How I lost my 20s to Compulsive Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a buzz word which is attracting a lot of the younger lot today. With the successes of startups like Google, Facebook etc., college students as well as young professionals are looking for gaps to launch their startup. They feel that they too can find an interesting opportunity and scale their companies. On the one hand, this is an extremely positive and equitable environment for all to launch a business. On the other, if entrepreneurship is not done right with the right mindset and planning, it can prove to be a waste of time and resources.

Compulsive Entrepreneurship is one such mistake budding entrepreneurs can make. Eager to be entrepreneurs jump into ventures without a plan for success. I have been guilty of this and would like to share my experiences with this booklet of mine. This booklet is meant for all budding entrepreneurs and fresh graduates.

Read the book here.

Startup Model – Connecting Product Designers Directly to Customers

The Model: A platform which connects designers of products directly to customers. Designers, once approved, can upload their designs onto the platform, which customers can buy.  

Startup Doing It: Crowdyhouse (Dutch startup)

What I Like:

Core Idea – An ‘Etsy for product designers’. Customers can get better price, designers can get a better margin and more brand recognition.

Niche – Since the website is all about innovative product designs, discovery of such products is easier here as compared to other ecommerce players.

My Concerns:

Weak Differentiation – Designers can upload their products on other ecommerce websites as well. Though Crowdyhouse does select which designers to keep on their platform, I feel a more significant differentiator may need to be built in. 

Quote for all Budding Entrepreneurs

A quote to inspire all those who are thinking of starting up but are just ending up overthinking it.

Steps to Actually Startup

The following are the exact steps one should take in order to actually start up.

Finalise the Idea

Build a Founding Team

Register a Company

Start Building the Product/Prototype

Get Other Licenses (such as tax registration numbers, licenses etc. wherever required)

Build a Business Plan (focus on the early stages of the business)

Hire Team Members (for marketing, sales, product development etc.)

Launch

Do MBA Founders Have A Better Chance of Success?

An MBA is a professional degree which aims to create good managers. It teaches participants a host of skills such as Marketing, Finance, HR, Strategy etc. which are required in running a firm.

An MBA does help in start-ups as it helps in:

Creating a framework for Business: Once a startup grows past it’s initial phase, systems are required to ensure growth on an ongoing basis. This is where the MBA knowledge comes handy. Learning from other case studies during the MBA, the founder is able to pick up best practices and implement those in his/her startup.

Academic Credibility of the Founder: Having more founder credibility gives the business a better acceptance by investors and other stakeholders.

Networking: An MBA Founder can use his/her network from college to assist in the business.

Having an MBA degree can also have a flip side.

: MBA Founders are more fixed in their thinking and might not be as open to changing/learning as compared to the others.

: There is an opportunity cost of time. The learnings from starting a company would probably be more as compared to doing an MBA.

Am I Ready To Startup?

To answer this question, you need to analyse how you stand on the following:

Idea – Do you have idea which is robust and sustainable? Is the market big enough for you to enter? Anaylse your idea thoroughly. Read more about Vetting your Idea.

Team – You need to have the right skills to implement the idea. This is where most startups fail. Identify what skills are required to execute the idea well and build on those which you are lacking in. Read more about Finding Co-Founders.

Passion – You need to be fully convinced in your mind that the journey is going to be a long and tough one. Be mentally prepared to last it out. Only your passion and zeal can push you through it.

Sustaining Capacity – Your startup may not be able to give you any money for a long period of time. You need to know how you will sustain in this period so that at no stage do you feel the pressure to close down.

If you have all of these going for you, do not wait or overthink it. Startup Now!

Startup Pledge (Must for Budding Entrepreneurs)

All budding entrepreneurs need to take this pledge before becoming an active member in this wonderful world of startups. This will help them create an outlook which will make their journey smoother.

