Before you start[up]

Every now and then. I come across individuals or small teams that have a great urge to launch a startup!

Having been a volunteer with the Headstart Network Foundation , they feel that I have some clear winning formulas that they can use to become billionaires once they create an App!

In Bangalore, that is probably not uncommon, as the majority of ideas for startups are around creating an app-based business.

Other than the broad idea, many of them are hesitant to share more details, though they would like some guidance. The basic fear is whether someone else would steal their idea.

I tell them that the success of a startup is in the execution. Of course the uniqueness of the idea itself and the core value proposed is also important, but one must have the confidence to make it work and not be entangled in the charm of one’s own idea!

My answer normally along these lines..

I am not aware of the details of your approach and plan, so some of the following may not be directly relevant.

I am sharing a few themes and patterns that I have come across in my interactions with aspiring startups, that might be useful.

• The app or the software should come after the key business model has been outlined
• That will help in designing the back end data model [for now and the future]
• The value add [one sided or two sided etc] in the business model will be critical to have clarity on
• Any related technologies available or to be developed [in this case, possibly the food preparation, preservation during transport, logistics etc] will help prioritize the features needed in the software solution
• Consider a non-app channel of interactions as well [many people are hesitant to use an app to do just one thing – unless it is something they would use very regularly or fits in with their way of working]
  • A chat [whatsapp or other] bot based interaction may also be an option to start with [of course a back end will be needed]
• Consider using solutions such as launchrock [a free level is also available] or others from startup.co, to get a quick, lower cost validation of the concept
  • https://www.launchrock.com/
• Being part of groups such as open coffee club or headstart will get you connected to other entrepreneurs, service providers [web, app developers etc] that would be sensitive to the startup costs [they may still not be very cheap, unless you want to engage some students or part time persons and manage yourself]
• In general, using open source technologies will help keep the licensing costs low, but nowadays biggies also offer tech stacks when you commit to work on their platforms [bluemix, azure etc]
• For db, since you asked for trend, mariadb is gaining on mysql; python as a language to build front ends as well as some of the analytics related solutions is also popular. Ruby on rails, that used to be very hot a couple of years ago, does not seem to be that much in favour, now. Php is also an all time favourite, easy to learn and develop, though may be limited when the need becomes more complex, but good to start with
• Platforms such as drupal, wordpress etc could also be considered for easier administration of content and creating apps and websites faster [in the nocode or lowcode category]
  • https://www.drupal.org/docs/7/mobile/native-mobile-apps
  • https://drupalgap.org/
• Or some quick page building tools
  • A recent reference I came across – https://zapier.com/blog/best-landing-page-builders
• One way of looking at this is also the cost of the developer. Any AI/ML etc skills [such as R, tableau etc skills] are at a premium, which you may not need when you start.
• Incubators could also be useful.

 

All the best!

Do any of the above seem relevant to your situation?

Do you have any more tips?

3 Box model for time management

It has been a while – a really long while, since I posted here.

One way to look at it was that I have been very productive – or at least busy – to get time to post here..

But that is not true. While I have been doing a lot of things – and been changing my interests and exploring new stuff, have just been lazy to do anything here..

The intent is to restart regular posts here, that do not fit under my other blogs – related to work  or just fun stuff

This post is a 3-box model that I have found useful and many individuals and teams that I have coached, also have confirmed that it has worked for them.

Divide your day into three buckets.

Me time, Team time and Network time.

Me time:

this is time that you need for yourself.

could be for your own development.. remember the Gym subscription that you have not been using for a while now?.. or just jogging, reading or getting some personal projects done

At work, this would translate into time that you need by yourself, to make progress on your deliverables

Team time:

it is rare nowadays that we do things all by ourselves. in most of my activities, there is always a dependency or some collaboration needed with someone or some others. this requires time together – for ideation, for reviews [some of this could possibly be done asynchronously] or just jamming!

