October 2008

By Sarath Srinivasan

Recently a fellow venture catalyst and I were having a discussion on the real meaning and intent of a Venture Catalyst. The debate revolved around on what we must and must not do for a client. What does a client truly value in a Venture Catalyst? How should a Venture Catalyst add value?

To answer this we must look at the Milagrow vision – "We are Venture Catalysts. We nurture ideas and enable enterprises to attain ethical, sustainable and profitable growth."

We must work with clients to add value in a sustainable manner. A quick way to test whether we are engaging the client in a sustainable manner, at any point of time is to perform a thought experiment. If we have been carrying out a host of activities and we decide to stop those activities at some point in time - will the organisation have benefited in the long run? If the answer is yes then you are on the right track, if the answer is no then we need to rethink our role in the organisation.