THE PLEDGE

- I pledge to never stop learning

- I pledge to make my startup my passion and be a parent to it rather than a manager

- I pledge to build a team of people in my journey who are equally passionate and zealous about my startup

- I pledge to be focused and share my focus and goals with my team

- I pledge to be open to feedback and to make alterations in my path whenever required

- I pledge to be non-biased in anything I do

- I pledge to be patient and not let anxiety or restlessness into any of my decisions

- I pledge to never let the morale of me or my team down

- I pledge to create a story which will inspire others

Challenges of Starting Up after 40

Most people in the startup ecosystem (and even others) think that people under 35 are the ones who innovate while people over 45 don’t really have much to contribute in terms of new ideas. But do people stop being creative as they reach middle age?…

Well, if you come to think of it, Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod when he was 44. Henry Ford introduced the Model T when he was 45. Sam Walton built Walmart in his mid-40s. McDonald’s was built by Ray Kroc in his early 50s. Even in the field of creativity, Ray Kurzweil published ‘The Singularity Is Near’ in his 50s, Alfred Hitchcock directed Vertigo when he was 59, Frank Lloyd Wright built his architectural masterpiece, Fallingwater, when he was 68. Beethoven created his one of the most popular works, Symphony No. 9, when he was almost deaf and at the age of 53, just three years before he died. Need I say more!

However, here in India we have a different issue. There is a tremendous investor bias against mature founders . VCs prefer startups founded by young millennials. There could be many reasons for that. Startups require one to invest long hours and investors may feel that with all those social obligations and supposedly dwindling health, those over 50 may not be able to put in that kind of hard work. At the same time, others may feel threatened by the fact that they cannot manipulate you into signing a term sheet, which guarantees that while you slog, they’ll reap the benefits.

Whatever their reasons, the fact that can’t be ignored is that there is a huge bias towards funding startups whose founders have crossed the 40+ age bracket. But don’t lose hope. If your conviction is strong, nothing can stop you from achieving your dreams. Remember, even Steve Jobs, known to be the greatest innovator of recent times, gave shape to his most significant innovations – iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPad – after he was 45.

(taken from http://inc42.com/entrepreneurship/challenges-of-being-an-entrepreneur-at-50)

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Potential customers say, ”Give me feature X,” “Give me feature Y,” and sometimes you do what they want, maybe sometimes you’re going to do what you want, and then they get mad at you. Pretty soon you’re chasing your own tail a little bit because you’re not operating against a clear, long-term vision of what you’re trying to accomplish.

The idea of minimum viable product is useful because you can basically say: our vision is to build a product that solves this core problem for customers and we think that for the people who are early adopters for this kind of solution, they will be the most forgiving. And they will fill in their minds the features that aren’t quite there if we give them the core, tent-pole features that point the direction of where we’re trying to go.

So, the minimum viable product is that product which has just those features (and no more) that allows you to ship a product that resonates with early adopters; some of whom will pay you money or give you feedback.

(Interview with Eric Ries, published on http://venturehacks.com/articles/minimum-viable-product)

You, Me & Your Startup

A blog post by another stakeholder in the startup ecosystem - the spouse of the entrepreneur. My wife has written this to express the experience which the spouse of an entrepreneur goes through.

'There’s lots that is said about startups, entrepreneurship, funding, investments etc. these days. Also words like co-founder, partner, technology, marketing are not limited to the people working in or as a part of any venture, these terms are now part of so many other individual lives as well, which are directly or indirectly related to that one big thing which is rocking the world today and is called a “START-UP”.  But I still intend to write something about it, which is not said earlier or even if it is I am not very sure if  it has reached many people. I can say this because as a normal 29 year old, I didn’t come across anything like this.

Now what is this flip side of a start-up; it is that part of a start-up which is not directly involved in the functioning of it but has a major role to play in the lives of the people running it, the spouse of the entrepreneur.

And yes I am one of them. My husband is a struggling entrepreneur and has some ‘not very successful ventures’ on his CV. And when I say not very successful, it doesn’t mean that he failed, what I mean here is that they could not secure valuations in the multi-million league. His passion and madness for creating something that the entire World will know about started much before his craziness for me came into his life.

We had an arranged marriage but I think we both were pretty sure about each other. We both had assumptions about married life like all normal people getting married do.

In the initial year I use to be fascinated by his love for his work and used to

think that I would love being part of his start-up and help him in every possible way. Even he made me part of his work with lots of hope and happiness. We used to be very positive and energetic about our work and efforts that we put into it, but as the results were not in our favor, the positivity and optimism faded away slowly. He used to be very low on energy and there was no motivation. Also I realized my efforts and contributions were not sufficient because I was unable to match up to his zeal and dedication. Later I realized the prime reason behind it was that our ultimate ambitions were different. For him it was about creating something that the world will know and he used to believe his existence has a reason and he needs to discover it. On the other hand I was more laid back, never use to think on those lines. For me working was primarily helping him and about keeping myself busy and occupied.

