This document discusses the importance of mentorship for entrepreneurs. It notes that while entrepreneurship seems glamorous, building a successful business takes vision, execution skills, and business discipline. There is no single trait that guarantees entrepreneurial success. However, entrepreneurs can be mentored to develop skills and habits commonly seen in successful entrepreneurs. Mentorship provides guidance to help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality and overcome challenges that could cause many startups to fail within the first few years. The document advocates for the value of mentorship in helping nurture entrepreneurs and create the right conditions for business success.

1. 1
Feature
PRAJAKT RAUT FROM APPLYFI
SHARES HIS THOUGHTS
RAJESH NAIR, PRESIDENT - TIE KERALA
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MENTORSHIP
ISSUE 01 VOLUME 01 OCT 2017 www.kitchen.org.in
How
corporates can
find innovation
Every
entrepreneur
needs a mentor
tateof the
STARTUPS
In KeralaS
E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P, M A R K E T I N G & YO U : T I M E TO # m a ke s o m e t h i n g n ew

2. 2
Event
Editor
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India - the
youngest startup
nation of the world
Highlights from Kitchen CAN August edition
Platino Classic
I
ndia has the highest number of young
professionals in the world who want to quit
their job and start their own business, as per
a survey. Thanks to the Startup initiatives
by the government and all international buzz,
entrepreneurship is a mainstream career option
now.
But at the same time more than 90% of startups
in India fail within five years of founding,
according to IBM. Lack of innovation, team and
lack of funding are the primary reasons for the
same.
In Kerala, the state of startups is at infancy level,
though we had few exceptions in that regard.
The challenge though has been to keep the IP in
the state because good ideas need scaling up
which means they eventually exit or move from
Kerala to Bangalore or elsewhere.
The Kitchen started off its journey two years
back with the intention of being a mouthpiece
of the SMEs in the state and to bolster the
business ecosystem by providing a professional
networking platform.
We hope to continue doing our work and could
use more hands on deck. So write to us if you
have time and resources to pay-it-forward!
Godspeed.
Scan Fb Code to talk to usAdd me on Snapchat

3. 3
Feature
The story behind the
Kitchen
medium.com/the-kitchenGeorge Alex
Government will promote
fresh ideas
I
naugurating the third Young Entrepreneurs
Summit (YES-2017) jointly organised by
the Kerala State Industrial Development
Corporation (KSIDC) and TiE, Kerala, here
on Tuesday, Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan said the State
wouldn't disappoint anyone coming forward to
start a novel enterprise.
The KSIDC itself would financially support
1,500 start-ups. The government, he said, had
earmarked a total of `1,375 crore for sectors
that had been described as future sources
of economic growth. Of this, `549 crore was
allocated for IT and IT-enabled industries;
`10 crore would go for technology innovation
and `70 crore would be for enterprises by the
youth. The KSIDC, he said, would ensure basic
amenities and all infrastructural requirements
for start-ups, and the need of the hour was
for young start-ups to branch out into areas
such as agriculture, health, tourism and waste
management.
K
erala government is to create a fund-
of-funds and invite investors to back
young companies based in the state.
The idea is to create a corpus of Rs
500 crore for Kerala-based startups over the
next three years, according to Saji Gopinath,
chief executive of the Kerala Startup Mission, or
KSUM.
“Kerala doesn’t have large angel funds or estab-
lished angel networks, so we are attracting early
stage funds to invest in startups in the state,“
said Gopinath. “
Venture capital funds supported by KSUM will
have to invest in Kerala-based startups double
the proportion of the funds committed by the
state government. KSUM is the state govern-
ment’s nodal agency for promoting entrepreneur-
ship in Kerala, which is home to more than 750
startups.
Under this plan, KSUM has invested Rs 10 crore
in Unicorn India Ventures’ Rs 100-crore fund, and
signed a pact with Bengaluru-based SEA Fund to
invest in Kerala based startups.
Kerala plans Rs 500-crore
fund-of-funds
K
itchen like we always say is a not-for-
profit organisation.Kitchen is about the
people. We feel its our obligation to pay
it back to the ecosystem and contribute
back to our society in a meaningful way.
Redefining Wealth - But we’re just a bunch
of 20 year olds. Why should we pay back. What
Wealth do we have. Wealth no longer means
just money. There are many other things we can
consider as wealth.
