Author Archives: Hari

Value Selling

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What is Value selling? It is the ability to demonstrate the true value of your product or service and the passion with which it was built.

Not every product is a necessity for everyone. For example, packaged drinking water is a necessity, and it need not showcase any value. Consumer already understands the value. All you need to do it put it in the market.

Now, let us look at the Black drinking water, which is not commonly consumed. Does this need an advertisement or demonstrate value? It might not need marketing, but definitely their target consumers know the value. Sports people are the one’s who use and for them, reference selling is the key.

For any product, identify the value and how you want to sell to your potential client.

One of my all time favourite story is that when Audi entered Indian in around 2005. When it entered, it did not have any ad’s and they bought they top end SUV to the market. What they did is that they sold it to film stars and businessmen and when these people used that car, people wanted to know what brand was it and which model and how much it costs. It became an aspirational brand and the rest is history.

Not every product can be aspirational, but you can make it one. Just focus on deriving the true value and demonstrating that to your consumers, this will make the sale.

The why

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Have you seen the famous Ted talk by Simon Sinek, Start with Why? ? If you have not, here is the link to it.

This talk really changed the way I operate. I heard this while i was in my job and for every project, I used to Start with the Why. Now, after being an entrepreneur, I use this more often and it has helped me a lot.

When I speak about value creation, first we need to understand WHY the solution is being created. For instance, let me share the why statement of HAPLO,

We are passionate about simplifying technology for the non-technology establishments. With this in mind, we started by automating everyday tasks to reduce the manual workload. We created a simple pay-to-use subscription platform to address this problem. Why don’t you try us?

and for Studio NAVAKA, I have a simple Why,

Being a corporate professional and entrepreneur myself, having gone thorough the challenges of bringing an idea to life, I curated my experiences clubbed with my passion to coach and help others into a framework I call thinkStrategy. Let me share my experiences and help you bring your idea to life.

Even though people understand, I have not heard a single company selling their product or service by answering the why. They do understand the value, but their customers don’t. They go with what the market perception means.

Having a clear why will help you understand your product better and this will always keep you in focus with the features and enhancements you keep adding.

What is your Why?

Kill ideas liberally

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Usually, when you get an idea, we get emotionally connected to them. What happens when we get emotionally connected is that we loose the ability to see through all aspects of the idea.

How to address this?

Here is a simple exercise to look at the idea objectively.

Document the idea completely and as much detail as possible. Once you are confident that the idea is documented in detail, we start the exercise.

For one complete week, keep thinking on the idea and only look at positives of the idea. Only positives. Be as optimistic and positive about the idea. Keep documenting all the points you can think of. If possible share the idea with your friends or closed ones and ask them to also share their optimistic thoughts. Document them.

The following week, only identify all the challenges and pessimistic thoughts about your idea. Now, find another set of close friends and family (who have not been part of the previous week). Ask them to critic your idea and document all of them.

Now, objectively look at all the optimistic and pessimistic comments and club them to the respective components of the idea.

Look at the results and by now you will understand if you wish to take the idea forward or not.

In short, if you have to kill the idea, do it liberally, but not for any other reason.

When to leave it to chance?

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When to leave it to chance?

As an Entrepreneur, every day we want to give up. But, we don’t. Many a times we sleep thinking tomorrow is going to be the day when a miracle happens and LUCK will have a chance. This repeats the next day too.

What is LUCK?

L – Location

U – Understanding

C – Connection

K – Knowledge

I read this long ago, and this stuck to me. In the last 3 years of HAPLO, there were many nights I went to bed deciding that I wanted to close shop, but never did even after 4 years. Why?

I will mix a bit of spirituality and consciousness in this post.

When ever there was a crucial day, I don’t know why, but something came around and helped me next morning to focus on what needs to be accomplished and things fall in place. I don’t know if you want to call this LUCK, but I strongly feel it’s the blessing of my Guru’s.

How do you know if you want to leave it to chance?

The day you are in a crucial state and the day you want to give up, some miracle comes around and helps you to get past the day.

Let me be honest. I owe a lot of money to 3 people in my life (I am purposefully not tagging them in this post even through they are available online and active). The reason is that this is a blessing. I was under tremendous pressure to repay the loas and I still am(and am not wanting to avoide), but something is telling them to give me a chance and I will not give up before I close their accounts. Its been 3-4 years now and believe me, they have followed up and I gave the same answer all the time, that I am unable to repay, but am not giving up. How did this happen? I think, its not just me, its the higher power which is also telling them to give me a chance and they are obliging.

