How to Start-up

In India, very few people start a startup straight out of college. A few have been quite successful, but it has been almost a rarity. I don't know if it's the education system or the society, or both, but we have got to do better. Corporate experience is not really a must for a startup, and in reality, can prove to be a hindrance. However, we'll probably see more stories of college grads starting out in future. I see lot of enthusiastic youngsters in startup events and hoping that at least a few get inspired.

As of now, it is more common for people to think about startups while on their job. Though not always, but many a times, these are the people who have been successful at their jobs - getting fast promotions, having the highest paychecks among peers, collected a few awards. I guess that sort of gives the confidence you need to take on the world.

When you are thinking of starting something of your own, you get lots of ideas. There are a ton of things wrong in this world, and there's opportunity at every nook and corner. What you zero in on is upto you. Sometimes people choose the one where their interest lies. Sometimes it's where they see the biggest market opportunity. Other times it's the one that suits their skill-set. Many a times, it's a combination of all these.

No matter what idea you decide, you've got to be passionate about it. You are going to bet your life on it, so you better be as convinced about it as anyone can be. Bug bucks and fame will follow automatically, but these can't be the main drivers. These are extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic ones work much better, and last longer. And there's nothing that matches passion. You'll see lots of ups and downs in your startup life, and if it's not backed by strong conviction, chances are you'll give up too soon.

It helps a lot, actually highly recommended, to discuss your idea with others before taking the plunge. And discuss a lot. You'll get to hear different opinions. A few will be encouraging, but majority will likely be on the negative side. Partly because majority of the people are risk averse, and their opinion on something as risky as starting a startup is not going to be as per your liking. After all, if they think good about starting a startup, there are chances quite a few of them would have started on their own. And partly, you'll get the impression of negativeness because you might not crystal clear about your idea and may tend to take any questioning of your idea in a negative way. That happened with me a lot. It happens with everybody.

What kind of people should you talk to? I would say of as many type as you can. Talk to your family and friends first. They are likely to be the most negative, because they care about you the most and will do everything to prevent you from doing anything risky. If you survive, talk to a few people who have already started. They'll give out some good practical advice on how to proceed further, what all to consider, how to plan. And they are likely to be more encouraging. One of the advice they are going to give is to talk to your customers. They are your next destination. They'll give you the finer points on the product you are going to build and will help you understand your to-be-product better.

When you talk to people, be as specific as you can. It's fine if you are not super clear about your idea. That is one of your motives talking to people - get more clarity and feedback on your idea. People can give you better advice if you ask on specifics rather than a general notion.

One of the worries of would-be entrepreneurs at this stage is stealing of ideas. Many people don't talk in detail for the fear of somebody else starting out on a similar idea. This is one of the biggest fallacies. So far, you'd have realized that starting a startup is tough. To think that just by hearing your idea somebody else would get inspired to quit his/her job is ludicrous. It's tough to be passionate about an idea, it is almost impossible to be passionate about somebody else's idea. And say, for pure theoretical analysis, if somebody did do that, do you really think they'll be successful executing *your* idea? At best, they can pick on your idea and start on some version of it.

For a startup, somebody else executing similar idea should be least of their worries. Why? Because no matter what idea you think of, there'll always be somebody who would have thought of similar idea, and probably executing it right now. And even if you don't know who they are, you better believe there are smart people out these doing exactly the same thing as you and plan accordingly. You've got to think of it in terms of how you are going to execute yours rather than what others might be doing. You have got to learn to co-exist with your competitors. If you do not have any competitors, you are probably in the wrong field.

It's not a bad idea to do this thinking while on your job. Shaping an idea is not really a full time work. You can manage it with your current job. And it is probably advisable to do it with your current job so that you give yourself enough time for thinking. Quiting your job and then thinking about an idea will panic you and probably you'll start something out of desperation rather than conviction. And that is just not good. So, do justice to yourself and your idea by giving yourself sufficient time.

However, when you have locked down on a particular idea, do it full time. It is important for you to understand that it is almost impossible to develop something useful part time. There's a whole philosophy behind part time vs full time, but the gist is don't do it part time, it's not going to work.

Switching from part-time (shaping the idea) to full-time (developing the idea) is a tricky business. There are no fixed set of rules when to do it. What suits you is dependent totally onto you. It's an art so to say. Switch too soon without proper planning and you may be headed for a failure. Switch too late and market opportunity might be gone.

However, these are extreme cases. Don't get bogged down with timing it perfectly. Even if you did it on perfect time, you can't tell it until many years later. I can't tell whether mine was a perfect decision even after 9 months. What is important is that you do what you are comfortable with. Something that you don't have to regret. Planning helps in this. Have a plan for the best case, and a worst case, no matter how sure you are of its success. Have some criteria to measure your success. Have a cut-off time and a goal beyond which you'll just say it doesn't work and move onto better things in life. At MSI, we gave ourselves 1.5 years. We are into 9th month and are doing excellent!

Financial planning is one of the most important things you need to consider when jumping to full time. Make sure you have enough funds to sustain you through the period, at least till cut-off time. Look at your savings. Ask friends and family for support. If needed, look out for some Angel funding.

These are all good ways of acquiring funds. There are bad ways too. One of the most common is to do some part time consultation on the way to earn the extra buck. One of the stakeholders decide to get some external projects and work part time. This is even more dangerous than being on a day job and working part time on idea. In a day job, you have at least some stability and predictability in terms of effort gone outside startup. Any kind of consultation or part time work outside job would be going backwards. And one should avoid that for the sole reason - focus. You are better off focusing on your core idea. If you need finances, go for other routes. Don't do it at the cost of your startup. Anything that will cause you to devote less time and energy on your startup is a bad idea and will seriously jeopardize it.

Starting a startup is difficult enough. Wrong notions surrounding it make it even more tough. Make sure you get the right advice. Even if you disagree with the above concepts, make sure you consult people you trust. Don't go by the buzz-in-the-town kind of information, they are wrong more often than not. Startup ecosystem in India is a new one, and it is bound to take sometime before it matures into something which breeds success on regular basis. Till then, you have more responsibility to filter the noise and consume right things.

Happy starting-up!