I am extremely lucky that I am associated with, friend with or at least have an acquaintance with a lot of entrepreneurs. Most of them are amazing people with some really cool ideas and great insights about their industry as well as mine. The conversations are enlightening as well as highly enjoyable. But there are a few that I encounter from time to time who I feel are doing a startup for not so right reasons. Now there are no “absolutely” right or wrong reasons to do a startup but there are some that I feel are more right than others. If you are doing a startup just for any of the following reasons, I request you to think again before you move forward.
I don’t follow orders / I don’t want to work for someone else – this one is the most stated reason and the worst one in my opinion. If you can’t follow orders you will not know how to make your team follow you. If you have never worked for someone, you will never be able to understand how your colleagues feel and would never be able to utilize their potential optimally. A bad follower cannot be a good leader. Be a follower, be a good follower and then try to be a leader. Unless you have the right family name, most of us have to work hard to lead men.
Let me to cut the middleman out – ‘So my boss pays me and the client pays my boss. I do all the work and yet the boss is getting rich by just being there. Why don’t I eliminate the boss from the system and keep all the riches to myself. I can any day do all the little managerial work my boss does‘. Sounds familiar? It seems very much similar to “I can do this myself” but is very different. There is a reason the boss is there where he is. He worked hard to reach there and is still working in getting the client and taking flak when you screw up. It’s not wrong to want to be the boss but you should wait your turn and make sure you qualify for the same. If every employee starts doing this we will have a lot of one-man startups all around.
I’ll be my own boss. Life will be chilled out – “It must be awesome to not have to ask anyone for leave. Work or take a break whenever you want”. I am sure all the entrepreneurs have heard it at least once. People think that just because there is no apparent boss on top of a startup guy, his life is chilled out which he lives according to his free will. Well that doesn’t happen. You will get calls from the junior most team member of a client in the middle of a movie and there will be nothing you could do. You will have to take meetings on holidays and cancel your personal commitments to make things work. If you are doing a startup just to get rid of office compliances, please don’t.
Doing a startup is so easy – All you need is a website, they say. And a website can be built very cheap by any freelancer. If you build any decent portal which does something social surely Facebook or Yahoo will buy you out in no time. If not that e-commerce is still awesome, you can sell anything. How hard could that be? My answer : Very hard. For every startup that get successful there are thousands that don’t. For every startup that get acquired there are millions that don’t. Only take the leap if you can stomach this kind of risk.
I have an awesome idea – Yay!! Congrats to you. Now go back and do your job. Ideas are a dime a dozen and have zero inherent value without a driver, a driving force and proper execution. You could think about the next Facebook all you want but that wont make it happen. If you botch the execution you will either kill the idea or someone else will move ahead with it just by doing it better than you. Don’t make the jump with just the idea. You need to bring more to the table.
I am a terrific programmer – Good. Stick to programming. Interview at Google/Facebook and I wish that you get through. Startups, even the purely internet kind, require a lot more than just good programming skills. Most likely you will end up building a technologically awesome, maybe even great looking product which no one is using while you sell lesser products having millions of users. If programming is the only skill you have, you’d better work for a startup than starting one.
Everyone is doing it – If you want to do a startup just so that you can contribute to the conversations that you have who have all turned entrepreneurs then you are in for trouble. Peer pressure, of any kind is bad. Don’t do it just because you are feeling left out. Do it because you want to stand out. Being one of “them“ is not cool even if them is entrepreneurs.
I want to get filthy rich and famous just like Zuckerberg – I do too. And I hope both of us get rich too. But there is no guarantee that you will get rich by doing a startup. You could. But you might not. A bird in hand is usually better than a million in a dream. Think about it.
Now as I am near the end of this post I realize that most of us are entrepreneurs because of a combination of these reasons. But if you are boarding the startup boat just because of one of these reasons, I would warn you about the rough sea that would be waiting for you. If you agree/disagree or have a feedback, do leave a comment here. You can also find me on twitter @akhilrex
Note: This is an original post that was posted on my blog here. Check out the blog for more such posts.
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More startup reads by this author: Don’t try to do everything!
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Recommended reads on the same topic:
Being an entrepreneur – Fact or Fiction?
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Sridhar Rajendran
Good article!
Manish Nasa
applause!! This is a terrific post!!
Saraswathi Pulluru
Every Wannabe entrepreneur should read this awesome post. Great stuff!
Manish Golchha
SuperB for anyone going to start….! Must Read.