The day’s when I get messages or calls from them asking about repayment, I sincerely sit down and meditate/pray and tell the universe that I am unable to pay today, but am sure I will one day. When is that day? I don’t know. But, still, tell the universe the same. They never follow up again. Is this God’s blessings or their greatness, it is their greatness and acknowledgement that I am trying hard, but things are not working for me.

You should leave it to chance when you are giving your best and things are not falling in place. The universe knows and conveys the same to them too.

So, be sincere in what you do and your prayers or your message to the universe (in case you don’t believe in spirituality), things will fall in place and your message will be communicated.

Believe in your self-power.

Progress begets progress

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Many a times, we don’t celebrate as much. Yes, thats true. When was the last time you celebrated an achievement?

In the corporate world, when a release goes through or when a certain milestone is reached, there is a team lunch, a pep talk from manager or a round of drinks in the evening. That’s it. The next day, we are back to the grid. Accomplishments are forgotten and the next release or update is being worked on.

Instead, one day a week, celebrate past achievements. Look at what you have accomplished the previous week or any past milestone. Write a few of them on your board to keep seeing them regularly or jot down on post-it’s and put them around your table or desk. Keep looking at them.

Trust me, this reminds you of your passion, persistence and strengths. This is what drives you to the next success.

In essence, celebrate more often and this will help you achieve more.

Focus on Method, NOT Outcome

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After you have finalised your idea, and decided to jump into execution, it is very important to do the bigger planning.

You can use the Business Model Canvas to fine tune your plan. However, you should also focus on the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

Many entrepreneurs (including me) get fixated on the bigger goal of what we want to achieve and forget to look at how we want to get there. This is quite frequent. But, the key to achieving what you need is to ensure you focus on the method to get there.

I want to get to becoming a successful entrepreneur and the go-to Ideator in the world. How do I get there? Sub-consciously i started writing about 13 years ago. Was not regular, but was writing something or the other. When YouTube came into existence, I created a Channel to start sharing video stories. I did few videos and after that stopped. After seeing many YouTubers, I thought I should have a pretty good setup to do, but on the other hand, when you see how these YouTuber’s started, every one had a humble beginning and over the years they migrated to better tech.

This year (2023), I finally started to focus on writing, didn’t want to see the number of views I am getting or the comments, but just write for 100 days, everyday. I opened my notion and started planning. I planned for 20 days posts and started to write. Over the last 80 days, there were days i could not (Could not write for 3 days since there was a death in the family), but remaning 77 days, I never missed a day. This post is also part of the 100 day writing project.

What this gave me is the amazing idea of turning these posts into a book. My book on Ideation now has a framework and my goal is to get this done by end of Jan and hand it over to the publisher.

What changed in the last 80 days?

My inhibitions of not bothering about what people think, how many views am getting or the number of comments. I am sure one day, this will be a huge source of knowledge and reference for many visitors and my writings will come on the top. It’s just a matter of time.

So, don’t get fixated on the destination, focus on the method and what you want to accomplish each day, am sure you will get there with your product too.

I can also give reference to HAPLO, my first startup completely self-funded. What started as a SaaS platform for Co-working spaces, now is a SaaS for Commercial Real Estate. At times, I feel a small $150,000 funding would really help push the sales, but unfortunately no one wants to invest in PropTech. Biggest question is the returns in the domain. But, I strongly believe this sill definitely be a million dollar idea (it will be way more, but using the word). But this will take time and there were many days when I felt that I should just close the company. Still need to pay loads of loans back to people, but either will blessings or my commitment, they are just being patient with me. I am sure I will give back everything.

Will share the story of HAPLO in a later post in-detail****.****

So, keep going. Focus on how you are getting things done.

Importance of trying new things

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You are hungry, do you go to your favourite place to eat or try something new? You are meeting with friends, do you go to the regular pub or try a new pub?

Constantly, we get into the situation of having alternatives or just go with our comfort decision.

To develop creativity, one should definitely try new things.

In the most famous Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintenance, Robert Pirsig says, instead of the regular conversational opener “Whats new”, try “Whats best?” It’s not easy. You don’t have a best every day.

As an Entrepreneur and Ideator, how do you get ideas? in one word “by observing”. What do you observe and how do you observe? The more frequently you see and experience different things, the more regularly you keep thinking of doing something different. For instance, when we shift or build our own home, we have a lot of ideas. Once settled, the creative flow decreases and over the period of time just stick to cleaning the home. But, when we visit someone’s home and you see the beautification, again our creative juices flow and we get excited to do something new in our home. Why does this happen? What happens when we stick to a routine? There is nothing wrong in it, but neurons activity becomes monotonous.

I predominantly work alone (nature of my work) and I stick to a routine. Once a while, the routine gets boring and change places. When this happens, my brain starts working like a Ferrari.