Dreams - We feel the most important asset
our generation can have is that of Dreams.
We should dream that things which previously
seemed impossible is now doable. Kitchen is for
the dreamers.
Ideas - We want to help the youngsters trying
to start up, make them understand that being
an entrepreneur is not just about the vanity and
that it takes real hard work to turn their ideas into
meaningful companies.
Time - Kitchen hopes to make it easier for the
older business fraternity to navigate the startup
ecosystem and see if they can
invest their time and money in
people and ideas.
Community - Building a
community of people who share
the same dreams and ideas is
big part of Kitchen.
Technology - is the greatest
asset of our generation. But it
is not easy for all. We hope to
break down the barriers between
generations using Technology.
We want to help the slightly
middle aged professionals
whose world has suddenly been
turned upside down by hoody
wearing college drop outs.
We hope that The Kitchen
becomes a great platform
for like minded individuals to
meet, collaborate and that they
too#PayitForward

4. 4
Cover Story
State of the startups in Kerala
*
2009 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
NR
1.72% 1.85% 4.76%2.77%51.1%0.79%3.96%2.91%3.04% 7.79% 6.87% 5.02%7.27%
161 21313722 155 5528121
Technology
startups in
KERALA757
Registration
year
Practice
area
Agro
Ad
Ed Tech
Energy
Fin tech Food
Game
Hardware
Health
Media
Retail
Software
Auto
134
15
6
4
23
414
40
19
13
59
3
19
2
Startups Ratio
12
87%
Co-founders 13%
Co-founders
4%
Founders
96%
Founders
22%
21%
35%
12%
10%
Rating for support from
ecosystem
1 to 5
2
53
1
4
28%
28%
32%
18%
27%
Rating for access to funding
1 to 5
1
2
3
4
5
Gender ratio
Agro AdEd TechEnergy Fin tech FoodGame HardwareHealth MediaRetail SoftwareAuto
13 22 30 366 55 59
388
38 52 22 21 14
Broad industry Segment
K
erala was among the first states in the
country to have an policy for startups
and create government vehicles to
implement schemes at grassroots level
to promote entrepreneurship in the state.
Government of Kerala initiated the startup
movement through Kerala Startup Mission
by forging and implementing forward-looking
policies for creating a vibrant start up ecosystem
in the state primarily to foster the growth of
innovationlead technology entrepreneurship.
Kerala now accommodates 18 incubators, 3
technolodges and 3 accelerators. Kerala Startup
Mission provides support and partnering at
various levels to these incubators for their
effective operation. Internet And Mobile
Association of India, the leading industry body
for mobile communications, enters Kerala with
Mobile 10x, opening new opportunities for app
development communities. Maker village in
Technology Innovation Zoneis equipped with
state of the art facilities for prototyping of
electronic hardware products. For the startups
innovating in Health and Life sciences TIMed and
BioNest provides state of art technologies.
It recently released a report on the vibrant
startup eco-system of the state. The report
has exhaustive data on the activities by KSUM
and also its results on ground. We have a quick
look of the data published in the report along
with gauging the mood of the eco-system
with opinion piece by industry veterans and
professionals.
Harunshah Salim
Director
Aabasoft Technologies
“I
ntensive Startup support activities are
happening across kerala these days
and even from the college level we have
Startup Bootcamps happening which can
plant that Entrepreneur thought into students.
The tool which is used here are the success
stories by keeping giants like Google, facebook,
Alibaba, whatsappetc as examples. These
students or people who are following these are
unaware of the fact that there
is a struggle which they cant imagine now behind
all of these success stories. When they start
their own company and when things become
serious they are losing the hope to move forward
because they only know about Successful
startups. Along with the success stories we have
to make them aware of Failure Stories also.”
Pratap T P
Co Founder & Director
Qwikcilver
I
t is interesting to observe the positive
spread of the Startups in Kerala – with a
representation coming from across all 14
districts, rather than be limited to only key
cities. The inherent pool of talent coupled
Startups Ratio
Game Energy Fin
tech
Food Retail Software Health HardwareEd
tech
Agro Ad MediaAuto
* This doesnot inclode non-technology startups and startups solely engaged in service business
* -still counting
NR-not registered
(considered in this study)
Courtesy:Kerala’sVibrantStartupEcosystemReport

5. 5
Cover Story
How corporates can find innovation
thehubforstartups.comPrakajt Raut
T
here is a lot of innovation happening
outside of company R&D labs.
