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. …
Category Archives: startups
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 …
The mom test
I wish someone had given a copy of this book: the mom test, when I was starting up. It would have saved 1000 odd hours which as a team we consumed in meetings and shipping features. As an early-stage company and a first-time founder, I have gone through many cycles. Sometimes misread what customer is …
feature crap
As an early-stage startup building product from the ground up, please prioritize features early on. It is a feature creep that will kill you before the starvation of funds. It is very easy to fall for users feedback, compliment as an ego boost. We rally behind every other request we get from our users. We …
Corona Effect
Corona Virus is talk of the hour. Be it twitter, phone, WhatsApp, everywhere is surfaces. WHO has declared it a pandemic. It started in China and now traveled across the world. It will take at least 18 months to ship a vaccine. It is elderly who are worst affected by this virus. The dogs are …
UX Learning
When I started building my product, I had no clue about user experience. Sitting with customers, listening to their pain points and watching them use products is learning. I am still far from being perfect, but getting better every day. Some Takeaway: Similarity: We humans avoid cognitive overload. We are lazy and dislike doing things …
founders
Off late talking to lot many founder friends. One major question which pops us what could go wrong: money, idea, market? Again and again, the answer was: founders giving up too easily. Running a startup is like venturing into uncharted territory, the outcome is not defined. A lot many founders get into it for the …
competition
At times my friends tell me I am competing with a certain product, market or industry. This conversation gets dragged to infinity at times. I have a standard template for the reply, I am painting my world with a unique paintbrush. I am working on solving customer’s pain points while sitting next to them. The …
Bigbasket story
All this while I have read books on Zappos, Amazon, Walmart, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks and MacDonalds. They mostly spoke about companies created in America. Bigbasket is a homegrown company and the author happens to be HR of the book Saying No to Jugaad: The Making of Bigbasket. The book talks about a similar element of …
Crossing the Chasm
After 3 years of the purchase, I finally finished reading Crossing the Chasm. It was one of my favorite reads in 2019. The book talks about types of customers, the journey of product development and crossing the chasm. The author identifies customers in 5 different types, from my understanding I have shortened it to just …