I was raised on the Dhanda ethos. Quality, margin, and profit were daily thoughts and discussions. It was pleasurable to mechanically do this and see the ‘number go up’ every evening.
But it was also the time when all the woke knowledge was just entering India. Movies were questioning 9-5 and ‘pursue your passion’ was the thing.
My young rebel phase found Paul Graham as a saviour and a mid-ground. I could use business and marketing acumen but build another Facebook? Of course this is the best option.
For years I thought this is what everyone in startup circles understood.
But no, I discovered that people mean different things when they say startups.
Here is what I mean
- Rails as opposed to wagons: Facebook became the rails on which much of internet data travels. Not one app that would allow for booking of doctors. Nothing wrong with that but making $1mn ARR would make me feel my Gujju dhanda was a better path
- $1billion or nothing: This is a different mindset. To be in the top club, the thinking changes. Founders who want to do this have to understand the Zero to One mindset. Wagons can afford to slack
- Thesis / Product innovation rather than rent-seeking: One of the options I thought of in 2009 was to start making software for Iron and Steel manufacturers and stockists. This was a market where I had networks and in 2009, hardly anyone in India understood how to make a B2B software at scale. When I researched this, I landed on SAP and realised I’ll probably just end up tweaking the large companies’ products to fit ‘my vertical’ because I had the gap to seek rent. For some reason, the idea became really unsexy to me. I want to build a product that pushes something forward.
This is the kind of founder that I like to support and work with.
But I do realise not everyone wants to do all of this.