Entrepreneurs and people looking to invest in businesses have never had it better than they do today. Businesses nowadays, are not only claiming a niche for themselves, solving numerous user problems and ushering in the future of the modern era, but they are also attracting huge wealth. Stock markets are expanding each day and the values of the shares of the companies are ever-expanding, setting new records with each passing day. Such investments are all coming from venture capitalists (VCs), angel investors, and other startup enthusiasts or businessmen.
Though investing in growing businesses can seem to be a shortcut to making a huge amount of wealth in a short time without much brainstorming, it is not exactly what it looks like. Churning out a good amount of money by investing in startups and businesses is a tough nut to crack even for the investing giants, who also incur huge losses in the process. However, there are processes to follow, much experience to gather, and a good amount of knowledge to grasp, which will lead you towards becoming one with the successful investors.
Yes, if you’re planning to jump on this bandwagon and grow your money with short-term investments in a business, now is the time. However, the first step is to decide which industry you should invest in.
To start with this process, here we’ve put together a list of the fastest-growing sectors to help you with this decision of investment.
Here are the top 5 industries that are currently growing at a quick pace in India:
Food Industry
With continuously higher annual contributions to the international food trade, this is one of the fast-growing businesses, which makes it a good bet for investors and business people alike.
The food market and its survival is essential for mankind. Besides, the latest trends that are fuelled by the research and development in the market are making foods healthier and more appetising than ever. Food choices are increasing and conveniences to procure food are decreasing, and all of that is happening due to the ever-increasing potential of the food market. The revenue in the food market of the US amounts to $8.77 tn in 2022. Food market is growing all across the globe really. Even in India, we see a huge rise of food and foodtech startups that are innovating the purchase and delivery of food products. From food processing giants like Nestle, Parle, Britannia, Amul, and Haldiram’s, to food delivery startups like Zomato, Swiggy, to the new-age meat startups like Licious and TenderCuts, vegan foods and plant-based meat startups, everyone is contributing largely to the food industry of the country and exploring new possibilities for themselves and their investors to grow.
Restaurants and food delivery businesses throughout the nation are seeing rapid growth as well. Consumers in the country are also spending far more on specialty gourmet and healthy foods than they did in the past, which makes food retail an attractive option. This sector offers an unlimited potential for high profits and ROI, particularly in segments such as food processing, packaging, and value addition. The Indian gourmet food market has been valued at $1.3 bn, which is growing at a CAGR of 20%.
India offers an endless variety of attractions for both foreign and domestic tourists, from historic monuments to lush natural reserves, quiet hill stations to bustling markets, and more. In recent years, the tourism sector has picked up tremendously and is one of the fast-growing businesses, especially with a rise in disposable income among young professionals. Rather than heading to international locations for vacation, Indians are spending more time and money exploring different parts of the country. This makes the tourism and hospitality industry a great choice for investors.
The travel and tourism industry’s contribution to the overall GDP of the nation was estimated at $121.9 bn in 2020. This will further rise, according to the latest reports, and would reportedly be reaching nearly $512 bn by 2028. MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Goibibo, EaseMyTrip, ClearTrip, and more such players are widening opportunities for the Indians to travel at their ease anywhere they want.
Along with an increase in the average life expectancy and income levels, growing awareness about health and wellness has contributed to the rapid growth of India’s healthcare sector. This has also brought the medical sector into the category of fast-growing businesses.
In addition to the evolution of hospitals, clinics, and healthcare centers, research and development have significantly increased in segments like medicines, their delivery, alternative therapy, health insurance, medical devices, and infrastructure, and more. Don’t forget that India is also a leading medical tourism destination, with people from around the world heading here for dental treatment, cosmetic surgery, and other healthcare aids.
Looking at the growth of the healthcare sector in India, while the hospital industry in India is growing at a CAGR of 16-17% and will soon reach $132.84 bn, the pharmaceutical sector of India is worth $42 bn, courtesy of the pharmaceutical giants operating in India. The pharmaceutical sector of India is positioned 3rd in terms of volume and enjoys the 13th place in terms of value as per the recent surveys.
This growing healthcare sector is now flooded with numerous startups like 1Mg, HealthKart, mFine, Netmeds, Practo, PharmEasy, MediBuddy, HealthifyMe and more, which are strengthening healthcare across various segments and beefing up its offerings.
The retail sector in India has seen immense changes and growth in the last few years, especially after the emergence of the e-commerce and online shopping space. With the world’s second-largest middle class that also has a high disposable income, competitive pricing, and rapid digitalization of the retail space, India currently ranks 5th on the list of global retail destinations. From small-scale startups to well-established giants, the retail industry offers something for every investor so much so that the would-be entrepreneurs are also practically spoilt for choice in this industry!
Though the retail market was identified as a largely unorganised sector earlier, it is fast bringing an organised structure in place. The organised portion of the retail sector is now more than 50% of the industry, and this growth has manifested in just teh period between 2012-present. The modern retail industry is now expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% and will even estimated to increase to 18% by the end of 2025.
So, if you are looking for investment in the fast-growing businesses of now, then the retail industry is definitely one of them. Besides, with the retail giants like the Tata Group, Reliance Group, Aditya Birla Group, D-Mart and more, and the growing talks of superapps like TataNeu and that of the ONDC and how it will change the retail sector, the retail industry is definitely a dream pick for the investors.
The range of products and services offered by India’s personal care industry has undergone tremendous changes over the years. Today, almost everyone is willing to spend more money on a variety of organic, handmade, and natural alternatives for their daily use. These include soaps, shampoos, makeup, hair styling products, and intimate hygiene solutions.
The beauty and personal care market in India has been estimated at $24.53 bn in 2022, and is expected to scale to $33.33 bn by 2027, the growth of which is estimated at 6.32%.
Selling through online portals surely opened up more opportunities for small business owners and the larger ones. Besides, quality beauty and personal care brands and their products are made available easily online by the D2C beauty and personal care brands like Nykaa, Plum, Tattva, Mamaearth, Wow Skin Science, Purplle, and more. Also, the personal care giants like ITC, HUL, Dabur, Godrej and its subsidiaries, Colgate, etc., are always renovating their products and revisiting their quality and effectiveness to give the startups a fight. Moreover, scopes are always increasing in wedding planning, tattoos, and piercings, spas, massage therapy, and other related sectors.
If you’re seeking funds to launch your dream business, grow your existing business or take advantage of a time-bound investment opportunity with high returns, consider using a personal loan. An unsecured loan or personal line of credit can be repaid over time, which makes sense if returns from your investment will be higher than the loan interest!
Retailers Rising to the Top – Based on these metrics, activewear brand lululemon is the world’s fastest-growing retail brand for the second year running. Famous for its culture of accountability and global community events, the brand has struck the perfect balance between a seamless online and offline experience.
What is the role of the food industry?
The role of the manufacturing food industry in relation to the provision of foods for the weanling encompasses 4 main objectives viz. customer satisfaction, safety, providing product information, and the maintenance of commercial viability.
What is the meaning of the tourism industry?
In its broadest sense, the tourism industry is the total of all businesses that directly provide goods or services to facilitate business, pleasure, and leisure activities away from the home environment.
Spare yourself a minute or two and make a note of the mobile applications you consistently use. There’s a high chance of WhatsApp being one of them. Want to text someone? WhatsApp. Want to do a video call? WhatsApp. Eager to share the latest joke? WhatsApp. The one stop solution for messaging, voice calls, video calls, and whatnot, WhatsApp is now an indispensable part of our life. WhatsApp is in a league of its own, racing past competition. By 2011, approximately one billion messages were being sent per day on the app.
Indians are the most active users in WhatsApp according to country wise survey; they are 10% of the total users worldwide. By 2013, WhatsApp had 200 million active users and according to a recently concluded survey, WhatsApp has over 1.5 billion monthly active users. WhatsApp was co-founded by Brian Acton and Jan Koum. It was then acquired by Facebook in 2014 for a whopping $19 billion. Presently, Acton is associated with the Signal Foundation. According to Forbes (2020), BrianActon is the 836th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $2.5billion.
