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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...
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Best work comes from not burning out
Twice in my life, I have worked 6 months or more, without a single day's break. Here is what happened. The first time, I was serving as the...
How to stop being frustrated
A few years ago, at the Gold’s gym in Bandra, Mumbai, a few of us were waiting for the lift -- and yes, I do see the irony of using an elevator to...
What would you give up for job security?
Last year, when I was talking to a youngster after one of our bootcamp sessions, he asked me, “I have taken up a government job, which I really hate...
A Dramatic Journey
In Jan 2006, while most of my MBA classmates had secured their summer internships, I was waiting, empty-handed. Many firms didn’t even interview me...
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Self-Respect in Entrepreneurship
In the past, I have often gotten this question: “Why don’t you use your civil service connections to get business from government?” As an entrepreneur, this is the thing I would hate doing the most. So much so that whenever I have had discussions...
Embracing Accountability
During my days as a private equity investor, I saw people making two kinds of mistakes: Type 1 mistake: You make a bad investment, but when you realize it, you accept it and move on. You secretly curse yourself and try not to repeat it. Type 2...
Minor tasks vs deep work
When I walked into a shopping mall, they gave me 10 plastic tokens. And they said, “Each token buys one item -- anything you want, whether a 10 rupee pen, a 1,000 rupee T-shirt, or a 1 lac rupee laptop. It is your choice.” What would you say if I...
We all get the jitters
A few months after I moved out of the US, just near my erstwhile apartment building, a plane landed in the Hudson River, near New York City. The US Airways flight had a complete engine failure due to a bird-hit and had no power left. Yet, Captain...