In startups. And the only way
companies can get early access to
that innovation is if they engage with startups
meaningfully. Engaging with the startups
eco-system can give corporates to get early
access to innovation in several aspects of
their business-from disruptive products to
disruptive solutions in marketing, finance,
supply chain, operations and indeed any
aspect of business. Meaningfully designed
startup engagement programs can also help
companies attract talent, and enhance their
brand appeal with the younger generation of
entrepreneurially minded, innovation driven,
consumers. Below are some models and
initiatives that corporates could consider:
1. Organize competitions and awards in
categories relevant to them (e.g. A pharma
company can institute an award for healthcare
startups.)
2. Launching an innovation hunt in specific areas
of their interest: E.g. Anautomobile company or
a white goods company can create a program to
identify and engage with startups with robotics
or IoT solutions for manufacturing. Companies
can assist the winners in taking their business
to the next level via mentoring and access to
markets, etc., or they can even provide them
grants or prize money as might be possible for
the company.
3. Startup Mentoring Program: Companies can
encourage their senior professionals to mentor
relevant startups, and create a framework on
how that engagement can be meaningful for the
startup, mentor and the company. Mentoring
startups provides senior professionals a ringside
view of innovation in those companies.
4. Accelerator or Incubator Programs: A 3-6
month structured program to sharpen the
products and business of high-potential startups.
Many leading corporations across the globe
have found great value in launching accelerator/
incubator programs.
5. Investing in startups: Creating a fund to
support and invest startups, or co-investing via
existing platforms or angel investor networks
can give companies a deeper engagement with
startups that are most relevant to them.
with the infrastructural facilities of the state
would help to further boost and proliferate
this phenomenal metric. The setting up
of Technolodges in Kannur, Piravom and
Muvattupuzha also does show that the
efforts are in place to make this a grassroots
phenomenon. Right from Kasargod in the north,
down to Thiruvananthapuram in the South, every
municipality and panchayat has Immense talent
and potential across products and services
that can be conceptualized and scaled up. The
Startup ecosystem and the journey ahead will be
exciting indeed. May the force be with us!.
SR Nair
Mentor Director
Mentor Guru Professional Services
S
ome years back, Kerala consciously
wrested the control of the start-up
initiatives, leaving other states behind,
with the “poster boy’s” endeavour
called Start-up Village (which has moved its
HQ to some other State now) and later Kerala
Start-up Mission (KSUM), Maker Village, etc.,
that combined strength with KSIDC, KFC and
the Government to take control of the Start-up
constituency to claim its position as the Start-
up capital of the nation. The game plan not
only succeeded but also made the Central
Government follow many of its policies at the
national level ‘Start-up India’ program that was
launched with much fanfare by PM Modi. The
Kerala start-up (r)evolution still continues!
Years later, now, many of those start-ups are
at the stage of having completed its products/
solutions either through bootstrapping or
with frugal start-up funds received. While a
small number of them made it to the next
stage (sort of up a pre stand-up stage), many
of them are stuck at an awkward position of
‘neither here nor there’ mode, with no funds
available to do marketing and grow. Some of
the Central Government growth assistance
programs such as ‘collateral free start-up
loan’ only exists in paper. (I still remember
the terrible visit to Union Bank’s Regional
office at Kochi with a start-up entrepreneur).
Dearth of Angel funds and low interest loans
are making matters difficult. The banks are
not at all interested, eternally fearing the ‘NPA’
issues and the VCs do not look at them, for it
is a ’small cap’ for them. Truly, my heart goes
out to those Start-ups. I hope and pray that
time will bring cheers to them in the forms
of growth funds. It is also hoped that the
government, having taken up the initiative to
create the start-up culture in the state, will
come out with some plans to assuage the fear of
the start-up fraternity.
Robin Alex Panicker
Founder
BasilGregory Software Labs
K
erala Startup ecosystem is taking
baby steps. We are seeing some
really promising startups especially
in IoT, Energy, Machine Learning and
such. Long way to go, but surely we are moving
ahead. Some of the sectors we can certainly
excel are Education, Healthcare, Social Impact,
Clean Energy and SAAS, thanks to our inherent
strengths. We need to attract startups in these
domains to our state by providing an inclusive
ecosystem.
