The Entrepreneur Life

Category: Entrepreneurship (Page 1 of 12)

Personal branding and other Sisyphean endeavors

Be authentic, we are told. Bring your whole self to work is another exhortation we hear often. What do these mean?

Karthik Srinivasan points out several issues that (Indian) CEOs face, and at times create for themselves, in the pursuit of a personal brand.

One of the big challenges of the ‘always online’ and ‘everything online’ is in figuring out, for ourselves first, what is authentic and what is performative.

One way to not fall into the trap of a social media treadmill and the emotional rollercoaster associated with the (non-)performance of a post, reel or video is to:

Know Thyself
Whilst answering the question “Who am I?” or “What do I want to be known for?” might be a life-long question, its worth attempting to answer it before you invest a lot into “personal branding” or social media.

In important part of knowing yourself, is not just what you want, but how emotionally sensitive you are—are you a dopamine junkie; does one bad comment or rant send you to a dark place? How would you respond?

Why are you on social media?
Also ask yourself WHY are you doing it? As Karthik points out for a corporate CEO likes/engages may not make sense as they would for an ad-revenue driven influencer. And once a quarter or year is worth revisiting if it’s still true.

Corporate vs personal
This is the professional vs social quandary we’ve faced even before social media. How separate do we keep these two spheres—clearly national and local cultures play a part in this. And social media has torn many of these walls down.

This is where the “whole self” problem presents itself. As we’ve seen with the war in the Middle East, being authentic has been a minefield as many a social issue has turned political. Yes there are no definitive right answers but only answers that are right for you, in a set of circumstances.

What are these for you?

Mental & emotional wellbeing
The only thing that matters is your mental & emotional wellbeing. The mental health issues that teen girls face due to social media are well documented. As are issues of YouTubers facing burnout and the mental health challenges of startup founders. Joshua Doležal, Ph.D. and others have written about the pressure writers face to build a personal brand whilst trying to make a living.

Being ‘successful’ whatever that is, whilst not having your health, family or lasting community is a pyrrhic victory at best.

Throwing your laptop—not the best negotiating tactic!

“Is this some kind of negotiating tactic?” 

I was in the company pantry, at a major client’s office. They’d licensed a critical software component from my startup which would be bundled with their radio chips to sell to electronic manufacturers.

For the previous half-hour their new VP of Sales, the entire engineering team and I had been in a meeting. Notionally the meeting was between THEIR sales and engineering folks and I was in the meeting as part of the ‘engineering’ team, representing the ‘application’ group. 

The VP of Sales, who had been recently hired for his deep relationships and track record with manufacturers had just returned from a trip to Taiwan and China. We’d been discussing delivery dates and it was clear that the sales vp had made commitments to the customers that there was no way the engineering teams, either the clients or mine would be able to deliver on.  

Yet no one spoke up from the engineering team. Not their VP or any of the project managers. And the VP of sales was not asking but telling what the delivery dates would be. Finally the VP of engineering responded. 

“It’ll take us four weeks for us to be ready, once we have the software.” 

At this point all eyes turned towards me. 

“When will you deliver the software?” the VP of Sales asked. 

Thus far I’d not spoken up in the meeting as I felt it was their meeting. Which it was. But I was not happy! The engineering vp knew that our ability to deliver software depended on their providing us their new hardware and firmware. 

“The software delivery is scheduled for early May. And that’s the best case,” I said.

“Are you friggin’ kidding me?” Their vp of sales lost it. 

I didn’t blame him. I suspect he’d been given optimistic dates by the engineering team and he’d taken them at their word. Worse yet he’d committed things to the customer and was just finding out that we’d not be able to meet them.

I looked at their CEO who seemed happy to let sales tell engineering what they should do. And that too not necessarily in a pleasant manner. When the vp sales continued to press the engineering team and they remained silent, I just lost it. 

“Why am I the ONLY one one telling the truth?” I screamed at their engineering team. “Why aren’t you guys telling him that there’s no way you are going to deliver this in May?”