As the years went by, his confidence and mine as well started shaking and it used to lead to lot of disagreements and conflicts. There use to be good days and bad days, which were directly connected to good and bad days at work. Funds used to be challenging as the startup always needs a lot of liquidity and when you have limited resources there are tough choices to make. Despite this, he ensured that I had a comfortable life, because of which he had sleepless nights and stressful days.

What I learnt from this journey of four years with him was that patience is what he always expected from me and when he was low, nothing could shatter him if he had experienced a good day at work. People who are very ambitious are mostly dissatisfied and rarely content. But at the same time, the spark in his eyes when he was motivated would motivate me so much.

Today when I am writing this article I feel very secure and stable in my head because I understand him, his needs, his demands and somewhere hoping he understands me as well. I would not say it is an easy journey as it takes sacrifices, commitment, self motivation because your struggling partner may not be there to motivate you, but nevertheless it will all seem worthwhile when someday you will be called the wife of “ Mr. ENTREPRENEUR” and you will see him happy, satisfied and most importantly smiling.'

(She blogs on justlikethatfrompuja.blogspot.com)

Having Too Many Co-Founders

A good founding team is a very important part of a good business plan. Co-founders bring in a multitude of skill sets which help in executing and growing the business idea. So does that mean the bigger the team, the better it is? The answer is no.

During Bitequest, I started it as a single founder. I soon asked a friend to join in. Sometime later we got another two to join us. Once we were 4 in number, the growth did increase but so did the conflicts. There were constant conflicts in how we should work and grow our startup. This led to a lot of discontent amongst the team members and eventually was a big reason for me exiting the startup.

Co-founders do bring their skill sets to the table. However, with the skills, they bring in their experiences, vision, mindset and emotions as well. These variables of one co-founders interact with the variables of the other co-founders. In big teams, with so many variables interacting, a conflict or clash of variables is bound to happen, leading to eventual destruction of value in some way or the other.

Personally, I feel a team of 2 is ideal. However, is there is a need of additional skill sets, the number can go upto 3 at maximum.

Your Business Idea Chooses You!

Read this amazing and thought provoking post by Brian D.Evans on how you and your business idea come together.

'I’ve realized over time that we DO NOT own ideas, in a spiritual sense, and that they aren’t “ours”. The idea owns itself. In fact, it’s looking for a host. And if you don’t act on that idea within a period of time, it’s gone. The idea is not “yours” and travels to you, rather than you are the unique creator of the idea.

I’ve heard it time and time again, “oh my god, that was my idea!”. People get so bent out of shape when they see “their idea” being done by someone else. That’s because you didn’t execute the idea. The idea moved on. It’s like not feeding your dog very well, it’s going to go looking for a better source of food when it’s hungry and sick of you not taking care of it properly.

The idea picked you because you were the best host. You have everything you need to execute on that idea, whether you believe it or not.'

(taken from http://www.influencive.com/not-idea-dont)

Be on the Lookout

Since learning is endless, so are opportunities.We must develop a mindset and an acumen to spot the ones correct for us.

This works exactly the way you wait for a bus at a bus stop. You know which route you need to take (you realise your skill sets). You wait for the right bus (opportunity) to come and you jump on!

Love Every Moment

A startup's journey is a long and exhausting one.

On the way, we come across a lot of situations which tend to pull us down and affect our happiness. While we was running Beveragewala, we faced a lot of these. Be it a complaint mail from a customer, an error in packaging, server issues etc., stress levels used to shoot up virtually everyday. Now when I look back, I realise that these were just minor obstacles in our way which we could and did take care of. Because of these, my health and overall happiness was taking a beating at that time.

I feel that every entrepreneur must realise what I realise now. Stress and anger are unproductive in the short term and harmful in the long term. You will face challenges. Do not let them cow you down. Keep overcoming them and love and enjoy your journey to the fullest.

Be the Dumbest Person in the Room

Entrepreneurs should have a tendency to be the dumbest guys in the room, For this, they will need to hire the best people to join them in their startup. An entrepreneur should never feel insecure about letting good people in, thinking that the latter might end up becoming more valuable than the former and might end up starting out on their own as well.

A good entrepreneur will always take in the best people, motivate them and keep learning from them on a continuous basis.

A Bad Habit We Must Avoid at all Costs

One bad habit which I feel I and a lot of us have is that we want to put our feet in many things at the same time. We feel we do this to hedge our risks, i.e. we feel that atleast one of them will work and give us a return. However, the downside is that we are not able to fully commit to something and hence the chances of succeeding in any become lower.