One of the main challenges faced by startups
in Kerala is lack of mentoring support. There
is a wrong perception that mentoring is more
of a charity work. That perception needs to be
corrected. Skill upgradation and knowledge
acquisition are a couple of other aspects we
need to work on. A good startup ecosystem
can only be built on top of a good knowledge
ecosystemonly be built on top of a good
knowledge ecosystem

6. 6
Feature
Every entrepreneur
needs a mentor!
F
ew roles in business attract as much in-
terest and attention as entrepreneurship.
Often characterized as the “rock stars”
of the business world, entrepreneurial
leaders enjoy a reputation as freewheeling and
innovative mavericks. They are assumed to have a
level of freedom, which traditional managers can
only dream of, and are perceived as operating in a
world far removed from the staid bureaucracy of
corporate life.
This romantic vision of entrepreneurship is
appealing but, like most stereotypes, it is wide
of the mark. In reality, overlap between entrepre-
neurial leaders and traditional managers is much
larger than is often assumed. Creative, innovative
individuals may possess phenomenal ideas; but it
takes vision, executional capability and business
discipline, to turn ideas into successful ventures.
The business gurus a yet to design a simple
formula or “entrepreneurship gene”, that can be
nurtured and replicated. But they do throw light on
certain characteristics and habits typically shared
by inspiring entrepreneurial leaders. These traits
alone are not enough to create the conditions for
business success. Building a successful entrepre-
neurial venture also depends on a complex inter-
action of internal and external factors, including
right timing, geography, culture and plain luck.
There seems to be consensus on two aspects
• There is no entrepreneurship gene
• Entrepreneurs can be mentored
In reality, there is no single entrepreneurship gene.
But there are traits and experiences that make
it more likely that an individual will choose the
path of entrepreneurship and, crucially, succeed
over the long term. The set of management
behaviours that characterize many entrepreneur-
ial leaders lies along a spectrum, which includes
factors such as a willingness to take risks and
seize opportunities, and an openness to change.
Successful entrepreneurial leaders will often fall
toward one end of that spectrum in at least one
of those factors, but they will also draw upon
a variety of other life experiences to create the
finished product.
This is where one sees the importance of ‘Busi-
ness mentors’. An entrepreneur who is leading
a business is always ‘alone’ in some sense. She
often does not know where to ask, when to ask
or who to ask. It is then always a boon to have
someone to ask questions, clear their clouds
and bounce off ideas. The entrepreneurial
environment today across the world is blessed
to have successful legends ready to spend time
and to share their experience with the question-
ing minds. I have seen scores of entrepreneurs,
young and old, getting insightful advice and
making the necessary course corrections to
court success in their ventures.
This mentoring relationship lacks the structure
of a formal engagement, deliverables, creeping
timelines et.al. It is a one to one relationship
which has the potential to be a life altering event
for both the mentor and mentee. So what are
the qualifications of a good mentor? A good
mentor need to have the experience, expertise,
endurance, empathise and to elucidate.
Experience: A mentor who has ‘been there and
done that’ is far more effective that someone
who has not experienced the travails.
Expertise: This is not the technical capability in
a sector of industry. But the ability to understand
the fundamentals of business, decision making,
understanding of risk and risk management.
Endurance: Patience is key ; being a sounding
board is not an easy task. The urge to pre-
maturely advise is infectious in experienced
mentors too !
Empathise : A popular business leader once
told me the difference between sympathy and
empathy. He articulated that ‘ Sympathy is
stepping into the shoes of the other and living
his emotions ; while empathy is stepping in,
understanding and then stepping out and taking
an unbiased view !” It is a very important skill in
the mentor’s repertoire.
Elucidate : Ability to explain a point of view
and clearly communicate through examples ,
allegories etc. is vital !
The key to success of having a good mentor
relationship is often not the mentor but the
mentee.
Rajesh Nair
1.Dropbox
One of the newest features & most recommended is
the one that let you scan document and store them.
Using this with the folder sync on your laptop if the
like the icing on top which makes it a must have
tool/app for every professional.
2. Keynote
Using images or typography is been the key part of
my presentations and with keynote, that’s a walk in
the park.
3. Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark has been the surprise kid in the block,
which surprisingly hasn’t bee mainstream yet.
