Rickshawalas & Entrepreneurs
It’s a sunny afternoon by the Ganges River in West Bengal. My father has business to take care of across the river in Navadwip and decides to take me along. I grab 10 rupees from the house and sprint towards him. The money accidentally falls into tall grass…
Instead of being disappointed, he calmly places his arm around my shoulder and walks me to the main road. But instead of continuing to the ferry dock a mile away like we usually do, he hails a rickshaw passing by.
So I silently watch a barefoot, topless old man draw us to the dock. My father hands me 5 rupees and says 5 words I’ll never forget…
Give him what he Earned
The poor rickshawala extends his scarred, trembling hands for the equivalent of a measly dime to land in them. I realized years later how much this single moment of embarrassment shaped my life.
The 10 rupees I carelessly lost as a kid could have fed that man’s family. The reason I wasn't more careful is because they were lying around at home and in my hurry, I failed to appreciate their value.
Similarly, I can’t shake the feeling that the past decade has made entrepreneurs increasingly complacent because of how incredibly easy it has become to grab investments. Many fail to appreciate an investor’s money because they have so much.
But that’s not your money! Only your company’s post-dividend profits are…
It’s hard to remember that when entrepreneurship is a walk through hell. So when the big number appears on your screen, it’s easy to feel entitled. Like you deserve to spend it after all you've been through. Thing is…
No one owes you shit!
You owe it to yourself and to those who believe in you to make your vision successful, at which point? Please, buy the Herman Miller chairs, drive a hot number, build the glass house, make it rain. But don’t live the dream when you’re in the middle of building it!
I have been working on my contextual technology startup Aztrana since 2008, envisioning a world that revolves around you by making every aspect of it adapt to who you are. We received numerous investment opportunities but refused to take them. Why? I could not feel like my team earned it when we were still in development. We decided to bootstrap all the way. Has it been easy? No... Was it worth it?
Hell Yes!
It teaches you discipline and a level of appreciation for what you do that only life can teach. I've talked to founders who think you don’t need to bootstrap after you get investment. I humbly disagree. That’s a great way to murder your dream. Every cent matters when a single cent isn't coming in!
And if you somehow manage to burn through your cash? Guess what, your investor is not just going to calmly place an arm around your shoulder, sit you on a rickshaw, and hand you some more…
Alexis Ohanian puts it best: You need to be Hummus Profitable. That means spending investment money on only the bare essentials. It’s a lesson the previous startup generation understood because of how hard it was to create companies. Today, it is truly wonderful to see entrepreneurship thriving and with the right discipline, the possibilities are endless.
Conclusion
Entrepreneurs should be the ones tirelessly drawing their rickshaws, pleasing their investors and ultimately serving the family that is their ecosystem. Not dropping money around like a kid.