Brian Acton – Biography
Name
Brian Acton
Born
February 17, 1972 – Michigan
Age
48 (2020)
Nationality
American
Education
Stanford University (BS), Lake Howell High School
Known for
Co-founded WhatsApp with Jan Koum in 2009, Co-founded Signal Foundation with Moxie Marlinspike in 2018, Founder Sunlight Giving
Brian Acton is the co-founder of WhatsApp, a freeware platform to send messages and files. He is a computer programmer and an internet entrepreneur. Brian is currently is the executive chairman of the Signal Foundation, a company wants to secure global communication across the world. Brian is a former employee of Yahoo! and was rejected by Facebook for employment.
Brian Acton – Journey
Brian Acton – Journey
Brian Acton – Education
A child prodigy, Brian was brought up in Central Florida and studied at Lake Howell High School. Even after receiving a full scholarship to pursue studies at the University of Pennsylvania, he chose Stanford University. He has a degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, 1994.
Brian was a system administrator at Rockwell International, before switching to the tech giant, Apple Inc. and Adobe where he was a product tester. He was also associated with Yahoo! as its 44th employee. He worked for over nine years at Yahoo! and unfortunately, lost millions when he had invested in the dotcom boom. The dotcom bubble was a period of excessive speculation in the United States where there was a massive growth of the internet world; it lasted over a decade. After a loss in investments, Brain and Jan took a year off and went to the neighboring continent of South America. Post this vacation, Brian and Jan applied at Facebook, but both were rejected.
Brian Acton as Founder of WhatsApp
The Facebook rejection was disappointing but not enough to deter Brian. When Jan Koum brought an iPhone in the year 2009, Brian recognized the endless opportunities the App Store had. The duo along with Alex Fishman pondered over an app of theirs. Brian Acton along with Jan Koum announced the coming of WhatsApp by setting up its headquarters in California on the 24thof February, 2009.
Brian sold WhatsApp to the social media giant Facebook in 2014 at a valuation of $22 billion. Life’s a full circle in the end, the company that rejected Brian ended up buying his own venture!
Whatsapp Logo
Brian Acton – Net Worth and Influence
Brian’s net worth is $2.5 billion (As per Forbes 2020). He is ranked 551st by Forbes. By owning a 20% stake in WhatsApp, he was one of the most influential people in the company. He was later offered jobs at companies like Twitter and Facebook, which he turned down. He even left WhatsApp due to a dispute with Facebook regarding the monetization of WhatsApp, voluntarily parting away with $850 million in unvested options.
With success comes great power, and with great power comes great responsibility. A venerated entrepreneur ought to serve the society. This attribute is deeply entrenched in all the successful entrepreneurs we’ve seen till date. Brian lays great emphasis on philanthropy.
In 2014, Brian and his wife Tegan Acton started the Sunlight Giving. This organization provides basic services to the children in the range of 0-4 years who belong to families with low income. After leaving WhatsApp in 2017, he started another foundation named the Signal Foundation in 2018.
Even after multiple setbacks, Brain didn’t back down. He learned from his mistakes, not repeating them again.
“You never know what’s coming up, just don’t forget to try harder the next day”, advocates Brian.
The fact that Facebook rejected Brian but ended up buying his startup is inspiring. Brian and Koum focused on user satisfaction, denying advertisements on WhatsApp. The Facebook-WhatsApp partnership wasn’t one Brian wished for due to conflict in opinions (Facebook is known for advertisements and the duo of Brian and Koum never supported ads on WhatsApp). A man true to his words, Brian has always placed his consumers over publicity and money. A luminary, Brian Acton has left an indelible mark on the digital space.
In US, a recent study shows lesbian make more money than straight people whereas gay men actually earn less than straight men. And when Apple CEO Tim Cook (whose name is on the list below) came out, it was news because no other Fortune 500 CEO had ever done that while still leading a company. But the good news is that there’s no shortage of successful LGBTQ+ leaders in the business world.
This isn’t an exhaustive or comprehensive list; it’s more like a sampling. After all, it’s difficult to accurately gauge the wealth of our top earners, thanks to investments and private assets (and the fact that few like to scream their worth from the rooftops).
Take, for instance, transgender entrepreneur, Martine Rothblatt, who’s in charge of the $4.6 billion pharmaceutical company. She started but derives much of her compensation from stock options. Journalists like Anderson Cooper and entertainment figures like director Roland Emmerich don’t have to worry about their next meal, but they don’t make nearly as much money as those who founded ventures or built empires.
While anyone is eligible to be nominated for recognition via Outstanding’s website, honorees had to be working one to three levels from the chief executive. Outstanding’s judging panel says it was looking for role models “who are helping to make the workplace a more welcoming place”. LGBT activism outside of the workplace and recent business achievements were also taken into account.
The nonprofit says such recognition is critical given that closeted LGBT employees are 70 percent more likely to leave the company within the first three years, and 85 percent say non-inclusive workplaces have a negative impact on employees and can damage productivity, according to studies conducted by Outstanding or the third year going, a networking nonprofit named Outstanding and the Financial Times have partnered to recognize the 100 most powerful LGBT executives in the world.
This year marks the first time that a woman has topped the list: Inga Beale, the first female chief of the 327-year-old insurance market Lloyd’s of London — who is also openly bisexual. (While Tim Cook may be the first executive who springs to mind in conversations about LGBT leadership, OUT standing said it was unable to secure his permission to be included.)
Rounding out the top five are: Alan Joyce, CEO of Australian airline Qantas; HSBC Bank CEO Antonio Simoes; United Therapeutics CEO (and Sirius radio founder) Martine Rothblatt, who is also the top trans leader on the list; and Claudia Brind-Woody, the vice president and managing director of IBM
LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs In The World
Below are some of the LGBTs who really struck gold and, thankfully, many of them are not just wealthy scions, but philanthropic individuals who know the value of giving back.
1. Tim Cook (CEO of Apple)
Tim Cook
Cook, 54, is the current CEO of Apple, having taken over the post in 2011 after Steve Jobs stepped down due to health concerns. In addition to his role at Apple, Cook also serves on the boards of directors of Nike Inc. and the National Football Foundation.
A strong proponent of equality, Cook sent a 2013 memo to his employees explaining that as an organization, Apple supports further federal government protections against LGBT discrimination.
“We know that equality and diversity make our company and our society stronger. So we’ve urged the U.S. Congress to support workplace protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”, he wrote at the time.
Then in October of last year, Cook became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to acknowledge he’s gay. That company just had the most profitable quarter of any company in the history of the world.
2. Chris Hughes (Editor in Chief – The New Republic)
Chris Hughes
One of the co-founders of Facebook, Hughes left the company in 2007 to become director of online organizing for Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign. In 2010, the entrepreneur founded Juno, a social network aimed at connecting users interested in social good and activism.
Currently, Hughes is the publisher and editor in chief of The New Republic, a progressive political commentary magazine.
Hughes married partner Sean Eldridge, president of investment fund Hudson River Ventures and LGBT equality advocate, in June 2012.
Best known for co-founding PayPal and working as its CEO, Thiel is also a successful venture capitalist and hedge fund manager. When eBay acquired PayPal in 2002, Thiel’s stake was estimated around $55 million.
He also made the first outside investment in Facebook in 2004, securing a 10.2% stake for $500,000. As an openly gay advocate of LGBT causes, Thiel has contributed to the American Foundation for Equal Rights and GOProud.
The CEO Of Australian airline, Qantas, he rose to prominence in the position in 2008. Born in Ireland , he has prior worked for numerous position for Irish Airlines, Aer Lingues.
He has been an open gay throughout his whole life and has been in a relationship with Shane Lloyd since 1999. He has donated $1 million towards the campaign to achieve same-sex relationship. He has been named as a Companion of the Order of Australia ‘s highest civil honour , in the 2017 Queen’s birthday honours list.
