2 Lessons for budding entrepreneurs [Cute mom story]
Posted: June 30th, 2019, 2:27 pm
An interesting observation from our neighbourhood garden.
For the last few months, a cute lil' baby girl comes to play, accompanied by either her mother or father.
When she's with her father, who walks around with a grumpy expression, there isn't much action. Everyone minds their own business.
However, the story is different when the baby is with her chirpy, energetic and super-fit mom who runs around with her on the grass, plays hide and seek behind the trees and in general exhibits more joie-de-vivre than the other regulars (mostly senior citizens) who are there primarily for the Vitamin D.
Some of those dadajis and nanajis, who were busy discussing politics and health issues, are suddenly infused with extra energy. As they pass the mommy-daughter duo, they stop by to mollycoddle her and make sounds you'd never think were humanly possible.
In our collective innocence, let's assume all this attention and affection is being directed only at the baby.
While this is a true story, if we draw parallels (i.e. assume baby=startup, mom/dad=VC, senior citizens=community), there may be a lesson in there for entrepreneurs.
|| Lesson 1: Apart from growth funding and mentoring, if you want your fledgling startup to get some free exposure, target VCs who enjoy a good camaraderie and visibility in the community. ||
I've never interacted with the baby earlier, so I was taken aback when the little one peeked from behind a tree today and called me 'Papa'. Her embarrassed mom quickly corrected her, 'Nahi beta...Uncle!'
|| Lesson 2: Startups need to be more cautious about generously doling out fancy but misleading titles. ||
For the last few months, a cute lil' baby girl comes to play, accompanied by either her mother or father.
When she's with her father, who walks around with a grumpy expression, there isn't much action. Everyone minds their own business.
However, the story is different when the baby is with her chirpy, energetic and super-fit mom who runs around with her on the grass, plays hide and seek behind the trees and in general exhibits more joie-de-vivre than the other regulars (mostly senior citizens) who are there primarily for the Vitamin D.
Some of those dadajis and nanajis, who were busy discussing politics and health issues, are suddenly infused with extra energy. As they pass the mommy-daughter duo, they stop by to mollycoddle her and make sounds you'd never think were humanly possible.
In our collective innocence, let's assume all this attention and affection is being directed only at the baby.
While this is a true story, if we draw parallels (i.e. assume baby=startup, mom/dad=VC, senior citizens=community), there may be a lesson in there for entrepreneurs.
|| Lesson 1: Apart from growth funding and mentoring, if you want your fledgling startup to get some free exposure, target VCs who enjoy a good camaraderie and visibility in the community. ||
I've never interacted with the baby earlier, so I was taken aback when the little one peeked from behind a tree today and called me 'Papa'. Her embarrassed mom quickly corrected her, 'Nahi beta...Uncle!'
|| Lesson 2: Startups need to be more cautious about generously doling out fancy but misleading titles. ||