Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Sunday Morning Lessons
My parents are here to visit. And I have learned a few lessons today morning.
Mom: My house can look cleaner, infact way cleaner with just 2 hours of effort. And this is high output/input ratio. When motivated my maid knows how to work hard.
Dad: Raddi waala (old newspaper collection guy) had come to take newspapers and bad day for him, my dad was here. He totalled all raddi (old newspaper) to be ~15 kgs. My dad came, took one look and said, 'He is off by 100%. This is minimum of 30kgs.' Well, I was sent off on a 'weighing machine scouting tour' which thankfully I managed to find. And you know what, it was 33kgs resulting in doubling revenue from the sale with all bottom line impact (I gave him two bananas to compensate for it). Moreover, he showed us how he actually does it. It is surprisingly simple. Give me a buzz to know.
My dad then proceeded to do a simple analysis on how collecting raddi can be a profitable venture as well by creating micro collection centres through guard of the society plus a macro collection truck each month!!
Last but subtle point: We have a white board at our place (it is a thin sheet which sticks to the wall automatically) where each of our team member writes a message each morning!! I was quickly rubbing off yesterday's with a duster and writing a new one when my dad interrupted. He said 'Son, take a wet cloth and clean it properly'. It hardly took me 30seconds to do but now I am sure I wont have to change the whiteboard each month.
I realised I was running and while I was doing a lot more things, simple rules were being forgotten, making life more complicated than necessary. Technology may have had a big role to play in this complication, but as I read in the newspaper today morning ('A man can fall a lot of times, but he becomes a failure, only when he says someone pushed him'), the onus is on me.
Mom: My house can look cleaner, infact way cleaner with just 2 hours of effort. And this is high output/input ratio. When motivated my maid knows how to work hard.
Dad: Raddi waala (old newspaper collection guy) had come to take newspapers and bad day for him, my dad was here. He totalled all raddi (old newspaper) to be ~15 kgs. My dad came, took one look and said, 'He is off by 100%. This is minimum of 30kgs.' Well, I was sent off on a 'weighing machine scouting tour' which thankfully I managed to find. And you know what, it was 33kgs resulting in doubling revenue from the sale with all bottom line impact (I gave him two bananas to compensate for it). Moreover, he showed us how he actually does it. It is surprisingly simple. Give me a buzz to know.
My dad then proceeded to do a simple analysis on how collecting raddi can be a profitable venture as well by creating micro collection centres through guard of the society plus a macro collection truck each month!!
Last but subtle point: We have a white board at our place (it is a thin sheet which sticks to the wall automatically) where each of our team member writes a message each morning!! I was quickly rubbing off yesterday's with a duster and writing a new one when my dad interrupted. He said 'Son, take a wet cloth and clean it properly'. It hardly took me 30seconds to do but now I am sure I wont have to change the whiteboard each month.
I realised I was running and while I was doing a lot more things, simple rules were being forgotten, making life more complicated than necessary. Technology may have had a big role to play in this complication, but as I read in the newspaper today morning ('A man can fall a lot of times, but he becomes a failure, only when he says someone pushed him'), the onus is on me.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Who the fcuk is going to pay?
Colleges tell us companies wont pay, companies tell us colleges wont pay. Sometimes colleges tell us they wont pay and something companies tell us they wont pay. Who the fuck is going to pay?
My father
p.s.: Defining your customer is one of the biggest challenges of a startup. The above thoughts were in my head till very recently and have currently been sorted out for good. My father can breathe easy.
My father
p.s.: Defining your customer is one of the biggest challenges of a startup. The above thoughts were in my head till very recently and have currently been sorted out for good. My father can breathe easy.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Old Poetry
A few days away from life
A few days among the lonely mountains
A few days here and there. Nowhere.
A few days of my life.
Written after my wonderful trip to Kalindikhal, 6000m mountain pass, more than an year ago!! Everytime you come back from such a trip you promise that you would go back soon. And for most people that soon is too late. I hope to make a trip to the mountains in the next two months.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Learning No. 13: Drawing the line
This takes on from an earlier post on how time becomes crucial when starting up. You have 24 hours on your hands.
Meeting new people (and marketing there) is probably the most critical part of a startup. Potential customers, investors, advisors, accountant and in general people who can help. One great place for doing so are conferences. The dilemma comes in when the conference ends and you come back home with a stack of cards to follow up with (50 - 100 if you are a networking person). So what do you do then? You see the loads of work that tomorrow shall bring and the backlog that is definitely there because you went to this conference. You met some nice people, some big hot shots, a few customers who were really interested in what you are doing, some media guys who could give you coverage and some people you just want to forget.
The hardest to write mails to are the customers because you shall have to customize your offerings and think clearly about what you write. But even though the lure of the easy mails saying 'It was a pleasure meeting you' beckons, save them for the last (but make sure you do it the second night). Write to potential customers first and then schedule meetings with the few hot shots you met (lunch, coffee, dinner) and the media guys. See who you can find on LinkedIn.
There is loads you could do. Know where to draw a line. Don't go overboard and forget that your baby beckons.
Meeting new people (and marketing there) is probably the most critical part of a startup. Potential customers, investors, advisors, accountant and in general people who can help. One great place for doing so are conferences. The dilemma comes in when the conference ends and you come back home with a stack of cards to follow up with (50 - 100 if you are a networking person). So what do you do then? You see the loads of work that tomorrow shall bring and the backlog that is definitely there because you went to this conference. You met some nice people, some big hot shots, a few customers who were really interested in what you are doing, some media guys who could give you coverage and some people you just want to forget.
The hardest to write mails to are the customers because you shall have to customize your offerings and think clearly about what you write. But even though the lure of the easy mails saying 'It was a pleasure meeting you' beckons, save them for the last (but make sure you do it the second night). Write to potential customers first and then schedule meetings with the few hot shots you met (lunch, coffee, dinner) and the media guys. See who you can find on LinkedIn.
There is loads you could do. Know where to draw a line. Don't go overboard and forget that your baby beckons.
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