How do you know your idea / product is great?

Whether you are "selling"

• your skills to get a job in return 
• soap to a consumer
• your idea / company to an investor for investment in return
• your sweat to dig gold

If you are unable to make a sale after repeated attempts, then you need to answer the below questions to yourself honestly.

1. Value: Is my skill / product / idea really good? Does it provide enough value to the buyer?
2. Need: Am I pitching to the wrong audience? Am I searching in the wrong place? 

If investors are not ready to write a check immediately when you pitch the idea / product, then you dont have a great product! Go perfect the product, make customers pay for the product or go build another product!

If investors are not competing (e.g. dwolla) to invest in your idea / product, then you don't have a great product!

If I have a big stack of soap at my home and a salesman knocks my door and tries to sell soap to me, will I buy?

Entrepreneurship: Success Stories

Do one thing and be great at it
Five Guys
Chipotle
Instagram - Kevin Seystrom
Spotify - Daniel Ek

Sean Parker

Why winners seem to keep winning?

Take Federer or Nadal, even though they seem down by the middle of the match, they will pull back and win it. Some guys just give up when found in such situations. Same is true with Australian cricket team in the early 2000s. It's the mental stength, belief and expecting to win.


When going gets tough, tough get going!


I rarely fall because I practice each sequence in my imagination at night with my eyes closed. I can successfully perform my entire routine with my eyes closed without hesitation..Irina Slutskaya


Winners mentally simulate and practice winning until it becomes a habit.


We're gonna win the game. I guarantee it!..Joe Namath


Take no prisoners war strategy!


I think a lot of guys didn't relish the big moments. Well, I did. I saw how much fun it was playing in front of that many people, so instead of becoming nervous I got really, really excited. My level ofconcentration went sky-high. That's when I truly excelled....Terry Bradshaw


When you know you are going to die if you dont win, then one puts in the best fight as in war...Kiyosaki


When someone believes it's him against the world, it doubles his resolve

Useful sites

AngleList
TED
Business Insider

Inspiring speeches

TED
Stanford ecorner
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
Steve Jobs Stanford Address
Martin Luther King...I have a dream
JK Rowling Harvard address...seeing the bottom
Sheryl Sandberg..harvard commencement...

Elite blogs

Simon Sinek: Why-How-What golden circle.
Fred Wilson: Details of enterpreneurship
Mark Suster: Entrepreneurship advise
Naval Ravikant

Similarities between life and SDLC

Requirement definition - aspirations/dreams
Analysis
Planning
Construction
Test
Deploy
Review - Lessons learnt
Iterate...next version

Great accomplishments stem from great misery?

When ego is terribly hurt....Zuckerburg

Learning from animal & plant world

• Lion does not eat grass
• Some birds can not be caged
• Birds of like feather flock together
• Tiger waits patiently for a very long time for the right opportunity to chase the prey. It has limited energy resources.
• Adapt or perish...survival of the fittest
• Chinese bamboo...4 years to come out of the ground but 4 weeks to grow 20 ft
• Water spider...takes air bubble between legs under water to provide to baby to breathe
• Oak tree sends the seed flying far
• While it looks gentle and serene on the outside, duck is paddle really hard to stay afloat
• Lizard sheds the tail to frighten the predator by surprise
• Chameleon changes color to blend with the surrounding
• Sheep has herd mentality - no leadership quality
• Birds fly in groups with coordination to conserve energy in the tail -- cycling

Favorite quotes

Its all about people. Hire the best people and figure out ways to manage them. A people want to work for A people. If something is not going to right, its the manager's responsibility to fix it....Kevin Ryan (Gilt).