5. Martine Rothblatt (CEO of United Therapeutics Corporation)
Martin Rothblatt
She is currently the highest earning CEO in the biopharmaceutical industry. She is the founder and chairwoman of the board of United Therapeutics. She was also the CEO of GeoStar and the creator of SiriusXM Satellite Radio. She has come out as a Transgender in 1994 , at the age of 40 years. She is currently married to Bina Aspen and has 4 children now. She is an strong advocate of Transgender Rights
Nicholas Guido Anthony Denton is a British Internet Entrepreneur journalist and blogger. He is the founder and the former proprietor of the blog collective Gawker Media and was the managing editor of the New York based Gawker.com. Nick is open about his sexuality and is married to his partner, Derrence Washington.
It doesn’t matter which sexuality one belongs to in order to achieve success. If one is hardworking and consistent about its work. These people are example that if one is determined ,then nothing is an obstacle.
Comment below about your favorite LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs in the comment section.
Many of us are being advised to have our careers sorted by our 30s to define success as per the norms of society. People out there, who are not into the field of entrepreneurship, don’t know that it takes a whole lot of investment in time and money, even to take a single step. It is necessary to have a professional foresight. When it comes to being a successful entrepreneur, age is just a number, and there are entrepreneurs who got their big hit after their 40s. Learn that, we stay on the ground for too long that we end up settling for it.
When it comes to self-made entrepreneurs, building a strong business base can sometimes take years. Entrepreneurship is also subject to market changes and professional setbacks can make young entrepreneurs feel disheartened. It’s important to learn that while succeeding you have to fail many times, but setbacks don’t define who you are now, but what you’ll become later. Entrepreneurship lore is rife with rags-to-riches stories of several businessmen who got their success way after the 40 years mark.
Living with the deadlines defined by society is going to make you wallow in one’s own self-pity.
Here is a list of world-famous entrepreneurs who got their big hits after their 40s which is going to give young, struggling entrepreneurs hope for a bright future:
Colonel Harland Sanders | KFC | 62
Colonel Harland Sanders | KFC | 62
Colonel Harland David Sanders was an American businessman, best known for founding fast-food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken and later acting as the company’s brand ambassador and symbol. The Colonel’s face graces the walls of all his joints but few know that he created his famous chicken recipe only when he was 65 years old.
He was an entrepreneur first, and he became a professional chef, not before his 40. Once he made a deal with his friend, Pete Harman, to sell chicken dishes as “Kentucky Fried Chicken” for a 4-cent royalty on every piece sold. Today his legacy is being relished everywhere!
Sam Walton | Walmart | 44
Sam Walton | Walmart | 44
Sam Walton first opened the first Walmart when he was 44. Before giving a hardcore base to his retail business, he already had a successful career in retail management. The first Walmart was based in Rogers, Arkansas, and was called Wal-Mart. Today, there are 11,368 Walmart stores around the globe and produces like a billion of revenue each year.
Ray Kroc | McDonald | 52
Ray Kroc | McDonald | 52
Everyone has grabbed a bite in McDonald with that Joker buddy. So now it’s time to meet its Godfather. Ray Kroc helped create the biggest fast-food chain in history, McDonald’s. But, he didn’t meet the McDonald brothers until he was 52. Dick and Mac (McDonald Brothers) once needed a franchising agent to expand their store to new locations, and Kroc saw his big opportunity. There are 36,000+ McDonald eateries and approximately fed 70 million people a day (in the Pre-corona era).
Henry Ford | Ford Motor Company | 45
Henry Ford | Ford Motor Company | 45
The legendary and historical figure who founded the first Ford cars and saw his entrepreneurial success only at 45. He designed the Model T car in 1908, and previously he worked as an engineer under the famous inventor Thomas Alva Edison. Today, Ford Motors is a staple brand in the automobile industry.
Bernie Marcus | Home Depot | 50
Bernie Marcus | Home Depot | 50
As we all know, Home Depot is one of the biggest home improvement chain suppliers. Actually, Marcus co-founded Home Depot with Arthur Blank, and business colleague Ken Langone to open their jobs at Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers. Today, Home Depot has nearly 2,300 locations and boasts annual sales of more than $80 billion.
Donald Fischer | Gap | 41
Donald Fischer | Gap | 41
Donald Fisher and his wife Doris opened their first Gap store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco. At the time, they only sold Levi’s jeans; Fisher had convinced the denim giant to let him open a hip store that contained all sizes and styles of its jeans. Gap quickly expanded to new locations and, introduced its own denim label. This stopped Levi’s entire sales.
MomoFuko Ando | Instant Noodles | 48
MomoFuko Ando | Instant Noodles | 48
Most of us enjoy the quick and easy comfort of instant ramen but not many know that the inventor behind this two-minute noodles wonder is Momofuko Ando. Ando launched hist first brand of instant noodles at 48 and history was made in the world of quick eating.
There are several others who have kept up the struggle and produced exemplary work well into their advanced years. History and the present are both testaments to such stories in the entrepreneurial world and otherwise. So, what differentiates the success stories from the ones that gave up mid-way? The ability to never-give-up, no matter where do the circumstances leave you. Stop convincing yourself that you’re fine with the life you have now, or that you’re too old to dream. You’re not too old for anything. It’s never too late.
Stay Alive, lower your expectations, and therefore it is important to persevere, not be too harsh on ourselves when we falter, not compare our success to others, and be ready for the inevitable dip that comes right before hitting the successful mark.
The digital transformation of the world has created an abundance of knowledge online to teach us, when we don’t have the opportunity to learn from a mentor or guide ourselves. With the help of online courses, we can apply some structured guidance to how we approach our interpersonal interactions, entrepreneurial pursuits, and even the way we think. These hyper-focused, organized lesson plans can help us hit refresh and streamline our paths to success.
Amidst the global outbreak of a lethal pandemic, many of us are surviving the lockdown at our home with some extra time on our agendas at our comfort level. To support those forced to join the office exodus, many online platforms, universities and distance learning organizations are offering free access to their courses.
Maybe this the perfect time, so that an entrepreneur can boost up their career at their own comfort level. There is a list of some of the top7 online courses for entrepreneurs, which can take your mind off things and help you gain a skill or two. This can boost your career at the same time for free, or a small fee. Because when there is a need to master a wide range of skills, then it’s wrong to waste a single second of your time.
Harvard Business School-Online Lessons
Harvard Business School- Online Lessons
Harvard Business School is consistently ranked as the top business school in the world. Since the beginning of the outbreak, when there was this prediction of staying home for a long time, they came up with free interactive business lessons that you can complete online. These lessons are now open for everyone who wants to advance their careers with core business concepts, from leaders to students.
The course offered was: Entrepreneurship essentials and leadership principles, but there is plenty for everyone. This is a great way to stay engaged and sharpen your business skills by learning from the best. Keep an eye out for the next deadline.
Blockchain For Business: The New Industrial Revolution
This course is over five and a half hours, which breaks down how blockchain technologyworks and today’s conception of the potential impact it has on society. If you’re confused about what blockchain is, then this course is made up of you. By the end of the course, you’ll have a firmer sense of what ‘decentralization’ is, and how blockchain is shaping the future of transaction or exchange.
Blockchain for Business: the New Industrial Revolution 4.0
With its clarity in terms, it provides various examples of how large corporations including UBS, Allianz, IBM, Kodak and a range of industries from finance to retail to logistics are using blockchain technology to improve security and efficiency, as well as what developments are on the horizon and challenges the tech will face in scaling.
The Complete Product Management Course
The Complete Product Management Course
Do you ever wonder how organizations like Apple, NASA, and Ticketmaster design their products? This course is designed to give entrepreneurs a deeper understanding of what it takes to bring a product from “idea to launch”, and how to develop strategies and concepts for products, coordinate their development, analyze and validate ideas and help them grow.