Sameer
Intriguing post…but i do have to disagree to a couple of generalizations that you have in there. I firmly do believe that no one is born an entrepreneur. One’s personal experiences and choices till that point in life play a great role in his decision to go down that path. We should not be too judgmental on the reason why people want to start out. If they do a have a plan in hand and enough conviction they have every right to give it a shot. Yet again, even you have all the positive attributes that an entrepreneur needs there is no guarantee that you will be a success. An average of 40-50% of startup businesses fail within the first 4-5 years https://www.statisticbrain.com/startup-failure-by-industry/ . But unless you try out you will never even know if you will be a success or a failure.
However, having rambled so much, i do believe the decision to start up has to be a carefully thought out decision rather than an impulsive knee-jerk reaction to difficulties that you face in your company or career. I believe that is what we should be encouraging all the to be entrepreneurs to do. Think and plan carefully before you take the plunge
Akhil Gupta
HI Sameer
I really appreciate that you took out your time to read and share your feedback. I agree with most of what you say. As a matter of fact i feel both of us are saying the same thing. I do not want to discourage people from doing startup, that was never the intention. I just want to say that one needs to be prudent and realistic when starting up.
Sagar Yadav
I see start-ups not working out fundamentals well.
I have been through a huge failure because of not getting them right.
Everyone has an idea – till now this has been true for all the people I have met.
Most of us while starting up are too flowery in our imagination of our idea. It is not even the execution that matters. First comes the business plan based upon strong fundamentals.
Most online start-ups think that they can make good money after more expansion – big mistake ! Expansion means more investment, that’s it. Profits depends upon efficiency, that also if there was money in the business plan to begin with.
Do a pilot, make it profitable, refine your business plan – before showering flowers on self.
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Yup.
I wrote this for entrepreneur mag last month:
Being ‘Entrepreneur’ – Fact or Fiction?
I’ve asked many people between the ages of 25-45 what they wanted to be when they were very young (around the time they were in school). Most of the replies were the ones that you’ve heard before. Fifty per cent of boys wanted to be ‘Pilots’. Another twenty five per cent wanted to be ‘Astronauts’. The remaining wanted to be firemen, doctors, etc. Most girls wanted to be teachers, doctors, or air hostesses when they grew up. Freaks like me wanted to be a Rock Star (singer)…!
If you take a minute to ask “why”, the answer is simple! Pilots fly planes (every boy’s favorite toy)! Astronauts operate rockets and travel to space (the ultimate dream, blown up by Star Wars and Star Trek) while Rock Stars perform on stage, make people swoon and sway and kiss their feet (the epitome of being popular).
No one I met wanted to be an “Entrepreneur” when he or she was young!
Today, almost every adult I meet – be in an aspiring final year student at an IIT or IIM, or a bored salesman in an auto parts company, or even doctors and lawyers – they all want to be Entrepreneurs!!
Heck, I am even writing this column for a magazine called ‘Entrepreneur’, as an Entrepreneur!
So, what happened to everyone? Was there an invisible neutron bomb, filled with genetically modified ‘entrepreneur particles’ that dropped on the planet and invaded our bodies and minds? Did a mass hypnotist appear and convince us all to become entrepreneurs? Was God sighted on the planet asking mankind to follow entrepreneurship?
Or is becoming an “Entrepreneur” today, a young adult fantasy just like being a Pilot or Astronaut was when I was 10 years old?
I want to use this column to differentiate the ‘fact and fiction’ of being an Entrepreneur, to highlight what it really means to be one vs. dreaming of being one.
Fiction # 1 – Being an Entrepreneur will make me rich. Very rich.
Fact # 1 – Most entrepreneurs barely manage to put food on their table and usually go bankrupt. The failure rate in startups exceeds 90% .Entrepreneurs beg, borrow, even steal (borrow from relatives is stealing) and almost never manage to repay their loans. Entrepreneurs are always so low on money, that they rarely pay themselves even a basic survival salary (leave alone what they were getting when they had a good job) and usually deplete all their bank and life savings before giving up.
Truth – Being an Entrepreneur is probably the fastest way of becoming poor – not rich!
Fiction # 2 – As an Entrepreneur, I am my own boss!
Fact # 2 – As an Entrepreneur you report to yourself, and that can be the toughest boss ever! Also, if you are funded, you will report to VCs (venture capitalists and investors), who can be the meanest bosses you ever had.
Most professionals are used to being told what to do, and then ‘do it’ to the best of their ability and skills. As assignments get bigger, more complicated and sensitive, the professional rises in her company ranks. It’s at the very top of the ladder and typically at a mid-life stage when a person becomes the CEO of a large business, becoming the boss of all bosses. But by then there is a lot of maturity on how to handle people, boards and yourself.
