startup insights

1. May 2016
SNU, Noida
Insights from my entrepreneurship journey

2. 1
OR
THERE IS NO RIGHT MOMENT OR REASON.
JUST OPPORTUNITY!!!
Video: How real entrepreneurs hunt

3. THE WORLD AROUND US IS BUILT BY
PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME
2

4. THUMB RULES ARE VALID IN A
PARTICULAR CONTEXT.
COMMON SENSE ALWAYS TRUMPS
3

5. RATAN TATA SAID: "I TAKE
DECISIONS AND THEN MAKE THEM
WORK"
4

6. GO AHEAD IF U CAN REASON WITH
YOUR GUT FEELING.
THE REVERSE (GETTING GUT TO
AGREE WITH REASON) IS ALWAYS A
DISASTER
5

7. STORYTELLING WORKS ONLY WHEN
MAIN PLOT IS UNDERSTOOD.
LET PRODUCT SINK IN BEFORE U
COVER REST OF YOUR PITCH.
6

8. SPEND LIMITED TIME ON GO TO
MARKET, FINANCIALS, MARKET SIZE
IN YOUR PITCH.
JUST TOO MANY ASSUMPTIONS THAT
MAY BE WAY OFF REALITY
7

9. MVP IS BULL SHIT.
FOCUS ON BETTER UNDERSTANDING
YOUR CUSTOMER WITH TIME.
MVP IS FOR UNDERSTANDING YOUR
DEVELOPERS
8

10. BILLION DOLLAR STARTUP WILL NEED
MILLIONS IF NOT BILLIONS OF USER.
MILLIONS CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND A
SIMPLE PRODUCT
9

11. DOING THINGS THAT DON'T SCALE IS
THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN CRACK
MARKETING.
THE OTHER WAY IS TO BLEED
10

12. DON'T BRING IN VP OF SALES.
EITHER UR PASSION WILL BE
CONTAGIOUS FOR CUSTOMERS OR U
WILL FIX THE PRODUCT
11

13. PRICING IS NOT SHORT TERM
REVENUE MAXIMIZATION (TOP
METRIC TO CHASE).
LEAVE MORE ON TABLE NOW
BEFORE MARKET LEAVES U
12

14. HAVE A SHORT TERM PLAN FOR
POSITIVE UNIT ECONOMICS.
I AM TALKING ABOUT COLLECTIONS
NOT BOOKING.
13

15. STRATEGY WORKS BETTER BY
BEING ABSTRACT WHILE EXECUTION
HAPPENS ONLY WHEN IT IS
SIMPLIFIED, QUANTIFIED, MADE
TANGIBLE
14

16. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE,
SMARTNESS & RIGHT ATTITUDE CAN
BE ASSESSED MOST OF THE TIMES.
UNDERSTAND CHOICES MADE AND
GO DEEP IN CV
15

17. FROM INTERNS TO SENIOR HIRES,
ALL ARE IMPORTANT IF SHIP HAS
ONLY SOLDIERS AND NO GENERALS.
INTERVIEW PERSONALLY.
16

18. ONLY ONE WAY TO CORRECT A
HIRING MISTAKE.
THERE IS NO CURE.
17

19. OWNERSHIP VS
ACCOUNTABILITY: GET UR TEAM TO
OWN UP THEIR WORK (EVEN IF
ACCOUNTABILITY SUFFERS)
18

20. NO FUNCTIONS OR GENERALS IN
EARLY STAGE BUT ONLY
INDIVIDUALS.
UR MANAGING STYLE SHOULD
FOCUS ON ONE PERSON AT A TIME.
19

21. RUNNING REAL BUSINESS SHOULD
TAKE 80% OF YOUR TIME/
BANDWIDTH.
INVESTOR RELATIONS & ADMIN
WORK HAVE TO WAIT FOR THEIR
TURN
20

22. HAVE A FEW PEOPLE WITH WHOM
YOU CAN BRAINSTORM FREELY..
LONELY WORLD OUT THERE FOR
FOUNDERS
21

23. CUT YOUR LOSSES AND RUN IS
HARD FOR A FOUNDER AS ONE IS
TIERED OF REJECTIONS/ FAILURE.
BEWARE AND PICK NEW BATTLES
22

24. INTERESTS WITH INVESTORS ARE
ALIGNED IF YOU GIVE 50-100X.
ELSE BOOTSTRAP OR PIVOT.
(PS: TEAM WILL BE ALIGNED FOR 10X)
23

25. INVESTORS, TEAM, ETC ARE DRIVEN
BY GREED AND U WILL SEE THE
DARK SIDE IF U STAY LONG ENOUGH..
BUT THE CORE HAS TO BE PURE
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26. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE FOR
SUCCESSFUL EXIT...
ADD FEW MORE YEARS WHEN YOU
ARE GIVING UP....
U WILL COME OUT RICHER
25

27. 26
Let us get some of your questions answered
When?
• Financials
• Uncertainty
• Burning Bridges
Idea
• Gut Vs Data
• Experiment vs
Boardroom
Funding
• Story telling
• Thesis vs team
• Valuation
Team
• Equity
• Founder vesting
• Attitude or Exp
• EQ
Pivoting
• Artificial vs Real
• Selling the
story with
grand vision
Execution
• Don’t scale
• Prioritization
• Quantify
• No generals
Exit
• Negotiation
• Liquidity
preference
• Minority rights
Personal
• Rejection
• Ego
• Family
Next Big Thing
• Consumer
Internet
• Cloud
• Indian reality
Bootstrapping
• Necessity
• Product market
fit
Scaling Up Big
• Culture
• Team
• New vs Old

28. Ravi Pratap
ravi.pratap@gmail.com
+91 9971 999 080
@_ravi_pratap