I then stood up and threw the laptop that was in my hand on to the conference table and said “That’s it—if this is how you want to do business then I don’t want to your business.”

Luckily before anyone else said anything, their CEO intervened.

“We’re going to take a short break. Everybody needs to cool down. Get a drink of water or soda. Or walk around the block. We’ll reconvene in 10!” 

That’s how I found myself in the pantry. That’s when their VP of engineering posed his question, “Is this some kind of negotiating tactic?” 

I looked at him to see if he was serious. And boy was he serious. He was perplexed by my outburst and thought I was trying to play hardball to get the VP of Sales to agree to a new date.

It was my turn to ask a question. “You know there’s no way we are going to be ready. Why aren’t you pushing back?”

When we got back into the conference room, I first apologized for my outburst. Then I made my case that we need to both communicate better while being realistic! 

“Folks I know we’ve all worked so hard this past year and a half. I don’t envy the job sales has to do. Trust me, I do.  But I don’t think we are helping them by not being realistic. Worse yet we’ll hurt their credibility and burn bridges with our customers, which I don’t think any of us want.” 

We then began to have a productive meeting.

Surprisingly the vp of sales and I ended up becoming really good friends, so much so many years later he offered us the use of his cottage in Tahoe when I had family visting. We found we were both similar in being plainspoken and blunt. We both angered slowly but cooled down fast. 

Both our companies ended up being acquired by different buyers and all of us have learned much from one another, prior to that and since. 

I share this story with other clients, entrepreneurs that I advice or mentor and my students for a variety of different reasons

  • The need for clear communications to avoid misunderstandings
  • Being aligned internally before making customer commitments
  • Things that I’ve done that I’m not to proud of
  • How not to handle or resolve conflicts  
  • When do you walk away from a client (or not)
  • – How company culture can hinder or help success
  • Just because we speak in English doesn’t mean we are hearing the same thing
  • Even in prospecting calls as an illustration of how we’ll hold them accountable (of course without the throwing laptops around part!)

I’m sure you have many such stories that you tell. Question is do you have them handy? Written down even if it’s just four or five words? And do you repurpose and reuse them for different audiences, places and purposes? I’d love to hear from you. Share your favorite one!

If you tell stories (and who doesn’t) and want to be a better storyteller check out the upcoming cohort of our course “Personal Success Through Persuasive Storytelling” on Maven.

Entrepreneurship is a Team Sport

As entrepreneurs it is easy to miss or even gloss over lessons that other entrepreneurs have learnt and more importantly shared! It is human nature I suspect to avoid or deny things that we don’t want to face! I suspect i won’t be th last one to have thought “Oh, I’d never do or feel that way” or “Not going to happen! These are different times or circumstances!”

Umang Gupta, founder of Gupta Technologies recently passed away. As someone who lived in the Bay Area through the mid-80s and 90s, I knew him as one of the many pioneering Indian-American entrepreneurs who paved the way for all the others who’ve followed.

His obituary in the Wall Street Journal recounted his journey as an entrepreneur and brought to fore many nuggets, one of which I resonated with me. It was advice given by my Umang’s father—much like my own did often.

Oracle considered acquiring Mr. Gupta’s company in 1994, but he couldn’t bear the idea of selling what he called his baby—a decision he later regretted. In 1996, he resigned as chief executive and left the company.

“My dad once told me, ‘No victory is final, and no defeat is fatal,’” he said. “I hadn’t paid attention.”

James r. hagerty wall street journal

Mr. Gupta went on to speak about the lessons he took away from this.

“I started to think of all the things I should have done to make the company outlast me,” he said.

One of his conclusions was that he should have hired people willing to challenge his ideas. “Decisions can’t be based just on what the founder knows or his gut feels,” he said.

This has been my experience too. Having good people around you, who can question or challenge you and hold you to account make all the difference between achievable success and avoidable failure!

Ask yourself who around you, whether a business partner, colleague, mentor or a spouse can hold you to account! Better and cultivate that ecosystem starting today!

