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Cloud infrastructure costs form the significant part of the operational costs of our Internet product and if you're a solopreneur then it likely takes the largest chunk. Here are some tips and tricks to save cloud costs which I've learnt over the years. Budget One of the easiest way a fledgling entrepreneur could blow up the cloud costs without even realizing it is by not setting the budget limit…
The Pandemic has shifted the landscape of education to online for those who can afford it , Leading to meteoric growth of EdTech companies . Some are even using the limelight to field their IPO . But at this scale can these EdTech companies deliver what they promise i.e. education to the students and sustainable income to the tutors? Activists have alleged that these EdTech companies indulge in…
Almost every week, Sometimes every day in a week I get asked whether I would be a Co-founder . Usually due to my current work(s) and that I have the experience of running a fairly typical startup in the past. I humbly deny the offer each time and here's why. Practical The rules for an average successful($) startup has been set in stone. Rich parents with safety-net , Network to the investors who…
Extrovert CEO vs Introvert CEO is always a great clickbait . If someone who knows me is asked to define me, there will be none who says 'shy', then again the same person would likely tell it's been 2 years since we've spoken. I was the CEO a startup which I had to close due to my health issues 2 years ago. Since then my social behavior has changed polarity, I have nearly stopped any real-time…
The price of the product should be always what the market is willing to pay for it, A SaaS product is not any different. We find what our home market will pay for our product through market research and price the product accordingly but do we do that for every country we sell our product? Our SaaS products can take advantage of what tangible product sellers have been doing from the beginning of…
In year 2025, Sign in be like Transcription YEAR 2025 Panel 1: Shows title 'Sign in' with a button labelled 'Upload 30 seconds video' with camera icon. Panel 2: Shows title 'Sign in failed' title with a button labelled 'Cringe did not match' with alert exclamation icon.
John Mackey on Venture Capitalists Transcription Venture Venture Capitalists are like hitchhikers with credit card John Mackey : Venture Capitalists are like hitchhikers with credit cards and as long as you take them to where they want to go they will help you pay for the gas; but if you don’t take them where they want to go, they will try to hijack the car and throw you out on the side of the…
These are some of the common myths about Patents and Trademarks in startups, I have learnt over the years working with startups, patent attorneys and of course applying patent for my own inventions. I have a startup idea, I need to protect it with a patent It's natural to feel defensive about our startup idea , but patents are for invention/innovation and not for a startup idea; even if we get…
Disclaimer: I wrote this when I was still advising startups, So I had to use some politically correct statements. One of the main reason I have now become a solopreneur is because I do not want to do some of the things I've mentioned in this article. Recessions have come in various sizes, being caused by various factors in the history. In modern times the factors have been from bad loans to…
Startup vs Business Startup vs Business Transcription Scene 1 : Speech bubble shows Startup and a drooling bipedal is running ecstatically towards it. Scene 2 : Speech bubble shows Business and a sweating bipedal with less emotions is running far away from it.
One of the first hurdles in creating a startup is raising the capital money for it. Capital money or in general 'capital' for a business is the money required to start the business for selling our product and services. Calculating the requisite capital for our startup is half the hurdle and acquiring it is the other half. I am often asked, "How to create a startup without having money but an…
The way hitstartup's online startup coaching , business plans are designed, the buyer starts to use the product even before purchasing it since the comodity sold here is knowledge. Knowledge is shared through out this website and personally during eligibility tests even before enroling into the startup coaching program. Since, the product i.e. knowledge cannot be returned; the fee charged for…
These are some of the common myths about Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This is just a MVP If we have to give ourself this reason i.e. 'This is just a MVP' during development for any shortcoming or to a customer for any feedback, then our MVP almost certainly didn't meet its objectives as a MVP. MVP is 'as many features I can build into my product' within the scheduled launch MVP is building the…
Zero invested in us Transcription We ended up going from 0 to 800 homes in the matter of 4 weeks. We got introduced to 20 investors in the silicon valley. 10 of them replied to our email. 5 of them met with us for coffee. 0 invested in us. This was the state of Airbnb in 2008. Background Airbnb team relaunched the service for the third time in the summer of 2008 coinciding with Barrack Obama's…
Tipping point: Filters Transcription Him: I think we should focus on photos. Her: Great idea, I love the photo posts on Burbn, but I don’t think I’m going to post that much. Him: Oh, why not? Her: My photos aren’t that good. Him: They are great. Her: They are not as good as your friend Greg’s. Him: Well, Greg uses a bunch of filter apps to make them look nice.
