As a founder, I am reminded about the pace of shipping, iterating, and closing. It gets growth and advantage over competitors. It results in raising quickly and building a high-growth startup and, surge in valuation. Being part of the startup and VC ecosystem, I have noticed one big moat, the pace of closing deals. Last …
Category Archives: startups
customers
What amazon does differently than its counterparts is: obsession with their customer’s delight and satisfaction. I was going through this post and saw the YouTube video below. Jeff Bezos defined the entire company’s focus on customers and explained over a napkin. As companies or startups grow, they go on raising subsequent rounds of funding. An …
checklist
Sometimes I wonder if we are living my own life. It is like enabling someone else checklist. It is like running fast and, it seems there is no end to it. Is this how we humans live? Is consumerism or it is society? Or is it we who is responsible for this? Are you living …
together
One positive side of a small startup is the bond, togetherness. Everything else comes afterward. The happy, sad moments, cry, laugh, and celebrations we are all together in it. The first sales close, customers appreciation mail, Whatsapp message. It forms a small part of our life’s journey. After all, nothing is permanent. Money decides your …
Interview
We have been interviewing interns for two-quarters of paid internships. I have been noticing a trend in most of the CVs: AI and Data analytics. I am not going to blame the students as they are just getting out there and acquiring familiarity. What worries me is almost everyone wants to do AI and, most …
founders
It is easy to give advice to a founder or criticize them when things go south. As long as he/she takes care of stakeholders’ interests, everything acts as a utopia. As an employee, consultant, investor, or press, it is easy to get annoyed over the founder’s action. I am not saying all founders are perfect. …
control
Leadership is not about control or being right. It is about having beliefs and allowing peers to work independently. It will energize a team to go at any length and succeed. I am seeing a trend where leadership has ended up in micro-managing peers. Being always right has taken over working together. It also means …
Village
The next wave of India’s technological development is poised to happen in tier 3-4 cities. The infrastructure has gotten better and, most importantly, the connection among founders, team. People who go to IIT/IIM talks about networking. Imagine half a dozen school friends ending up building small Micro-SaaS, apps development, software testing, and turning entrepreneur eating, …
filter
A founder’s other important virtue is the art of filtering. Building a startup is no different than having a roller coaster ride or getting married. People are a priced asset and define success. It is too easy to get carried away by the opinions of others. It is easy to get stressed on the critical …
process
Marty Cagen’s Inspired has a simple success recipe for an organization. Hire a bunch of smart, independent people. Define a process, which has a roadmap and timelines. An outcome will be a successful product. I always had this back of my mind, and we have worked with amazing people all these last four years. A …