Zeta is a Unicorn. Now that that's out of the way, Id like to celebrate the real contributors -
1. Celebrate our 800+ employees who flawlessly execute on our vision even in these trying times
2. Celebrate the 20+ fintechs and 10+ banks globally who have placed faith in us ...
2 billion users spend 136 minutes averagely on social media everyday. If 30% of that time was spent on reading books, then we'd have 2 billion people reading as many books as Bill Gates each month. (The irony of posting this on social media isn't lost on me :))
Human brains are no different from single core computers. The more you try to get done in parallel the more time you waste in context switching and delay everything
I get asked how I had the strength to start at 17, build 5 different companies and run 3 at the same time (
@Flock
,
@RadixRegistry
,
@ZetaIndia
). My answer - I am not afraid of starting new things. Not afraid of failing. The only thing I am afraid of - is not taking chances.
Remote work is very efficient for day to day execution (assuming ownership and accountability) due to reduced distractions and lesser commute time wastage ... but very inefficient for strategic planning, collaborative problem solving, decision making and 0 to 1 leaps
A startup is like an organism. Starts with a single cell that contains all the code (Founder) and then rapidly divides and specializes into multiple differentiated cells forming disparate organs working in harmony to create magic - but they all share the same DNA (culture)
You know a company is big when news about their one hour outage gets more coverage than the advertising budgets of all the startups I can name combined
Startups eat large companies for lunch because as you grow larger you end up spending more and more time with lawyers and lesser and lesser time with creators :)
Google raised $25.1mn before its IPO. Even at a 5% success rate $10bn ought to be able to create 20 Googles. Excess capital breeds inefficiencies. Constraints breed creativity.
Friend: YOLO. Life is fragile. It can end anytime. What is the point of working all the time. You should just chill.
ME: YOLO. Life is fragile. It can end anytime. So its now or never to make an impact.
8500+ book recommendations from the most successful and interesting people in the world -
(Tweeting this as a bookmark for myself)
@gauravmunjal
@kunalb11
- FYI too
Impatience can also be a virtue. Strong sense of Urgency. Bias for Action. Intolerance for procrastination. 100% Follow through. No dropping the ball. All virtues in my book.
My hiring criteria -
Breadth+Depth - Rockstar / Leadership Material
Depth only - Specialist
Breadth only - Reject
Don't spend your life swimming in shallow waters, dive deep with insatiable curiosity and hunger
My definition of a Fintech: A company that does not have a banking license but provides financial services to a segment of customers in one of 2 ways - (1) partnering with a bank and embedding their products into their apps (2) layering on top of open banking APIs
I have tremendous respect for people who are pushy and incessant in follow up and follow through. They are also the ones who have meticulous systems of maintaining todo lists with deadlines and let nothing slip through the cracks
Whenever a large app does several things it creates an opportunity for a startup to come along and unbundle the most important thing into a new app and build a unicorn out of it
Domain expertise has much lesser value than the ability to engineer from first principles. The latter can help disrupt any domain. The former can actually act as a handicap due to preconcieved notions.
We clean our homes by eliminating stuff we don't use periodically. Good product managers need to do the same with their products. A clean clutter free experience cannot be over rated.
Overfunding startups tempts and distracts them into scaling sales, marketing, headcount before achieving product market fit, low CAC, high retention, high NPS and figuring out all the unknown unknowns
Every interviewee would benefit from taking 2 min to jot a few notes for each question with a pen and paper before they begin to answer. I offer this to every candidate in every interview and yet almost none take it up.
4 things I wish were ingrained through teaching and repetition from a very early age for every child
* It is ok to be wrong
* The art of self-learning
* You can achieve what you believe
* How to optimize your body and mind
Founders need to be micro managers during the 0 to 1 phase. Delegating 0 to 1 is at best inefficient and at worst completely ineffective.
Investors delegate 0 to 1. Founders own it.
Companies that focus on generating EBITDA can re-invest that EBITDA to generate more EBITDA creating a compounding flywheel.
Companies that have to keep raising money, have to keep raising money.
A fundraise is an input, not an outcome; a pitstop not a finish line; an enabler not an achievement
We are humbled to be recognized as a unicorn, but we will park our right to be proud when we achieve our vision of becoming the largest banking tech player worldwide
Common drivers of all 4 happy hormones - Exercise, Sunlight, Meditation, Healthy diet, Adequate Sleep, Touch, Social Interaction, Laughter. How many of these do you get daily?
I do not believe in Fail Early, Fail Fast, Fail often. Instead I believe in Validate early, Validate Fast, Validate always.
Fail implies you start and fail. Validate implies you do not start before you validate adequately
I really hate it when people send me spreadsheets with merged cells and you cannot sort, manipulate, reorder, filter anymore. Spreadsheets should eliminate them. Excel is not intended to be a documentation tool. It is intended to be an analytics tool (IMHO)