The last 4 weeks have been supercrazy for me. It feels like I’m back in my college days, hacking around, setting up Linux machines, and playing with various distros. The only thing that has changed now is the emergence of LLM and the mainstream adoption of AI. As a founder of a startup, one of …
Category Archives: startups
owners
Many leaders are scared of passing their batons to their subordinates. One reason could be that they are scared of seeing them fail, which could affect the morale of the entire team. Another reason could be that they are control freaks. One thing I have learned about building a startup is that it is a …
Alpha
I sell software for a living to the venture capital sector. I meet many people regularly. Many of the successful firms seeking alpha returns have kept relationships above all. A few founder friends reach out for background checks about the organization from which they are seeking funding. My advice: go to the ones who will …
Maturity
A founder’s life juggles between insanity. What can save is having a responsible team. For that to happen, culture should embed maturity as a virtue. As a leader, if you do not ask questions and make people take responsibility, you will get nothing in output. A founder cannot run around like a headless chicken in …
Stand
You have to hold your ground and stand tall. Look at the trees: they have withstood all the weather. A founder’s persona comes with chaos, and multitasking is the default. Things will fall apart, employees will leave, competitors will creep in, and customers will leave. In these times, one has to follow the mantra of …
communicate
As a founder, you have to sell. It is not to your customer but to every stakeholder including your team. You cannot expect them to understand everything from inception, nor will they read your mission, and vision statements stuck on the company’s wall. You have to act, show, and lead it all from the front. …
cause
It becomes critical to hire a team that aligns with the cause.The first ten members shape the organization. Hire a mercenary who can go at any length for organizational success. The team has to have the hunger and belief to win. You can’t get a dozen dead souls to compete in a high-energy execution battle. …
Straight
One of the jobs a founder should is straightening things up. The journey of any organization depends on its team. If you are incapable of talking to the team honestly, giving feedback, or taking criticism, don’t run a startup. A successful team and a failing company are distinguished in execution and leadership needs to straighten …
Cons
Every con artist comes with an expiry date. In the initial days, people love them for their magnificent talking skills and fresh perspective on every subject. This adds to their confidence, so they continue doing their puppetry until people start getting bored. The media loves these con artists because of their TRP and bytes. We …
importance
As a founder building a company, one of the most important things I have learned is “what I don’t want.” We spent thousands of hours meeting individuals who were never our customers. It was more for persona mapping. There are times when you will feel like giving up. There are days when you would feel …