🧗‍♂️ Failing to Succeed

Written by K. Vaitheeswaran, recognised as the father of e-commerce in India. Below are some of the excerpts that stand out from the book and reflect on key learnings.

On working in a startup –

In a startup there are no set roles and responsibilities, and everyone has to do anything and everything.

On the importance of problems, solutions, and execution –

Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs are so caught up with the idea of the “idea” that they miss out on the more important issue of solving a problem

Nowhere is the “big idea” critical to success as is wrongly assumed. Once the problem has been identified and the solution defined, execution is the key of success.

Taking rewarding risk –

If someone offers you an exciting or interesting opportunity that you have no idea how to approach, first say yes, then figure out the how.

About challenging status quo –

The constant media debate about who will win the e-commerce war is less relevant. The real question is which e-commerce company will be able to move millions of offline shoppers online to their website and make them stick.

On what makes a good business –

Commercial policies are difficult to reverse and entrepreneurs must think hard about sustainability before freezing commercial terms. Ask yourself if you can continue with the policy in bad times. In good times, any policy will work just as badly.

Happy customers are a necessary but not sufficient condition to build a great company. Keeping customers happy is far easier than making money.
If the cost of providing great customer experience is unsustainable, then it is actually poor customer experience.

A business has no business being called a business if it does not make money. It is a hobby.

About failures and learning from them –

While the learning is fascinating, it sucks up valuable time.

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they cannot lose.

– Bill Gates

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.

– J. K. Rowling