3 Tips to Handling the Job Offer Call Well

photo: Monstera via Pexels

Companies are beginning to hire interview folks at rates approaching pre-pandemic levels. So I have ever more young people reaching out to me for advice. They are coping with a range of emotions—adrenalin from upcoming or just completed interviews, fatigue from too many interviews, depression that they may never land a job and anticipation and fear as they await a response.

Even as I learn to be a better listener, the caller usually expects me to provide them with some pointers or tips. These tips obviously vary with the individual, where they are in their I-need-a-job journey. In this post I’ll focus on a situation that I seem to encounter with greater frequency as spring approaches—that of a recruiter or hiring manager calling about their decision.

Here are three tips (and a bonus) to handling this call or meeting in a manner that at best makes you feel good or at worst avoids regret & recrimination.

#1 Be clear What is it you want—not just in terms of salary, job role/title, benefits/perks but culture, location, timings etc. Which of these are non-negotiable and when would you decline, negotiate for better or accept the offer?

#2 Be realistic The call may not be a job offer, but a request for further information or meeting. It may even be a polite decline. Even when it is an offer, it may be one of three possibilities

  • A disappointing offer in terms of the salary, job title, benefits or others terms
  • A good offer as in it meets your expectations, one that you’d say yes to
  • A great offer – it exceeds your expectations in one or more dimensions. Heck ya!

#3 Be prepared Plan for what your response would be to each of the above scenarios. Prepare a short scripts for each scenario. The intent of the scripts is NOT respond unthinkingly, but to avoid reacting by letting your emotions do the talking. Scripts could be as simple as:

[for a decline] “I’m sorry to hear that, appreciate your letting me know. “I’ve enjoyed interviewing with you and hope to stay in touch.” “Can you help me understand the rationale for your decision?” (in case they didn’t give you one) and “Do you have any feedback for what I could have done better or differently.”

[for an offer that falls short] “Thank you. I truly appreciate the offer and must be honest that I’m disappointed with the number (or terms). Can you help me understand your rationale for the money (or terms). I need to really think about it. Can I get back to you by [day]?” (usually a day or three)? [add.] Meanwhile here are some clarifying questions I have [terms & conditions, expenses, raises, travel etc.]

Even the best job offer is not a marriage proposal. Much as you want to scream Yes! on the phone, you’ll be happier if you take an hour or a day so that you don’t second guess yourself!

[for a good or even great offer] “Thank you – I’m so excited about this opportunity and appreciate your offer. Just to make sure I heard you right, here’s what I understand your offer is – [restate]; Here are some questions: When do you need an answer from me? Excited as I’m about this, I need to a day or two to: [pick 1]
• discuss this with my spouse/dad/family once I get this in writing
• sleep on it and I’m sure soon as we hang up I’ll have questions

Write back After you hang up the phone, or read their emailed offer, drop them a note, acknowledging the call or email, thanking them and re-stating whichever script you verbally delivered. This is not only good manners, but a great way to both express your interest and minimize any misunderstandings. Set expectations and always be polite. Don’t ghost them!

Happy hunting!

Carpenters, dads & markets

“Measure twice and cut once” is an aphorism that reminds us to “plan and prepare in a careful and thorough manner before acting. [wiktionary]” The origin of the saying lies in carpentry where if you cut a piece of wood too short, it is wasted and if too long, you’d have to cut again! This week as my class worked on figuring out who their target customers and which markets they should go after, the discussion of measurement and choices came up. Of course the class began by arguing that we should go after the biggest markets and then a few voices piped up that it might be better to focus narrower.

Dr. K. Kuppuswamy

Even as the discussion went back and forth, my mind turned to my father who’d have turned 93 earlier this week. Whenever I was faced with a choice, he’d ask me to figure out, “Are you plain Srikrishna, or Lord Srikrishna?” By that he meant know yourself, be realistic as to scale you want to act upon and focus on what needs to be accomplished.