It features case studies from NASA, Google, Zappos, and many more. This course also teaches you the fundamentals of Agile Development and industry-standard tools like Pivotal Tracker, Axure, and Popplet.
Artificial Intelligence: Stanford University
Artificial Intelligence Stanford University
This online learning program is based on a course offered at Stanford University, taught by Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of Udacity, CEO of the Kitty Hawk Corporation and founder of Google’s self-driving car project, and Peter Norvig, director of research at Google. There is a prerequisite for the course, however: a background in probability theory and linear algebra.
For a crash course on AI and its applications, head to Udacity for Intro to Artificial Intelligence. In the 4- month course, students can start from the basics of machine learning as well as how statistics, logic, and planning come into play with AI. Then from there, they are going to learn how AI comes into play, per se, move onto the applications lesson segment of the course. They further provide you with insights into image processing, natural language, and processing robotics.
Udacity is an online platform devoted to digital marketing and since Content Marketing is part of it, then Content Marketing Essentials is one of its components. The creator of the course is Hubspot, a marketing software company. They have developed the syllabus to help students plan content marketing strategy and measure its reach and effectiveness.
Basically, the program starts with the segment involving the planned content to best which further communicates a marketing message. Further, the course heads on with content creation through storytelling, curation, and other techniques, followed by distribution, promotion, and tracking.
This crash course also provides tips for designing the user experience (UX) of a website, where actually the content resides, to resonate with readers. In the end, it provides real-world examples of careers in content marketing and gives prospective hires and hiring managers alike a sense of what makes a successful job candidate in the field.
The Essential Guide to Entrepreneurship: Guy Kawasaki
The Essential Guide To Entrepreneurship: Guy Kawasaki
An Apple-alumni and Canva evangelist Guy Kawasaki is sharing his experience as an investor and entrepreneur in this class. It states the each and every step process of starting a business, covering launching, pitching, fundraising, building a team, using social media, and evangelizing in over 56 lectures and 4 hours of content. Described as highly informative and entertaining, Guy uses real-world examples to show you the dos and don’ts of being an entrepreneur. You will definitely be inspired to get your startup off the ground.
Now, this is a sort of important inter-personal skill that every entrepreneur should have. So, whether you are leading a meeting, negotiating with partners, or making a media appearance, it’s important that you master this skill. Body Language for Entrepreneurs teaches “nonverbal communication to increase your income and influence as a business owner” in scenarios like networking, public peaking and delivering an elevator pitch, in order to nail it. Because, it’s not what you say it, but how you say it.
The fact the course states that “93 percent of our communication is nonverbal,” and it’s visible in your online presence, during your interactions with customers, as you connect with colleagues and in just about every other professional scenario involving another human being.
This course reaches not only for entrepreneurs but students on the flip side can apply the same strategies to get a better read on prospective hires, potential clients, and others.
Other Online Courses For Entrepreneurs
Startup India L & D Programme by UpGrad
Inbound Marketing
Inbound Sales
Starting-up Post COVID
Startup School by Y Combinator
Understanding Design Thinking
Introduction to Managerial Accounting
Managerial Economics
Supply Chain Analytics
Human Computer Interaction
Introduction to Data Analytics
Financial Statement Analysis and Report
Security Analysis & Portfolio Management
Enhancing Soft Skills & Personality
Consumer Behaviour
Economics of PR
Economics/ Management/ Entrepreneurship
Web Development with HTML and CSS
Android Programming
Amazon Web Services
Entrepreneurial Idea
Knowingly or unknowingly, we are all learning new things each day. As an entrepreneur, it is important to keep learning and to quit thinking that you stop learning at a certain age. Picking up new skills is a lifelong, ongoing process, and it becomes even more necessary when you are the helm of things with a whole workforce looking up to you for motivation. However, in this age of fast-changing technologies, it wouldn’t suffice to be a jack of all trades.
You will need to have a basic understanding of a wide range of topics. This doesn’t, however, mean that you need to pay humongous tuition fees and attend classes. You can learn new things and pick up newer skills from the comfort of your home through online courses.
Whether you choose to read books, take free online courses, or join a local entrepreneur’s group, the most important thing is that you never stop learning.
StartupTalky is one of the strongest community in India and we have a lot of professionals who are doing great in their lives. To share their learnings and inspire as many people as we can, we are interviewing all the StartupTalkers in our “Know the StartupTalker” series.
Today, we have Shankar Krishnamoorthy as our interviewee. Shankar Krishnamoorthy is the co-founder and CEO of Synergita Software . You will learn a lot from this story of Shankar Krishnamoorthy in his own words.
Quick Facts
Name
Mr. Shankar Krishnamoorthy
Age
58
Education
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, The University of Texas at Austin
Occupation
Sr. Vice President, Digital Implementation at Synopsys Inc
1. Tell us about yourself, your professional background and how you got to where you are today. What keeps you motivated at whatever you do?
My name is Shankar Krishnamoorthy. I am a co-founder and CEO of Synergita Software. Gowri Subramanian and Bhoo Thirumalai are the other two co-founders of this company. We have also co-founded another company, Aspire Systems prior to Synergita. Aspire is a software services company which has global customers and rated as great place to work for the past 10 years consecutively.
My professional background is a mechanical and CAD/CAM engineer. Gained good software development experience during the early phase of my career; built several software products for our customers at Aspire. Our experience in building software products for our customers & instilling best people practices paved way for Synergita. With Synergita, we are able to help several of our customers incorporate best practices and help them create peopleMAGIC in their organizations. Seeing their success and opportunity to help them through our product really motivates us in whatever we are doing. Plus, opportunity to build a great product company.
2. What are your job responsibilities and how they have changed over time?
I am responsible for driving Synergita business and making it a leader in our space. We currently have about 200K+ users across 100 customers. We are managing about 2.2M+ goals and competencies for our users on our platform. So, product is evolving and growing. 5 years back, when we started Synergita, it was a small team – each of us were doing everything whatever we can do. Now, the team has evolved into multiple streams. Product management, engineering, implementation, support, customer success, sales, marketing, etc. Each team is driven by a leader who brings in lot of rigor and passion.
3. Tell us about Synergita
Synergita office
Synergita is an award winning, continuous employee performance and engagement software. It helps in managing employee goals (KPIs), competencies, have ongoing feedback between managers and their team members, peer recognition, 360 degree feedback, employee engagement survey, etc. Automates employee performance review process and saves significant time for HR and managers. Employees love this as they get continuous guidance from their managers and there are no surprises during the appraisal time. This increases employee engagement and reduces attrition.
We have customers in India, Singapore and the US. Some of our customers are Capita, Indegene, Brakes India, Lucas TVS, Vedanta Resources, Future Group, Yokogawa, NTUC Learning Hub, American Micro, etc.
Our Northstar is “creating peopleMAGIC” for our customers through employee best practices on performance, engagement and development. We are constantly enhancing our product with newer capabilities along these lines. This year, we have OKR, deeper employee engagement capabilities in our plan.
We have recently moved to a nice, new open office @ Navalur, Chennai. https://blog.synergita.com/2020/01/happy-new-start-at-new-location-synergita/)This will help us in better collaboration among our team.
From the customer base front, we are investing on the US geography to get more customers there. We have local sales presence in Chicago and we are hoping that these investments would produce results in 2020 for us and get new customers, increase customer satisfaction, etc.
5. How do you see the Automated HR processes market growing in India?
It is fast growing. Organizations are investing in digital transformation to increase employee productivity. If employees get good care from their company/managers in terms of setting expectations, guiding in their work, their performance will be better. So, it helps both employee and the organization. That is what Synergita is doing.
Plus, there are lot of expectations from employees in using better HRTech products for their day-to-day worklife. People are expecting the same sophistication that your Gmail and Facebook provide in their work as well.