This is one web/mobile tool that’s a must try if you
already haven’t.
4. Adobe post
Adobe Post is the cleanest solution to make custom
content from the 100s of them out there.
5. Adobe Fill & Sign
If you need to fill in some forms and get is signed
and send, this is the tool to use.
You can add texts and signature and send it in a
giffy.
6. MailChimp app
The Mailchimp mobile app helps you to to create
emailers, send them & track performance on the go.
7. Wally
Expensify is great but wally is the one if you want to
track both professional and personal expenses on a
daily basis.
8. Cloze
After using Salesforce, Cloze looked like a relief in
term of managing your leads. A simple easy to use
CRM tool that’s easy to use across devices.
9. GifLab
GIF is the format to use in terms of social posts or
emailers that’s been more effective. Once you create
videos or simply wants to create gif using photos
Giflab is the easiest way to do it.
9 apps that are a must for
every professional
G
etting work done on the go is the most
vital part of a modern professional and
that means he/she needs to leverage
technology. Below are some apps we have
vetted to be handy for every professional who seeks
to do this.
linkedin.com/in/rajesh-nair-4578339

7. 7
Feature
Upcoming Event
Entrepreneurship Food
Healthcare & Tourism
Global Entrepreneurship
Summit 2017
HICC, Hyderabad
Tickets: http://www.ges2017.gov.in/
SIAL Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Tickets :http://www.sialme.com/
Excel Mec
MEC,Kochi
Tickets : https://excelmec.org
Kerala Helath Tourism
The Raviz Resort & Spa Kadavu,
Calicut, Kerala, India
Tickets :www.cii.in
October 26 ( Thursday ) 2017
Holiday Inn, Kochi
Tickets :www.kitchen.org.in
October 25 ( Wednesday ) 2017
Trivandrum
Tickets :www.kitchen.org.in
The Aeonian 2017
World Trade Centre , Mumbai south
Tickets : https://www.theaeonian.in/
Tie con Kerala
Le Meridien Convention Centre,
Maradu,Ernakulam, Kerala
Tickets: http://tieconkerala.org/
World Food India 2017
New Delhi
Tickets: www.worldfoodindia.in TEDxTrivandrum
Infosys Campus, Trivandrum
Tickets: tedxthiruvananthapuram.com
Other
1 October 2017
Trinity College Of Eng, Trivandrum
Tickets : http://barcampkerala.org/
P U B L I C A T I O N
A
November 10, 2017 @ 9:00 AM
November 11, 2017 @ 6:30 PM
November 28th
- 30th
, 2017
17-18 November 2017
Gulfood Manufacturing
Dubai world trade center
Tickets : gulffoodmanufacturing.com
31 oct - 2 Nov 2017
3-5 November 2017
9-11 November 2017
Oct 9- Oct 10, 2017
October 22 at 2 PM - 8 PM
12-14 Dec 2017
2017 October 5,6,7
Thu- 9 Nov 10:00 AM
Fri- 10 Nov 6:00 PM
Editor
Andrine Mendez
Creative Head
Pankaj Sadasivan
Design & Layout
Nithin Shah S
The Kitchen
T
he Rs 2000 croreSynthite group, the
global leader in the value-added spices,
is venturing into personal care segment
with a slew of innovative products,
which will hit the market next month.
To start with the company will launch
soaps and hair oils under the brands
Vieda and Nuvo that will be different
from the conventionally available
products. “We are aiming at Rs 200
crore revenue from these products in
the next two years,” said Vishal Menon,
chief development officer, Synthite.
Did you know
Synthite group to foray into
personal care segment
Blockchain Business
Conference
Fintech Valley, Hotel
Novotel,Visakhapatnam
ticket : www.blockchainbusiness
conference.com
Nasscom Game Developer
Conference 2017
Infosys Campus, Trivandrum
Tickets: tedxthiruvananthapuram.com
Hindustan Unilever acquired Indulekha brand for
Rs 330 croreis a record for any brand sold out
from Kerala. The last big acquisition was Godrej
acquiring Goodnight brand from Trans Electra
Domestic Products in 1994.
AVA Healthcare, manufacturer ayurvedic soap
brand Medimix, has tied up with hairstylist and
makeup artist Ambika Pillai for its new range
of hair and skincare products under the brand
Kaytra.

8. 8
Feature