It is very important to try something new every week, if not every day. Try to do something different in your routine each day to bring out your creativity or do it as frequently as you can and see the difference.

The 37% Rule

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Have you encountered the renowned Secretary Problem? If you hold a decision-making role, it’s crucial to familiarize yourself with this problem and understand how to consistently make optimal choices.

In essence, the Secretary Problem illustrates that the optimal decision is typically made when you select the 1/3rd option or the 37th percentile among the available choices.

For example, suppose you’re hiring for a job opening with 5 applicants. The rule dictates that once you choose a candidate, the others must exit. If, after interviewing the first candidate, you are satisfied, you face a dilemma. Should you let the other 4 leave and select the first one, or should you let the first one go and take your chances with the remaining candidates?

This decision is challenging, and there’s no definitive right or wrong answer. However, a mathematical approach exists for such situations:

  • Let n be the number of options for making one selection (refer to the Odds Algorithm).
  • e represents the natural logarithm, where the base e is the mathematical constant approximately equal to 2.718.

Applying the Look-Then-Leap rule to our problem, you designate a predetermined time for “looking” without making any choices. After this set time, you take a “leap of faith” and choose the option that feels the best.

With two candidates, it’s a 50-50 chance of selecting the best candidate. However, as the number of candidates increases, the dynamics change. For 4 candidates, start leaping after the second candidate; for 5, start leaping at the third. As the number of applicants grows, the looking and leaping statistically remains around 37%, hence the 37% rule.

Apply this principle to your ideas and potential solutions. With two solutions, it’s a 50-50 chance; with three, consider the second one. As the number of solutions increases, the likelihood of finding the right solution converges toward the 37% mark.

Before applying this rule, ensure all relevant data is collected for designing the solution. Without data and subsequent analysis, this method proves ineffective.

Look-Then-Leap

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While in the phase of generating ideas, you explore numerous possibilities. But when should you halt this exploration? How do you discern which idea merits pursuit?

Optimal stopping isn’t limited to ideation; it applies broadly across life’s decisions. Knowing when to conclude a sales pursuit, when to wrap up candidate interviews, or when to continue or end a relationship—all hinge on this principle.

The famed Secretary Problem offers a mathematical solution regarding the timing of achieving success in a scenario. I’m keen on applying this concept to ideation.

When brainstorming ideas, jot them down. Alternatively, if the problem to solve is crystal clear, outline various approaches to tackling it.

Let’s focus on the Look-Then-Leap principle. It involves setting a timeframe to gather ample information for an idea. No matter how enticing it seems, after this phase, move on to the next idea, continuing this cycle if there are multiple concepts. Finally, assess the data collected for each idea and its alignment with your execution capabilities.

Using available data, determine which idea holds merit for progression. Moreover, integrating prototyping and MVP during this phase increases the likelihood of realizing a successful idea by testing it with actual clients.

Although the Look-Then-Leap phase might be lengthy, granting ideas a substantial incubation period significantly boosts the chances of crafting a successful one.

I’d love to hear about your experiences applying this approach!

Breaking idea into components

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Any idea you have, be it personal, official project or a better algorithm for your code, the easiest way to achieve efficiency is to break it down into as many smaller components as possible.

Let me illustrate with a personal experience. My dad (who passed in 2017 at the age of 83) is a very planned man. How my dad operates is, when he aims to purchase something, he will look at the price, then divide it by the EMI he can afford and then, he starts saving that EMI money every month to reach his goal. Once he has the cash, he will go ahead and make the purchase (There were no CC and bank loans during his time).

Unlike us, there were not EMI concepts when he was constructing his house in 1983/84. So, he made a plan on paper of how much each component of the house construction costs and every month he used to put that EMI money aside. Also, he planed how much money he required at each stage of construction. Once he had the money he started constructing. It was a very well planned execution and he constructed our home (even today) without any EMI’s. When the home was finally done, he had no EMI’s. Can you believe it?

Why did I share this story? It’s because, this is how we need to manage our projects or product launch’s. We should break it down into as simple components as possible and achieve our goals. Today, we want to achieve everything overnight, but this is now how life is. It is a long process. When you are wanting to startup and when you are wanting to build something, we need to appropriately plan the execution. I am not saying I did it well, but, when I put my money in my startup, I planned as much as I could, but very unfortunately, missed calculating the deviations. However, I could still manage, and later things started to fall in place when i found an amazing co-founder who helped me in the most crucial of the times.

When you have an idea, break it down into as smaller components as possible. This will help you plan your idea to come to life without having a heart break. The better you plan, the better is the execution.