Why Now?

Because it is that time of the year when one reflects, doubles down or course corrects!

Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose TIME has come!
- Victor Hugo        

Probabilistically startups are destined to fail.

Then how does one stack the odds in order to win?

By favorably aligning the multiple elements of business success – Market, Resources, Execution and Timing.

Let’s talk about one of the least discussed elements – Timing!

What does Timing mean in this context?

It personifies the availability and readiness of the Market, Consumer, Distribution and Risk Capital for the value proposition that the startup is building.

The most important element for Founders’ success is Grit. Essentially this :p

But at the same time, Founders can improve the probabilities of winning by befriending the other element – Timing. And here is a broad 2x2 matrix that you can use as a Founder to reflect on your entrepreneurial journey thus far and going forward.

As a founder, be aware about your:

• Value Proposition’s Timing – Is your consumer hungry for your product/service? Are there scalable GTM rails to take your offering to market?
• Industry’s Timing – Do you have sectoral tailwinds? Are you too early or too late to the party? How is the competitive landscape and what is the leverage that your competitors have built/are building?
• Personal Timing – What stage of life are you at? Are you game for the long hard execution treadmill? What personal commitments do you need to fulfil?

Unless your offering fits the needs of the market right now, you will be masked by businesses which are solving for relevant timely problems that have a market in the near future.

Parallelly for Investors, Timing is essential for generating returns within set investment tenures. As you can see here, vintage really matters!

Here is a broad 2x2 framework to reflect on this Samvat season.?

History shows us that culmination of market, economical and technological forces lead to escape velocity and scalability. One just needs to be well positioned at those market inflection points and benefit from the rising tide.

So, to sum I would like to reiterate what we all already know of and leave you with some food for thought:

Demonetization : : Fintech

Jio : : E-commerce

Covid Outbreak : : Edtech, Healthtech

Today : : ?

This Samvat, let’s build forward on our value creation journey with both a gritty resolve and a clear mind.

Happy Diwali :)

Source of graphics: Lyrique Private Equity, Unsplash and the web in general.