Most professionals get a ‘mental shock’ when they start up! There is no one to tell them what to do, how to do it and what not to do. That itself can be unnerving. Later, when investors arrive, who come with their own agendas (not necessarily in sync with your careers); reporting and pleasing them can turn out to be a nightmare!!
Truth – Being an Entrepreneur can make you an instant boss, but a boss who will break the Guinness world record of being confused!
Fiction # 3 – Let me try this venture for a while and then switch to a job if it doesn’t work.
Fact # 3 – Once bitten, forever paralyzed. In my 15 years of being a digital entrepreneur, I have seen very few people blend back to professional careers after having tasted entrepreneurship. The freedom, thrill, ability to be creative, articulate, aggressive and impactful is a ‘work high’ that rarely comes easily in stuffy corporate jobs. But when mid-age entrepreneurs fail (and have lots of monthly cash flows to take care of), and are forced to go back to work for their previous company (typically), the transition is not easy.
Truth – Switching from being an employee to an entrepreneur can be easy but switching back is very difficult.
Fiction # 4 – I will sell my venture, then start another one and another one… Voila! I will become a ‘serial entrepreneur’.
Fact # 4 – Probably working in ‘television serials’ or worse, being a ‘serial purse snatcher’ is far easier than being a ‘Serial Entrepreneur’!!
Selling a startup company is like selling pizza bread to a vada pav (local street food of Mumbai that is nothing but a fried potato patty stuffed in a bun with spices sprinkled on top) stall owner. He will be intrigued and inquisitive; will even sample your bread, but not buy your wares. Only years later, when you come across an ambitious, futuristic vada pav stall owner, who has made crores of rupees and has the foresight to see that the next wave of street food will be pizzas not vada pavs, that he may offer to buy you out – but with the condition that you operate and sell pizzas from his stall!!
Most startups take years to get acquired by traditional companies who want to venture into a new space (think Disney acquiring Angry Birds); or by existing new-age companies who want fresh entrepreneurial talent and digital IP in their ventures [think Electronic Arts (EA) buying Angry Birds] but usually, all these companies insist that the entrepreneurs stay back for 3-5 years and ‘earn out’ their moneys, while easing-in the startup in the big mother ship!
Truth – Being an Entrepreneur is the best way of being locked up, behind the bars of a jail called ‘The Startup’; not being free as a bird.
Fiction # 5 – Starting up and being an Entrepreneur is cake walk!
Fact # 5 – Probably riding a bicycle to Pluto is an easier job. Almost 99% of people I know who have either switched to being an entrepreneur or are considering to, do not know the hardships and the pains involved in being one. They just don’t consider facts like – people will not want to work for you; only 2 out of 100 pitches will succeed; your 2 clients will torment you; getting moneys from them will need employing the Mafia, etc!
Being an entrepreneur and starting up is like volunteering to go to Siberia and finding polar bears to perform dental surgery on. Just close your eyes and imagine the situation!
To end, I would like to refer to Tintin – the famous explorer, adventurer and just the perfect ‘boy’ hero I wanted to be when I was 10 years old. I re-examined his exploits, and it turns out that he went to the moon, traveled to the Pyramids, deep sea dived for treasures, navigated the Congo, was even involved in hunting for Emeralds, but never, ever became an Entrepreneur!
Now, I know the reason why!
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Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
And also, these are the MYTHS!!!
Myth 1 – I have a great idea but I can’t share it coz someone will steal it.
Oh man, if that were the case, then dreams would be the most expensive commodity on the planet.
Salvador Dali- the father of Surrealism slept on a couch with a spoon in his mouth. He would start dreaming up crazy ideas and as he would drift into his sleep, the spoon would slip out of his mouth, fall on the floor and wake him up. He would immediately get up, rush to his canvas to paint what he had just dreamt. The million $$ Dalis that exist today are paintings, not dreams.
Truth – An idea is worth nothing. Execute. Execute. Execute to make it valuable.
Myth 2 – When do I approach the investors? Hmmmm… What’s the best ‘timing’?
Huh?? Were you Sleep Walking?
If only investors were like the Black and Yellow Mumbai cabs that you can hail and get into any time you want!
No VC or Investor is waiting with bated breath biting her fingernails for you to call! It’s quite the opposite scene actually. In a booming Economy (like India), investors are deluged with lots of high quality and established business investment options, so you have to fight hard to get into the VC’s visitor’s area to begin with!
Truth – Capital Chases Entrepreneurs, not the other way around. Invest all your energies in building a GREAT business. Everyone will be ringing your doorbell.