Network time:

The network will vary based on the project context. could be family, friends – in the social context or organization in work context.

work related meetings – team / staff meetings, townhalls, team outing etc would fall in this category.

this can also be extended to include cross-team activities.

in the personal context this could be within the close family, extended family, neighborhood groups, professional networking events/groups or personal networking [sports] groups etc

Once you have identified the activities that you want to slot under these three buckets, allocate time for each.

these slots need not be in contiguous chunks. That is, it is no necessary that you allocate 3 hours in the morning for me time!

that may not be possible and also not recommended.

What is important is that these slots should be pre-determined and published – made known to others also.

I had, when I transitioned to a role that needed me to be available to others across timezones, indicated that there would be a silent time window when I would not be available for calls, emails etc.

that let me plan [yes, even with the unpredictability of Bangalore traffic, one can make some provisions] my commute back home, having a leisurely dinner with family etc.

And, being available after that, was also easier for some who were almost in diametrically opposite locations!

Let me know if you can relate to this and if you use a different model, please share!

see you soon..

is experience = obsolescence the new equation?

recently, one of my colleagues had attended a lecture event, when a young entrepreneur spoke of the sense of urgency in an entrepreneur and how ‘old’ and traditional concepts of planning and project management were changing.

indirectly, he apparently said that there is no room for the old in the youth driven economy!

so, is experience = obsolescence the new equation?

how can one continue to be relevant?

it all depends on the value one can offer to others.

this can be value based on experience, but extracted in context and projected on to the new normal.

I found this article touching on that topic – along with handling ‘non-normal’ people in a company 😦

i guess the solution is to be young at heart and understand, even if we do not speak – the youngsters’ language..

this reminds me of a question that my niece asked me once :
that was when i used to take the company bus [while I was associated with a large company] to electronics city in Bangalore, to avoid the silk board commute [this was a point where there are usually significant traffic delays] and also do my bit to the environment…

her question: ‘what is the average age of the others in the bus? is there anyone your age taking the bus?’

she had heard from her friends [seniors who had passed out and joined IT companies] using the bus that none of their managers or seniors take the bus..

which was true.

i was probably the only [or one of the 2 or 3] non-20-somethings on the bus!

but, joining in some of their discussions gave me many insights into what the young minds think these days..

this also helped me relate to their interests – which I could use to share metaphors when explaining some concepts.

and keeping pace or staying ahead of the youth let me also explore and experiment with new things that mattered to them.

and have me a great opportunity to learn.

while I still try to do that, I miss the company bus!

LFO: Nature

Recently someone forwarded this. we have a lot to learn from Nature,,

OYSTERS

Think of Oyster and the first thing which comes to our mind is ‘Pearl’. We all know that the Oyster lives in a shell.

When any irritation gets into its shell, the oyster first tries to take it out. But when it can’t, it uses the same irritations to create one of the most beautiful things in the world. It uses the irritations to do the best thing it can if given a chance. Yes it makes a Pearl.

When faced with problems majority of us tend to complain, crib, disagree, blame and hold others responsible. We avoid facing problems and doubt our ability to create a ‘Pearl’.

Create a pearl every time you face adversities !!

EAGLE

Eagle has an average life expectancy of around 60 years. However, when it reaches around 30 years of age, its beak and wings get weaker not allowing the eagle to fly and catch food efficiently. So the eagle breaks its own beak, which then takes around a month to grow it again. Then with the new healthier beak the eagle takes off all its wings, which again takes a time period of another month to grow them again. Thus the eagle voluntarily invites temporary pain and sacrifices for a better tomorrow! The eagle is ready again to fly and catch food with the same energy and speed.

The ability to deal with change is a must quality for today’s global, fast moving and ever changing environment.

Like eagles, we should also be alert and ready to accept the fact that to adjust with ever changing environment; our knowledge, skills and abilities need to be upgraded and enhanced continuously.

ANT

The ‘Ant Philosophy’ relates to Hard Work, Commitment to Win, Communication and Team Effectiveness. It saves before consuming. The ants are ready to postpone their pleasure to save for the rainy day.

CHAMELEON

Chameleon has got a natural ability to change colors, which help it for self-protection, hiding from target food, communication and also display of physical and psychological condition etc.