Dare to dream

You can not manage what can not measure

Measure twice and cut once

A leader makes people aspire for bigger things....selling the dream/hope
To dream of things that that never were and wonder why not...Robert Kennedy
Leader: Confident, conviction, has high aspirations, who can make people believe in themselves, every one must feel an inch taller in the presence of a leader, ability to communicate and inspire....Narayana Murthy

Get rich or die tryin... 50 cent

Speak and seek the truth if you want to be a leader...Sheryl Sandberg...HBS 2012 address

Eat that frog...start with worst feared task first

Change and uncertainty create opportunity..If a deal is a great deal, they aren't going to share it with you! You need to dig it out! Right at the moment when cash creates an unbelievable opportunity, buy and hold people will not have cash to buy or sell.....Mark Cuban

It ain't over until the fat lady sings!
"Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds" -Larry Bird

Choose your enemies well since soon you will become just like them.

Sit down every night before you go to bed and write down the three most important tasks you have to get done tomorrow... Unknown

When we don’t set priorities, we tend to follow the path of least resistance. Following the path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked and ugly... Unknown

No one ever made a million bucks by being cautious or timid or reasonable -- Eli Broad

If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? -- Steve Jobs

In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story. -- Jeff Bezos

I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition (altitude sickness).  -- Larry Page

Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people … or find a different room. -- Michael Dell

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. -- JK Rowling

Perception creates relatity....big mouth shall inherit the earth; Create demand dont wait for it; create sense of urgency; Everybody wants what everybody wants; Best time to expand is in recessionary times when big guys are sleeping or protecting their money and reputation; Fire the unfit people early (6 months); Recognition motivates better than money; Pay the most to get the best employees and provide the fun at office; Believe in yourself; Think that I have the right to be here, in the elite club; Entrepreneur: Jump off the cliff without thinking logic, you will figure out the solution...Barbara Corcoran

When you are offered a seat on Rocket, dont ask which seat, just take it...Eric Schmidt

The best teams are often defined by what they choose not to do; Sign of a good entrepreneur is the ability to spot your mistakes, correct quickly and not repeat the mistakes; If you really want to earn you need to be in the top 3-4 in the company; Am I here to earn or to learn?..Mark Suster

If you need a machine and don't buy it, then you will ultimately find that you have paid for it and don't have it...Henry Ford

When setting goals is not enough...

Why do we really need to set goals?
Humans are lazy. If there is no goal, we would do nothing. Or we would do the minimum thats needed to survive. What is your minimum?

Why simple goal setting is not enough?
Because they dont mean much. One needs to be passionate about achieving them.
They should had deadlines. Without deadline, we procrastinate especially if you don't have a boss to keep reminding you.

Set life goal, break it down into subgoals and set deadlines. Create plans and execute. Measure and improve.

Why should the goals be aspirational and uncomfortably challenging?
If the goals are not challenging enough, the best wont come out of us. Also if the goals are low, most likely you will accomplish them pretty quickly. After that you would have nothing to work on and being a human being, you will end up doing nothing (complacent) unless you keep reinventing yourself.

I had a burning desire to go to IIT from my early childhood. I kicked my butt hard to get there. After that I have becoming complacent and have not accomplished anything significant. Had I set even higher goal, I would have been motivated to accomplish more and bring out more out me.

To die happily without regrets what do you need to accomplish in this life?
If I become a billionaire.

Why did you set such an aspirational goal?
So that it brings out the best in me.
Because small dreams and big dreams both cost the same.
Because it allows me to plan with end in mind. It will make priority setting easy. Life if full of choices. Having an aspirational goal will make it easier to pick the choices that matter to you most.
Because in the process I would get to enjoy finer things in life
Because in the process I would have created something useful to the world (you can't become a billionaire  without creating something of value to this world)

How to make sure I move my butt?

Lion does not eat grass
What is your minimum standard below which you would rather die than live? Since lion is going to die if its not going to find meat, it will move its butt and do something about it. Living beings have instinct to do whatever needs to be done to survive.

You can not learn to swim standing on the bank
To learn to swim you need to get into water. Probability that you will learn swimming standing outside is ZERO. But if you jump into water, probability that you will learn swimming increases enormously.

So set your minimum standard and act on achieving it right away.

Be a snob if you want to succeed?

