I watched Gulabo Sitabo on Amazon Prime yesterday. The movie got me thinking. I was born and raised in a small city in Bihar. I have seen how people get so hooked to one thing. It reminds me of our house my parents built with all sweat and hard work. My mother the idea of …
Author Archives: Atul
stories
I grew up listening to stories of fairies, ghosts, witches, and shrewd foxes from my grandma. It would depend on her mood, when happy it’s about fairies and prince/kingdom. The outcome would be union, happiness, and courage. When Grandma would be in the mood of sharing wisdom, the knowledge it will be about foxes, cows, …
Build
Some customers think they can build everything themselves and consider it as an advantage over their peers. The reason for it is very simple: Sunk cost and the Ikea Effect. The sunk cost of their knowledge and skill. How can it go to waste? Even though this is no more our primary task. The Ikea …
Wandering
I remember the early days of my 20’s. So much was all about exploration. From IRC to Linux distros to mailing lists. It feels nostalgic. Looking back now, I see the positive side of it. Getting lost, connected, lazying, or communicating has a positive side as well. When you are not looking for something, just …
Qualified Customers
Saas metrics are in abundance when it comes to qualifying leads or potential customers. Various analogies are taken into account like ticket size, effort to move to the platform. In the early days of product development and onboarding customers, my learning has been different. Customers or teams who are empathetic with you during the trial …
unique
We are all unique, so is our life and our journey. There is no one fit for all. The challenges my cook is going through are different than mine. We cannot compare the life of the two. The same applies to run a startup. Each has its vision, journey, and true north. A lot of …
Customers
Customers who care for you want to work with you will treat you as part of their internal team. They are part of your product development team. You have to listen and get every clue from their feedback, usage patterns. My friends tell me why am I so transparent with them, the simple reason is …
Believers
I keep hearing from my friends and experienced sales folks about closing. My last 24 hours experience has been different. There is no one fit for all. A sale is about solving customer’s pain, delighting him. Closing the revenue target is a byproduct. A sale is about making him or her comfortable. It is about …
advancement
What advancement are we talking about? An era where everyone is suffering from panic, stress? Everyone is running faster and getting sick. We have won over deadly diseases Cholera, leprosy et all with the advancement in science. Advancement gave rise to deadly lifestyle diseases though. Diabetes, stress, blood pressure, heart attack accounts for major death …
fundamentals
Running a business, life or a relationship requires a set of defined fundamentals. The system will only sail smoothly until our fundamentals are correct. Defining a fundamental is not an easy job. It requires a lot of thinking and answering 5 why’s Whatever ship you are sailing, try to keep your fundamentals right. Ask questions …