As my class and I watched a video of Professor John Mullins of the London Business School , talking about how to size and go after a market. He recommends in the video that it might be better to go after a smaller market that you can dominate than a seek a tiny share of a large market (a common fallacy most of do in computing top-down market size). Certainly true especially when we are getting started.

As entrepreneurs it is critical to dream big, but it is even more important to have a good measure of ourselves, before we act. Thanks Dad for the faith, support and evergreen advice. I miss you!

Co-founders: Overcoming our biases

Photo by SHVETS production from Pexels

Two weeks ago, my class and I embarked on a discussion around co-founders. Do we need co-founders? If so how many? What should we look for in them? Where do we find them? Each of these can be entire blog posts. To me one of the interesting questions that came up was “How do we overcome our own biases when selecting a co-founder?” Students in two different classes posed a version of this question.

Reflecting upon the mistakes I’ve made and the ones I’ve avoided or overcome I see three key steps to minimizing biases whether in finding co-founders or other decisions we make.

  • self awareness Become and stay aware of the types of biases you are prone to, so you can recognize them and account for them even if you don’t overcome them. Here’s a useful summary of 20 common cognitive biases we encounter, based on a that BusinessInsider infographic [paywall].
  • accountability partners Ensure you have good people around—coaches, mentors, team mates or partners. They can question or challenge you and point out issues – be they assumptions, biases or other gaps in your thinking. This has been the biggest help to me (thanks Bikash & Rajagopal!)
  • test & validate Despite #1 and #2, you will still make errors or have issues. These are best dealt with by explicit communication. Articulate your assumptions, and ask questions of prospective partners and yourself. Treat this as you’d any experiment—build hypothesis, test and validate.

It is best to work on self awareness and accountability partners first, so that you don’t want to waste your time or the others and needlessly burn bridges.

Why today is always the best day to…

Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash

This morning as I read Margaret Renkl op-ed titled “I just turned 60, but I still feel 22” it struck me how similar our thoughts were even if our origins and lived experiences were utterly dissimilar. Of course in my case for several years I’ve been telling my wife that I still feel 28! And this year the first year that I’ve begun teaching college freshman (and with both my own kids graduating from grad school), I realize I’m only a year behind Ms. Renkl.

Over the last several years I’ve attempted to move away from treating milestones be they birthdays or specific dates in the Gregorian calendar as [the only] special days. Yet its unavoidable when the whole world marks a day or date to not notice. Much is made of new year resolutions people make, the gym memberships they sign up for and the stocktaking that happens. Yet stocktaking whether done annually or weekly can be misleading.

Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.

bill gates

As Bill Gates famously put it “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” I’ve found setting goals for year or longer takes the pressure off and helps a general direction or vector to my life and planning and tracking on a weekly basis provides just enough motivation and balance between being stressed and making progress. It also ensures that the wife and I continue to keep the harmony at home.

As Ms. Renkl makes the point in her article, “I have lived long enough to have learned, too, that what is beautiful and joyful is almost always fleeting and must never be squandered.” This is the reason I urge young to-be entrepreneurs to start their businesses today or my friends to start writing that novel or book or hug their mom or say “I love you” to their kid. Today is always the best day to do whatever you plan to do!

What’s Your Monthly Nut?

Bea Wolper was the person who introduced me to the term monthly nut.

“What’s your monthly nut?” was the first question she asks any entrepreneur who approached her expressing a desire to sell their company.

‘Monthly nut’ is the effective income that you need to bring home each month to maintain your present (and perceived future) lifestyle.

‘Most people don’t know what their monthly nut is,’ Bea says. ‘You’d be surprised how many of them, successful businessmen who’ve been at it for decades, don’t have a ready answer.’ So if you plan to sell your business and intend to be happy you should start with trying to achieve clarity on two financial facts

  • Do you have a realistic sense of what your business is worth?
  • How much money do you need and want to address your post-sale life?