We all should learn to be a human chameleon i.e. try adjusting to people, environment / surrounding; while thinking, communicating and taking decisions; by controlling and managing our internal environment i.e. our emotions and psychology.

TREE

All huge trees begin their lives as a small seeds initially and then they grow in stages. The higher a tree grows; the more it needs to spread its roots deeper. Apart from growing higher, the trees also spread across branches. It represents that we should also try to spread across various dimensions of life and strike a balance between the personal, professional, social and spiritual areas of our lives.

Here the growth of tree represents our growth in various areas of life and the roots represents our knowledge, hard work, skills, dedication, sincerity, patience, genuineness, relations, contacts, network, commitment to win, positive attitude and overall management of our time, energy and money in a productive way etc.

Agility and the Human Body

 

Last year, I was observing myself after a small procedure to remove a couple of implants in my forearm.

i was in the phase of what the doctors called recuperation – as the muscles get nursed back to strength  as well as getting over their ‘trauma’ as well  – as an external observer to see how they are responding.

the original incident was an accident, and at that time, i could only react or respond.

It was interesting to see how helpless i felt at not being able to use my right arm. Even lifting a sheet of paper – yes, one sheet of paper, required so much effort and associated frustration at not being able to do that.

the physiotherapy gave me a lot of confidence to see the daily progress and a satisfaction that things were going as per plan – since the therapists were very confident of the sequence of recovery and the timelines for the restoration – and it happened pretty much to that schedule!

This time, it was different.

as it was a planned procedure, i tried to prepare myself to not use the right hand and use the left hand, before the surgery – it was not natural. but, after the surgery, with or without conscious effor or a prop [such as the sling bag], i could feel an unconscious shift to the left hand.

as if the arms and muscles have their periodic scrums every time something needs to be done. they seem to have transferred their responsibilities seamlessly – and also, it appeared that the brain was instructing them to act appropriately – for instance, the mirror-like movement needed – when working with the hand one is normally not used to – such as shaving with the left hand for me.

our body is a truly empowered and agile team, with a common focus towards the project goals!

how can we create the sense of being parts of a larger body, synchronized by the brain – in our project teams?

Getting more from measurements

In the previous post, we discussed some simple principles to make the measurements effective.

Now, that we have some data, let us see how we can get more from measurements, for you as a manager.

 

As a manager, you need the following to be consistently effective in your role:

• Achieving targets
  Ensuring course corrections are taken through the project
• Improving on your team performance on a continuous basis
  This would need you to look at sets of measurements and data
• Demonstrating [thought and action] leadership
  Setting new benchmarks in performance

Here are some thoughts on how to get more from measurements to support these expectations.

• Look at measurements as a continuum and not discrete data values
• This could change the way you think at some values as deterministic; for example, the milestone date is not really a deterministic value, but more of a probabilistic value, which is influenced by many other aspects of the environment
• Once this idea is internalized, status tracking / reporting also becomes a continuum – and not a weekly, monthly or quarterly report created for a review by someone else [and that also many times influences the report, as we want to ensure that our best foot is extended forward, hiding the other foot, many times unintentionally]
• The above points mean that you need to look a trends and not just the snapshot values
• Look also at comparisons – over time as well as across ‘silos’; silos could be individuals, teams or organizational units
• Using the principle of the context [index / percentage], also look at the practices that created / influenced the metric
• Learning from others will give you opportunities to identify breakthrough improvements

 

Making measurements more effective

The theme of this edition of milestones is about getting more out of measurements.

Before we get more, let us look at making measurements effective.

In the next issue I will share some thoughts on getting more.

 

I would like to classify all measurements into two categories.

1. Those that are relevant for the individual contributor
2. Those that are needed for a manager

 

An individual contributor, for this discussion, is any person who has some deliverables as an individual, based on the role.

Even managers – PMs, DMs et al – have specific deliverables in those roles.

These could be ideas, proposals, plans and results.

 

Here are four principles that you should use as an individual contributor.