At a few times in my career till now, I have been found guilty of doing 2 things at the same time. I used to feel that I need to push either upto a certain point and will take a decision once I see either of them moving faster and reaching some scale. This has backfired for me and I now understand where I was going wrong. Once you commit to something, you should fully back it. A lot of 'noise' will be around you which will try to sway your focus. One should channelize all our efforts and energy in one direction, especially at a startup stage, to better our chances of succeeding.

To Dropout or Not?

I loved this post which I read in inc42.com about whether budding entrepreneurs should drop out of college or not.

‘Do or Do Not, There is no Try! – Yoda’

This ongoing debate has been getting a lot more spotlight as we see more and more of the youth starting up early on. Before reaching to any conclusion, though, lets hear out both the sides.

The Pros

Many people find earning a degree arduous because either they find it a waste of time or they think they can do better things than that. Some are of the view that there are bigger problems that need to be handled and earning a degree and going for a 9 to 5 job is not their cup of tea. Thus, dropping out gives them a head start and time to start out early on things they are passionate about.

College teaches one on how to go on a full month on a few thousand bucks while not giving up on one’s ‘lavish’ lifestyle, giving one a before hand experience of a bootstrapped startup. No matter how meagre a startup’s income, it keeps on going and surviving because it believes in itself.

You will not be an ordinary person like the vast majority of graduates, because you will be forced at times to “think outside the box”. You were not told for 3-4 years about what is impossible or what should never be attempted which will give you the edge to get out of the box. Being a dropout will require you to be able to look at every problem from a fresh and investigative perspective that might help in working your way around a problem.

The Cons

Not having a formal degree makes you ineligible for hiring at the outset because people don’t take a dropout seriously unless he or she is somewhat exceptional.

“You miss the college life, the fun, last minute assignment submissions and those bunking hours of college but who cares when you have your startup and it is worth it.” – Ankit Oberoi

College is the time, especially in India, where one finally gets the time to explore one’s capabilities and interests. These are the formative years which could help discover your passion and direction in life, not to mention the network you build. Missing out on this could have a big detrimental impact.

Even though these people are dropouts, they made their path to success but this doesn’t work the other way around. They proved to be an exception because they never lost their passion and kept working towards their goal without any loss of enthusiasm. These were the ones who were so idea-centric about their passion that every time they made a breakthrough they were filled with zeal all over again. This made them overlook their education and follow their idea blindly.

In his blog post even Bill Gates states, “Although I dropped out of college and got lucky pursuing a career in software, getting a degree is a much surer path to success”. He further adds that college graduates are more likely to find a rewarding job and earn higher income than if they didn’t have degrees. The problem is not that enough people are going to college, it is that not enough people are finishing it. Even though enrollments rates are soaring but so are dropping rates. Even though above mentioned dropouts have struck gold but not everyone can do so because they don’t know ‘where ‘ to look. That perspective, that imparting of skills is provided by formal education.

On a lighter note, college leads to overall development of an individual. It not only provides with education skill but also important life skills which go a long way. Earlier, people used to stick to their passion and were not easily demoralised but the scenario is different now, with ever-shortening attention spans and lack of patience thereof, the road to success has become a treacherous path for many.

In Kunal Shah’s words, “They say people with high IQ have a good chance to be an atheist, but it doesn’t mean one will become high IQ by stopping to believe in God.”

‘Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. ~ John Dewey’

As with most debates, there are merits to both sides of the story. We’ll leave it up to you to choose your side!

You Need to Start Somewhere

'In 1995, a computer programmer Pierre Omidyar started auctioning off stuff on his personal website. AuctionWeb, as it was then known, was really just a personal project, but, when the amount of web traffic made it necessary to upgrade to a business Internet account, Omidyar had to start charging people fees. He actually hired his first employee to handle all the payment checks. The site is now known as eBay.' (taken from entrepreneur.com)

Ideas do not materialize out of thin air. We need to start somewhere and once we keep moving, opportunities present themselves which we can then capitalize on!

Reasons for Startup Failure (Infographic)

Determination is More Important than Education

There are many different types of people in business with different educational backgrounds, so don’t feel excluded. Some successful people are quiet, some are loud, some are good salespeople or good at finance. All can make it if they have a good team to help carry forward their plan.

A degree of formal education is helpful for anybody and I encourage it. But having a degree is not an essential part of being successful as an entrepreneur. The qualities you do need are a lot of stamina and determination.

(taken from entrepreneur.com)