Vishal Khandelwal

Est. 1978

Archives for April 2018

Writing is Magic

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“You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair–the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.” – Stephen King, On Writing

I came across this wonderful thought while reading King’s autobiography (for the third time!) last weekend.
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Simple Secret of Startup Success

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If there’s one big thing I have learned through my study of startups that did well over a long period of time and went on to become great businesses, it is that the secret of their success was simple –

  1. They made products that were so good that many people bought and recommended them to others, and
  2. They made more money than they spent on each customer

Such startups only get better as they get bigger.

Then there are countless others that start with the only idea of ‘selling’ to the investor, and don’t solve the real problem of the prospects they wish to convert to customers.

Such startups only get worse as they get bigger – losing more and more money per customer.

It’s a simple math that startup founders fail to understand, at least 90% who fail to see their second or third year.

And therein lies a big lesson for you, if you are just starting up.

Focus first on the customer (only then on the investor). Solve the problem that worries her the most. Be generous and offer her some things for free. But don’t lose money on what you sell to her, at least not on a sustainable basis.

Your ‘3 Idiots’ Guide to Success

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“Pursue excellence and success will chase you… pants down.”

Remember this dialogue from Rancho to his friend Raju in the 2009 blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’?

This was amongst the several lessons that Rancho delivered throughout this movie, to his friends Raju and Farhan.

But the biggest lesson among them was that if you worry about what you’re doing (or not doing), you will be on the path to desperation and failure.

This not only applies to individuals, but also to companies that are worried about whether their next plan will succeed or not.

You see, success is such a peculiar thing.

When we focus on our failures, or try to minimise or avoid them, it will not help us become successful. This is because we will be devoting our energies focusing on minimising or avoiding failures.

But then, when we go after success, there’s no guarantee that we will really succeed.

So how do we succeed?

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