Arrogance vs. confidence

Inspiring People

1. Gurbaksh Chahal...against all odds, find out the passion, work hard
2. Kevin Systrom...Hard work, right place...right time, create a tool that masses want
3. Sara Blakely...Spanx - Innovative product, determination, selling
4. Vani Kola...passion for problems, supreme self confidence
5. Steve Jobs...Taste, Attention to detail, Ruthless, connecting dots..seeing what others cant see and convincing others to see the same, presentation skills
6. Prasad V Potluri....Software, KPO, realty, media
7. Mark Zuckerburg....genius, egoistic, prove to the world
8. Michael Dell
9. Bill Gates
10. Chandrababu Naidu
11. Ramoji Rao
12. Dhirubhai Ambani
13. Sukhinder Singh Cassidy: vector of impact, your trademark strengh

Favorite Business Ideas

Salman Khan - revolutionize teaching
Sara Blakely - revolutionize hosiery
Hudl - Help athletic coaches view plays, etc
Google - Make search easier
Facebook - Help connecting and stay in touch with people
Microsoft - Make computer accessible to masses
Recaptcha - Search hard enough and you will find what you want; if you didn't find, then look somewhere else
PayDragon - mobile ordering of food
Pinterest - elegant pictures
Instagram - useful tool

Afraid of what and why?

Fear will keep you where you are. Hang out with the people whom you want to become to change your mindset...Kiyosaki

Favorite Videos

Aaref Hilaly: Taking Clearwell from 0 to $400M in 6 yrs
Regina Dugan: Fear of failure
Phil Libin - Evernote

Is altruism a fictitious concept?

Society seems to scoff at selfish people. But is there anyone who is really not selfish at all? Is altruism practical?

While some people appear to exhibit unselfish behavior, when you dissect the situation almost always you will find a selfish motive. One of my friend told me about "five why's". Keep asking "why" till you get to the root. Usually you could get to the root when you have asked "why" five times!

I can not comprehend why many people consider saints to be altruistic. Are they really selfless? Would they really pass up their meal to some hungry person on the street? Will they do this day in and day out? May be saint is less selfish than a wall street capitalist. But still selfish, isn't it?

I do not have problem with people being selfish. In fact, its good to be selfish. If people are not selfish, they most likely do not have a motivation to wake up every morning. There is no reason to work hard. Everyone would sit idle and the society would perish in no time!

Should we donate to celebrities?

When I was buying something at a store the other day, the lady behind the counter asked me if I would you like to donate a dollar to some charitable foundation. When asked her what they would do with the money, she explained how it would be spent and how it would help so many under-privileged kids. I was moved and chose to donate.

When I contemplated what just transpired, I realized that not only was a donating for helping the under-privileged, I was donating a fraction to a multimillionaire celebrity and his/her agent as well. If you are wondering if I bluffing you, I am not. The shoes that I bought were endorsed by a big celebrity. The shoe maker gives millions of dollars every year to this celebrity. The shoe maker does not give that money out of his pocket. Its my money that is being handed over to the rich celebrity. Even worse, without my explicit approval.

Does the rich sports celebrity really need money from me? Whether s/he needs or not, why would s/he refuse if they are given the money. Why should they?

You can argue that if don't like that celebrity, then I should refrain from buy the products endorsed by him/her. Why should I? I really like the shoe that I bought. Why should I be forced to donate to the celebrity when I buy my shoes. Why doesn't the shoe maker stop giving money to the celebrity and sell the shoe for a lesser price?

I always bought the same brand of shoes. I don't need to be "told" by the celebrity to buy that brand. If I am already loyal to the shoe maker, why should my money be siphoned out to the celebrity. The celebrity did not provide me any value. As a customer, can't I question the efficiency of the shoe maker's spending?

