Entrepreneurship – Part 3 - The journey and the emotions

Now that we have discussed some ideas by which one can get inspiration, thought will discuss some of the emotions and situations that are a part of life.

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a)?? Decision Making to Start

The first one is to do or not to do. In part 1 we discussed the pros and cons of entrepreneurship. But if someone feels like wanting to start something but is unable to decide, here is one of the ways to start making decisions - Minimize Regret.

This has been used by many people most famously by Jeff Bezos. Refer article below

https://alyjuma.medium.com/the-regret-minimization-framework-how-jeff-bezos-made-decisions-4d5a86deaf24

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Beyond using this framework, one has to consider doing adequate finance planning, it is important to get the family members' and well-wishers' support to hear out their differing viewpoints and try to think through them too.

I did a video interview of my transition from corporate to freelancing a year back with Dr Ramya Ranganathan and in that have spent about 5-6 minutes starting approximately 44th minute on this. If interested, please listen to this video

(1214) Interview with Kartic Vaidyanathan | Beyond 9-5 | Freedom Friday Interview Series - YouTube

2)? CLAP FOR YOURSELF:? This is very difficult advice, especially for conservative Indians like most of us. We have grown in a culture where showcasing one's achievement is not encouraged.

But one of the first pieces of advice that I received from my friend and mentor Pravin Shekar is “If you don't talk about yourself, no one is going to do it”. At first, it looked odd but I realized its an advice that's much needed. A related note is what is shown below.?

We should always clap for ourselves. Very tough but very important. The idea is not boasting but maintaining self-esteem. Rejections, non-acceptance, or even criticism are very common and it is important that we love ourselves.

I have been a big fan of Bruce Kasanoff over the last few years and one of the best articles/books I have read of his is “How to Self-promote without Being a jerk”.? If you have time please go through

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucekasanoff/2016/07/11/40-ways-to-self-promote-without-being-a-jerk/?sh=1ea1415c6851

3)??? Being Flexible:?

Often one gets too attached to one's idea that the rigidity gets crippling. In the early days of my startup, I was fixated on board/card games and did not embrace digital. I struggled when I was at a loss for ideas when people asked for digital. But then the pandemic happened and I was forced to change. I believe it happened for the good. Now I am more open and flexible with the kind of offerings.? I also felt in the early days I had to do everything on my own and struggled. I later realized how to partner and outsource and get things done. I learned the lesson that everything cannot be done alone

4)??? Getting over mistakes: We will make a range of mistakes from silly ones to blunders. But we need to keep moving on. If we allow them to cloud our minds, for hours and days we will be stuck to the past. One framework that would help is this picture below. Take a big-picture view of things. Will it matter in a year, or 10 years? Nothing lasts forever so keep moving forward.

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Thanks to Roberto Ferraro whose lovely illustrations helped in explaining some of the key aspects of this article.

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We will discuss more of these in the upcoming editions

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