This presentation takes you through Gaurav Gupta's learnings after four years of leading a startup of his own. It was originally delivered at Amity University Gurgaon by Gaurav Gupta (founder of SquareBoat) during the 'Startup-Guru' event on January 19th 2018.
2. § Ex-SlideShare, ex-Naukri.com, ex-educomp
§ More than 10 years working in technology
§ Serial Entrepreneur
§ Behind the technologies of companies like
Paisabazaar.com, Jubiliant Foodworks, Kyor, Star Worldwide
Group etc.
Founder & Director
SquareBoat
3. “An entrepreneur is someone who will jump off a cliff and
assemble an airplane on the way down.
Reid Hoffman
”
6. § There are just too many distractions
at home for one to work
§ Coworking spaces are a great option
to begin with
7. § Most people advised me not to go
solo.
§ The best talent in my circle was
locked up in high paying jobs or
heavy loans.
§ Everybody has an idea but hardly
anybody wants to take the risk.
8. § I wasn’t just responsible for my
company’s services, I was
responsible for my company
§ From the toilet flush to clients’ server,
every problem was my problem
9. § Building a team from scratch was
harder than I thought
§ Nobody wanted to be the very first
person to join an unknown company
10. § Maintaining the balance between
high quality talent and low burn rate
was crucial
11. § India is a tough market for business
§ Less price is always preferred over
anything else
12. § There was always too much going on
in parallel
§ Sales, team management, getting
your code to work, infrastructure
issues, accounting work, new hiring
etc.
§ It was important to focus on
everything equally because each and
everything was important at that
stage
14. § Delegation of work was key
§ I could get more done
§ I focused on things that really
mattered instead of being caught up
in routine work
15. § I made sure that I do everything
myself before finding others to
delegate it to
§ I knew the challenges they’ll face,
and was able to manage them better
16. What I and most people face after 2 years of starting up.
17. § Unless you are fully committed to
really making it happen, it won’t
§ Some days in your life will be so hard
that everyone who’s running a
company just to make money or to be
“cool” will simply give up
18. § Delivering more than expected is
important
§ Talk honestly without sugar coating
things
§ My clients’ success was, and still is,
my success
19. § Great work. Not good, but great
§ There are just too many people doing
average work
§ Doing great work is the only way to
differentiate yourself from others
20. § Watch all your numbers. Keep track
of everything.Timelines, finances,
people etc.
§ It’ll tell you where you’re heading
21. § People are everything
§ You make them happy, they make you
happy
§ It actually works and is really that
simple
22. § Going beta isn’t worth it
§ When you go for something, go all
guns blazing
§ Even your loudest cry will reach a
limited set of people