Reid Hoffman on Blitzscaling Transcription What is Blitzscaling? Reid Hoffman : Blitzscaling is essentially to pare down and move very fast in order to capture large market opportunities. Uber is a canonical current example. This question was answered by Reid Hoffman in the event with The Economist.
Paul Graham on Business School Transcription Is there any value in Business School if you're interested in entrepreneurship? Paul Graham : No. Business School was designed for teaching people management and management is a problem in a startup only if you're sufficiently successful. So, really what you need to know early on to make a startup successful is developing products. Paul Graham answered…
Overestimating the skills of your customer Transcription Overestimating the skills of your customer In 1980s, A&W Restaurants introduced third-pound burger to follow up on their success of quarter-pound burger at same price. But, sales showed that their customers are not buying their new third pounder. The reason became clear after thorough investigation. Customers thought, 1 by 4th burger is…
Startup Idea It might be surprising for those who hear about how often I or any other startup coach has to face someone who is utterly convinced that their startup idea is revolutionary, is going to rake Millions if not Billions of dollars, but don't know what problem their startup idea is trying to solve . Needless to say, they most certainly will fail with their startup. Failure is not always…
Most first interactions of a startup coach Transcription Scene : Interaction between Entrepreneur wannabe and a Startup coach. Entrepreneur wannabe : I have a startup idea, can you introduce me to an investor. Startup coach : What problem does it solve? Entrepreneur wannabe : It is a social network, …photos…videos… Startup coach : Explain the problem in 50 words. Entrepreneur wannabe : People…
Creating startup without having money Transcription Section 1: They say You don't need to have money to create a startup. Section 2: They don't say Statistics say, rich kids & those with safety net are more successful entrepreneurs. Section 1: They say Airbnb happened because its founders literally could not pay their rent. Section 2: They don't say Airbnb Founders were from privileged family,…
Building the core team for a startup is the most important activity for the founder after the startup idea has been validated . Experts recommend to spend 6 months to 1 year on building the core team before launching the startup, as the core team can make or break the startup. Today we will see some crucial roles and team building strategies for our startup. Co-founder Founder is the person who…
Honest Startup Meet Transcription Scene : Shows several local startup meet attendees. Group 1: A speaker & people who are listening are seated in chairs. Speaker: I'm going to generalise my startup story as a success story applicable to all of you. Group 2: Two people seem to be talking to each other. Person 1: That's the 3rd download of my revolutionary app launched 2 years ago. Group 3: Group of…
Disclaimer: I wrote this when I was still advising startups, So I had to use some politically correct statements. One of the main reason I have now become a solopreneur is because I do not want to do some of the things I've mentioned in this article. I abhor judging people, but there are times when if a person's behaviour is not taken into account it might lead to a chain-reaction of undesired…
Startup collaboration and marriages Transcript Scene 1: Actor1 and Actor2 are seen facing each other. Actor 1: Hey I just met you, you seem cool; Let's collaborate on a startup. Actor 2: [No response] Scene 2: Actor1 and Actor2 are seen facing each other. Actor 1: Hey I just met you, you seem cool; Let's get married. Actor 2: [No response]
When we assume that we have all the necessary skills to start a startup company, we would want to question the need to have a 'co-founder' in the company. Is having a co-founder over-rated in the startup ecosystem? Can a single founder create a successful startup? I have been a single founder, so I will try to address some of those questions. Founder Founder is the person who is involved in the…
Paid digital advertising Transcription A piechart shows the distribution of clicks in a digital advertising campaign. Predominant portion of the chart in red is marked as 'Bots/Click farm'. Significant portion of the chart in yellow is marked as 'Those who click for the models in the Ad'. Minor portion of the chart in green is marked as 'Those who click anything they see'. Negligible portion of…
Who am I? I am Abishek Muthian, for the past 5 years I had been running Timebender Technologies a consumer Internet product & services company. Timebender Technologies I built my company ground up in a former village in India with inexperienced developers whom I personally trained to build world class products which competed directly with products built by established companies from better…
Who are our competitors Transcription Scene 1: Actor 1: Who are the competitors for our wallpaper app. Actor 2: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Fortnite, PubG, Game of Thrones, Avengers ... Scene 2: Actor 1 & Actor 2: Perhaps we should stick with Wall-Paper (Facing a Wall with wall paper on it).
