The death of an entrepreneur

Death is tragic. Suicide is tragic and traumatic. The death of an entrepreneur leaves an unfathomable void. The suicide of an entrepreneur leaves us in despair, makes aspirationals despondent and leads to loss of hope.

And the suicide of a successful entrepreneur has much more profound impact. India and its corporate world went through such a painful experience when V G Siddhartha Hedge, the founder of Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), was found dead in Netravati river near Mangaluru in Karnataka earlier this week.

He went missing in that area the previous day. A letter left behind by him had enough hints that he committed suicide. Siddhartha built CCD chain of coffee shops from the scratch.

From a single coffee cafe in Bengaluru in 1996, the chain now has over 1,700 outlets, employing nearly 20,000 people. The chain, which also has presence abroad, generated over Rs 4,000 crore in revenues during FY19. His group is the largest exporter of coffee from India.

Born into a family that is into coffee beans business for over a century, he set up a financial advisory firm in Bengaluru before going big. His investments spread across diverse sectors including IT, real estate and what not.

He was well-connected politically as well. He married the daughter of S M Krishna, former Congress Chief Minister of Karnataka, and currently a BJP leader. 60-year-old Siddhartha made a mark in the entrepreneurial world long before Indians and India got familiar with words like 'entrepreneurship' and 'entrepreneur'.

Then why did he take the extreme step of ending his own life despite reaching pinnacle in the entrepreneurial world? He cited harassment by an Income Tax Department official, which led to liquidity crunch in his companies.

He also mentioned about pressure from a private equity firm to buyback its stake in the coffee chain, and pressures from other lenders which made him to 'give up'. Many routinely face harassment from I-T Department as some I-T officials believe that it's their birth right to humiliate people – big or small.

They don't understand how their actions or overactions will impact cashflows of a company or business entity. People suffer silently because they fear their businesses will be ruined if they take on I-T officials. Pressures from private equity players and venture capitalists are also true.

Many entrepreneurs don't knock at the doors of venture capital firms simply because they fear they will lose control over their venture once VCs enter. It's sad to know that a bright entrepreneur has to pay a heavy price with his life on account of harassment by an I-T official and pressures from PEs.

As I always say, India is a country of contradictions - economic, social or otherwise. Salaries here are the lowest in the world, taxes are the highest and corruption all pervasive. Building a successful enterprise in this country is a Herculean task.

But India needs to mend its ways and make business ideas flourish and help entrepreneurs realise their dreams without any hassles. That's imperative if India wants to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and emerge as a true global leader.

The diminishing tribe of anti-capitalists and pro-left brigade may not agree, but the world needs more and more successful entrepreneurs so that the growing population will have decent jobs at their disposal.

Worldwide, governments threw up their hands long back when it comes to generating jobs and employment opportunities. Private sector, businessmen and entrepreneurs have taken up that responsibility now. Global e-commerce major Amazon has 6.47 lakh employees worldwide.

IT giant Microsoft employs 1.4 lakh people. Google has a headcount of over 1 lakh globally. Its salary package ranges from $65k to $160k. Of course, that's outside India. Salaries are a lot lower in India.

Back home, we have Infosys which provides jobs to 2.28 lakh people. The common link among these companies is that they have been founded by first generation entrepreneurs.

So, these companies bear testimony to the invaluable value of a successful entrepreneur.

True tribute to Siddhartha lies in making CCD a financially-sound business enterprise. That sends out a strong message that there is indeed life at the end of the tunnel.

Will that happen? Hope for the best and that's what drives enthusiasm into entrepreneurs. Siddhartha's death happened at a time when India is trying to become global hub for startups.

It is very unlikely that India will achieve its goal unless it curbs corruption, streamlines I-T department and clears other hurdles that hamper entrepreneurship.