6. Do you think Employee Engagement & Performance software is a must for every organization?
Yes. It is a must. Employees are critical for any organizations’ success and growth. Lot of organizations put “Employees First” philosophy. Happy and engaged employees will take care of the customers and hence the business. If you want to do these, you need a good software which helps in performance and engagement…automates the process, proactively help all the employees in their work, etc. So, it is a must in our opinion.
On a lighter note, no point in doing performance appraisals manually anymore. Major frustration for HR is the amount of time it requires to do one appraisal and they are not able to focus on strategic activities. It is high time they transform their performance management with Synergita.
7. Mention Struggles/Challenges faced in your professional/ startup life and how did you overcome it?
Synergita Team
In a startup life, there will always be bandwidth challenges in all angles – be it funding, engineering bandwidth, marketing, sales. There will be conflicting priorities, lot of things to do in a short time. You just have to prioritize to meet these challenges and move forward. Perseverence is the key. In case of Synergita, we have been fortunate to have a great set of team with us. Driven and capable team.
8. Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?
We are a cloud company. We deliver Synergita as software as a service for our customers. We use cloud tools for our own requirements such as Freshdesk for customer support, Leadsquared for marketing automation, Amazon AWS for our cloud, Knowlarity for telephony, WordPress for our content blog, Office365 for our email and team collaboration, Zoom for web conference, etc.
9. Where are your long term and short term goals? What are you doing to achieve that? It is sufficient?
We want to make Synergita a leader in talent management space. This space is evolving and there are plenty of opportunities in this space. Every functionality – performance, engagement, development, OKR, compensation, recruitment, etc. are enticing. With artificial intelligence capabilities, we can do so many things. We need to do this meaningfully and bring in business sense to grow the product.
As a startup, we are currently focusing primarily on one year goals for us and work hard to reach these goals. These goals include customer acquisition, product capabilities, funding, etc. For 2020, we have set 300K as number of users on our platform; add OKR and Employee engagement as product roadmap priorities; focus more on customer success.
Whatever we are doing is not sufficient. So much to do and so little time and resources 😊.
StartupTalky is one of the strongest community in India and we have a lot of professionals who are doing great in their lives. To share their learnings and inspire as many people as we can, we are interviewing all the StartupTalkers in our “Know the StartupTalker” series.
Today, we have Mr Sainath Maharatta as our interviewee. Sainath Maharatta is the founder of StrongHumanNetwork. You will learn a lot from this story of Sainath Maharatta in his own words.
Who Are You?
I am a millennial kid born in 1990 in Hyderabad. My schooling and college and 1st 2 years of my professional experience have been in and around Hyderabad. I have graduated in computer science. I was preparing to pursue MBA since my college days. Later I worked with an IT company and then became a probationary officer in state bank group. While I was working as a probationary officer in the state bank, I got admission into IIM Calcutta.
At IIM Calcutta, I was very active in campus activities through quiz club, marketing club and hostel activities which helped me sharpen my leadership skills.
I Interned in a sales & marketing role in a Startup and FMCG environment in Mumbai. Later I was hired as a manager reporting to the founding team at stayzilla.com ( which was a direct competitor to OYO while I was working). After a year stint at stayzilla, I moved to Hyderabad in a sales role at Paytm.
I was responsible for building the distribution network of Paytm in AP and Telangana upcountry and was at the helm of things during demonetization. I got an opportunity to see and work on things on the ground during demonetisation. I saw how the whole country, administration and private sector players like Paytm were mobilized and worked during this time which gave me a hope that anything can be changed if we know how to do it.
How did you come up with the name of your Startup?
I was working with a lot of youngsters during this time and was very successful in my work. During this time I went through a deep introspection phase where I recognised the core qualities in me which were making me successful across all the aspects of my life. One day I wrote all these qualities on a board – confidence, self-awareness, fair world exposure, willingness to work on myself, chasing excellence. When I thought of an adjective which I would like to identify with, “Strong” came to my mind. That was a key moment in my life where I discovered the StrongHuman Framework.
What did you do just after getting the idea?
During my discussions with friends, I found that this framework can be a universal formula which can help anyone to improve their lives. Also because of my business and startup background, I could see that a profitable organisation can be built around this concept and hence StrongHumanNetwork was born.
In the last 2 years, we have taken SHN’s concept to thousands of people across the globe and it was received with open arms and warmth across. People were inspired by this idea and a lot of people invested in this idea. Till date, people have invested more than 60 lakhs (Excluding my investment) into this project.
As we are a sustainable profitable organisation, our main aim from the inception was to find out the right product-market fit. During this process, we did a lot of product-market trails through an offline sales team-driven model, college workshop, corporate training models and finally found our product-market fit through the digital lifestyle membership model executed through a 5-level structure which is open for individuals across the globe.
As of now, we have 100 paid members spread across the globe who come from very highly acclaimed educational & professional backgrounds. Most of our members have a Postgraduate degree from reputed colleges and have management experience. Many of them are located in countries like USA and Australia apart from India. We are currently offering lifestyle memberships to select professionals, senior professionals, Life coaches and world-renowned leadership experts at Level 3,4 & 5.
To become a lifestyle member, one has to accomplish the StrongHuman Challenge – a 21 day paid self-awareness challenge.
One can register themselves on www.shn.life in the suitable category, we will review their profile and if they are eligible they would be invited to take the StrongHuman Challenge.
I generally start my day with meditation, walk in nature followed by listening to Carnatic music. Then I read the regular newspaper and economic times to stay up to date with current happenings. My work starts with talking to highly accomplished individuals through networks like LinkedIn where I bounce ideas and perspectives and identify the right individuals to join SHN.
As an entrepreneur, I deal with uncertainty on a day to day basis and I need to be aware of the situation and not let the situation control me. Whenever I feel overpowered by situations, I go to meditation or listen to inspiring talks by Sadhguru, J Krishnamurthi, Tom Bilyeu, Gary Vaynerchuk etc.
What are your job responsibilities and how they have changed over time?
Post-MBA, my primary job has been problem-solving through planning, execution and people management. Before my startup journey, I was solving problems in a controlled environment of the company. Now as a startup, it is like transitioning from a man-made park into a forest – the real world. Now I solve things in the real world. When you are facing the real-world you need much more awareness to understand the situation and do the right thing.
In a corporate environment, you have a certain power which comes through the position you are placed in the organisation and you need to act according to that and people’s behaviour is also shaped by your position of power.
As an entrepreneur in real-world, your designation has no values unless backed by legible, constructive behaviour and results. Everyone around you behaves the way they want and it is your job to carefully analyse people and situations and do your best.
A startup goes through different phases, such as zero to one phase, 1 to 10 phase, 10 to 100 phase and so on. You need a different skillset at each level. Zero to 1 phase is the toughest which builds you as a person and lays the foundation. 9/10 entrepreneurs don’t make beyond this phase due to multiple reasons, but a major reason is a lack of adequate self-awareness and awareness of people and the world around. Some times you learn it the hard way and luck also plays a role in this journey.
Any Struggle/Challenges you have faced in your professional/ startup life and how did you overcome it?
When we were at the inception stage of SHN, I tried to move as fast as possible with the given resources and people. Also, I believed that you can motivate anyone to be the best version. Later I came across situations which made me understand that there needs to be an innate willingness from the person, without which nothing can be done. Some times when someone has already come to certain conclusions, things won’t move despite your best efforts and intentions.
Self-awareness is my superpower. Over the last 2 years, this has improved more. I can see situations just the way they are and this gives me an immense power to handle it the way I want to.
World-exposure is also a big strength. I love to read and consume content from very different subjects starting from business, international & national politics, spirituality, history, artificial intelligence and other technologies. This helps me in connecting the dots – a very important skill in the current situation.
Another important skill I have is problem-solving. I can analyse any kind of problem and can say what kind of solution is required and come up with probable ways to solve it.
Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?
YouTube & LinkedIn are 2 of the most important tools I would recommend. YouTube has a lot of thought-provoking content which can blow your mind. You need to tap into the right channels. LinkedIn is a very important tool for anyone who wants to grow professionally. It allows you to participate in sensible, thought to provoke discussions and develop the right professional network,
Who or what has shaped who you are?
