Mediocre success is worse than spectacular failure
“Failure lets you move on, mediocrity stalls you and keeps you from reaching your potential.” — Dharmesh Shah
April, 2013 — I finally announced to my close circle of friends and colleagues that I have decided to move on and work on something new.
One could think, someone like me who has been a student entrepreneur for most of his engineering days, who started Webonise Lab at the age of 24, must have a lot of friends who would jump on to the idea and support it. But surprisingly, apart from those few who “get it”; I received a very cold response from almost everyone.
I started receiving questions, which were very carefully worded. But all of them had the same essence, “Why you want to do something different when Webonise is doing so good?”
The truth is, every year in May when my team would start planning for the anniversary celebrations, I used to be somewhat depressed; somehow, the progress we were making was not good enough. Everyone around me would applaud the success, but for me, it was the time of the year where everything gets objectified and simplified in 3 numbers (Fact-check), I.e
1. The number of years since the start of the company.
2. The top-line and not just the % growth on the revenue from the previous year.
(because YOY % growth numbers can be used to fool others, but not yourself ;-) )
3. Number of People in the company.
Now apparently, we are not supposed to talk about things such as depression openly in India, but to hell with it, especially after reading this.
Nonetheless, I kept my face straight, kept cutting cakes that were getting bigger and bigger every year, continued accepting congratulations from new faces who were more excited about the fancy party and the free booze than anything else. This was a very first sign, which I was not happy with so-called “Success”!
In late 2012, I realised, its mediocrity of overall business model, was bugging me more than anything else. I started feeling that what we were doing was mediocre, the level we were playing at was average, and hence the so-called “success” was mediocre too. I sure was surrounded by some outstanding, talented people; I am proud of assembling the team that was so remarkable in its own right. But what is also true is, because of some of the choices that I made, I created room for some not-so-great, mediocre people to get in as well.
Finally, In Early 2013 — I was successful in charting a strategic path, that resulted in merger/acquisition of Webonise Lab with another company. It became crystal clear that this is the opportunity that I should take, as it would not affect anyone but me if I say good-bye. (I was so wrong on that front, but more on that some other day!)
As I recently started Yogurt Labs, with few friends and ex-colleagues; a journey in an exciting start-up world has begun yet again, but sadly, a subtle fear of failure has already chipped in.
A typical Indian “Log kya kahenge” (what others will say?) if things go wrong, has been significant roar around my ears. While I have been very much of a rebel from my early days, I am surprised that there are still some species around me, who keep reminding me of the stereotypical questions!.
Well, “I would take spectacular failure any day than to spend time celebrating mediocre success.” At least I won’t be cutting cakes of celebrations when internally I am depressed.
People think “fear of failure” is first reason why smart-intelligent people don’t start-up. While that might be true, a lot of remarkable people keep doing ordinary things, because they get used to average success.
Like an any-other start-up, the odds of a spectacular failure are very likely in our case too, But there is a chance to build something great, and to stretch my limits, is way more promising than fear of failure! The question is not “would this all be worth it?”, The answer is self-evident — “Yes, It would be worth it, irrespective!”.
In May 2015 — instead of celebrating mediocre success, We would be busy hacking disruptive, innovative tech that could “change the world” from our ~100 sq ft office (which is 1/3rd of my personal cabin in Webonise) .
