Startup Baby

Ever since I started working on Earth Tatva people started referring to it as my baby. To be honest, back then I wondered why they would say so, after all it was just a graduation project for my masters degree.

But this weekend when I was visiting my parents and happened to go through some very old pictures of me growing up I realized why everyone said so... Building a startup, I am doing similar things as they did raising me.?

Here is how it goes:

1. BECOME AN ALL ROUNDER.?

Parents have to wear many hats at the same time. For them they are just one individual but for a child they are everything - a caretaker, a chef, a storyteller, a guide and so much more.

Similarly, I had to perform multiple roles - being an Innovator, accountant, photographer, field agent, salesperson, sourcing agent, finance manager, copywriter. Basically, whatever it takes to keep them entertained and growing.

2. REMEMBER ALL THE FIRSTS.

In the photographs I could see my parents captured all my firsts - first day I crawled, the day I stood up on my legs, started walking, first day of school.

With so much going on in the startup journey I still vividly remember all the first moments of our progress - 16th March 2019 first prototype was ready, 26th March 2019 first National feature which changed everything and there was no looking back, 6th September 2019 first technical test that recognized our recycled ceramic material to be 35% stronger than conventional ceramics, 15th April 2021 hired first team member. Oh! There are so many of them to cherish.

3. TEND TO THEM AS PER YOUR CONTEXT, DON'T COMPARE.

I always completed my homework but didn't perform very well in exams, I was rather good at sports & craft. So my parents got me enrolled in many different sports classes every summer and got me a variety of materials and books to try out different crafts. And today they are proud parents of a happy designer.

I keep seeing these exquisite workplaces of various other startups and I see ours - no ACs, surrounded by dust from clay working and pretty small. But we know that’s how we can have the highest impact. We are happy with what we are doing to make ceramics a more circular industry.

4. WE ARE OKAY WITH LETTING GO OF OUR SLEEP FOR THEM.

As a kid, I enjoyed taking a nap in the afternoon. Which means I did not sleep early at night and guess who had to stay up entertaining me? You got it right, the parents.

When working on a startup idea you may get that creative streak at any part of the day and when it hits just when you are about to hit the bed you always choose to satisfy the innovation geek in you rather than sleep. Totally worth it.

5. THEY MAKE US THE CENTER OF ATTENTION AMONG OUR PEERS.

Anywhere we went out we were surrounded by people who were eager to either play with me or know more about me.

That’s true with startup founders too. If you are out with your friends who are yet to be founders you always get the attention, whether it is out of curiosity or admiration, you definitely have the spotlight.

6. EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE BORN FROM US, THEY ARE THE ONES WHO TURN US FROM NOVICE TO A PRO.

If there is one thing in the world that can be learned only through your own experience then it is parenting. Every parent is a novice in the beginning with no possibility of a prior experience. But the child makes them a pro at it, isn’t it true?

With startup journeys being so subjective to each one’s context one cannot know everything at the beginning but the experience makes you better at it.

7. THEY SUBSTANTIALLY RAISE YOUR PATIENCE.

I realize it wasn't easy to deal with my temper as a kid but the grown ups around me did a great job of making me understand in spite of my tantrums. The journey at Earth Tatva has most often never been as I had planned it to be but keeping patience has made us reach so far.

8. THEY TEACH YOU TO GET YOUR PRIORITIES RIGHT.

I spent hours putting on covers on my school notebooks with my parents & they did it with me every year irrespective of any other tasks they may have at hand. With startup, we know we have to sit down and fill that application form for the accelerator program we have alway wanted to participate in, even if our friends are having a blast on a Saturday night. You know what the best part is, there is never a trace of FOMO.

9. LOOSEN CONTROL & LET PROSPER.

Over time as I started interacting with people outside my immediate circle of friends and moved to another city for college I could see less instructions coming from parents, unlike school days, to experience the world and grow.

I have been experiencing something similar as we are growing as an organization. Team members, mentors and customers bring their own experiences and mould the startup in their own ways, all with the intention to make it grow and make it better. This is only possible when I loosen the control of decision making and bring down the walls of rigidity.

10. MONEY MATTERS BUT VALUES MATTER MORE.

As a young professional just getting out of college I was told this very thing. To keep myself grounded & always do the right thing even if it is not the most lucrative. Every startup must also aim for a deeper and wider impact; investments and revenues are bound to follow, or maybe not. But valuation without impact is a sure no no.?

What have your experiences been growing a startup?