If I have to speak of personalities who inspired me and keep inspiring me, I would say as a child, APJ Abdul kalam inspired me a lot. His book “Wings of Fire” was the 1st book where I learned about leadership. Also a lot of contemporary personalities who have worked through the tough times to success such as our PM Modi, K Chandrashekar Rao, who lead a long Telangana movement to become the current CM of Telangana inspire me.
Any hack/ learning which make your professional life easy/productive?
Put your ego aside and start thinking from the opposite person’s point of view. This will give you solutions to most of your problems and expedite things.
What’s your workspace setup like?
It consists of visuals which inspire me and a board where I write the most important thoughts which drive me.
Fashion Day
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Or a quote that inspires you the most?
A quote which I read during the initial phases of SHN –
I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that. Then I realized I am somebody
What are you currently reading, or what do you recommend?
I am deeply researching on yoga, consciousness and future of humanity through the content of people like Deepak Chopra, J Krishnamurti and Yuval Noah Harari
I love using boards. Whenever I have a lot of things to do, I write them on a board and prioritize and get it done.
If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?
I would not do anything different as I believe I got the perfect launchpad for what I am currently doing
Anything else you would like to share?
StrongHumanNetwork is a lifestyle concept and a global network of individuals focused on personal growth. It helps individuals transform their career, relationships, health & fitness through StrongHuman Lifestyle which enhances one’s confidence, self-awareness, emotional intelligence and world exposure. SHN offers lifestyle membership to individuals who accomplish the StrongHuman Challenge.
Books are distinct from visceral forms of entertainment for various reasons. They can be a game-changer, often for the greater good. Entrepreneurs must read books which are enriched with words of wisdom put forth by experienced entrepreneurs and market leaders who have years of experience good and bad in the industry.
We have compiled a list of 10 best books for entrepreneur, that you should read, no matter you’re an established entrepreneur or just starting out in that direction.
One of thee best books on startups is penned by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters, a self-made billionaire, Zero to One gives an insight into his journey from co-founding PayPal to selling it to eBay for a cool $1.5 billion along with investing in Facebook. Peter highlights important lessons and valuable techniques that entrepreneurs can incorporate in their ventures.
Think and Grow Rich
Think & Grow Rich-best books for entrepreneurs
Author : Napoleon Hill
Publication Year : 1937
Arguably one of the most motivational pieces of writing that the world has come across, and therefore a must read for every entrepreneur. This self-help book published by Napoleon Hill in 1939 is the amalgamation of powerful thoughts that were the driving factor behind prominent personalities of the 18th and 19th century. Andrew Carnegie was the wealthy philanthropist whose proposal compelled Napoleon to bring this 250-page book to fruition. It took him nearly 20 years before the perfected version to come up with the perfected version of ‘Think and Grow Rich’.
The Warren Buffett Way
The Warren Buffet Way
Author : Robert G. Hagstrom Publication Year : 1994
Not a fairy-tale by any means, the book talks of Buffett’s initial years, such as his first stock and important lessons he learned from legends such as Philip Fresher. The core of the writing is his four principles of investment methodology- Business, management, finance, and markets; there are nine case studies elucidating how he used these tenets to invest in some of his holdings. It has been written by Robert G. Hagstrom.
How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas Into Products That Build Successful Businesses
How We Make Stuff Now
Author : Jules Pieri Publication Year : 2019
This book is a must read book for entrepreneurs who are working on a physical product. There are 16 chapters like Design and Documentation, Prototyping, Funding, Manufacturing, Packaging, Direct to Consumer, Logistics, and Inventory Management for hardware and product business. These chapters are filled with case study examples from companies that have had products in The Grommet.
When to Jump: If the Job You Have Isn’t the Life You Want
Author : Mike Lewis Publication Year : 2018
Mike Lewis gives the much-needed guidance for those planning to step into the entrepreneurial waters. With a foreword from Sheryl Sandberg, the book is a collection of short stories by numerous successful founders describing their journey in the first place. A must read, especially for those who are hesitant to ditch their 9 to 5 job for entrepreneurship.
“Habits make a man”, and taking a cue from individuals known for being effective and efficient won’t do any harm. After all, almost everyone tries to emulate the most intelligent kid in the class. Summarizing the seven points into one-liners would do injustice the book, for the explanation behind each habit is worth reading!
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do
Author : Jennifer Eberhardt Publication Year : 2019
Jennifer Eberhardt writes about her decades of experience studying race and everyday interactions. She suggests that in order to overcome our own racial biases, we must acknowledge them. This book helps us to view how racial bias works in our own minds and throughout society. Her research shows critical information which can help leaders better understand how biases can impact our judgment and how we are perceived by the communities we are sworn to serve.
Start With Why
Author : Simon Sinek Publication Year : 2009
Simon Sinek’s Ted talk is amazing and I’d personally recommend you to watch it before reading ‘Start With Why’. In this book, Simon puts forward the idea that throughout history, renowned leaders have valued the why over how and what. His philosophy and real-life examples ought to inspire the reader to inspire those around him or her. Such is the ripple effect produced by this wonderful writing!
Networking Like a Pro: Turning Contacts Into Connections
Author : Ivan Misner, Brian Hilliard Publication Year : 2009
The cumulative work of three writers– Ivan R. Misner, David Alexander and Brian Hilliard, this guide teaches the art of networking and how businesses can leverage the power of connecting to turn successful. A useful technique known as ‘four streams of networking rivers’, outlining how to have a well-developed referral network, is just one among the various reasons as to why every entrepreneur must read this masterpiece.
Brave New Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization?
Author : Aaron Dignan Publication Year : 2019
Aaron Dignan helps teams around the world completely reinvent their operating systems which is fundamental principles and practices that shape their culture—with extraordinary success. He helps them see that organizations aren’t machines to be predicted and controlled. Instead, Organization is a complex human system full of potential waiting to be released. In Brave New Work, you’ll learn exactly how to reinvent the way you work, not through top-down mandates, but through a groundswell of autonomy, trust, and transparency.
Tim Ferris introduces the concept of the ‘New Rich’, one that encourages the lifestyle of doing, having and being whatever the person wants. The technique known as DEAL: Definition, Elimination, Automation and finally Liberation, is what the author feels every man should follow in order to gain financial freedom and thus live life better.
The Founder’s Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup
Author : Noam T. Wasserman Publication Year : 2012
Noam Wasserman’s efforts bring to notice a topic that is often downplayed in the process of launching a startup: Difficulties and adversities. Through research, Wasserman talks of the most common pitfalls that founders have to endure. To better prepare such future leaders, this book serves as an essential toolbox; this gem of a book transcends a self-improvement guide!
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done
Author : Peter Drucker Publication Year : 1966
Peter F. Ducker is considered to be the most influential management thinker ever. In this book, Ducker highlights the constraints that executives and those in similar positions are subjected to. He then provides excellent suggestions for maintaining the business effectiveness that is imperative for being productive. A classic must read for entrepreneurs that was first published in 1966!
Author : Edwin Catmull, Amy Wallace Publication Year : 2014
In Creativity, Inc., Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation, shares what happens behind-the-scenes in these two great companies. Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights. You can enter into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture.
The book is centered around the concepts of validated learning and build-measure-learn feedback loop which means build a product, measure your customers’ reactions, and learn if your idea has been validated or if you need to adapt. Repeat this cycle until your customers send you a clear signal that your product fits a market need. It tries to bring in a systematic approach to measuring the progress at a startup. According to the author of book, one must begin with the customers in the form of interviews and research discovery. Ries also recommends using a process called the Five Whys which is a technique designed to reach the core of an issue.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things is written by Ben Horowitz who is a cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and he is one of Silicon Valley’s most respected and experienced entrepreneurs. He writes his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don’t cover.
