Intuitions are priceless!!

Perfect business idea, Perfect business plan, Perfect management team (skill sets), Perfect execution skills, Perfect market conditions, Perfect financial support - tons of "Perfects" together at one place, yet a failed enterprise. Wondering why? Do you think lot of big companies or big ideas, with tons of business experts at their disposal that fail, are not worthy of being the successful ones - who knows? since they never reached the point of success and speak out and in this world only success speaks and defines the rules. People might try to justify one reason or the other for the failure, and no one would know for sure whether that piece of "Perfect" would have saved the company.

I believe that this list is endless and can add up to lots of Top 10 or Top 100 lists posted by many great leaders - yet when it comes to the falling enterprise at present, we add up one more concept to the current list. May be that is called "evolution of science". But with this concept may be Akbar would have never been a great King to rule the country many centuries ago. What I truly believe is that every entrepreneur is gifted with a power of intuition, very much like Lata Mangeshkar is gifted with a magical voice. 

We just don't realize the power of Intuition. Lot of times, important decisions are taken by thought leaders based on mere intuition, and that differentiates success from failures. This might sound common sense to some and bullshit to others, but at lot of places innovation is curbed, and a lot of emphasis is given to procedures (may be it is correct for the employees to follow it), but if the same is followed at the management level then you are slowly drifting towards failure.

Successful companies are run by true leaders or consultants who are gifted with the power of intuition and they truly believe in their powers. They take a note of their intuitive inner voice while making any decision and destiny leads them to the true path. Ignoring it won't take you anywhere since it is beyond our reach - it is some thing we are gifted with... Intuition

Gen Next!!

Written by Gaurav Gupta


What do you used to do before the invent of irctc.co.in, redbus.in, makemytrip.com, bookmyshow.com, eBay.in or several other portals which bring all the stakeholders at one platform and make the services centralized? Well most of us used to pay a hefty sum to the brokers or we used to avail the services by facing lot of hassles. Before the birth of these portals it used to be very difficult for us to know about all the information about all the available options. Well nobody ever thought that this information would be just a click away. Instead of running from shop to shop to know about the availability of such services these portals give you the overall picture and provide us lot of options to choose from.
Centralization of things be it offline or online brings better price discovery as well as efficiency into the system, but the ever increasing e-savvy population demands for online services. As the internet penetration is increasing at the rapid pace the need for such services which are online in nature is increasing in the direct proportion. The common link between all the above mentioned revolutionary ideas is the nature of these services i.e. online.
One more such revolutionary idea is http://www.irtex.in/ , it is in area of logistics sector, this idea claims to bring efficiency into the system. It is a brainchild of 3 young highly energetic and ambitious entrepreneurs from IIT Bombay. The idea is to bring all the stakeholders of the road freight industry such as shippers, booking agents, transport houses and the companies on to a common platform. Irtex is India’s first organized freight booking service and they want to become the biggest aggregator of truck or freight in the county.
All these services are bridging the gap between the next gen population of the country & the available services and are the next wave of growth in India. Next Gen prefers to bring e tickets to train, planes or even cinema halls.


This blog post is copied from Gaurav's blog --  http://writergg.blogspot.com/2010/06/gen-next.html

Preserve company vision during tough times

Most of you who visit my blog are either entrepreneurs or are interested in being part of the startup ecosystem. With this blog post, what I have tried to share is a philosophy that, I believe, differentiates start-ups from one another in a long run.

Every start-up team today starts with a business plan - company vision, mission, problem, solution, revenue projections and how the team plans to tap in the market opportunity. In most of the cases, the business plan changes a lot as startup proceeds and meets the real world. A lot of valuable inputs come from the side of customers, investors and advisors.

Startups face lot of challenges everyday and most of the bandwidth of the management team is taken up in solving these issues. Important tasks, like product roll-out strategy, investor relations, marketing & sales strategy, become the focus of the team. What gets lost in the middle of all these tasks is the vision of the company... the team becomes result oriented, starts focusing on revenues and new business laterals than ensuring that the decisions being taken are in synergy with the vision and philosophy of the company. 

