Stay humble, (and) stay bullish!

Have written this as a guest post for Stratessence

Last year while I was doing my MBA I got an opportunity to work with a for-profit online social venture. This startup was founded two years back, and the co founders had their own jobs – so basically this was a side-project which they wished to carry on (since they had started it, but now were a tad busy with their jobs).They chose a handful of us B School students to work with them. Needless to say, we were quite kicked about working on this. However, it did not quite work out as expected. From this experience in particular and a few other related experiences in general, here are a few tripping points that I believe entrepreneurs should watch out for!

· Don’t let early success get into your head! During the first couple of months of launch you are bound to see very promising looking registrations/usage numbers. But understand that a big part of this is purely due to the affection of your family and friends, as well as the novelty factor attached to any new ‘cool’ looking business plan! It is very easy to get carried away by all the sweet talk about your product, but again take all those ‘sweets’ with a pinch of ‘salt’ ;) . A positive start is by no means a validation of your business plan!

· Launch only when ready, even if it takes time! Making your product public when you yourself are aware of major issues is like putting up an ‘in a relationship with’ status update on Facebook just because you have a crush on that person – bound to be disastrous unless the ‘crush’ (or in our case the user) is totally sold out on you (an assumption fraught with peril)

· Make sure at least one person is working full time with the startup – else, IMHO, the momentum just gets lost somewhere. The side-project would eventually (and sadly) get pushed off the sidelines!

· And finally, be a bit shameless in asking for feedback, be humble enough to take the criticism, and be flexible enough to incorporate changes which you might not have thought of in your plan A!

It is the period after the first launch that I believe is the acid test for any Entrepreneur. The joy and pride should take a backseat while receptiveness and humility should do the driving!

Local Train ka 'suffer'

Something that i wrote long back (2005) for the VJTI College magazine...but still very relevant, and I guess it will always be (was reminded of this when travelling in the local train yesterday!)

सुबह सुबह में चल दिया
फिर एक बार college की ओर
Weather report थी "bright and sunny"
पर बादल छाए थे घनघोर

पर जब पहुंचा में
तो देखा train थी दो मिनट late
खुश हुआ में यह जानकर
सोचा करूंगा थोडा wait

इसी बीच train आती दिखी
सब लोग हो गए तैयार
Bag आगे, sleeves ऊपर
मैंने भी किया challenge स्वीकार

Train रुकने से पहले ही
लोगों की शुरू हो गयी मशक्कत
मैंने भी एक को दायाँ हाथ मारा
और bar पकड़ा करके हिम्मत

पीछे वालों के धक्के की बदौलत
में आराम से पहुँच गया अन्दर
"शाबाश" मैंने अपने आप से कहा
क्योंकि जो जीता वही सिकंदर! (:P)

इतने में ट्रेन शुरू हुई
और as usual शुरू हुआ लोगों का झगडा
"क्या Boss, धक्का क्यों मारा?"
"चुप कर, वरना दूंगा एक झापड़ तगड़ा!"

और फिर शुरू हूए
यात्रियों के बीच के चर्चे
"अरे यार salary कितनी कम,
और कितने ज्यादा है यह खर्चे!"

"गांगुली को तोह निकाल ही दो*,
उसे कुछ भी ठीक से नहीं आता!"
"यार stock market का क्या हाल है,
कल फायदा हुआ या घाटा?"

"अरे भाई मिठाई खाओ,
में बाप बन गया हूँ!"
"मुह खोल देता हूँ, तुम खुद ही खिला दो,
में तो चारों तरफ से घिर गया हूँ"

इतनी interesting बातों में
पता ही नहीं चला कब स्टेशन आया
और फिर आराम से उतरा में
कुछ धक्का दिया, और कुछ खाया

और फिर मैंने सोचा
ज़िन्दगी भी तो ट्रेन का एक सफ़र है
Enjoy करो तो है यह अमृत
न करो तो फिर यह ज़हर है

ज़िन्दगी में भी कई लोग
हमें हँसाते हैं, रुलाते हैं!
किसी station पर चढ़ते हैं
और किसी पर उतर जाते हैं!

* PS: My sincere apologies to all dada fans :P

Prisoners at large

A jury in front. Questions. His nervous answers. More questions. Finally Kabir pleaded guilty. He had managed to keep slipping away nicely for a few years since he had got trapped into this field. But now all the evidence was against him. And as expected, they sentenced him to jail.

It sounded scary. But then, somehow he couldn’t help feel a bit excited! This was going to be his very first time. In his profession, it is hard to keep escaping forever. And a prison is a nice place to catch up with some pros in this business (who unfortunately had one bad day at the office when they got caught!)

There he was. They took him to his cell. And there was another guy already there. A newbie he was. Poor chap got caught in his first week. Never mind, I would teach him a trick or two, Kabir thought. And there were many more. They were to suffer together. They made them work through the day and the night. Rehabilitation - they called it. Non sense – thought Kabir and co.

The traces of excitement in Kabir were beginning to die down. But then gradually he did start learning the tricks of the trade from his fellow inmates. And there was so much to learn! From conning the common man on the street to duping governments! Someone or the other had done it. And done it well. I want to try it all out once I am outta here, thought Kabir.

The every day pain seemed so much more bearable now. In fact it became a routine. Fellow inmates soon became close buddies. Life is actually not too bad here, thought Kabir.

Soon rumours started doing the rounds in the cells. The prison was going to be under attack, they said. The big gangs had a few of their men in here. And they were just looking for a chance to rescue them. Kabir, like others, started dreaming of the world outside. I just need to get out, he thought.

And one night they could hear the firing. The security was never going to be strong enough. The fight lasted for a couple of days, and seeing his chance, soon Kabir was out, just like many others.

They are out in the open. Much smarter than what they were when they went inside. The world is not safe!