Author : Nir Eyal, Ryan Hoover Publication Year : 2014
Why do we use certain products regularly though many such products are available in the market? – like Google- What makes us habituated with certain products? Is there a pattern underlying how technologies hook us?
Hooked is based on Eyal’s years of research, consulting, and practical experience. Hooked is written for product managers, designers, marketers, start-up founders, and anyone who seeks to understand how products influence our behavior.
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
Author : Safi Bahcall Publication Year : 2019
Safi Bahcall is a cofounder of the biotech company Synta Pharmaceuticals. This book explains about lessons learned in wartime as well as from Polaroid and space exploration, among other periods and events. Using examples that range from the spread of fires in forests to the hunt for terrorists online, and stories of thieves and geniuses and kings, Bahcall shows how this new kind of science helps us understand the behavior of companies and the fate of empires.
The $100 StartUp put out the possibility of starting and running a successful business with a ridiculously small team (1 to 5 members) with many real-life case studies. Chris Guillebeau writes a step-by-step framework you can use to find where your passion meets your skills and turn those into an income from your couch, based on his own case studies. Using nothing but a laptop and some wifi in most cases, you can build a thriving software, freelance or education business and scale it as far as you want.
Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World
Author : Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall Publication Year : 2019
The new book ‘Nine Lies About Work’ explains the inherent flaws of traditional attempts to define effective leadership. Authors Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall explains the disconnect between the ways you know you work best and the ways you are told to work. They examine the practices that organisations do to exert control and impose uniformity: practices that have become common wisdom but that have failed to result in improved productivity and employee motivation.
Author : Michael E. Gerber Publication Year : 1995
Michael E. Gerber originally published as “The E Myth” in 1986. Michael Gerber revised and updated the book in 1995. Michael E. Gerber explains how you can set up a company that depends much more on systems, than on people, and anyone can look after it with set of right instructions. He explains running a business and getting technical work done are two different things and shows you how you can set up a system dependent company rather than people dependent.
Steve Blank explains hands-on instructions on how to handle customers, sales, marketing and building your company at different stages of your business. He explains how Customer Development Model is more useful than Product Development Model for new startups. There are four steps to the Customer Development Model: Customer Discovery, Customer Validation, Customer Creation and Company Building.
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Author : David Epstein Publication Year : 2019
The book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World explains diverse experiences are helpful in business, science, music, parenting and even sports. This book says that you can be more successful in life if you learn different things and don’t try to be an expert. The book also says generalization is the key to parenting, especially when it comes to guiding your children towards areas where they can excel: “The best thing [parents] can do is to expose [children] to a lot of things, help them to reflect on those things, that’s called self-regulatory learning.“
Rockonomics: A Backstage Tour of What the Music Industry Can Teach Us About Economics and Life
Author : Alan B. Krueger Publication Year : 2019
Alan B. Krueger uses the music industry, from superstar artists to music executives, from managers to promoters, as a way in to explain key principles of economics, and the forces shaping our economic lives. Mr. Krueger surveys studies on the healing qualities of music — both its ability to “stir memories and emotions in people afflicted by neurological disorders,” and to make us happier.
Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption
Author : Thales S. Teixeira Publication Year : 2019
The book, “Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption” says how and why consumer industries are disrupted, and what established companies can do about it—while highlighting the specific strategies potential startups use to gain a competitive edge. Thales Teixeira is a Harvard Business School professor. Thales Teixeira explains the nature of competition has fundamentally changed. Using innovative new business models, startups are stealing customers by breaking the links in how consumers discover, buy and use products and services.
The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip
Author : Jeff Guinn Publication Year : 2019
The Vagabonds is the fascinating story of two American giants, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. They were accompanied by Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs too. The Vagabonds is an evenhanded look at four men who helped define their time. Author Jeff Guinn wrote the exciting parts of the vagabonds’ road trips and the impact they had on the populace without shying away from the profound character flaws of Ford and Edison. While not a detailed biography of these men, you get a good sense of who they were and what motivated them.
Everyday Chaos: Technology, Complexity, and How We’re Thriving in a New World of Possibility
Author : David Weinberger Publication Year : 2019
Everyday Chaos says how we’ve been busily, silently overturning our most basic ideas about change. That affects how we plan, measure success, make predictions, model and explain our world, and design strategies — and ultimately how we think the future emerges from the present. Through stories from history, business, and technology, philosopher and technologist David Weinberger finds the unifying truths lying below the surface of the tools we take for granted–and a future in which our best strategy often requires holding back from anticipating and instead creating as many possibilities as we can. The book’s imperative for business and beyond is simple: Make. More. Future.
What You Do Is Who You Are: How To Create Your Business Culture
Author : Ben Horowitz Publication Year : 2019
“What You Do Is Who You Are: How To Create Your Business Culture” takes readers through the process of designing a company culture and imbuing it with the values one wants to espouse as well as the level of performance one expects. The author combines lessons both from history and modern organisational practice with practical and often surprising advice to help us build cultures that can weather both good and bad times. This book is a journey through cultures ancient to modern, spotlighting models of leadership and culture-building from the samurai to prison gangs.
Author : F. Scott Fitzgerald Publication Year : 1925
An American business magnate, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation. He is a great lover of books. He has always books on the roll to read. One of his all-time recommended books is ‘TheGreat Gatsby’ written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, which is a tragic love story, a mystery, and a social commentary on American life.
This is the story of Jay Gatsby’s who has a desperate quest to win back his first love. It also shows the importance of honesty, the temptations of wealth, and the struggle to escape the past.
An Indian IT industrialist and the co-founder of Infosys is a good reader and writer. One of his recommended books is ‘Winners Never cheat even in DifficultTimes’ by Jon M Huntsman.
This book shows how the author himself built a $12 billion company from scratch, Huntsman tells how he struggled to get to the highest level and how you can too. This book is about remembering why you work and why you were chosen to lead. It’s about finding the courage to act on what you know is right. It’s all about winning in the right way.
Author : William Shakespeare Publication Year : 1606
An American inventor, designer, entrepreneur, who was the co-founder, chief executive, and chairman of Apple Computer. He has a different collection of books. One of his recommended books is ‘KingLear’ by William Shakespeare.
This story portrays how misguided judgments can lead to tragedies. King Lear is fooled by his two hypocritical daughters and makes a mistake by giving them his property. Fogged by illusion, he even missed to see the true love his third daughter had for him, the book gives a vivid depiction of what can go wrong if you lose your grip on your empire.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Author : Thomas S.Kuhn Publication Year : 1962
This book presents a revolutionary approach to how science functions and progresses. Against the normal perception of science as a linear accumulation of knowledge. Kuhn attempts to view science as progressing in leaps from one “paradigm” to the next.
An American Internet and aerospace entrepreneur founder, chief executive officer of Amazon. He is very passionate about books and reading. One of his recommended books is ‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro.
It tells of a man’s journey into the past during a motoring trip through the English countryside, Told. From a first-person perspective, the story is narrated in the form of a diary by an English butler named Stevens. It begins in July 1956 at Darlington Hall, where Stevens has worked for 34 years.
Entrepreneurs have to get along with creativity and management side by side, books are often a golden treasure to them.
Reading is one smart way of helping them to think in various ways to achieve success. Learning is a never-ending process, successful people learn something new every single day through their habit of reading.
The book includes stories about Wall Street with drama and adventure.
Conscious Capitalism
Author: John Mackey and Raj Sisodia
Publication Year: 2013
The book illustrates how business and capitalism can work most powerfully to create value for all stakeholders.
As a Man Thinketh
Author: James Allen
Publishing Year: 1903
As a Man Thinketh explores the central idea of self-empowerment writing.
Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World
Author: Rene Girard
Publishing Year: 1987
The book is an analysis of three core mechanisms that leads the widespread social interactions.
Do let us know if you have read any other book which should have been in the list. We would love to read it and feature it in this list of the books for entrepreneurs.
