Should you really think before starting up!? You might have heard stories of folks who came with just few hundred bucks with them and then they worked themselves up to be millionaires. You will find Narayan Murthys or Sabeer Bhatias or any of the Mittals starting with meagre sums of money and a lot of dreams. It is said, that for starting up, all you need is an idea and lots and lots of passion!
Well, this is true, though not completely so. The success rate of a startup is something of the order of one in a thousand. There are many folks who come up with ideas every fifteen minutes, ideas that can supposedly revolutionize the world - very few of them go a long way and be successful. So, apart from the blue-eyed dreams of people who really started up to be millionaires, there are certain things that you need to really put a thought to, before you take the leap.
What does it mean to work in a startup? Well, to work in a startup is to work in a challenge-filled environment, fired with passion, because passion is the only thing that is going to replace the frustrations due to lack of infrastructure, finance, and support from the outside world. It is a place where your confidence in yourself is getting tested in the fire. It is a place where you see light at the end of the tunnel even before the tunnel is dug, and you have to keep the light on till the time you really dig through and come out of the other side of the tunnel. So, be ready, with guts!
Apart from this, you have to do something that you really love doing! It will be something that never tires you. Something that is so important to you that you are ready to come out of the comfort zone that you may be in right at that moment of time.
Next, it is a place where you get hit on the monthly compensation that you may be commanding in the outside market. Be ready, not just in your mind, but inform your families as well, that you are taking a dip in income! (Of course, they'll say you are out of your mind!)
One big point is the team that you are working with. It can make or break your situation. In fact, most of the successful startups had a smaller team to begin with. In the words of one successful CEO that I talked to recently, you can afford to have two, and at max four points-of-failures in your team. In such a case, even if few folks in your team are still not convinced, make up a team with you alone! (I myself had to roll back my startup plans right from the doorsteps of a potential customer, after one of my teammates, who was the main technology person involved, backed out!)
Do think about the monthly burn rate of cash in your proposed startup - it seriously makes sense to be austere in your expenses at the beginning stages. Have a thought on the positive bank balance (friends, families as well as and if possible, foes!) and the cash inflow mechanism of your idea. However great your idea may be, if it cannot generate positive cash flow, you better take Sanyaas! (In other words, grab a sandwich and go ahead with your day job with your startup ideas in the bookshelf!)
Create uniqueness (say, intellectual property) - for Pete's sake, please create something that is going to be unique to you - it can be intellectual or not, is not important - what is important is that it should be unique, and differentiating you from the rest of the herd!
Never be worried about the thought storms in your mind! Madness is contagious - if you have the bug, you are gonna do it! Startup!
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Well, this is true, though not completely so. The success rate of a startup is something of the order of one in a thousand. There are many folks who come up with ideas every fifteen minutes, ideas that can supposedly revolutionize the world - very few of them go a long way and be successful. So, apart from the blue-eyed dreams of people who really started up to be millionaires, there are certain things that you need to really put a thought to, before you take the leap.
What does it mean to work in a startup? Well, to work in a startup is to work in a challenge-filled environment, fired with passion, because passion is the only thing that is going to replace the frustrations due to lack of infrastructure, finance, and support from the outside world. It is a place where your confidence in yourself is getting tested in the fire. It is a place where you see light at the end of the tunnel even before the tunnel is dug, and you have to keep the light on till the time you really dig through and come out of the other side of the tunnel. So, be ready, with guts!
Apart from this, you have to do something that you really love doing! It will be something that never tires you. Something that is so important to you that you are ready to come out of the comfort zone that you may be in right at that moment of time.
Next, it is a place where you get hit on the monthly compensation that you may be commanding in the outside market. Be ready, not just in your mind, but inform your families as well, that you are taking a dip in income! (Of course, they'll say you are out of your mind!)
One big point is the team that you are working with. It can make or break your situation. In fact, most of the successful startups had a smaller team to begin with. In the words of one successful CEO that I talked to recently, you can afford to have two, and at max four points-of-failures in your team. In such a case, even if few folks in your team are still not convinced, make up a team with you alone! (I myself had to roll back my startup plans right from the doorsteps of a potential customer, after one of my teammates, who was the main technology person involved, backed out!)
Do think about the monthly burn rate of cash in your proposed startup - it seriously makes sense to be austere in your expenses at the beginning stages. Have a thought on the positive bank balance (friends, families as well as and if possible, foes!) and the cash inflow mechanism of your idea. However great your idea may be, if it cannot generate positive cash flow, you better take Sanyaas! (In other words, grab a sandwich and go ahead with your day job with your startup ideas in the bookshelf!)
Create uniqueness (say, intellectual property) - for Pete's sake, please create something that is going to be unique to you - it can be intellectual or not, is not important - what is important is that it should be unique, and differentiating you from the rest of the herd!
Never be worried about the thought storms in your mind! Madness is contagious - if you have the bug, you are gonna do it! Startup!
All rights reserved for site content.
Visit Jeev's Homepage
