Tag: Startup

  • Two Steps Forward One Step Back

    When people write history, they like to smoothen the curve and make it seem like a constant journey from one milestone to the next. But history is, if anything, really messy. It is a process of attempting to move forward while repeatedly falling back only to find your way again. Between 1800 and 1900, many…

  • Building for Change

    One of the themes that everyone is required to contend with today is change. Change is inevitable and necessary in these times. Radical changes are being forced upon us and the world is adapting rather quickly to these changes.  Humans hate change! Change in itself is not something that we take to, naturally. Humans tend…

  • Positive Externality and CoronaVirus

    Positive Externality is a concept of economics which describes an unintended positive outcome of an action. For example, the Singapore government wanted to reduce pollution and started charging a fee to drive in the CBD. This resulted in the CBD becoming safer for older people wishing to walk there, which was a positive externality. I…

  • Learning

    There was a time (however brief) when Mozart did not know how to play the Piano (he started playing it at the ripe age of TWO!). There was a time before Picasso knew how to paint. There was a time before Einstein knew how to calculate. They learnt. I often come across Entrepreneurs who will…

  • Signal to Noise Ratio

    In a world where data is the new gold, it is not abnormal to go chasing data and seek to make every decision based on the data at hand. And to have it updated each second. Data is a useful and wonderful guide provided you have enough of it and over a long enough duration.…

  • Change

    Status Quo is a very powerful thing. Have you ever heard anyone tell you that they are enjoying the hunt for a new job? They might realise that a change is necessary and important; nevertheless they would not enjoy the process. There is a certain inertia in the way things are. Change implies overcoming that…

  • Speed is exaggerated

    There is an excessive amount of focus on speed, when it comes to building startups. One of the advices that is often provided to startups is to get out of the blocks really fast. The #FailFast philosophy has probably pushed more startups towards failure than towards success. If you were building a house, would you…

  • Time Management

    I meet entrepreneurs regularly; I often come across a self-development question that I find really hard to answer. They ask me how do you do so many things? How do you manage time better? I have no clue, partly because I myself was unaware of what time management really meant. ‘To Do’ lists are the…

  • Entropy

    Physics provides the best models to understand the physical world. But sometimes, it also provides the best models to understand the metaphysical. Entropy refers to the rate of change that can be seen in a system. As the entropy in a system increases it becomes increasingly difficult to predict the next few moments. The more…

  • Imposter Syndrome is about achieving Potential

    Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana, Ma Karmaphalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani This is perhaps the most important learning that one can take away from the Bhagwad Gita. It is also by far the least understood. What it says is : You have the right to work only; but never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of…