The Startup Journey

An irate customer sends an email to a startup company “….am disgusted with the quality of your service. I was referred to your company by my friend and I’ve just had the most unhappy time ……” The customer support department does not forward the mail (& others like it) to the executive leadership. Response to the board of directors from a CEO of a VC backed startup “…we’re doing fine. I’m confident we’ll hit and perhaps even exceed this month’s targets…..” Of course, the board didn’t know that the two top customers of the startup were pulling out of contracts with the startup. The CEO knew but was scared to tell the board. Board member writes a letter to the CEO of the company “….you seem to be stressed out lately. Why don’t you get more senior executive help around you to help reduce the pressure?” The CEO replies “…Thanks for your concern. Am doing fine actually. Am wondering if you had any other objective in suggesting that I surround myself with senior executive help?” The CEO w...

Social anthropologists have determined that the impact of a dominant culture on a constrained (either self-imposed or externally imposed or a combination) culture is such that over time the dominant culture so subsumes the other culture leaving it as a poor carbon copy version of itself. Indian culture too has been constrained and inhibited for several generations for reasons of history and bad policy. In the India of the 21st century, there’s rapidly growing self-esteem and great opportunity ahead- critical ingredients for original thinking and innovation. One of the most critical attributes of an entrepreneur’s personality is self-esteem. The desire to achieve, the ambition, confidence, and drive all flow from this core personality trait. People with a manic desire to prove to themselves and to the world that they “can do it” are the ones who can weather storms, deal with crises and plug away at making their aspirations come alive. All great entrepreneurs are people with high self-e...

The Outlook Business edition dated September 20th, 2007 had a coverage on the emerging Onsite catering opportunity and the experience of those already in the game. Some excerpts: Says Vohra (Gurpreet Vohra, CEO of Tulip Caterers): "I serve 20,000 meals a day and the cost of each varies between Rs. 25 and Rs. 50. It is very important to check the price and quality of the raw materials each day. This business is all about high volumes and low margins. Says Asitava Sen, Senior Vice President at Technopak Advisors, a global management consulting firm: "Onsite catering has now become an attractive business proposition. The draws are captive customers, young employees in the payroll, scope for up-gradation of traditional canteen facilities and better economies of scale." Says Sunil Nayak, Radhakrishna Hospitality Services: "It makes sense to invest in onsite business. We make an initial investment of between Rs. 60 Lakh to Rs. 1 Crore and serve a meal for Rs. 50-Rs. 75. W...