Four pillars of start-up success.
In today’s bit, I’m trying to share the success recipe of a start up.
I am myself the founder of startup working on making Indian stock market the topic gig market of the nation. This write up is gist of my experiences as a founder in posterity, present and the foreseeable future.
My reality of a start-up holds 4 basic blocks, namely funding, innovation, agility, and compliance.
Funding is the lifeblood of any start-up, and the journey starts with initial or seed round. However brilliant is an idea, intelligent is your scheme of things, and how much diligent you are, does not matter at all without seed or initial funding. Our chance of germination is nil without it. Seed funding is the first tranche of water and a must for survival of a start up.
See, typically founders need to validate their hypothesis and ideas which needs lot of primary and secondary research. Often times market feedback is required. To go for this work, you need to invest substantially. The other added resources required is the minimum sustainable livelihood of the initial team, including founders and cofounders, as well.
The workload of initial team is not limited to research or market feedback, alone, founder must try to gain the visibility or attention of the industry. At least initial visibility of the concerned and other stakeholders i.e. industry players, angel, VC a step must for further growth and expansion.
Initially founder must work for the suitable crack team. Crack team ideally must have domain expertise and that comes at a substantial, upfront cost. Practically speaking, no initial funding, no work and consequently, no road ahead.
Innovation – After the founding team had secured a reasonable runway for the flight, now is the turn of innovation. Innovation is the oxygen of any start-up. In any market you need a disruption. It can be via a product innovation or approach innovation. Whether you come up with a unique products or new approach to crack the said market. If you are not unique on both these counts, market adoption and acceptance is a remote possibility.
Your further rounds will solely depend on your ability to disrupt the market via product or approach innovation.
Agility – Once the start-up has shaped itself as an organisation, the agility becomes your bull’s eye. See, being agile is acquiring the ability to respond to changes in your market and overall environment. This must be swift. Swiftness is the hallmark of agility. Without swiftness agility becomes obsolete. It needs remaining always at your toes and thinking, researching ahead of the market cup.
Last, but the most futuristic ingredient of a start-up success is compliance. After all the hard work, your start-up might manifest disasters if the organisation is not culturally sound and attuned to its regulatory environment. Once you are in market and has tested initial traction and maybe gained critical mass, weak organisational culture can be your achilles heel. One weak point can become a big trap and the inevitable fall is imminent. Market is very cruel and unforgiving and on top of that regulator is harshest possible, you take any jurisdiction.
Once the organisation falls in the trap caused by non-compliance, that will be penalised, and can cause a huge dip in the reputation and great dent in customer and market confidence. Apart from that your credibility in the eyes of your investors, employees is likely to be shaken and this surely will cause serious damage to your further journey.
Take the case of Byjus, Paytm, Kotak Mahindra bank. The regulator has penalised them for non-compliance. Top-level exits have been reported at all these organisations. The confidence of all stakeholders including investors have been shaken deeply. In the case of Byjus, once a big tree is now likely to fall, ungracefully.
In my observation, compliance is a shield against multiple risks, and it is the springboard of survival and growth. Compliance is a multifaceted approach and must start from the top and right from the start.
Good read? Follow, Subscribe and clap!
