How to get Seed Capital without pitching to Angel Investors?
After my first business attempt failed, even before taking off, in the first year of my college (~1996), I was left with nothing but a modem. While I was mourning my loss, through some conversations I came to know that an internet connection from provides not only email, but also web browsing. Next day, I […]
Few things to think about before you start Angel Investing.
I started exploring angel investing sometime around 2009. And it was never about investing or building assets/wealth. I have seen its evolution from “want to be part of this journey” to a “desirable asset class” over the last 14 years. Some learnings: 1) It’s not an asset class as early investors have literally no signal […]
Hackathons – How it has worked wonders for us at Indus Net Technologies (INT.).
Firstly, in my context, hackathons are not necessarily technical / coding challenge. It is much beyond. I consider hackathon as – “a small team coming together to solve a problem in a creative or innovative way, in a time constrained environment”. The core philosophy is: – small teams (at times competing with each other) – […]
Why is Angel Investing NOT a typical asset class?
I got exposed to angel investing ~2010 through Sameer Guglani when he launched Supermorpheus (used to be called The Morpheus Gang in those days), and I am happy that I got into it. This part of my career introduced me to some of the smartest people I know, and have led to massive learning – […]
How will AI impact Human Capital Management?
First thing first – We overestimate in short term, and underestimate in long term. It is as true for change, risk, as well as our own productivity. AI will definitely have an impact on most aspects of our life, over time. Possibilities through technology is changing faster than human ability to adapt. Sustained change happens […]
My first business failed even before booking a single penny in revenue.
Internet services were made available to citizens of India on 15th August 1995. I entered college in 1996, and someone told me that it is cheaper to use email over ISD (international calling) to stay in touch with friends who went to the USA. Email was not at all common in those days. After a […]
Do you have a ROI on your branding investments? Here is what we do at INT.
First of all, let me explain what branding is *not* according to me: 1) it is not advertising 2) it is not agency, creative, awards 3) it is not prime time commercials 4) it is not viral social media posts 5) it is not performance marketing At a broader level, the above list are accelerators […]
The Familiar Novelty
This Friday, I was attending the TiE Kolkata member mixer. I learnt a new term from the invited speaker, and a well respected entrepreneur, Sunil Chandra Saha – “The familiar novelty”. The discussion was around an interesting behavior – 1) People are most drawn to the term “new” in a marketing message. This means they […]
What should a scale-up company CEO essentially do?
– Sense the world to create a compelling future vision – Create and fine tune strategy to achieve the vision – Get the best people s(he) can get onboard, and align them to the strategy The above are non-negotiable. Other items can be added as per personal interest of the CEO or strength/weakness of the […]
How to be fearless?
Many businesses start to flatten out or even start declining after an upcycle. There can be several reasons for that, but one reason that stands out is ‘fear’. The entrepreneur stops experimenting and taking decisions due to the ‘fear’ of losing out. And this becomes a vicious cycle. The less decisive one becomes, the more […]