BBIC Interview with Mohana Prabhakar

This week we caught up with Mohana Prabhakar (pictured left) of Apex Press and Publishing - one of Oman's most influential business editors. Mohana is also a member of the BBIC judging panel and this is what she had to say on Steve Jobs; conservative bankers; and her own California start-up experience.

Can you give us an overview of Apex Press and Publishing?
We've been in the publishing business for over 25 years. Our products include many of Oman’s firsts: Oman Today – a leisure magazine, BusinessToday – a business monthly and TheWeek – the first free paper in the region. Last year we launched our first titles in Arabic: Al Youm, a weekly family magazine and Al Isbou’a, a free weekly paper.

Why have you become involved in the TKM – Ernst & Young Big Business Idea Competition?
In an economy that's fast expanding and with opportunities coming up in every sector, our objective as a leading media house, is to do as much as possible to highlight these developments and thereby build confidence in today’s youth to come forward with their ideas. The BBIC is technology focused and that's another reason for us to get involved.

How important are start-ups to Oman’s economy?
Extremely important – enterprise among the youth in any country is seen as a true barometer of economic progress.

What personal experience do you have of the start-up culture?
I worked for a software start-up in Mountainview, California, joining the company just after it had been set-up. The biggest thing I brought back from that experience was that there was never any time to sit down and moan that something wasn't possible – you just got on with finding a solution. Everything was possible, because you thought it was. Our experience with launching TheWeek was a similar experience, though it doesn’t really qualify as a start-up. We worked on it with one objective in mind – to make it a success. If we'd listened to the huge number of naysayers, Oman's Wednesdays wouldn't be what they are today.

What characteristics do you need to be a successful entrepreneur?
Primarily, you need to be a person who isn't afraid of taking risks. Be prepared to be in there for the long haul and understand that you have to work very hard to be successful. Planning is another important aspect of entrepreneurship and you can’t be an expert at everything so you need to seek the advice of experts. Don’t be embarrassed when you make a mistake. Learn from it and your chance of success improves immeasurably. Just don’t make the same mistake again.

Which international entrepreneur has inspired you and why?
Steve Jobs – he said ‘stay hungry, stay foolish’. He went from a garage to a US$2bn company to being fired at 30 from the company he set up, and came back with Pixar and NeXT and again ended up at Apple. The other is the man who revolutionised the way the world felt about Indian software capabilities, N R Narayana Murthy.

How could the region’s banking community improve the services they provide to start-ups?
Traditionally, it's always been difficult for businesses that ask for loans on intangibles – until you start your business you have nothing material with which to convince the conservative banker. Add to that a fresh entrepreneur, and the banker is even more worried. This is especially true for the tech sector, where you're often dealing with just an idea of a software application that you can’t see or touch and bankers as we all know have trouble putting their faith (and money) into ventures like this. Things have improved in recent years, but there's still a lot more that needs to be done to help entrepreneurs. Going the venture capital route is a possibility.

What path do you suggest for would-be Omani entrepreneurs?
Don’t try and reinvent the wheel – or concentrate on coming up with an idea that nobody has ever had. Identify the need and then go fill it.
What are the drawbacks to being an entrepreneur?
Get used to working 24/7, living with uncertainty, possible financial instability, and accept the possibility that you may have to start from scratch again.
What do you think the dotcom has done for enterprise and innovation?
Showed us how easy it is to be successful and equally how fragile that success can be.

How do you recognize the next big thing?
I don’t think you can. There's no set path to this and the smallest idea becomes the biggest thing and vice versa. Just believe in what you're doing and go for it with all you’ve got – if you find you can do that, possibly, that’s your next big thing.