Myth 3 – I have no money to start. (Sniff Sniff).
Most new business ideas today really need very little capital. If you are thinking of starting an Internet enabled business, the cloud takes away all the pain of investments. Domains cost less than 20 US$, and the rest of it is almost free. Sites like WordPress and their plugins can get you a fully loaded website up and running in a few thousand rupees spent.
Sure, if you have a more Capital Intensive business idea, then think really hard. Start Ups don’t survive on Love and Fresh Air. They need real hard cash. If you are on the Poverty Line, don’t attempt to start up. There will be better times to be more adventurous.
Truth – Be ready to sacrifice a good couple of years’ earnings into starting up and not looking like someone who lost all her baggage after a 24 hour flight. Once you have the cushion of 2 years’ savings, a lot more confidence will seep into your decision-making and improve your risk taking capabilities. Also Budget your Burn to say last for a year or whatever be your test horizon. That discipline will go a long way even after you get funded.
Myth 4 – Let me Grow First. Revenues can come Later.
Oops. That’s the spine breaker.
Unless you have a massive, massive overnight hit like a Twitter or Facebook, tread the ‘growth first, revenue last’ road with caution.
You may be suffering from a deep-seated insecurity to generate revenues and conveniently shoving that fear under the carpet by postponing revenue generation. It’s like hiding a body in the deep freezer and hoping that it will never be found.
Generating revenues is a real PAIN.
And it’s best confronted in parallel to building your business. In fact, so many extra features of your service or enterprise may never be needed if you listen to the fat men with the cheques books early on. Also, as investors, partners, and potential acquirers start noticing your business, they look your Generating Revenue Experience (GRE) scores. If you didn’t apply for the exam, you wont get in.
Truth – Get that begging bowl out. Try and test (if you want to maintain Facebook like early start up Virginity) what people will pay for – but make sure that you know where the light switches are when the darkness arrives.
Caveat (added on 22.9.2012) – I do not mean that make revenues the ‘focus’ of your business. The focus is Business creation – but a proven revenue model validates that model. As long as you even know ‘where and how’ the revenue will come, I believe that its fine
Myth 5 – I’m a techie – I don’t know anything about business. I am a business guy, I don’t know anything about technology!
Then learn!!
The demons of the mind that say that you don’t know how ‘business’ works need to be exterminated on day zero of starting up. Look all around you – the greatest geeks in the world – Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, The Google Twins, Marc Z – all have understood the science of business better than anybody else.
Also, for a M.Com dud like myself, today, technology and self -serve platforms have become so easy to understand and implement, they are like those do it yourself Lego Puzzles. All you need is the patience to sit down and assemble the rocket you are trying to build step by step. Read the instructions carefully and you will be set.
Truth – No entrepreneur can be in-complete. This is actually also the first step in becoming an entrepreneur – understanding a domain that you otherwise had no clue of.
Note – I am not suggesting mastering all domains, but rather just understanding them.
Did you ask them? Did you look into their eyes and explain your invention and what can happen with it?
So many of the ‘been there, done that’ types are so bored and stuck en-cashing salary cheques every month. They are waiting for folks like you to go up to them and redeem them! I meet so many professionals (earning much more than me) ever so often who say ‘Wow Alok, I wish I could be doing the exciting and innovative things you and your Company do’!
Truth – Professionals with big compensation packages may not quit their job in a hurry for your Love Songs, but they can certainly begin associating with you. Start meeting them and burrow into their experiences. Shed a few shares and get them on your board. You may even realize that you never needed them full time!
Myth 7 – I HAVE TO make this work. (Stomping of feet on the floor heard).
Once in a while, when you sample a new restaurant or cuisine, you do risk getting in there, and ordering a meal you have never tasted before. In the first few bites, you know if it is a ‘disastrous’, a ‘will do, let’s get this done with’ or a ‘wow’ meal.
In a start up land, while your dreams may have taken you to heaven in a first class seat, when you actually implement the idea and hit execution, you may land up in rubble, deep under the ground.
Do not deny the ‘badness’ of the idea or the common sensical fact that ‘this was a bet that should not have been played’. Enterprises are built on hypothesis. If even a couple of assumptions or facts (which are crucial to business) don’t turn out the way as per your expectations, ditch the business, kill all engines, sit back and revise the learnings earned.
Truth – Get out, as soon as you see smoke. Don’t put on a mask and enter the fire pretending to be a firefighter. You will not come out alive and your soul will be too charred to boot up again.
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Akhil Gupta
Karan Bhatia
Man you have a writer hidden in you!