DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

When I told my friend/colleague/mentor that I want to be an entrepreneur, along with a few other questions, he asked me 'Why' . I took some time but answered it honestly with what I was feeling. I am sure it made sense to him as he later on partnered with me to start my business. 

A couple of days back I was sitting among a group of entrepreneur and we were again asked the same question. Most of us had our answers but 1 of the participant gave answers which kind of didn't settle in my brain. She started answers with "Because I don't want this.....". Most of her answers had 'this shouldn't happen', or 'not because of...'

Well, in my humble opinion, becoming an entrepreneur (or doing any job in life) should not come from the "Not this, hence..". Your reason to become an entrepreneur can't be "Not because of..." or 'Because I don't want to do a job' or 'Because I don't want this to happen' etc. It should start from - why you want to do it! Find a reason to accomplish any task in life instead of making it an excuse for doing something else, the momentum won't survive!

Agree, disagree, thoughts? Your experience?

About me: Abhinav Sahai, run an Online Marketing Startup. Shout to me @AbhinavSahai

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Last week I got mugged and was robbed off my phone, some money and got injured in the episode. The very next day, a dear friend got to know and called me up to find out about my well being. When I told him, I was out of town and was enjoying the weekend with a few friends at a resort, he started abusing me! He said, how could I enjoy when all that had happened a day before with me!

To his and a lot of other people's astonishment, I wasn't in deep grief about what had happened. To be honest, I was really frightened, in deep grief (in fact I still am) and out of senses for quite some time. But then, I decided to Move On! I did not get the point of sitting at home and thinking about the incident and curse myself or other people. What's the point in doing that? The best way out is to forget everything and move ahead in life. Yes, my phone was expensive; yes i got hit; yes i was under trauma but then the phone is gone, the criminals were no more there and the way the Police behaved, i know there is no chance of the miscreants getting caught and my phone being recovered. So, better relax and accept. The sooner we accept things, the better we feel.

I bought a new phone the next day, got my number reactivated and left on a drive a few hundred kilometres away from my city. Returned fresh and was back attending client calls and making business proposals the next day. After all, as an entrepreneur, you can't afford to waste time! Move On!

About me: I run a digital marketing startup called Niswey. You may read my profile here and/or reach me via email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or shout at twitter @AbhinavSahai

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Working with a client I often have to travel to their place to discuss things. They also work with a different agency for something that aligns with my work. Last week, for a discrepancy, I was asked me to intervene. A call was scheduled for 12 noon today when all of us would meet at my clients' place.  I was to meet them about 30 minutes earlier which meant 11.30 for me.

On the way, almost about to reach the stop I got a call that the agency guys are not coming at all. And then ask to do it over call around 3! Some how then they agreed for 12.30 since I was already almost there. We discussed a few things and then spent, read waste, the next 30 minutes chatting.
After not receiving their call, at 12.40 we called them to be told "we will call you back". We wait another 5 minutes and then get a call. They want to get someone on line from Mumbai and ask us to hold. Another 5 minutes wasted but they are unable to connect their colleague. We are asked to hang up and connect again. 5 minutes later another call but the same story repeats. And then another 5 minutes. This time we kept waiting. Finally at 1.15 I had to say I cant wait anymore. The call is rescheduled for Monday. I headed back to my office where it takes me another 40-50 minutes to reach.

Now count the man hours wasted. I started at 10.45 and reached back at around 2.15. A good three and a half hours of which only thirty minutes were useful. My client wasted a good one and a half hours. Thats 5 man hours gone down the drain or almost an entire day for a single person! Importantly, I work(charge) on an hourly basis, imagine the money I lost!
Disheartening to see such sad level of professionalism from a company which is very well known and was even among Asia's top 100 Technology companies once! No, I can't name them, at least not now.

What's the point in writing/whining here? Well, the message I wish to convey is we should learn to value others' time at least, if we can't value ours.

 

About me: I run a digital marketing startup called Niswey. You may read my profile here and/or reach me via email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or shout at twitter @AbhinavSahai}

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Recently I attended Startup Saturday in Gurgaon. It was Gurgaon's first date with the highly popular event among startups. Held at the MDI, a B-School, it primarily had students who were there to learn things rather than share. However a few good speakers had some nice things to say. Thought to share a few takeaways from the event.

1. At a conference/event, prepare questions for each of the sessions before going. When allowed to ask, spend the first 30 seconds to introduce your company and then ask your question in the last 10 secs. - Yes, that's your moment of limelight or to say a way to market your company.

2. One of the speaker asked entrepreneurs - what do they do, they told about their products and services. Nobody talked about the problems they were trying to solve. Make sure you explain what problem you are solving. 

3. An interesting video about Teamwork (Unfortunately, am unable to embed the video here directly)

And an important last point.

4. If the chemistry between the people/founders is not right, the mathematics and economics will never be. 

Found these points important and interesting and hence shared, do share your experience/learning if you have attended any of Startup Saturdays anywhere! 

About me: I run a digital marketing startup called Niswey. You may read my profile here and/or reach me via email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or shout at twitter @AbhinavSahai}

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As an entrepreneur (or sometimes even in the case of job oriented people), life happens to run at a pace faster than light. When the New Year wishes start to arrive, we often realize that how soon the current (or previous) year has gone by! Often we feel we haven't done enough or the year went in a flash and are not able to recall what major happened. Well, for people like us, there's a tool which helps us keep a record of our life and importantly - keeps it only to us.

Ohlife - Works on a simple funda of "OhLife helps you remember what’s happened in your life". A really clean interface and a neatly laid signup form makes you all the more inclined towards signing up and writing to yourself. All you need to do is register and then forget about it. You get an automated mail everyday, reminding you to write about your day. No, you don't need to go to the site to post, just hit the REPLY button on the mail. Start typing and SEND. Voila! That's it. Ain't it easy?

Well, I really loved the simplicity and ease of use. If you also like to keep a record, do sign up and start posting. Let's again join this time next year and see what new have we done in our lives! Till then Happy Living !

{About me: I run a digital marketing startup called Niswey. You may read my profile here and/or reach me via email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or shout at twitter @AbhinavSahai}

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