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 a member is not delivering or wants to move, it can happen amicably. There will be no blood loss, as the end goal of the team is to be the best.

When it comes to creating an organization as a family, we end up accepting the flaws of a member and end up shielding them because everyone is a family. The organization ends up a mediocrity. It ends up building an organization with emotions embedded, and win takes backfoot.

I have started liking the team analogy now: I was a firm believer in running an organization as a family earlier. I wish this book had come 2-3 years back.

Akash

I met Akash on a cold winter morning and, his eyes were red, like someone returning from a long night shift. He was wearing a Hawai chappal and, minuscule clothes were on his body. He was sitting outside our main gate. I used to live in Muniraka Gaon those days, a buzzing ghetto in south Delhi.

Kya naam hai bhai aur yahan aise kahe baithe ho? (why are you sitting outside like this?)
Sir Akash. Kaam dhund rahe hai sir, Delhi abhi abhi aaye hain. (looking for a job, moved to Delhi recently)

After talking a little more over hot chai and butter rusk, I got to know he took a train from Saharanpur and landed here two days back. His father beat him for failing in exams. He started crying uncontrollably. Later on, he told me that he had not eaten for the past 20 hours. I was wondering if he was missing his parents or morning paratha over chai.

Akash was lost. Either it was the traffic noise or his thoughts. We walked around the galli, like walking in a mini cosmopolitan, that is Munirka Village for you.

Later on, with a small face, he requested if he can get cleaned up at my place. Who was I to say no? I invited him to my RatHole.

Time flew by, grown up in a small town In Bihar, many of his stories were relatable. From mango, amrood, borewell, and stopping the train. I asked Akash what he wants to be, and he replied: Jo likha hoga, ho zaiga. (whatever is in fate, I will get that).

We headed to Ber Sarai for breakfast: poori, jalebi, and sabzi. I asked Akash if he is missing his parents, sister, and would like to go back home. He said he would but has no money. He was also scared of his father.

We took an auto, headed to the New Delhi Railway Station. I got a Tatkal ticket for the evening train and big my farewell to Akash.

It’s been over 17 years now. I hope Akash would have gotten what fate had in store for him. I still get nostalgic about the Delhi winters and random encounters with Akash.

I leave this for you readers to decide if it is a fiction or real incident. 🙂

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 will employees think, give constructive feedback, or question the authority?

As a leader, if you are hiring people to please you and your ideas, you are killing innovation and destroying your companies value.

A leader cannot always be right. They cannot alone run the big ship. They need free thinkers, decision-makers, and A+ players to lead, question, and take the organization to a new high.

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 day you will quit.

How will anybody know what is not working out well for you if you will not communicate? How will your employer know about the problems you are in related to work, family, or financials.

Be a good communicator before becoming an employee. It will do justice for every stakeholder around you.

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 customers or trial users will ask you for everything. If you are a small team, it is going to be very difficult to keep them all happy. You have to prioritize the features and build ones that are solving pain for multiple customers. Also, you have to be careful with giving any timeline for delivery. It will fuck up your team, and everyone will burn out. It has more negatives than positives.

Sometimes it is alright to let go of some customers. You cannot fulfill every need of everyone. You are building a product which will be utilized by multiple customers as a SaaS product, listening and implementing everyone’s feature will result in making the product a sandwich.

In case some customer still insists and gets anal for a particular feature, ask him to pay for the development and when you make it generally available, offer him a rebate for the expanses they put.

Your customers are the users, not product or project managers. In the end, you have to survive, thrive, and grow. You have to prioritize what is best for your team and company. I have learned this hard way, hence sharing it out for others.

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. I don’t think there exists anything other than that for us. We have to introspect, learn, and progress.

rethink

There is a time in life when you stop for a moment and look back. The past makes you think about the journey and what has been the learnings. Our life is a mixed bag with good and bitter. Some learn from it, while others die in remorse.

We have to rethink these moments and pick up the learnings. Our future depends on pasts learning.

Long Game

I have been in a few conversations off late, and becoming a VC or starting a fund seems like a new cool thing. The return takes a long time( 10-12) years. Every three years is new fundraising. It takes lots of patience, perseverance, and luck to find one unicorn. 

There are many other professions where people have made more money than in the VC industry. The carry is a byproduct and success indicator. In India, only a handful of General Partners have seen it.

It looks on LinkedIn or social media profile adding a persona, bumper sticker associating with a Venture Capital, but in, reality the work, luck needed to succeed is far more. That is why you will see the 1st in a command being hyper-competitive and high on dopamine to win the best deals.  

“Secrets of Sand Hill Road” written by Scott Kupor is a good book that can give you a glimpse of it. 

In all essence Running a VC fund and running a startup both have few similarities. 

  • Integrity 
  • Openness
  • Cutthroat competition 
  • Return to investors
  • Employees churn
  • Radical optimism and self-belief 
  • People’s business 

Laughed reading Leo’s tweet, the comments thread sums it up.

tanha

Tanha he to hai hum, dhund rahe hai apne parchai auroo me. Diya salai, kaagaj kalam aur suee dhagee ke mafik jor rahe hai khud ko auroo se.

Kya hum ayee nahi the akele is jahan me? Kya humne aasiyaana banane ka socha nahi tha khud ke liye?

Apne aap se ji nahi sakte kya hum, kyun nikal jate hai khud ki talash me? Kya milta hai miyushee aur tiraskaar ke awala?

Tanha kaise ho sakte hai hum jab humne khud me jeena seekh liya. Yae parchaii hamare he to hai, kyun jana hame auroo ki talaash me? Kya khud me khud ke saath nahi ji sakete hai? Apne akelepaan ko apne manmarzi ka zariya kyun nahi bana lete hai hum?

Manish came up with updated version with more rhyme in it.

Tanha hee to hum sab Dhoondh rahein hain apne ko, auron main Kisi dhaage say jodne ki koshish kar rahe hain.

Kya hum akele na aaye thhe jahan mein Kyun aashiyana banane lage jahan mein Kyun na jee sakte hum akele, tanha Kyun nikal jaate hain kisi ki talaash mein.

Wohee mayusi aur tiraskar ki talaash mein Kyun na jee sakte hum akele Apni parchai kay saath Kyun dhoondhein kisi aur ko Jab hum jee sakte hain akele – tanha