I am really pi**** at the way Mr. Subramanian is conducting himself. I seriously believe that his actions and representations to the media jeopardize the fragile VC-Start Up’s ecosystem that is being built in India. Unless some serious corporate governance action is initiated against him by ‘non interested parties’, VC’s will shirk away from getting their hands dirty with start up deals and first generation entrepreneurs. It is with this objective that I demand he answers my following 5 questions:
- Why are you objecting to another audit by ICICI Ventures?
- What are you hiding?
- Isn’t the lead investor in your company allowed to ‘reassure’ by hiring a professional agency that what you record in your books is really correct?
- Why are you legally challenging ICICI Ventures and investors about their rights and privileges?
- Any sensible entrepreneur who raises private equity understands that ‘risk’ capital will come with a set of safeguard measures that will only help investors safeguard their capital. Try raising money from money lenders or banks or financial institutions to understand how rigid and demanding their safeguard criteria can be.
- Of course ICICI Ventures will have a say in board composition, decision involving critical company affairs etc etc! Is Mr. Subramanian a child to think that he will be given all that venture capital without any questions asked? Also remember, no VC ever wants to control or run a company – they invest in entrepreneurs to do that. They only keep certain control mechanics in place so that any invested company doesn’t go haywire
- What were you thinking when you stopped paying Provident Fund dues?
- This is the most bizarre part of the Subhiksha debacle. How can anyone expect to renege on PF payments? Yes, I know cases where companies delay PF payments in terms of working capital bottleneck situations, but it cant be avoided! I guess tomorrow we will hear Subramanian asking for a ‘settlement’ with PF also
- Why did you wait for so long?
- Any businessman knows when the tide has turned against him and when the ship has begun to sink. If the ship is sinking, you gather your men and safely get out of the boat. Subhiksha was not struck by fire or a tsunami that caused overnight losses. In a paper thin trading business of groceries, if you sell at less than what you buy, it doesn’t take a Wharton MBA to tell you something stinks. I really question what Mr. Subhiksha was thinking?
- How dare you even propose a reverse merger of your company into some obscure unknown company?
- With the mess Subhiksha is in, shouldn’t the priority and time spent be on selling out non perished stocks, winding down rent agreements, recovering dues from consumers etc rather than concocting the hijack of your own company by some shell construction company who is a Chennai listed firm? This reminds me of those young kids who get their friends to kidnap them so that their parents can shell out some ransom money.
I would urge everyone who reads this to really pass it on and get as many people involved. We need to represent that as a country on the threshold of an entrepreneurship renaissance, cheats like Subramanian are not acceptable.
If someone can pass this on to him, all the better! I hope he has the courage and/or the ethics to answer.
*******
on rodinhood.com