At times, when the startup is money crunched, the management team takes detours or takes up tasks which have nothing to do with the vision of the company. Though nothing is wrong in taking the detours while the startup is money crunched, but it is extremely important that the management team gives a serious thought to the problem. At times like these, a quick help can come from the panel of advisors and mentors. 

A visionary start-up would know the value of a good advisor panel who could help the management team in preserving the vision of the company. A good mentor ensures that the bigger picture of the company is preserved during tough times. But only being visionary doesn't help in protecting the company vision, it also requires lot of strength and character, as at times, the team needs to fight against challenges of real world like saying 'No' to quick money or project that doesn't gel with the company philosophy. I guess that's where the character of a start-up team is tested.

I believe that a start-up is only as good as its team and advisors, and the team can only progress towards excellence if the team is clear about the vision of the company. While there are many factors which make a company successful in a long run, I believe having a clear company vision and preserving it can move a start-up from the list of good start-ups to the list of excellent start-ups.

This blog is written and owned by Saurabh Gupta

Push It Back!

A lot of times we feel stuck at some point in the start-up and then it comes; it seems like we are being pushed by the entire world, but the point is that the world has always remained like that. Really! It has always been like that... It always pushes down the losers. It always had! Don't you remember pushing down the people that you considered losers? That's how it works. And to add to that, people keep pushing more people towards the losers' side who are at the boundary. It sounds like 'Not me story', but trust me we all go through this point of worthlessness someday or the other. When pushed down or aside by all over, the best chance to survive is when you push back, and when you push back hard. It's all in our brains and some people can play mind games really well.

So, how do we know when we are being pushed down or pushed aside? When we start noticing that the work is getting stuck at some point and no calls are being replied even when you try the most, or when negative thoughts are thrown at you when you need them least (though this is like challenging the idea of a critique, but who cares for a critique who pushes you towards the valley of death). Isn't life complex enough to add the words of a critique when it's least needed? When people start coming out with negative thoughts and stories to make you feel like a loser, or when they make you feel that you were so much better before – trust me, it's a mind game or a mental trap. So, when we know that we are being vulnerable for mental traps, how to push it back?

First of all, we all need the right mentors in life and most of us have them as someone, but not having that in life makes you vulnerable for a slicing, and that's the worst when you are at the low. So first thing is to identify a good mentor, a big brother, close friend someone who can hear you out, learn your perspective and then add to your ideas in a constructive way. Secondly, loosen the grip a little and sound positive to even the worst of critiques since it would take them by surprise too, like one of my friend says their life is too pathetic already; you just need to show them a mirror. Anyways, third is to sit with your team and set realistic time lines and identify key bottlenecks, and start keeping track of the bottlenecks. Last but not the least, get your finances right, since no start-up is successful unless people trust you.

Before I close this one I wish all of you happy hunting in the mad world before you get hunted,  but it's worth fighting back the world as you are... your attitude reflects it all – push it back!

It's not Rocket Science, Trust me!

I wrote a blog post back in 2007 (blog post) where I discussed what's the right time to dive in for a start-up, and to tell you the truth very frankly - no one would have this answer. I didn't have the answer when I was happy with my job and I don't have the answer when I am working with my start-up. You can hear 1000 stories, feel motivated and jump for it - I won't call you stupid, in fact I would help you with whatever you lack and praise you for whatever you have good. On the other hand, you can take 30 years building the perfect ship to sail, and yet you can't board it - I won't call you stupid, I would help you find that courage.

You can look out for the best teammates in the world and yet you can fail - that's the fact of the world that you need to live with everyday, but it's the battle that matters and not the outcome, and yeah fighting with the best knights cuts down the odds of failure. On the other hand, you might have no idea at all when you start and yet you can be the role model of tomorrow. So what is it that differentiates one guy from another, or let's say one start-up from other. What is the golden rule that differentiates the two sides?

People name it as team, idea, market, investors etc., while these all are pillars of a successful enterprise, but are these all? Wait, we haven't yet mentioned passion, drive, intensity, enthusiasm and all other qualities, but are these all? Is this a must to have list or good to have list, since some people say passion comes with idea and market or let's say money, and some say idea and team are secondary, all you need is passion. I don't know the order and I don't want to discuss it, since this list is endless. Did I write leadership, focus, companionship, vision - oh my god! this list is actually endless. :)

Let me put my answer in my simple language for you. I don't claim that I am a genius or Mr. Right of this topic, but this is what I believe, and it works for me, than remembering the endless list (often used by successful entrepreneurs to put their success in words). I rarely write philosophical blogs these days, since it's hard to prove them or quantify them. If you don't find my answer helpful, I apologize in advance.

