I know Covid19 has had the biggest impact on a shared economy. Companies like Uber, WeWork, OYO are struggling to stay afloat. Layoff stories are everyday things now. Matayoshi Son, the visionary behind Softbank fund is in the midst of all these crises. His vision fund 1 had to right off many investments. Venture Capital …
Category Archives: startups
Sales
I read Sequoia Capital post on sales. It covers many aspects brilliantly. I am adding some below: Perceived values: Work on marketing your product and increase it. Don’t sell for cheap: Apply decoy effect if it helps. Know your pinch point: Find the fat tail, people who will pay most. My sales journey has taught …
important
With a small team and limited resources, one has to be very cautious in what they are building. In the era of COVID19 sales have slowed down, license renewal has gone on hold. When you are a small team and get a constant influx of ideas, getting carried away and building some new feature or …
align
In the early days of a startup, we have everything at stake. Chances of failing are more than making big. It is important to have a solid founding team who can go against all odds. Each one of us has to be open with our goals and should have priorities aligned with the organization. Most …
bug
You have to be crazy to run a startup. 9 out of 10 times things get screwed. Be it team, customer, product, legal, investors or partnership. Nothing is certain. We have limited things in our control. The outcome like the shiny unicorn also depends on many externalities. All we have to do is to keep …
Effort and Incentive
We are lazy. All technological advancement: the washing machine, mixer grinder, and many others invented for the same. We don’t like changing habits as well. Making someone adapt to a new system is super challenging. Unless we are incentivized or rewarded 10X our effort, we are not switching our existing workflow. An incentive for your …
luxury
Since IMF is formally announced we are in a recession, a tough time is here. They also mentioned that this one is going to be worst that 2007. I am sure time will tell us more about it. But in the current scenario, things are messy. We are all indoors, everything is shut and the …
people
This is the time when you will be tested as a leader. This is a time when every single decision of yours will define the leadership for the future. This is the time when your decision can make or break someone’s life and belief. This is the time when you are going to be looked …
Sales Cycle
I have been told that enterprise sales take months to years in closing. But if the ticket size is small, decisions are taken quickly. Some of my learning from my mistakes has been simple. Do not take customers’ agreement on face value, get it in writing. Limit the trial period for a week or two. …
early adopters
As a founder, solving a problem one has to find early adopters. These are people who will use your product from day 0, even when your product is broken or half baked. These early adopters come in two categories. Those who like and care for you. You will find many well-wishers who will come as …