Dr. Dharma Prasad, a Mysorean, a scientist-entrepreneur, Managing Director & Chief Technology Officer of Prosetta Bioconformatics Pvt Ltd, wears a number of hats — Non-Executive Director, Vipragen Biosciences, Mysore; Honorary Visiting Professor, JSS College of Engineering, Mysore; Chairman, Board of Trustees, Samvidya Trust, — a trust dedicated to science education and focused on bringing desirable changes in imparting, encouraging and enhancing science learning for children, and Member of various professional and educational boards. He is a personality extremely passionate about education and entrepreneurship.
He visited MYRA School of Business on October 6, 2015 to share interesting takeaway lessons from his experiences in his entrepreneurial journey. Being a scientist at heart, business was not natural but as they say, if there is a will, there is a way; so, the journey was interesting and so are the challenges we face in tier II cities like ours, he said.
In very simple terms, he said, human life and resolve starts with a simple interaction, sometimes chance, sometimes intentional. We get attracted to what we interact with even in a chance encounter; a simple visual or audible cue or a casual chat can turn into like, love and sometimes business. An urge to satisfy a need is what drives all of these and ultimately builds huge businesses. He recalled how a chance email that he wrote made him what he is today; a routine call with a friend lead to starting the Samvidya Trust; a casual discussion turned into a serious business leading to a successful company; and a chance visit gave birth to a new company with a strong vision.
Such things happen to so many people not because they are ready and looking for it to happen; but because they are open to new ideas and people, heemphasized. Organizations are built by people, they are the ones who drive it and ultimately kill it. Being open and sincere with the people you interact creates opportunities that can change your life, he said.
He was passionate in discussing the challenges and the journey of all his ventures. He specifically dwelt upon the issues relating to owning a business and dealing with government and all its regulations— this issue being relevant to the future business managers who formed the majority of the audience.
What makes an idea that is born out of a need to gather strength and run into a successful business? What are the interactions that lead from an idea- to start up- to a business that weathers multiple business cycles? Where to start and how to manage an organization? What is the idea that runs Prosetta?
In answering such issues, his talk dwelt upon the roles and responsibilities that business enterprises (big and small) and government (central, state and local) owe each other. Business firms mandatorily comply by the laws of the land; they look to the government for support, sustenance, encouragement and guidance. One of the important responsibilities of business towards the government is tax payments— Professional tax, service tax, income tax, sales tax, and so on and they constitute a major source of revenue to the government. While the government enforces laws and regulations under which the business functions, business enterprises have no choice but to play the game by the rules thus enforced, he emphasized. Government agencies conduct inspection activities on foods and drugs, assuring quality products to consumers; on establishments, ensuring that business houses follow statutory laws; government also provides infrastructure to run businesses. Even though outdated procedures are still followed by the governments in this technological era; even though complying to these government issues is time consuming, mundane and sometimes painstaking, businesses have to toe in line with the government at all times; he said.
He took his audience through a short journey of what his company Prosetta is currently doing and its vision of creating drugs to battle with the larger life-threatening diseases. The talk was very well received by the students and medical professionals from leading hospitals like JSS, St. Joseph’s and Apollo who participated in the event.