Perversion of incentives

A year ago, a startup announced a revenue of Rs 10 crore. And profit? Actually, it lost more than 150 crores! If you are wondering, “In which universe does this all make sense?”, welcome to the magical world of VC funding, my friend! Today, this funding game is...

Building mental models

All learning boils down primarily to one thing — building mental models. During my electrical engineering undergraduate program, we were (involuntarily) subjected to a lot of dense math. At the beginning of the semester, had I seen all those complicated...

Don’t hide from rejection

There are no books on Amazon with a perfect 5-star rating. There are no products that everyone likes. There is no piece of art or music that is universally loved — in fact, Beethoven’s symphonies were widely panned in the day. You can’t please...

Don’t forget the real luxuries

The biggest luxury is not Mercedes Maybach. Nor is it holidaying in the $30k-a-night suite in Burj Khalifa. These are just expensive toys and frills. Real luxury is being fit enough to run a few miles without breaking much of a sweat. It is being at peace with...

Shark Tank vs. Real Investing

Often, I see people getting worked up about Shark Tank. Remember — it is a reality show. And a reality show is primarily a show, not reality. What you see on Shark Tank is not the way investment deals are really done. In the world of investing, you spend hours...