“It has become impossible to plan anything. Things are changing rapidly; every day is a new challenge. How to create a plan that will work?” Yash and Sangram both were looking frustrated. The sun was very bright, and the heat in the air was affecting everyone. We decided to meet earlier in the day. “That is a good question, Yash. Things will change rapidly. It’s...
"Makarand, I am confused." "I was looking at the financial plan, and I think my current savings will be good to cover the next few months. I was looking for options for fundraising while I stumbled upon a few startup gurus advising to bootstrap and Not raise investment and dilute my stake early." We were about to start the review of our budgets. Based on the numbers in...
Yash was engrossed in some thoughts as we settled for the cup of coffee. I kept quiet while he took some time to gather his thoughts. “Last week I was relieved from the job. My idea is fully explained to the team, and I am just waiting for Sangram to finish the product development. I wish I had continued with the job for some more time....
“My friend Kumar is interested in this product. He is willing to fund the part of initial development by investing in the company. What is the best way forward?” Yash was excited. Finally, he could find someone willing to put money into his idea. “Has he invested in other companies before? Does he know all the pluses and minuses?” That...
“Now that I have clarity on the product requirements, we have put together a development plan. I am working on the budgets, looks like we are going to need a lot of money.” Yash started as we found a corner table in the coffee shop. “Yes, you need a lot of capital to build a product, particularly when you have ambitious plans. And it’s not easy...
“We are just starting to develop; how can you expect us to be at number one from day one? There are other players in the market. They are working for a few years and way ahead of us.” It was a natural reaction from Yash to my demand. Every startup must start afresh, which obviously means following the competition. Right? Being no 1 is a mindset...
“Hello, as suggested by you, we have already achieved our first milestone.” Sangram was ready to show me his first deliverable. Yash was quiet while we were appreciating it. “Based on the plan from Sangram, it will take at least six months before we start selling. I can’t take it to any customer before it is ready. I am wondering how to use that...
“Makarand, This is getting too much work! This is just a first step, and there is a huge pile of tasks yet to be done.”Sangram seemed pretty unhappy with his own expectations about the work. Getting the first deliverable out is always a daunting task. The creativity is at its peak, and so many ideas to work on, yet so little time...
The days are getting a little longer and the sun has become a bit bright... It felt really nice when we entered the coffee shop. It was cooler inside. Yash and Sangram opened a sheet with a big list of product features. Looks like they had spent a lot of time figuring out the implementation details of the product. As anyone would expect, Sangram started explaining the...
With the addition of Sangram to our team, our weekly meetings have started to be more interesting. This time Yash and Sangram came up with several ideas, product features, and an initial plan for the implementation. “This looks, perfect guys. All the best, get going.” This was just the beginning of a great journey going forward. “Just one small question....
