October 2005. I was in 2nd year of my B.Tech. and had a school friend visit me. I don’t remember how the conversation started but what I do remember is that I told him I’ll be an entrepreneur.
He replied: which branch (in engineering) are you in?
Me: Computer Science (He was doing the same course in some other college and was 1 year ahead)
He: So you think you will get a million dollar product idea and start a software company?
Me: Maybe, some day
6 years later, I founded Niswey – a digital marketing services company. In those 6 years I got an engineering degree – which was of no use, quit 3 jobs, failed one startup and gathered enough confidence (and contacts) to start another company. Today, having run Niswey for 4 years (3 years 11 months to be exact), and having worked with a number of clients, I figured a problem. So I carved a solution, implemented and tested for one client, saw success and thus figured a business model around the solution, which forms the basis of my next company – Irayo! [More about Irayo in another blog post].
Had I not thought about starting a business then (in 2005), I would had not failed my first company, Zapylacz (in 2009), maybe not even started Niswey (in 2011) and hence would have never got the idea for this product company, Irayo.
It’s not an idea that occurred one night all of a sudden while drinking beer in a pub! (You’re lucky if you can do that) In most (human) cases, business ideas are the result of a long process, which includes, vision, hard work, discipline, lots of well-wishers and most importantly, consistent grind!
It’s actually what Steve Jobs once famously said, Keep Looking, Don’t Settle!
And by the way, in the midst of all this (from starting Niswey to starting Irayo), I cofounded a product company, Moneno, was among Nasscom’s ‘Top 10 Upcoming Products from India’ in 2011, which got covered in the media, almost secured funding and then failed!
Obviously I don’t know whether this will succeed or not, but, what’s more important here is, I am giving it a shot. Unless I try, I will never know, after all, it’s good to fail 🙂
Inspiration behind the headline:
@AbhinavSahai , @DhirajPandey
asha chaudhry
niiice!
all the best for irayo (what does it mean?) – abhinav, do feature it in our showcase! section when you are ready (after 112 days, i believe :)))
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
I’m very confused.
What is the message of this post?
Abhinav Sahai
Thanks Asha. Yes, will showcase when the beta goes live.
Irayo is a term in the na’vi language (the language written for the movie Avatar :D) and it means “Thank You”. It’s got to do with gratitude.
Abhinav Sahai
Hi Alok,
Thanks for asking that. Seems I got lost while writing and hence maybe it’s a little unclear, sorry about it.
The message is about 2 things I realized lately:
Since both of them took quite some time to happen, the message is to keep looking and not settle/give up.
Trust that explains.
Amit Shroff
Abhinav.. but why do you need people to follow your dreams or idea.. don’t you think if you have a mission and will we can do it alone.. i don’t mean not hiring team, i am talking about co-founder…!!
Abhinav Sahai
Amit,
It’s not a necessity. For me, it’s always been about complementary skill sets. When I started my first company, I had little knowledge in sales, so I partnered with someone who was better (than me) at that. Now when I am starting Irayo, I needed someone who was good at tech, hence I chose a tech cofounder. You may argue that that’s something one could learn. I agree, you can learn anything but it would have an opportunity cost, which I felt was too high for me, hence I chose to partner, instead of learn.
If you have all the skill sets that will be needed to run your business, then maybe you don’t need one. IMHO, sometimes will-power and intent are not enough.