It was 5-6 months back when Karthik had recommended the list of autobiographies. Shoe Dog was one of the recommendations besides a dozen others. Sometimes we need encouragement and autobiographies like these help. It resulted in me reading Shoe Dog. I enjoyed every page of the book; It was like a script out of a …
Category Archives: startups
What
I was on a call with Ajey today: one take away was WHAT? As a founder knowing “WHAT” drives “HOW”. Our journey becomes less painful. We then start seeking for How. In short, “What” brings clarity and depth to our purpose.
decision
When you have decided to take a particular decision, you are in a man with a hammer syndrome. You will find all reason to nail blame. Our life is too short; everyone is connected via the 6th degree of separation. This attitude does more harm to ourselves than others. Our rationality goes for a toss. …
emptiness
I was reading a WSJ article on the death of Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos. It makes me wonder how someone with all the achievements and accumulation had so much emptiness within. The article cites drug usage, alcohol consumption, and other methods Tony was experimenting with himself. How much wealth or professional success matters when …
Lead with context, not control
In Reed Hastings’s book: no rules rules, one chapter is titled “Lead with context, not control.” When you hire smart, super talented people and give them proper specification of developments and let them decide. They will end up building the best. You just gave them context and, they took it from there. They will dislike …
team
In his book ‘no rules rules’; Reed Hastings talks about building an organization on an analogy of a sports team, not as a family. When you are building a sports team, you will pick the best. People will compete and perform at their peak and byproduct being team winning. There will be no mediocrity. When …
please
Reed Hastings: No rules rules talk about “don’t seek to please your boss.” In the end, it is about the company, not an individual persona. It is okay to be dissent, ask questions, and give feedback. It reminded me of Ray Dalio’s Radical openness. If the organization and management run on pleasing their leaders, how …
Communication
I have realized now that one thing which can screw up employees and employer relationships is communication. You can be an A player, but if you are not able to communicate with your peers, clients, or superiors you will stay miserable. You will die a little every day, and when nothing would work, one fine …
customers expectation
There is a thin line between a product company turning into a service company. In the early days, when you have anchor customers, and you are developing to solve their pain point, it works. As you grow and own over a dozen customers, you have to be very careful about prioritizing customer’s feature expectations. Some …
mistake
We are all humans; we are not perfect. We commit all kinds of mistakes in life: be it work, life, or relationship. We should learn from our mistakes and avoid repeating them. That will do justice. It is easy to sulk in deep emotional outbursts, depression which is not the solution. Socrates stressed acquiring self-knowledge. …