Ashwin Upadhyaya's Blog

I was just cleaning up my website and found something I had written a long time back and stored in the drafts section. Although things have changed a lot for me, the points below seemed very relevant. Points are kind of myth-busters.

1. An idea is the most important part while starting a business – A completely wrong notion. In fact, anything you start can be a good business provided you are really good at the execution level. Suppose you still want to spend time finding an idea, go ahead but simultaneously start a very small business probably with one customer at a time and you will learn a lot of things that will be useful later.
2. Equities and shares for investors decided at the beginning – One of the most tiresome and time consuming activities which can be completely avoided at the start. When you are starting a business for the first time, nothing is really clear about the cashflow, return on investment or breakeven period. Being first-timers, you tend to over-estimate your capabilities and under-estimate resource requirements. At this stage, it is always better to live with either your own cash or with debt from friends and family. Keep the equities for later.
3. We’ll get 100 raw materials of item ‘x’ from company ‘a’ to start with and then ramp up our production as we add more customers – Suppliers do not work that way in most of the cases. They usually have minimum order requirements. i.e company ‘a’ will not be willing to supply you anything less than 500 items. The result is that the cash you have will not be enough now or you will have to hunt for a supplier who meets your needs. Either your working capital is depleted or your time is depleted. So, think whether manufacturing is really possible at the place where you live.
4. Exterior design of the product is very important to attract customers – This may not be true for all products. Design may be important for apple products but may not really be necessary for a power adapter. Size may be the only criteria for customers in this case. So, don’t think too much on the design part. Focus on may be sales strategies and customer service instead. Design can be improved later on.
5. Demand for this product is very high and there are no good quality products in the market, so we must get into this business – Big mistake. Sometimes people are happy with the kind of products available in the market, even if they are bad. Even if you provide a better product, people wouldn’t be very sure of its quality as the bad products have already installed a level of skepticism in them. Of course, better products will stand out and slowly change customer mindset. However, a startup’s first requirement is cashflow and not ‘bringing about change’. So, understand your customer and what he wants before you think of providing him with a high quality product.

Who isn’t corrupt? Based on what is your definition of morality, you may have a different level of gauging how corrupt the other person is. But how good are you really? And an even more important question. In this world driven by competition, is it of any use to be good and suffer?

We talk about corrupt politicians and businessmen and the need to change the system, How good are we? Have you never paid a bribe to save some effort on your side? Have you never paid money to a policeman, maybe to get a driver’s license or a passport? Have you never shown a false receipt to claim income tax benefits? Have you never ever driven on the wrong side of the road to avoid a few kilometers? Have you never outsourced corruption to a broker at some government office?

We have excuses for being corrupt. The biggest one being, “the government anyway doesn’t do any good with the tax I pay”. Shifting the blame to a faceless body always helps one’s sense of morality. Another usual excuse is “India is like this only”. Again, sharing the blame with a billion people is easier on one’s conscience. For every single act of corruption, we rationalize.

Looking at this, doesn’t it seem natural that we get what we deserve? Aren’t politicians just like us? They have just trained themselves better than us; Both in the act of corruption as well as in finding an excuse. Even a mafia don rationalizes himself saying that he looks after  “his people” well.

The above thoughts can lead one to become a pessimist: Unless I change, the system won’t change and since I am not prepared to change, I don’t expect the system to change.

I sometimes get such thoughts but then, immediately somewhere deep in my heart, I revolt against being a pessimist. I believe everyone has that feeling within them. That keeps my hope alive that things will change.

After more than 6 months as a pedestrian in Bangalore, I have come to think that this city just loves its pedestrians. The people are given so many opportunities to keep themselves fit, for sport and for adventure; I thought they should be documented. Here are some of those:

1. Warzone experience: This is one of the most thrilling adventures. You need to board a public bus first to experience this. The next step is to buy a ticket to any of the busiest junctions in the city. When the bus reaches your destination, the driver will stop just in the middle of a 4 lane road with vehicles speeding at full speed on all sides. Your aim is to now somehow reach the footpath (most of the times, an imaginary one). I do this 2-3 times a week and is my favorite. The silk board bus stop for buses coming from electronics city is the best place to do this.

2. Hurdling: We have a few roads here which have dividers inbetween the roads sometimes on the edges. Whatever may be its purpose, the pedestrian can see them as preparatory tracks for athletics. If you do not like hurdling, then you have the option of walking a few kilometers along the hurdles till you find a gap to cross and coming back along it again.You won’t find any pedestrian underpasses because the road authorities want you to stay fit.

3. Zebra running: In this city, people on wheels are very much part of providing adventure for the walking people, especially so at zebra crossings (I strongly feel that these should be painted like athletics tracks). Most traffic lights in the city have countdown timers and invariably, the sportive spirit is too high among people on wheels. A few people on wheels cheat here and start off even before the countdown reaches Zero. The walkers, with one eye on these cheaters make a run for the edge of the road. Now it ceases being a race for the other end of the road. It becomes a race for life. The short distance run is one of the best exercises for remaining fit.

4. Long jumps and high jumps: Footpaths with a few slabs removed offer a chance for long jump while construction debris on footpaths provide practise for high jump. And this one is only for serious athletes. A friend of mine tried this once in the rains and had a leg injury by almost falling inside a man hole.

It is to be noted that senior citizens, children below 10 years, pregnant women and physically challenged people are barred from participation and are kept off most of the city’s roads.

The interesting thing is, the city’s people do this in spite of all the dangers it presents. The activities are taken so seriously, the numbers tell the truth. 290 people died in 2010 while trying to walk. In 4 years since 2007, 1628 people have been killed. Still, a huge number of people walk. Although I don’t know if statistics are available for Bangalore, for a city of similar composition like Chennai, the statistics say that 34% of the people either walk or cycle. Do I need to say any more!