Archive for November, 2006
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 30 Nov 2006, 11:15 PM - 1 Comment
Disclaimer: There is rarely a case where there is only one way to do anything. While I believe in what I have said, I also know that the list is incomplete and is not valid for all situations. With that in the background, please read on…
If there is only way…
To ensure the business stays alive today
The focus has to be on the cashflow.
To ensure that an employee is motivated
The focus has to be alignment of personal goals to company mission.
To ensure that that we stay ahead of the competition
The focus has to be on relentless innovation.
To ensure that you are welcome everywhere
It has to be that you provide the highest
ROII.To ensure that you are accountable
To ensure that you start earning more
The focus has to be to add more value to the stakeholders.
To ensure that you get a viral effect
The focus has to be on
creating a remarkable product (In
Seth’s terms, a Purple Cow)
To ensure that you get more out of your time
The focus has to be on the leverage
To ensure that you get multiple rewards
The focus has to be on discipline
To get the most of your team
To ensure that you lose trust quickly
Is to misue privileged information
To ensure that you stay relevant
The focus has to be to invest in yourself.
To ensure that you get real feedback
The focus has to be to stop defending yourself.
To ensure that you are successful
You know I am kidding, right
Have fun!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 30 Nov 2006, 10:37 PM - 1 Comment
Chris at his best. Chris is not only a genius, he is humorous too. Here is Chris wishing you Merry Christmas on nine different video networks and all at ONCE!
Chris and his video experiment: Jingle all the way
What a way to start December… Enjoy!
Posted under Main Page, Smile Please.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 29 Nov 2006, 12:30 AM - 2 Comments
Every entrepreneur was a first-time entrepreneur once. So, it seems odd but its true that support for first-time entrepreneurs is not that great. One reason is simply that odds are not in the favor of first-time entrepreneurs.
There is anothe problem though that often gets overlooked. First-time entrepreneurs sometimes can get into “fantasy” mode. Without proper guidance, they can go off on a wild-goose chase and think that they are working VERY hard on their idea but because of <add something like economy, market conditions, outsourcing, luck etc.> they are not going anywhere.
Here are some observations from the field as I meet a number of first-time entrepreneurs.
Here is what they say: I BADLY want to be an entrepreneur
What they might actually mean: Actually, I just want the glory associated with being an entrepreneur minus the hard work
My $.02: If you want to be an entrepreneur, please take some action. Wanting to be, thinking about it, planning for it alone won’t help.
Here is what they say: I am not investing any money. It’s all sweat equity
What they might actually mean: I am really not sure about what I am doing. If the company goes south, my hard earned money is safe. I lose NOTHING.
My $.02: If you are not putting in your money, you might actually not start the company. Please don’t quote some exceptions where somebody started with $100 and made it VERY big. It might happen so does lottery winnings. The second thing to note is that TIME is a big investment and there is an opportunity cost associated with it. Third thing to note is that when you are just investing time, think about the alternative use of that time. What would you have done with that time if you were not working on this anyway? If what you would have used your time was not that important, you were really not “investing” your time.
Here is what they say: The founders have not worked out how the pie will split. We know each other for a long time. We will figure that out later.
What they might actually mean: This is a painful topic to address. The farther we can push this out, the better it is.
My $.02: Working out this item is VERY important as it is the basis for setting expectations. On one extreme, there is a tendency for all founders to think that they are all equal. On the other extreme, there is a tendency for all founders to think that they should have the biggest piece of the pie because they are adding the highest value. The farther you push this apart, the harder it is to come to a reasonable agreement.
Here is what they say: I am just waiting for a cool idea. Everything else is ready.
What they might actually mean: I am not ready yet.
My $.02: Don’t wait for the “best” idea. There is usually none. Instead focus on building a great team that can execute.
Here is what they say: I really don’t care about the position. For now, I will be the CEO
What they might actually mean: I want to be the CEO. I will worry about it later if I have to step down. By that time I might have grown into that position anyway.
My $.02: It is VERY hard to ask people to step down from their positions be it CEO or any other senior positions. Think hard before you dish out titles. They mean something.
Here is what they say: I have a big enough network. Getting business is not easy.
What they might actually mean: May be exactly what they said.
My $.02: However, the assumption is flawed. Your current network may value you as an employee of a big company. They trust you in that role. Does not mean that they will trust you in your new role as an entrepreneur. Rather than fantasizing about it, you can validate that with one or more of your contacts.
Here is what they say: We had a great meeting with the VCs
What they might actually mean: VCs are in love with their company and soon we will be discussing the term sheets.
My $.02: Unless the money is in the bank, the money is not in the bank. Most of the times you will have a “great” meeting with the VCs even when they think the idea is crap. So don’t read much into how they made you feel at the end of the meeting. What actions they take after the meeting is what determines whether it was really a “great” meeting.
First-time entrepreneurs are unfortunately viewed under a microscope. So they have an added responsibility to face “ground reality” every now and then.
Have a great Wednesday!
Posted under Compelling Offers, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 27 Nov 2006, 2:48 PM - 2 Comments
My column on CIOUpdate has been published today. This is a topic close to my heart. For long-time readers of my blog, you know that I am big on mentors. I have three mentors and I am fortunate to have them in my life. I mentor a bunch of VERY bright young people and it is a blessing to watch them grow.
If you have not considered having a mentor in your life, you are missing something BIG. Here are ten reasons why you should consider having a mentoring relationship in the new year.