This is one of the questions that I addressed in my Q&A session with Dr. Annurag Batra of BusinessWorld. The full interview is available here.

Concepts such the monthly nut, a checklist to understand your own needs and a starting budget spreadsheet are all covered in my book The Art of A Happy Exit—How Successful Entrepreneurs Sell Their Businesses.

3 Steps to Getting the Valuation You Seek

Yesterday after I spoke to a group of Rotarians in Bangalore, the first question that was posed to me, was “How does an entrepreneur get the valuation they seek?” A few weeks ago, an entrepreneur who was still part way through my book posed the same question to me as in “How do I get the valuation I want?” The short answer is you build it. But how does one do that? Through careful planning, execution and a spot of luck!

In both these cases the entrepreneurs had been running their businesses for a considerable length of time. It was when they began considering exiting or selling their businesses that they found there might be a gap between their expectations and the valuations potential buyers might offer them. So how does one bridge this?

There are three steps to getting the valuation you seek. Understanding valuations, preparation and running a good process.

Understand how valuations work in your industry. Typically for a business in a mature industry, this works as a multiple of earnings (EBIDTA) or even revenue. A simple place to start is to look at others in your industry or sector who have been recently, say within the last 6-24 months, been acquired. Informal conversations with investment bankers can also help get a sense for this. Now do a reality check of this number against how your company would measure and what you seek. If you are lucky you are already there. Of course in fast growth or emerging industries, often technology-based, these numbers may not matter. For instance, my first company Impulsesoft had barely broken even and had revenues in the single-digit millions yet was able to attract both a top-tier investment banker and global buyers based on the industry (wireless technology) and technological innovation. So get a sense of what valuations are likely and where your own business falls.

Plan and work on bridging the gap between typical valuations and the one you seek – this requires you to first understand what you seek not just the valuation or $$ but also your own role, if any, post acquisition. Tim McCarthy founder of Workplace Impact hired a consulting firm and tasked them with the job of finding what sort of buyer he should look for, and what within his company would cause such a buyer to pay less than they deserve. They came back with a set of five specific things, not all of them financial that Tim’s company would have to address—things such as customer concentration, client size and EBIDTA. Over the next five years Tim and his team set about fixing these and sold his business for $45M in cash!

Run a good process One of my mentors Chandrasekaran was fond of saying “It’s a matter of their need and your greed, or vice-versa.” So understanding the potential buyers’ motivations and hence value perception is critical. Assuming you’ve clarity on the outcome you seek and done your prep, one of best ways to maximize value is to have more than one buyer, ideally several, at the table prepared to bid against one another.

Luck of course plays a bigger role than any of us is prepared to admit. However the more you plan, prepare and persevere the luckier you are likely to get.

Founders – these are the best of times

Last night a friend whom I hadn’t seen in nearly 25 years came home for dinner. This was significant for several reasons, not the least of which was that this was the first time we’d had someone over since the pandemic began. Of course when you see someone after such a long time, there is some inevitable story swapping of “Remember when..” But thanks to our grown children a lot more of the talk was about where we are.

friends meeting

We also connected over FaceTime with a third friend who’d originally introduced the two of us and boy did we have a roaring time! So while we worry about our own parents coping alone with the pandemic, the fear of a third wave in India, all the young people we know who’ve graduated and still looking for that right job, its easy to lose sight of how fortunate we are at so many levels.

Then this morning I saw this blog post by Jason Lemkin at Saastr. He founded EchoSign that was acquired by Adobe back in July 2011 to become Adobe Sign. He reminds founders that it is easy (even without the pandemic) to get pulled down by all that running a startup entails. It is best said in his own words.

“Remember — These Are the Best of Times. You probably don’t see it, not totally. You might even think the grass is greener as a VC, or a COO, or Something Else. Deep down you might think that.

Being a founder makes you alive. Fewer things are harder, … Nothing will be more consuming. It will change you. A lot. But you’ll remember every minute.

You will be alive.”

JASON LEMKIN

So for all your founders out there, keep the faith!

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