• Any measurement should be directly related to the output or outcome, rather than just an input
  For example, recording time spent or lines of code written or # test cases executed by themselves are quite common to keep track of productivity. The fallacy here is that these measurements do not provide a clue of the readiness of the work product for the next phase
• Pick measures that could be expressed as an index or percentage
  This is one approach to reduce the ambiguity arising out of the earlier point. An index lets one appreciate the measure in context and can be used later as well
• Whatever metric you report on, it should have a meaning for you – as the data creator
  I have many times in my career, questioned the need for some reports that I was expected to submit; this is to first understand the big picture and where my contribution matters – and next to use that information to improve my work practices
• Collect and organize your data in their most natural format
  Many times, we tend to confuse the format / structure of a report to be submitted and the natural format for data to me maintained. the most natural format is like a spreadsheet : in rows and columns; this will help you analyze, collate, combine and synthesize as well as create multiple presentations from the same data

Leadership lessons from a mining crisis

a dramatic rescue operation was carried out in Chile a few weeks ago to secure 33 miners trapped about 700 meters below the earth’s surface.
after the debriefing of the team by a professor, he drew some basic patterns that helped, in terms of how the team of miners organized themselves in the crisis.
Professor Francisco Javier Garrido, in an interview, shared his findings and explains how these patterns are useful in business context as well.
a condensed highlight:
The miners understood 2 important aspects for survival and to reach their goal of being rescued:
1. identify the experience in the team and be guided by them [the architects]
2. identify and rally around a leader amongst them
while the first gave them the technical capability to survive, the latter gave them the moral support and a focal point of trust.
going further the professor says that a leader needs these basic qualities:
* analytical skill
* overcoming elementary responses
* viewing efforts as a function of goals
* know how to work as a team
* ethical coherence and integrity
* communication skills

Jet lag tips – 2

Sleep as much as possible – especially on the airplane, and in your new destination. I rarely get jet lag when i sleep enough on airplane.

Travel business class if you are lucky enough to be able to afford it. Makes a night and day (no pun intended) difference on jet lag when you travel business vs coach on long hauls. Also avoid connections like a plague. Ideally you want to get in and get out.

Do not under estimate the airline. Avoid United/American for long hauls – they are worse than what people say they are. If a seat reclines fully to flat, it makes a huge difference. In business I like – Singapore (flat, super wide), Cathay (nice narrow personal), British Air (flat, love the retractable dividers), Lufthansa (flat) have much better business class seats and TV choices. KLM is not as bad as United/American but not as good either. Sometimes I take the Asian airlines – Eva, China Air. Eva has the plushest comforters, but the seat doesnt recline fully. Better to avoid unproven other airlines.

Avoid drinking as much as possible, instead drink a lot of water. Sometimes this is easier said than done when on the road as you invariably have social events, but it does make a difference.

Eat well, and eat regularly. When in doubt I default to Indian. Some people like to try out new cuisines. Sounds nice, and sometimes new is good. But I just love Indian food.

Get the occasional massage at the airport – especially in Asia (eg Hong Kong) where they actually do a good job. I wish I did this more – but whenever I do a quick work out in destination city, I definitely feel a lot better. I usually take an exercise DVD so I can do a quick work out in the room.

Long meetings – especially the afternoon ones in new destination country – those can be tough. If you have prepared properly (ie slept enough in the preceding 24 hours) you should be fine. But if not, do not under estimate the power of coffee.

Sometimes nothing works. I try to retire early first day in new country sometimes. Plus its not great if everyone thinks you never get jet lag, they will keep loading you up with meetings.

beating jet lag – 1

one of the impacts of long distance travel is the re-orientation required to the new timezone.

time management takes an additional dimension.

this post is an LFO – thanks to friends who have shared their tips.

add yours too

• Skip one meal on India- USA flights – made a huge difference for me to adjust to the time zone quickly
• Mentally think of the new time zone, and accordingly think you are eating that meal. In other words, airline may give dinner style meal but in the local time zone its breakfast time
• Practice a few pranayama techniques, good breathing exercises at least twice (12 to 15 minutes each session)
• Drink lot of water, of course prefer aisle seat for easy access to rest room!
• On layover legs, walk for 20 minutes in the connecting terminal – ideally half-a-mile
• In business class segments completely skip any alcohol