Many years ago, one of the startups which I co-founded ran out of money, and with the remaining resources we have, I was forced to lay off the remaining employees of the company which they do not deserved to be made redundant. That experience has traumatized me and from time to time, I reflected about the incident. It helped me to frame my thinking around hiring and how to advise people in similar situations. Here’s a framework which hope that it might be of help to those who may have no choice dealing with such difficult situations.
Continue reading Handling Layoffs in StartupsCategory: Entrepreneurship
Live to Fight Another Day
If your startup is near death or showing signs of potential failure and you have probably less than 2–3 months of run rate, what should be your strategy in such a difficult situation?
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Simplicity in Business
The best businesses have one interesting feature when the company’s vision and strategy are described by the founder of the company: the business strategy for the company is extremely easy to communicate but difficult to execute. Continue reading Simplicity in Business
How Great Founders have convinced me within 15 minutes
Sometime last year during a date night with my wife, I told her that I can decide within the first 15 minutes of my conversation with a founder whether I want to invest in a company or idea. We took a list of those which I have recorded in my own spreadsheet and told her private that I would invest if I have the money and discovered that it was fairly accurate. In fact, the best investments out of my portfolio are done within 15 minutes and the rest which I took time to deliberate and ponder usually never panned out. It’s not based on some emotion or feeling. It also worked for me on startups which I don’t partake in but will have done it if I have the cash. Continue reading How Great Founders have convinced me within 15 minutes
The Shokunin Way
Every year, my wife and I spent a week in Japan where we spent our time looking at product design, and understanding how the interfaces on different products there work. Watching documentaries such as “Jiro dreams of Sushi” and “The Kingdom of Madness and Dreams” provided me inspiration on why everything I do should have the attitude of Japanese craftsman, called the Shokunin way. Learning from my past failures while learning the skills for the next journey, I have adapted the Shokunin thinking into product and general management. Continue reading The Shokunin Way