Artificial Intelligence thesis papers are like Transcript Scene 1: University Somewhere Actor 1: I am 5 years behind my thesis, The entire premise of my thesis paper is false, My AI doesn't offer improvement over existing methods, The papers which were basis of my research have hid this. Actor 2: You do the same and finish the thesis. Actor 1: My GF has left me. Scene 2: Startup Somewhere
How investors see capital efficiency Transcript Scene 1: Actor 1: I will invest in one of your startups. Why should I? Actor 2: (Listening to Actor1). Actor 3: (Listening to Actor1). Scene 2: Actor 2: I have shown YOY improvement in Capital Efficiency. Actor 3: I have website ending with .AI. Actor 1: (Listening to Actor2 & Actor3). Scene 3 : Actor 1: (Speaking to Actor3). Actor 2: (Missing from…
Like Uber, but for walking Like Uber, but for walking Transcription Scene 1: Actor 1: It's like Uber, but for walking. Actor 2: Why would anyone walk to you. Scene 2: Actor 1: Money? Actor 2: (No vocal response, hands are down).
The license for content on this website is split into three categories - Writing, Business Plans and Drawing. My essays and other wiritings are not to be copied and reproduced without my explicit permission. My business plans comes with their own license which is given to the buyer after the purchase, which allows them to use it for their business. The business plans should not be distributed. My…
FAANG will steal my idea Transcription Scene 1 : Actor 1: I have a startup idea, it will make millions. Actor 2: (Out of frame) What problem does it solve? Scene 2: Actor 1: I won't tell. Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google will steal my idea. Actor 2: But you have to validate. Scene 3: Three years later Actor 1: (bearded) Guess I was the only one who wanted it.
Well, creating a startup means registering our company right? Not necessarily. Company Registration Registering a company means informing our government that we are officially open for business & we are ready to adhere to all compliances in-turn receiving the credibility of a registered company from the government. Depending upon where we live there could be different types of companies defined by…
Naming our startup is one of the first thoughtful decisions we have to make. In this session we will see couple of pointers which will make naming our startup a bit straight forward. Creative & purposeful When I started my company, my ultimate goal was to create products which saves time; so I looked for a name which has the essence of science & fantasy so came up with Timebender Technologies.
We explored why does one become an entrepreneur, now we will see what does it take for one to be an entrepreneur. Sacrifices Sacrifice not just from us, but from our family & friends as well. Running a business successfully is extremely hard & demanding. Very few entrepreneurs have work-life balance & I doubt whether it is even possible during initial years of entrepreneurship. We are likely to…
Several years back, I asked my friend whether he's interested in doing business; he answered 'Who doesn’t?'. That answer caught me by surprise, even though I personally wanted to be an entrepreneur at that point. Now that I have been an entrepreneur, I can say what it really means to be an entrepreneur. "Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching and running a new business, which is…
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