Entrepreneurship is a great leveler. Perhaps the best one out there!
When was the last time you bought a product because the founder..
When was the last time you bought a product because the founder went to a prestigious school?
When was the last time you referred a product because the founder had been struggling for 5 years?
When was the last time you bought a product because the founder was unable to raise money and had to lay off people?
When was the last time you bought a product because the founder had raised millions and had a fancy office?
No one cares a fuck!
No one gives a fuck who you are!
The market is the market.
It wants a product that works for them.
And if it does, it will reward you.
If it doesn’t, it wouldn’t even acknowledge your presence.
Most people are not used to this!
They have gotten past a lot of things in life because of where they came from, what they did in the past, who they know, where they studied.
And all of this does work for a lot of things in life
Rarely works as an entrepreneur
Instead of saying no (or worse, saying yes), ask for permission to say no. "Is it ok if I say no?"
Most people will accept your no, this way.
2/ Don't want to come across as self obsessed?
Whenever someone shares anything about their life, resist the urge to share your own experience around it, unless asked.
Avoid "me too", "I also do this", "I was thinking exactly the same".
3/ Want to deal better with failure?
Practice failing.
Everyday, pick up a task with a high chance of failure, but low cost of failing.
Ask strangers for money.
Send cold emails.
Ask someone out.
Within 30 days, you will start dealing with failure a lot better.
1995
I was 15.
Papa had just lost his job.
We were down to our last few thousands in the bank.
He went to the bank to withdraw 10K.
On his way back, someone robbed him of it.
We plunged into chaos.
Financial debt.
Personal favours.
Collectors at our doorstep.
I remember days where ma papa would skip a meal, because we didn't have money.
Ma's salary of Rs. 1000 as a primary school teacher was supporting us.
At the peak of this crisis, we received news that the government would pay compensation for Papa’s house in Kashmir, which was destroyed by now.
Accepting the compensation meant he would never, ever have the home he grew up in.
But that money would save us.
And it did.
20 years back, at the age of 24, I got my first ever job.
It paid me Rs. 14,746 per month in hand.
In 2 years, at 26, I was earning 12L per annum.
Another 3 years, it reached 33L per annum.
Here is how it happened...
In Mar '04, at the age of 24, I dropped out of my PhD program at Michigan State University and came back to India.
What made the decision easy was the 100% scholarship I was on.
There was no tangible loss of money.
Just the intangible burden of letting down everyone in my world.
With no goals, no plans and no visibility over my future, the first thing I needed was financial independence and stability.
I had to get a job.
Any job.
I tapped into my (limited) network, spoke to my friends, applied through newspaper adverts, went for walk-in interviews.