Dreams Fire Startups Engine!!

Startups are often projected as harsh battle fields where real hardships are part of everyday life, savings evaporate to zero and turn into huge debts, where there is no margin of error and decisions are often based purely on gut feelings. Does it frighten you? May be it's true for most of the startups. Well some people get excited by all this uncertainty. Really?? Naah! every one wants stability in life but on different terms, consciously or subconsciously.

Assume being in startup as flying a jet plane. If I start describing how a jet plane works and the scenarios that can come up then we might think that none of us can do it. But, hey! when you are in there, it goes with the flow.

Interestingly, the same is true when you are in a startup. It's a very different experience. There is nothing like describing the real scenario from the periphery. Just take a test drive and you will know the rules of the game. In reality, there is always a bigger goal which keeps the startup team moving. There is always a dream which keeps the flame burning in the hearts.

If God shows up some day and say that you won't ever be successful in startup, then most of the entrepreneurs won't like the hardships of startups. No matter how exciting they sound. Since this is an imaginative scenario hence more than half of the entrepreneurs might refute this conclusion. Anyways, the bottom line is that the purpose of being in a startup is very different; it's like achieving stability in life at your own terms.

Travel the less traveled road for more fun and anxiety. Well, we have just got one lives!!

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 :)

Greed is good

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Originally uploaded by nuts_shaan

Often times, we start our journeys of start-ups with huge ambitions and targets but we meet lots of hurdles over the course of time which tone down the plans. All I would say is that we need to remain focused on our end goals and rest all falls in place sooner or later.

A picture can quantify the thought very simply. What do you want to achieve in life? A tower like this in India. This needs to be clear in mind and the picture should remain intact at all times so that focus is not lost. Often times, Greed triggers a change in mindset and focus keeps the end-goal intact.

Random thought about life

I was wondering why most of the people doing jobs and living comfortable lives, are restless and look out for options to convince them that they are moving in the right direction and that very moment a thought struck my mind. Its not only those people, actually everyone is restless.

Thought if put in words goes something like this - we continuously search for meaning of our lives in this world and we try to derive it (subconsiously) out of the lives of our role models living inside us or out in the world. We get inspired by numerous people and in our subconsious mind, we make an image of a personality out of all those people, a personality so perfect that we finally aim towards becoming the same.

IITians after entering the campus gate hear stories of entrepreneurs right from 1st yr to 4th yr and hence their image of perfect personality becomes some thing like that. Its like story of a kid, living in an abandoned valley, who hears stories of a legend all around the area and finally decides to become a knight himself. Its nothing but the environment which pushes us towards something.

I don't know whether it is possible to match our imagined perosnality or whether it is even right to become something like that. But we continuously live to become that personality and it grows a little every day leading to cat and mouse chase game, and in this game, life flies by. As a matter of fact, I don't remember becoming a businessman when I was 4-5 yrs old. I only remember that I wanted to relax, enjoy, play and have fun. Its really ironical how our lives get mixed up due to the world around.