such as Ronald Reagan are
known for communication of complex issues
such as Star Wars to the American public
• Ideas should be inclusive. Ideas that favour
one group only should be avoided. The
broad range of society should
benefit.(Campbell,07)
• Leadership is required such as projects that

14. Ideas and Action
• Swami Vivekananda urged the nation to stop
not until the goal is reached
• The entrepreneur should achieve credible
progress using internet and social
movements
• The idea of green utopia should be matched
by practical action on the environmental
front.
• The Ganga Action plan is a success but
more action is required on the environmental

15. Ideas and Action
• The promise of egovernance requires action
and to take advantage of the success of
mobile phones to launch mobile governance
(Gupta and Chaturvedi, 2008)
• Microfinance, Microbusiness and
micromarketing can help launch the next
generation of business for the masses
• Security of the country requires ideas such
as national counterterrorism and preparation
of citizens against security threats such as

16. Institutions and the
Political Entrepreneur
• Institutions are value based and are the
bulwark of the country.
• For development, political entrepeneur
should take advantage of institutions such as
IDBI Bank, World Bank and United Nations
• The Aadhar project launched by UIDAI is a
major initiative to enable the masses.
• NSSO, CRISIL, CMIE and other statistical
institutions provide the political enterpreneur
the knowledge about the economy

17. Institutions and the
Political Entrepreneur
• Educational Institutions such as IIT and IIM
are catalysts for the higher development of
the country.
• EDI is another institution that can support
microfinance activities with entrepreneurship
training and increase revenue of people
• Exim bank and various export councils are
important to benefit from trade and
globalization.Cities such as Surat and
Bangalore benefit from globalization.

18. Institutions and Action
• Managing the mammoth insitutions to
achieve performance for the poor is
challenge.There is lot of inertia.
• Corruption and apathy should be targeted by
motivated and integrated efforts.
• Our courts are jammed with millions of
cases. Fast track courts, Lok Ayuktas and
ecourts can speed up the judicial logjam.
• Political Entrepreneur has to deliver justice
and democracy in terms of fair elections

19. Institutions and Action
• Institutional reform and Institutional
effectiveness are required to be faced by the
political entrepreneur.
• System requires feed back and institutions
such as media and CAG should help the
entrepreneur to hold institutions
accountable.
• The vast r&d system of the country including
CSIR, DRDO and IITs should be upgraded
and capacities increased to unleash

20. People and the Political
Entrepreneur
• People of the country include
farmers, soldiers, woman, brahmins, the
underprivleged, the villagers.
• Parties that cater to regional aspirations and
parties that cater to underprivileged such as
BSP are drawing the political capital.(Swain
2002)
• Right education and a mix of modern and
traditional systems are to be harnessed by
political entrepreneur.

21. People and Action
• People are to be united through media and
the internet and collective action should be
unleashed.
• The energy of the people should be
productively harnessed and the frustration of
the people addressed.
• Action is required against forces that are
against people including woman and political
entrepreneur should make use of the private
sector.

22. Leadership and the
Political Entrepeneur
• Leader comes up with an appropriate
method to solve the problems of the people
• For E.g. Manmohan Singh brought several
reforms in the country to face the currency
crisis.
• Anna Hazare took action of fasting to fight
corruption
• Leaders should not kowtow to criminal
interests and morals should guide the
political entrepreneur

23. Leadership and Action
• This is the 21 st Century and leadership of
the political entrepreneur should suit the
current times.
• For e.g. Rajiv Gandhi found out that funds
meant for development were diverted.
• It takes many years to debate policies and
many years for results to show once policy is
implemented.
• The long term interests of the country should
guide the political entrepreneur.

24. Thank You