CIOUpdate: 10 good reasons to have a mentor
Enjoy your week ahead!
Posted under Announcement, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 26 Nov 2006, 9:54 AM - Leave Comment
I wanted to search for a good image to accompany my Squidoo lens for collection of my mini sagas. The simple approach would have been to search for images with the tag “mini.” However, you know that it might be a bit confusing as “mini” now has two meanings – one is a popular car brand and the other denotes small. I wanted the latter but how do I tell the site that I really meant small?
I didn’t have to struggle much. The stock photo site that I use most often iStockPhoto had an answer. Actually, they didn’t, but they asked me what I really meant. When I typed in “mini” in the search bar and enter, by default the site brought up results from both but there was a place for my to make a selection on what I really meant with two options
Did you mean mini as in…
Option 1: Mini (Car Manufacturers’ Brand Names)
Option 2: Small (Physical Description)
Once I picked option 2, I didn’t have a problem getting what I wanted.
Seems like a simple time-saver. Highlights the obvious – “When you are in doubt, just ask!”
Posted under Compelling Offers, Innovation, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sat 25 Nov 2006, 12:16 AM - 3 Comments
The Leader
When the leader moved on, nobody seemed to notice it. Some people said that the leader didn’t do much before – “See everything seems to work like magic without him.” What most people missed was that the hardest thing for a leader was to make himself not required in due course.
–
Note:
1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50.
2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here is the link – Mini Sagas: Bite-sized Wisdom for Life and Business (PDF, 2.9MB).
3. For a complete list of Mini Sagas, please visit the Squidoo lens “Mini Sagas“
Posted under Main Page, Mini Saga.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 23 Nov 2006, 12:34 AM - Leave Comment
I can confidently say that one of the biggest time-savers in the last decade for me is this philosophy of having a wilingness to enjoy the incomplete. It may seem like an odd proposition but interestingly enough, it works. Let me give a few examples:
* Imagine you were able to walk out of a movie half-way through without having any bad feeling that you couldn’t watch the movie completely. In fact, imagine that you enjoyed every bit of it until you were in that movie.
* Imagine you were able to enjoy your favorite TV show even though you started watching it half-way through and had to take off before the end of the show.
* Imagine you were able to enjoy only a few chapters in the book.
* Imagine you were able to enjoy only a couple of items in the meal as you had to attend to an emergency somewhere.
If you observe the examples, I didn’t pick examples where you shun from your responsibilities. For example, I didn’t say – Imagine you were satisfied even when you delivered only half of your assignment last week. That would be stretching the system a bit.
In any case, we all know that it would be lot better if there was completeness. However, we also know that declaring satisfaction about something is totally under our control. There is no rule which states that you should not enjoy something that is incomplete. Nobody said that you got watch that TV show in complete to enjoy it and nobody said that you can’t enjoy a TV show even when you watched it only for a brief period in time. The rules that seem implicit are those that we made up. If we can make up the rules we can make them up again – this time in a manner that will help us.
I am not suggesting that you artificially setup situations to not complete something and starve yourself of the enjoyment. No, that was not my point. My point is that there will be times (actually many times) in your life where things are incomplete and all I am asking is for you to be willing to enjoy that incompleteness.
Try this for a week. Make it a point to enjoy the incomplete and you will see the difference.
For the rest of the articles in this series, please visit my Squidoo lens on the same topic:
Squidoo Lens: Distinguish Yourself
Posted under Distinguish yourself, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 22 Nov 2006, 11:02 AM - 1 Comment
I was looking at a new offer from AT&T called Nationwide Calling Online Select. Here are the terms of the deal (as I understand it)
You pay $15 for unlimited long distance calling within the US. Very important: THE DEAL IS AVAILABLE ONLY ONLINE. If you call the operator, they have a deal that is $20 a month but if you want $15 you have to sign up online.
So I thought I will give them a try. As I proceeded with the sign up process, they wanted to qualify whether I can get the deal (??) and when I gave my consent, they came up with a surprise! You have to buy the caller ID feature that is $6.17 per month in order to qualify for the above deal.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Many of my friends have a residential line only because their DSL service requires it. We have two cell phones at home and there is Skype and GizmoProject available for long-distance. If I signed up by calling them I would have paid $20 and if I sign up online, I pay $21.17. Of course, I get a new feature that I don’t need 
I don’t know what AT&T was thinking when they were creating this offer for their customers. Sigh!
No Deal for me on this one. clearly!
Posted under Compelling Offers, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 20 Nov 2006, 10:08 PM - 2 Comments
Ken Young from Key Real Esate Investors sends me this. Enjoy!
Sorry for the delay
A priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner. He was delayed, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited.
“I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss’s wife and taken illegal drugs. I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people.”…..
Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk. “I’ll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived,” said the politician. “In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession.”
Moral: Being late can be (very) costly.
Posted under Main Page, Smile Please.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 19 Nov 2006, 10:45 AM - Leave Comment
I remember an old joke – the teacher was taking attendance and wanted a shortcut for the process. He said “Whoever is not present, can you please raise your hand so that I can mark you as absent?”
You may find some similarities but this request is real. Thank you for reading this.
John Keegan, who runs BlogHarbor (this blog is powered by BlogHarbor) wants to know whether BlogHarbor blogs are being blocked in China. If someone from over there can comment or send a note to him, we will know that there is no blocking. Here is John’s request for help
Can anyone in China access this blog?
Thanks and have a great week ahead!
Posted under Main Page.
Recent Comments