POSSIBILITY OF CREATIVITY

POSSIBILITY OF CREATIVITY
Even with good training and strong motivation, being a successful entrepreneur is tricky. You have to live with having control and not having control at the same time. It's like this: In big businesses, when you need to cross a river, you simply design a bridge, build it, and march right across. But in a small venture, you must climb on the rocks. You don't know exactly where each step will take you, but you do know the general direction you're moving in. If you make a mistake, you get wet. If your calculations are wrong, you have to inch your way back to safety and find a different route. And, as you jump from rock to slippery rock, you have to like the feeling.



Please find your true calling and love your craft, the risks may outweigh the rewards. Sure, training, talent, and that

most elusive component, good timing, are essential. But they are not enough.You need to have a true passion for what you're doing.



According to one story, when God made the world, he left it a little bit incomplete. Instead of making bread God gave us wheat; instead of bricks, we have clay, and we have to bake the bricks ourselves. Why? So that we are partners in completing the act of creation. Our time on earth is important; we are not passive observers but active participants in making the world a better place. That sense of individual responsibility- the need to ask. How will I participate?- If you are the possibility of creativity, everything works. Just be the POSSIBILTY OF CREATIVITY

Startup Saturday Bangalore September

It is time for another exciting event of Startup Saturday. This month, it will be organized as scheduled on the 13 September (Second Saturday).

We are having special guests who are experts in each of the areas to spend time and speak of their experiences and also address with case studies.



It is a free event, Registration is must!

1. Product marketing and go-to-market strategies - consumer behavior, segmentation and targeting; positioning and business models; pricing strategy; distribution and scaling strategies

2. Funding, Valuation and Exits - financial models, valuation techniques, capitalization and structuring, exit strategy

3. Sales management - lead management and tracking, incentivising sales and targeting, negotiation and etiquettes, revenue realisation and optimisation

4. Managing new products and innovation - applying technology in products; generating product road maps; involving employees and customers in creating innovation and protecting IP

5. Processes and Statutory compliances - Budgeting and accounting processes, cash and credit management, payroll, taxes and statutory laws (companies, local, employee, export/import, FEMA)


Venue: Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore

Time: 10 AM - 5 PM

Location: Auditorium (Easily accessible from NSRCEL or Cafe Coffee Day)



Visit StatupSaturday and register yourself.

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Speakers:

Dr. Vishy Poosala Head of Bell Labs – India Founder and CTO – Geopepper Venture

Talking on Managing innovation and products


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Ganesh Rengaswamy- Adviser, Indavest Ventures co-founder, Travel Guru; ex-India Investments lead at Greylock Ventures

Talking on Funding, Valuation and Exits

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Anand Prakash Jangid of Anand Prakash & Associates Chartered Accountants

Talking on Processes and Statutory compliances



You can read the profiles at http://www.startupsaturday.in/index.php?title=Bangalore

The VC & Marriage Path:

Men and women are two different species whose communication is still @ infancy - Bill Cosby.

Like men and women, entrepreneur and VC are two different species, their ideas are different and their goals are different. Men think about sex, women think about gifts. Entrepreneurs think about the growth, VC think about returns. After all these differences still marriage is possible.

Like marriage brings attachment, commitment, food, caring and responsibility, VC fund also brings few things like Acceleration, etc…

On a lighter note:

Marriage(Woman In Your Life)	VC Fund
Growth	Acceleration
No need to worry daily(Food), only monthly worries	No need worry monthly only quarterly worries.
Helping hand for the bright future	Help with future rounds.
Peacefulness	Competition
Respect in the society. (Pls compare with live-in relationship)	Image
Stability	Stability
Second Salary	Hands on Help (Nice to Have)
Help In Taking Care	Help in Recruiting (Nice to have)

Like men, entrepreneurs are always thinks about Cost, Control, and Confidentiality. VC's always think about Validations, Scale and sustainability and a great exit.

Few more points:

1. 1. Bedrock for things to work in both is communication - be upfront and clear.

2. 2. If things work its heaven. if they don't its hell. Usually both are experienced alternatively in both cases.

3. 3. At marriage vows are made and after marriage they're broken every day but marriage still survives as long as breaks are not huge. It’s just too inconvenient to divorce! Similarly revenue/profit projections are made at funding and they are hardly ever met (plus or minus) but co still survives as long as negative deviations are not huge. It’s just too inconvenient to liquidate!

PJ: VCs are worse - they want returns from entrepreneurs (who can be women as well) ..hehe

Sorry If I am biased towards any particular gender.

Joke: The VC and entrepreneur are always ready for the marriage. But the problem is VC wants decide who is bride, who is the groom.

Note: Special thanks to Suresh Narasimha (CEO of Telebramha) for instigating these thoughts. He was speaking at NASSCOM product conclave about VC Path.

Don't Start A Startup Alone?

Don't Start A Startup Alone?

This has been said over and over again. How much it is true? They say you require shoulder to cry. You require another head to think. You require another soul to console. Etc..

I heard this again at last week's NSSCOM product conclave.
I feel "For every theory that exists, there is a equal and opposite theory”.

Is There Any Successful Product Startup Started By One Person?

I know few in US. Let me know your comments!

3P Mantra for a Product Startup

Mr. Kiran Karnik, former President of NASSCOM, speaking at recently concluded NASSCOM product conclave had given 3P Mantra for the Product Startups. Following are the details.

Patience:

It's said that patience is a virtue and this certainly holds true in practice. It is even truer in this fast-paced society where rushaholics and hurry addicts are in the majority and companies seem to believe that faster is better. Although patience is sometimes mistaken for sloth, it's the patient ones who are the most effective time managers. They tend to think things through before they act and focus more on results than activity. Following are the few characteristics of patient enterprises.

1. Patient companies fully intend to accomplish all their goals but they don't expect it to happen overnight. These companies recognize that time is their ally, not their enemy, and that all goals can be accomplished, given a realistic time frame. They will not hurry to go to a VC or taking the company to public.

2. Patient enterprises are not thrown off balance by momentary delays. These enterprises utilize idle time by working on other tasks or new innovations.

3. Although patient enterprises utilize idle time and waiting time rather than get frustrated by the delay, they seldom perform two activities at the same time if both activities require their attention. So they don't do sales on a marketing platform.

4. These enterprise plan before they act. Consequently they make good decisions, wise choices and sound judgments, achieving above average results.

Persistence:

Know that persistence is the name of the game...and plan accordingly.Those entrepreneurs that meet success do so because they had the ____ to push and prod and coddle their business into existence.

They found a way to keep their business moving forward in a strategic and precisely aligned manner. If something wasn't working for them, then they changed the way it was done. They looked at their business from many angles and found a way to proactively design their business to work the way they needed it to.

"Energy and persistence conquer all things."- Your Entrepreneurial Predecessor, Benjamin Franklin.

It is very important in sales. Today’s “no” doesn’t mean, No forever. You have to keep calling your prospective to customers. It is better to revisit your sales tracking once in a month and give hello calls to everyone in your list.

Passion:

Passion but passion is most important for every entrepreneur. Passion is a beautiful thing. Passion is what keeps you awake at night because you are so excited about what you are building. Passion is what makes you work on weekends. Passion is what blinds you to imaginary hurdles. Passion is what makes you deaf to destructive criticism. Passion more than makes up for lack of money. Passion attracts talent. Passion attracts customers. Passion brings pride in what you are doing. Passion sells your product. Passion sells your dreams. Passion makes you think differently. Passion makes you less greedy. Passion is what helps you get up after a bad fall. Passion is what builds great companies. Passion is the only hope for a startup. You can right lot about PASSION.