Having A Vision And A Plan Of How To Get There Is Most Important For Success: Karan Mohla, Partner and Executive Director, IDG Ventures

Chiranjiv Patel, Managing Director, PC Snehal Group, Dheeraj Jain, Managing partner Redcliffe Capital and Karan Mohla, Executive Director IDG Ventures India have managed to crack the success Formula at many levels.

They all three agreed that Success is subjective.

At the BW Disrupt 40 under 40 Awards, they shared their stories and individual success mantras with Hoshie Ghaswalla, CEO, BW BusinessWorld in a panel session on “Cracking the Success Formula."

Chiranjiv Patel is a 3rd generation entrepreneur, belonging to a family deeply entrenched in the infrastructure business which has a presence in 10 states across the country.

While financial success is a huge indicator of success, Patel believes that it is only once you know your “why" that true success will truly roll in. 

It is only once you know that way that you will be able to digest the stress and toll that entrepreneurship brings along with it.

For him, personally, financial success came secondary to it.

“The Formula has changed today – Communication- social media plays a huge role in addition to the right kind of mentorship, dedication, persistence and most importantly giving back to society, your company and home.”

Patel makes sure to invest and give back his time to his employees and the society at a larger level. He believes that carrying employees forward is the only way to succeed.

In fact, many of the managers from his initial business have gone on to set up their own setups with his support.

Patel believes in Karma greatly and has a foundation called Karma Foundation through which he gives back to society.

Patel's entrepreneurial journey began at the young age of 23 in a neighbours garage and he hasn’t looked back ever since.

Next year he hopes that his order book will be around 1500 crores and of going into an IPO.

Dheeraj Jain, MD of Redcliffe Capital, is a first generation entrepreneur and today has investments in more than 30 companies.

Dheeraj believes that success depends on consistency and a continuous hustling spirit. He strongly feels that success is ascertained by the impact one makes on ones personal and professional circles.

The amount of wealth you have created and for others collectively is a marker in his opinion. One cannot be exclusive of the other.

“Belief in self, a consistent killer instinct and patience are very important for success. Also when investing in an entrepreneur one should look at the level of personal challenges they are dealing with. Are they ready to be entrepreneurs and of course Business Model?,” he stresses.

He feels that failure is part and parcel of success, it is only once one fails that one learns and those are the kind of people he likes to invest in. 

“The team is key for success. The more they fail the more I will back them. Also knowing when to exit is another key factor. Today we have created 5000 jobs in India through our portfolio so to me that is one of the biggest indicators of success,” he shared.

Karan Mohla Partner and executive Director IDG Ventures invests solely in the tech and tech-enabled sector.

He proudly shares that what he does today is exactly what he wanted to do. 

“I had a gradual realization as a money manager that success is on two sides. One is judged by the entrepreneurs we partner with and the other is judged by good returns for the investor,” he says.

Being an apprentice to an investor and learning by watching and not doing are very helpful in becoming successful according to him. 

“Having a vision and plan to get there, with no ifs and buts is equally important along with a willingness to admit ones shortcomings with an ability to change and reinvent yourself. Out of the box thinking is an added benefit and of course being at the right place at the right time,” he shares.

The magic ingredient without which the potion of success is impossible is "Luck”, agree all three!