Founder University – My Best Learning Experience in the Valley

Founder University

Earlier this week, I had the chance to spend two intensive days at the Founder University program (April ’18 Batch) in San Francisco. For those who don’t know about this program, it’s a two-day event by Launch, led by none other than Jason Calacanis. About 50 startup founders are handpicked for this program through a selection process which I am sure is one of the reasons why this program ends up being super impactful.

I wanted to be part of this last year as well. I moved to the valley from India in pursuit of more growth for my startup but also for myself. After all, if you are in tech and also doing a startup where else to be than the mecca itself! Sadly, I did not get picked last year. So, I was super excited to see the confirmation email from Jacqui – the Emmy award-winning producer of all of the Launch’s events! Well, that’s Jason’s words about her but having spent the two days at the program, I totally get it why she is so awesome!

Anyways, enough of the rant about the program. It’s needless to say that if you are a young startup with a product in the market and some early traction, this is one program you have to be part of.

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Working at a Startup Before Starting One Yourself [Is it a good idea?]

working at a startup

I started my first company when I was 19, the second one when I was 23 and my third and current startup when I was 26. In between, I worked for a little over 15 months for two different startups. Over the last few months, a few people have asked me whether working at a startup is helpful if one plans to start up soon.

The simple answer to that is, yes! In reality, the answer to this question is much more complex. There are good startups and there are bad startups. I am not referring to the business performance here. Rather, I am referring to the environment and culture. The right kind of environment and culture can teach you a lot of things that will be important when you start up on your own.

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The Toughest Startup Challenge – Hiring!

Now-Hiring

This is a reblog from a post I did on KillerStartups in 2012. It still seems to find relevance hence I thought of posting it here.


 

I am sitting at my desk in Bangalore, India, trying to figure out why so many startups around the globe fail. Many times, startups are backed by great ideas as well as awesome founders, then why can’t things be materialized as intended? From what I understand, and I am sure many will agree with this as well, the biggest challenge for startups today is not securing funding or having a great idea, rather the biggest challenge is hiring. Continue reading

“Give’em the Razor, Sell’em the Blades” – Gillette’s Freebie Marketing Strategy Applied to Startups

Gillette_blue_blades

One of the most popularly discussed business concepts is the concept of Freebie Marketing especially coming from the example of Gillette, a major brand of razors and blades owned by Procter and Gamble. So, what is freebie marketing and how can start-ups benefit, if at all?

Simply stated, freebie marketing is a method by which one good is either sold at a lower price or given away for free in order to increase the sales of a complementary good. King C. Gillette is known to have capitalized on this concept to the best possible extent which is why it is often believed that this concept came into existence because of the Gillette Company, which is not true. Continue reading