I believe that we are guided by a power, actually a belief, something that we don't have control over,something way too powerful to be put in a list . I think what differentiates a successful entrepreneur is the power of believing the power of trust. We just need to trust the higher cause ,of the organization, trust the leader, trust our instincts and that's trust, which actually brings in enthusiasm, focus, drive and intensity in the workforce. In fact, that's trust which pushes us to create the best products for our clients., a trust we don't want to break It's the trust and belief of the leaders of the company that drives the course of the company. The power of believing and trust helps in creating a bonding between people, ideas, problems and solutions. Investors, customers, employees are all humans and they all need to trust you to make you successful. For others to trust you, you need to trust yourself and your thoughts, your instincts. Rest all will fall in place.Trust me!

One more thought before I close this blog post, I think there is nothing to win or lose in the world, there is an awesome journey that goes on forever. If you love being part of the cruise, be part of it, love it, enjoy it, live it, else  simply jump off. There are thousand others awesome things worth doing than being an entrepreneur who doesn't love what he/she does.. Would love your comments on this one, really, because I trust that feedback works :)

A little later dude!

Funny it may sound, but I got inspired to write this blog post while talking to a friend about start-ups, and I realized that its perception seems to work as an oasis in people's life. Well lately, I started noticing that while discussing ideas and dreams, or say being philosophical, people share their dream of doing something on their own terms or having their own company where they can work on a problem as they choose and add to some thing as they please. There seems a different tone to the discussion (almost always) like a very different note in music, a talk coming right from the roots, a dream that comes right from the heart - thirst of an intellectual. It almost sounds like an assurance coming from within that I want to work on a problem as I please and I would work on it some day. Most of these talks end with the tag line - "Some day but not today... a little later dude!"

I used the word oasis in the last paragraph, since it does the same task of keeping the thirst of entrepreneurship alive amongst potential entrepreneurs and encourages them to keep moving towards it. Only difference being that it exists for real, but remains an oasis for >95% of us. All of us want to reach it but are stuck with lots of problems, questions and confusions. It's not important when we start or how we start, it's important that we know we want to start some day, even if it means we know - "A little later dude!"

We learn lot of lessons along the paths of our lives and become better prepared to fulfill our dreams in future. Well it might not be the right time for some of us to start the journey but it always help to ensure that we collect the right stones along the path.

• Remain in touch with start-ups and entrepreneurs to understand the problems they face every day and to appreciate the start-up life better
  
• Save money for the dependents and rainy days, as start-up life is full of surprises
  
• Start noticing market trends by tracking new ideas and businesses to understand the future market better
• Last but not the least - make good friends who would help you cruise the start-up life

But whatever happens, never ever give up on the thought of reaching oasis, even if it means to have a cup of coffee and say - "A little later dude"

Surviving is succeeding

Even the business tycoons get confused about the next steps at times. No one is an exception, even Yahoo and Microsoft have seen bad times (seeing bad times) and the basic tactic of winning in  long run is surviving the tough times - keeping your nostrils out of the water. Nothing is perfectly defined or nothing wins on day one, even though I believe in the philosophy - "Every battle is won before it's ever fought", but dialogues look good in movies and when said by Gordon Geeko. Being practical, every one remains scared of losing.

Darr Sabko lagta hai... Gala sabka sukhta hai, and if one considers himself winner on day one, then he is slowly turning into a sleeping giant like GM or Microsoft. You can't stop giving the extra effort - 100+20% and that's the extra push, which keeps you ahead in business, backed by a good strategy. Every company is tested at times and most of the companies collapse one day or the other. The trick to survive longer is to survive the tough times.

During tough times, smart companies keep themselves busy, either in R&D or in Sales and Marketing efforts... Doing the work is definitely better than not doing it..

Happy surviving the tough times....