Starting up?...Read this
I haven't read many books on entrepreneurship or starting-up. Probably it is because I feel that people cannot be tutored to be entrepreneurs. A few weeks back, I read a very positive review of this book titled The High Performance Entrepreneur by the Mindtree Consulting co-founder Subroto Bagchi. Now after having finished reading it, I can very well say, there are tonnes of lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs in the brilliant book. No this post is in no way a review of the book. Such things are beyond me. This post is about how the book has helped me in correcting some of wrong notions I had and some of things which I had never considered while planning my own venture.
1. I always wanted to start a company of my own because I wanted to solve the problems of this nation. In a way, I wanted to do something for the country. And making money was never my motive. Subroto points out the folly in the above reasoning. To quote a few lines from the book itself - "there are many other ways to serve the country. you may not have a selfish view of what you would do if you made a lot of money. But you must be excited about the idea of making money. If you do not love money, it is unlikely that you will understand the nuances of generating wealth....Profitability is a social obligation of enterprise"
2. Among qualities that an entrepreneur should have, Subroto points out that egolessness as one of the attributes, which I feel is very necessary. From suddenly losing your identity of a good performer at your previous job, you become a nobody and have to start from scratch. Facing rejection on funding, customer and investor front will require complete abstinence from harboring egotistic attitude. "While we do all that, our colleagues whom we left behind in earlier organizations are entitled to great creature comforts. We know that postponed gratification is the essence of ownership. Hence, we do not compare ourselves with what we have left behind"
3. While choosing a team for your company, you don't go about staffing it with your friends or colleagues from previous organization(s). "Friends are meant to give you good wishes, pray for you, occasionally bail you out with a personal loan, and show up in the days leading up to the IPO to make a small investment" The team that you need has to be built based the requirements and matching skill sets.
4. Often what most companies forget is the need to to create a company culture. Culture implies the DNA, mission, vision and values of the company. Rather than just plainly discussing them, they needed to be jotted down and passed on to every existing and new employee of the organization. Though this can be a painstakingly boring and cumbersome exercise, it needs to be undertaken to cohesively organize your team and to get it deliver sterling results, year after year. [ for an elaboration on this, read chapter five in the book]
5. It is very important to understand the work flow at your company. Having right verticals doing correct work in a process-oriented manner is vital. The efficiency and cost-saving solely depends on the processes you adopt. It has been my personal experience that haphazardness is a single most significant reason why most companies never take off or never do consistently well. "After all, Hewlett-Packard was started in a garage and Microsoft was a result of two kids tinkering with their Atari computer. While it may that chaotic circumstances lead to ideation and sometimes a company is born out of that churn...Most start-ups hit a glass ceiling sooner or later because they fail to respect the power of process."
6. " To be world class, you have to hierarchy free" This can be construed in a number of ways. The right idea is that, besides delegation of work, the organization should have a flat structure where no special treatment is given to anybody. It should become an organization where performance and potential and not seniority are the sole indicators of worth of an employee.
7. " The organization's resources are not 'my' resources...Just because you start a company does not mean that you 'own' it" That the company is your baby is all quite fine, but there are many other people who also work in the company. So even though you may be the majority stake holder, none of the company resources are now your own resources.
The book also answers questions like- When do I know if I am ready? How to write a Business Plan? How to build your Brand? How to choose the right Investor? How to manage adversity? Why most start-ups fail?
The book is a gold mine, full of enriching and valuable lessons. In fact, I feel, it is a must read for all you aspiring entrepreneurs.
Disclaimer- The book is not just a must read for companies which haven't yet got off the ground but also for those which are now struggling or are finding it difficult to survive.
1. I always wanted to start a company of my own because I wanted to solve the problems of this nation. In a way, I wanted to do something for the country. And making money was never my motive. Subroto points out the folly in the above reasoning. To quote a few lines from the book itself - "there are many other ways to serve the country. you may not have a selfish view of what you would do if you made a lot of money. But you must be excited about the idea of making money. If you do not love money, it is unlikely that you will understand the nuances of generating wealth....Profitability is a social obligation of enterprise"
2. Among qualities that an entrepreneur should have, Subroto points out that egolessness as one of the attributes, which I feel is very necessary. From suddenly losing your identity of a good performer at your previous job, you become a nobody and have to start from scratch. Facing rejection on funding, customer and investor front will require complete abstinence from harboring egotistic attitude. "While we do all that, our colleagues whom we left behind in earlier organizations are entitled to great creature comforts. We know that postponed gratification is the essence of ownership. Hence, we do not compare ourselves with what we have left behind"
3. While choosing a team for your company, you don't go about staffing it with your friends or colleagues from previous organization(s). "Friends are meant to give you good wishes, pray for you, occasionally bail you out with a personal loan, and show up in the days leading up to the IPO to make a small investment" The team that you need has to be built based the requirements and matching skill sets.
4. Often what most companies forget is the need to to create a company culture. Culture implies the DNA, mission, vision and values of the company. Rather than just plainly discussing them, they needed to be jotted down and passed on to every existing and new employee of the organization. Though this can be a painstakingly boring and cumbersome exercise, it needs to be undertaken to cohesively organize your team and to get it deliver sterling results, year after year. [ for an elaboration on this, read chapter five in the book]
5. It is very important to understand the work flow at your company. Having right verticals doing correct work in a process-oriented manner is vital. The efficiency and cost-saving solely depends on the processes you adopt. It has been my personal experience that haphazardness is a single most significant reason why most companies never take off or never do consistently well. "After all, Hewlett-Packard was started in a garage and Microsoft was a result of two kids tinkering with their Atari computer. While it may that chaotic circumstances lead to ideation and sometimes a company is born out of that churn...Most start-ups hit a glass ceiling sooner or later because they fail to respect the power of process."
6. " To be world class, you have to hierarchy free" This can be construed in a number of ways. The right idea is that, besides delegation of work, the organization should have a flat structure where no special treatment is given to anybody. It should become an organization where performance and potential and not seniority are the sole indicators of worth of an employee.
7. " The organization's resources are not 'my' resources...Just because you start a company does not mean that you 'own' it" That the company is your baby is all quite fine, but there are many other people who also work in the company. So even though you may be the majority stake holder, none of the company resources are now your own resources.
The book also answers questions like- When do I know if I am ready? How to write a Business Plan? How to build your Brand? How to choose the right Investor? How to manage adversity? Why most start-ups fail?
The book is a gold mine, full of enriching and valuable lessons. In fact, I feel, it is a must read for all you aspiring entrepreneurs.
Disclaimer- The book is not just a must read for companies which haven't yet got off the ground but also for those which are now struggling or are finding it difficult to survive.
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3 enlighted souls said something:
good one amit..
liked the way you put down stuff in a direct and easy to understand manner..
great post...
I have always admired the Mindtree chap... used to read his articles in the Times. Pretty good they are.
So are you thinking about becoming an entrepreneur sometime in the future ;) ?
I've already read that book and its big disappointment. I'm sorry to say this, but this is my assertion. I expected much from this book and its too much conventional and to my understanding it has nothing great.
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