The celebrity could have worked very hard to get to his/her current position. Well, does that mean I need to donate to him/her? If I am going to watch the celebrity play, I will buy the tickets to watch the game. That money can go to the player. I am fine with that because I chose to watch the match and pay for it. Similarly movie ticket money can be given to a movie star. But it does not make sense that I have to pay/donate to the celebrity because I bought some household item.

The celebrity might be helpful in bringing in a the new customers. In the old times when people where living in smaller communities, people bought stuff from local vendors. The vendors did not need celebrities to endorse the products. But in the modern age, you no longer need to buy from the local shop. You can buy from someone on the other side of the planet. If you are a vendor, your customer base is suddenly increased dramatically. That leads to competition. Many vendors want a piece of the pie. Now these vendors need to compete and promote their products. Vendors differentiate themselves by shouting out loud or by using a celebrity's fame.

I am not a new customer. Why should I have to subsidize newer customer finding of the brand? Why is the repeat customer being penalized? Is it a mistake to buy from the same shoe maker again? Doesn't the shoe maker want me to come back? Shouldn't the shoe maker incentivize me to come back instead of penalizing me?

The celebrity is already rich. S/he spends lavishly and leads a luxurious life while I am just a common man. Who should be donating to who? Me to the rich guy or vice-versa?

Would you rather donate your money to the under-privileged kids or to a rich celebrity?

Idea Vetting Criteria

If I have a business idea, what criteria should I run it against to see if its worth pursuing?

• Customers
• What is the value proposition to customers? 
• Dollar savings (wages, expenses)
• Time savings
• Increased revenues 
• Increased customers satisfaction
• Increased employee satisfaction
• How many potential customers have you talked to? 
• What did they say? 
• How many are willing to pay?
• How much are they willing to pay?
• What enhancements do they want?
• Who else can be your customers? Can you use this product in other industries?
• How will you categorize your customers? Paying/non-paying, silver/gold/platinum, etc
• Profitability
• When will it become profitable?
• What the projected revenues in the next 1yr, 2yrs, 3yrs and so on.
• What are the upfront costs and ongoing expenses?
• People
• Hardware/software
• Overhead
• How much can the sales, profit grow year over year?
• What will the profit margin?
• Technology
• Is the technology available to make it work?
• Ease of use/operating for the customer
• Ease of install
• Ease of upgrade
• How soon can you roll out beta version?
• How much will it cost to roll out beta version?
• Suppliers
• Who are your suppliers?
• Do you need license any technology?
• What are your hardware and software costs?
• How do you keep current with all the upgrades to the tools used?
• Competition
• Has any one already done it? If so, why should the customers choose your product?
• Who are the future competitors? 
• What are barriers to entry?
• Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Growth
• Where will you advertise? How much will it cost? Adwords, cold calling, etc
• Whom can you partner with to increase your revenues?
• What trade shows, conferences can you attend to promote?
• At what point would you consider selling partially or fully to investors?
• Can the Angels/VCs add any value? Provide contacts, etc
• Constraints
• Location
• Hours
• What are your dependencies? Key skills needed, capital required, etc 
• Contrarian view
• Where could you go wrong?
• How can this fail?
• How much are you willing to risk if this flops? Time, energy and money
• What costs can you cut?
• What can you improve?

Should be Suave to be Successful?

Article to come soon....
Sales guys vs. Geeks

Enterpreneurship

Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, has done a marvelous job in explaining how to start a startup.

Fred Wilson explains various topics in forming and running a company through his MBA Mondays Blog.

Jason Cohen:
If you can’t find ten people who say they’ll buy it, your company is bullshit. 
How to find that first big customer?

How does Steve Jobs present to inspire?

A Stanford professor's list of recommended books for startups

Providing world class facilities in Tier 1 city is a given where as a previlege in Tier 2 city. Employees will respect you for that and stay with you longer; If you don't fall asleep in a minute on the bed, then you are not working hard! Pay it forward - provided free advise to clients, wrote on blogs; No 1 skill to look for an in an employee should be attitude; team effort - not a one man's company; Dont allow people to discourage you from pursuing your dreams...Prasanna Zore