In my personal view getting to zero net debt and focussing on value creation and ROI is going back to first principles of prudent use of capital, monetize when money is available and building long term Alliances/Partnerships/JVs. I am sure Mr. Ambani and his team may have thought about it, but still wanted to propose that, given his quality of thinking big and taking large bets here are my thoughts for his consideration to kicking start Startup Ecosystem:
Reliance may focus on creating an environment to promote entrepreneurship and risk-taking by allocating USD 2 Bn risk capital as there is truly not enough risk appetite or capital available for path-breaking innovations/ biz models to promote Startups/MSME.
They can create an ecosystem by bringing together all stakeholders target 50000 patents or more within next 3 years if not sooner, build a large start-up farm with all the requisite infrastructure to provide technology, market access, mentors, connect to world-class institutions, etc.
The debt capacity that is released as a result of zero net debt can be partially deployed by lending institutions in the Startup / MSMEs. This is consistent with the philosophy I shared in another post on the mindset of established business and startups in the current economic environment. On another note, I was deeply “dilse” impressed with a vision of Reliance shared by Mr. Ambani at the AGM.
I wish Mr. Ambani and Reliance Family all the best in nation-building and value creation.
20 August 2019