sahil parikh’s work+life stream

The other day I was introduced to a guy who was just out of college. He should have been around 22 yrs. We were generally talking about technology and web apps then he mentioned that he was leaving his current position in a cool web startup. FYI, he had just started a couple of months back. Concerned, I probed a bit and found out that he was not happy with what he was doing. He wanted to work on the "cool" and "good" stuff. The high level stuff. The stuff that he could boast to his college friends. He detested the grunt work that was given to him occasionally. To me, thats' the stuff that sometimes goes into building a great business. He then told me that in a few months he was looking to start his own business.

What!!!!

Wait a second. This is not happening. I was speechless.

How does that work? Starting a business and being entrepreneurial is awesome but if you can't get past Level 1, then how are you going to reach Level 4? Aren't all businesses built on the stuff that we don't like doing sometimes? Isn't pain the part of the process that helps us reach the top?

I hope this is not the attitude of our young generation - 'get rich quick and I don't want to work' kind of attitude. Wanting everything on a silver platter but not wanting to go through the pain. 

I wanted to wish him good luck. We parted ways in different directions.

These experiences helps me with hiring people for DeskAway. I look for one thing -  a good attitude. It's worked almost all the time. Attitude will tell you a lot about the person, where he has been and where he will be a few years down the road.

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Besides having a good idea mixed with some passion, these are a few things an entrepreneur needs to keep in mind while growing his business...

Think large-scale - can you handle more than just a few clients with the same process? You should be able to replicate your process with many clients without too much customization. Think the concept of 'assembly lines'.

Your business should work with a few people. That's why I am not a big fan of outsourcing shops. They always need more headcount when a new project comes in. If you look closely, they are more of a HR company trying to keep people on-board. Instead, try to run a small ship with big engines.

Know when to pass - when you say 'no' you really know what you are working towards. When we were a design agency, at one point we started taking up all kinds of projects - web, development, print, logo etc. We had forgotten what we stood for and running the business was not fun.

Make your customers say "wow". At DeskAway we are focusing our efforts on the 'wow' factor this year. It's simple - if people are happy, they buy from you and tell others to buy from you. Try to get people to say "wow" - about your product, website, service, support...

These are the things that I keep in mind while running this small ship...Have a great weekend!

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This weekend I was reading the Special Report on Entrepreneurship in March issue of The Economist and one of the articles had some really great points as to why America still leads the world in entrepreneurship. These points unlock the mystery as to why Silicon Valley is the undisputed leader in churning out world-class products -

1. Comfort in risk taking - most countries have a social stigma associated with going bankrupt or bust.

2. Mature venture capital industry

3. Close relations between the industry and Universities (think, Stanford!).

4. Immigration policy has been historically quite open.

5. 'Venturesome consumers' - wiling to try new products and services.

The last point I think is the most important. The consumers are very involved with the shaping of the product or service. With new web 2.0 and social media tools (e.g. blogs, twitter etc.) this is going to become even more open, transparent and crucial for any company to take advantage of. Every business needs to find their 'venturesome consumers' who will be responsible for shaping the next versions of the product/service.

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Read a very interesting article today titled - The Startup Myth

Entrepreneurship is not about startups. Entrepreneurship is not about eating ramen noodles and scraping by. Entrepreneurship is not about being able to tell your friends and family you are a founder of a startup so you can finally impress them. Entrepreneurship is not about working 12 hour days ad infinitum and sleeping only 4 hours per day to show the world how tough and committed you are. Entrepreneurship is not about attending industry conferences so that you can hear yourself speak and tell your competitors how excited you are about your opportunities. Entrepreneurship is not about blogging about entrepreneurship. Most of all, entrepreneurship is not about some romantic ideal of living a tough startup life. Get real. Entrepreneurship is about growth and value. Entrepreneurship is about creating something a sufficient number of people want or need. Entrepreneurship is about turning every dollar of resources spent into something worth more than a dollar. Entrepreneurship is about building a company and growing it beyond startup stage. Figure out a way to scale so that your startup can grow to be a valuable company. Build a company, not a startup. If you love the startup lifestyle, leave your company after it outgrows you to start something new again. It’s a good thing to have your company outgrow you, your garage, and your romantic visions of what it means to be an entrepreneur.

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