Bed of lies that Startup founders made for themselves
A lie is a state of denial, a delusion that one creates in the mind and believes in it. The lie makes your present easy but the future got some issues with it, as a life of a lie is very short. Every person has designed some lies in the life and after one time they start to believe in them. The startup founders have also established a few misconceptions in their life’s, which leads to the path of their destruction. A lie will cost a huge loss to the new startup owners and the journey of their dreams will crash to the ground before even it begins. The truth is hard, but it’s better than the soft bed of lies.
The startup owners who are tired of failure and cursing their fate for the failure, they need to step back and ask one question, “Why I’m failing and where I have gone wrong?” In the end, you will automatically get the reason behind the failure. The answer to these two questions will reveal the lies that you have been telling yourself. But not anymore because to get the success you need to face some harsh reality.
The list of lies is very huge that startup owners follow. Today we will try to understand some common lies that one tell themselves. So the lies of entrepreneurs life are as:
#lie1. I’m self-sufficient and can achieve anything with my hard work
Hard work is good, bulls also work hard all day but they don’t work as a CEO of some multinational company. The element here is to work smartly and plan every move in advance. Strick on the right time and in the right spot.
The business owners lie to themselves that they can handle all the work efficiently and they don’t need any help. They assume that making a million dollar project presentation and cleaning the toilet of the offices, they can do anything. Nobody is perfect and we all need help at some point in life.
#lie2. A positive attitude will make me successful
Staying optimistic in life is good, but assuming that a positive attitude will lead you to success is the biggest delusion of all time. It can be better explained with the example of Stockdale Paradox. His story is inspirational and throws light upon the true meaning of optimistic realism.
He was the highest-ranking American POW held during the Vietnam War and he thought that his life will end in the prison. He was severely tortured in the prison, but he still didn’t give up. The key to his survival is that he didn’t think any delusion like other prisoners. Instead, he chose to be real.
He said that “I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”
Jim Collins famously wrote about in his classic book, Good to Great: “You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties. AND at the same time… You must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
Getting investors is the biggest issue, even for the successful running organizations. For the new startups, it’s like finding water in the Sahara desert. Getting the investors are easy, but making them understand the project is the hard nail to crack.
One of the young CEO shared his experience telling that, he and his co-founders got rejected by the investors numerous times. One of his teammates always says that “Don’t worry we will get success, next time for sure”. But in the end, he was the one who left the team because he wasn’t able to handle more of his own lie and one day lie crushes his dreams. As he focuses on a lie instead of evaluating the problem in the startup plan.
Customer will automatically come towards my enterprise to buy my product or service. This is the most unethical thought of an entrepreneur’s mind. The overconfidence on your product and assumption that whatever you offer, the public will buy, then my friend you are in the biggest delusion of the century. Only offer those products which have already run through the market.
These are five lies that startup owners believe in mainly. But there are various other delusions presents. Like a startup mentor based from Dallas shared few interesting lies which he hears on daily basis from startup founders
We will get tremendous followers after the launch.
Once we have a cool website and a logo, we are all set to rock.
Money is the biggest issue and it can solve all other issues.
A mention in a major publication is enough for the initial traction.
One social media manager can change my whole startup plan and can give it wings.
One startup failure means my whole future is finish.
These are the truckload of crap that entrepreneurs usually believes in. The startup owners have built a web of lies around them and they lead their life accordingly. You guys need to shake the fog of lies and start to think clearly. Get a grip and self-evaluate your startup plan, and then remove all lies from it. Because if Mark Zuckerberg has built lies around him, then we didn’t have Facebook today. So take an oath to stay away from lies, doesn’t matter how harsh they are.
Entrepreneurs in the age of digital media and the internet have a lot on their plate. Increased competition has highlighted the importance of adopting technical methods and skills to keep your business stable and progressing. There is vast array of technical strategies and tactics that people apply in their business planning to keep their brand relevant and known.
“Even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15% of one’s financial success is due one’s technical knowledge and about 85% is due to skill in human engineering, to personality and the ability to lead people.” – Dale Carnegie, American writer and lecturer
Unfortunately, not all entrepreneurs have formal technical learning and therefore do not consider themselves a website builder expert. In fact, the basis of entrepreneurship is selling a product or service. Technical knowledge can improve your ability to market your brand with much more efficiency. Here are some crucial yet easy to grasp skills that every entrepreneur should know.
Coding:
As complex as it sounds, modern-day technologies have made coding, including the use of HTML, quite simple for even novice entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur these days can easily be the programmer of his own business website or blog.
There are tons of courses available online that teach all the necessary knowledge, tips and tricks for successful coding approaches and amendments. Learning how to manage the algorithms of your own website can significantly help you cut down the expenses you’d otherwise spend on programmers. Khan Academy, Codecademy and Code.org offer free online coding courses that can be helpful for entrepreneurs.
Wireframeis another useful technique associated with coding that can help you to understand the mechanisms of web development and designing. Understanding how web technology works can also help you to communicate and deal better with your digital teams and producers.
Successful SEO is similar to building blocks. You can arrange and rearrange until you get your desired proportions and start noticing a visible change in your website statistics and activity. Optimized content is absolutely necessary if you want to grow as an entrepreneur.
Gimmicks that help redirect traffic to your website are actually quite easy to learn. Having the right blend of correct keywords and accurate keyword research, providing relevant and reader-friendly information, linking pages from your website and other websites and distributing the burden on your site to reduce loading time are some ways that you can excel at SEO.
Neglecting SEO could do serious harm to the ranking of your site and it could be removed from mainstream search results. Creating and managing SEO-friendly content is a handy skill that helps you attain a significant boost in your brand marketing.
CRO is essentially a part of SEO, which means to present your content in a way so as to develop more customers from your visitors. It includes understanding the customer’s mind, analyse his needs and then experiment with your site data accordingly in order to generate more revenue and passive income. It is a mix of marketing and technical strategies.
CRO enables you to optimize your website’s functionality, while helping you understand the whys and hows of visitor behavior. The fact is, your site never reaches its maximum potential until it’s rigorously experimented.
Web Designing Skills:
Graphic designing is another skill that is vital for entrepreneurs in terms of creativity and communication. Eye-catching graphics can grasp the visitor’s attention and eventually persuade them to take action.
A website with an attractive interface, logo, colour themes and font isn’t too difficult to create. You can use software such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator to create suitable logos and thumbnails.
Hosting websites conveniently offer amazing and unique themes for both basic and premium domains. This is something that an entrepreneur can do just with the help of his imagination and some basic operational knowledge of good software.
Without content, your website is useless. Without proper marketing, your content becomes useless too. Keep the content on your website useful, relevant, concise and updated. Unattractive, unverified and basic content and information is a big turn off for customers in the entrepreneurship world.
Naturally, an entrepreneur’s topmost priority should be the focus on the quality and presentation of his content that would help him keep his business running and the money rolling in. An entrepreneur who also knows how to write to sell is definitely a customer’s delight.
E-mail marketing is a vast and highly critical platform for marketing and reaching out to millions of users. With just a subject line to represent his entire brand, an entrepreneur must know exactly what he’s trying to sell and why he wants a customer to buy it. Keep your e-mail inbox decluttered and organized, have templates designed and customised yourself to give them maximum authenticity.
User Experience:
An entrepreneurs’ source of earning is the user, as a potential customer. Each user who visits your digital platform, whether your website, e-mail or social media decides to take a deep dive only on the basis of how user-friendly the platform is. This includes a swift accessibility, interactivity and responsiveness. Content marketing and writing, SEO and CRO form the basis of a fruitful and magnetic user experience. If the entrepreneur learns how to keep the user engaged, he can successfully market his product without spending too much on advertisements or other strategies.
Conclusion
In any business department, from accounting to sales to procurement to front office, technology comes in handy. So, knowing how that technology works to power the various operations in your business will put you a step ahead of the rest. Technicalities and strategies go way beyond their basic and simplified forms. Nevertheless, learning a few basic skills could make the world of difference to your success as an entrepreneur.
Himaya Presthitha
