In business, a lot of things are folklore..

A couple of weeks ago, I watched Steve Jobs - The Lost Interview on NetFlix. Robert X. Cringely, a tech journalist interviewed Steve Jobs, when he had left Apple and was the CEO of NeXT.  This was 2 years away for Steve to get back to Apple as a CEO.  This was in 1995 when Steve Jobs was 40 years old.

Why is this relevant now in 2018?

1.     The key highlight of this interview is Steve Job’s comparison of “product” Vs. “sales and marketing” people.  I strongly believe, that given the background of “Digitization of Financial Services”, Steve Jobs perspective on product vs sales and marketing is extremely relevant. Let me clarify, in the context of this article - product means “digital product” not a “financial product”

Is building a superior “digital” product important or just focusing on driving customer adoption? Let me reiterate, Marketing and sales team play a paramount role in highlighting the existence of a digital product and helping customers to build awareness. The objective of this blog to draw parallel between Steve Job’s perspective and digitization. He says that at Pepsico the people in sales and marketing always would get promoted as they drive the firm’s business. However, for tech firms like IBM and Xerox which had a monopoly at that time, product was not given importance. Here too it was sales and marketing.

Now, pause for few seconds, what if IBM and Xerox gave importance to the Product team in 1990’s instead of Sales and Marketing?

Steve Jobs insight was so precise in 1995, now we all know about IBM and Xerox decline in tech innovation and its impact on their respective market share.

Steve also explains as to why good product vs. bad product impacts business.  

Why the debate about Product vs. Sales & Marketing relevant in 2018 for Financial services firms?  

Even though, the core of Financial Services is non-tech, however we have observed customers are choosing Digital as their preferred channel. I have observed that most of the financial services firms who have good market share don’t give importance to superior digital product. It’s akin to what Steve Jobs mentions that large firms don’t focus on product innovation. May be financial services firms think, their customers don’t have a substitute. Banks and Asset Management firms give importance to marketing the product than improving customer / user experience (UX).

Steve Jobs also says just having a process isn’t enough, its content (business content) not process. Following a process may not deliver a great product.  

Drawing parallel to Steve Job’s Process Vs. Content - how many customers are delighted by using financial service firms’ website or a mobile app? Does these websites / mobile apps designed to understand the user’s context? Does these firms give importance to user experience or spend huge marketing dollars to on-board customers?

2.       Steve’s answer to interviewer’s question – how did he learn to run a company without formal training?

His answer to this one was straight and blunt.  Nobody knows why they do? What they do? Nobody thinks about things very deeply in business. He goes on to say that most of the things in business are folklore.

I believe, these statements by Steve Jobs are so incisive. Drawing a parallel between folklore comment and Financial Services firm’s digital initiatives. Most of the mid and large firms in Financial Services are still using legacy IT systems. This retards the overall digital user experience. How many firms use flexible technological stack?

To summarize, the “lost interview” which was shot 23 years back, is exceedingly pertinent for digitization in Financial Services Industry. A huge business opportunity for Fintech Startups. 

Disclaimer: Predominant part of my career in Financial Services was in Sales and Business Development, however last 3 years I have been on the Digital Product side.

Hit Refresh

Its inspiring & rare to find a CEO who is willing to expose his vulnerabilities in the open and be comfortable to talk about his career mistakes. I am referring to Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella comments made about pay gaps between men and women. After this mix-up, he sends an email to all employees sharing this conference video and accepts that he answered the pay gap question incorrectly and that it helped him learn about his unconscious bias. Integrity personified… You can read many similar instances in Hit Refresh about Mr.Nadella’s empathetic leadership style.

I found lot of parallel traits that can be related to the industry i am employed for over 15 years. Asset Management Industry (Mutual Fund) can learn a lot of from Satya Nadella’s interplay insights between empathy and technology. IT Industry thrives on “innovation” and not on “tradition”. On the contrary, Asset Management industry shines on tradition / past performance, however is it prudent for an Industry for following “tradition” in all departments? Given the background of change in technology and customer experience. I am referring to the data exchange between investors, distributors, registrar and transfer agents and Asset Management companies. Unfortunately “tradition” seems to still thrive in this case. I am excluding Advisory and Fund Management but highlighting transaction acceptance, processing and record keeping.

Microsoft CEO urges policy reforms to create a regulatory environment that promotes innovative and confident adoption and use of tech. While data privacy and security are always key concern, they also need to be balanced against the demand for data to flow more freely between the various services. Now let's switch back to Asset Management Industry. It's frustrating to see Independent Financial Advisors struggle to get an “one view” of their business / assets. Software service providers have no choice but to use a crude method to reconcile the data as the data flow is not via APIs.  In other words, transaction feed / technology stack  is not consistent.

While the author has underscored the technology trends beyond cloud computing, but Asset Management industry is still hesitant to adopt Cloud. As a digital admirer, i wonder when will we adopt latest tech to benefit Mutual Fund distributors and in turn minimise the friction points. It's worth highlighting about evolution of “technology diffusion” by Economist Diego Comin. This economist has studied the evolution of tech diffusion over last two centuries in countries across the world. On an average, countries tend to adopt a new tech about 45 years after its invention, although this time lag has shortened.  If we were to apply this learning and track the birth of cloud computing.  Microsoft Azure came into existence in 2008 and Asset Management industry in India is yet to adopt this. My independent opinion, adopting Cloud computing will help in redefining the architecture and sharing data will be seamless within the ecosystem.

Friends or Frenemies - the examples mentioned in this section resembles similar to Asset Management Industry ecosystem. In India, there are over 42 Asset management companies and 4 major back office (RTA) service providers.  Data compiling from these 4 registrar and transfer agents for an Independent Financial Advisor is lengthy and time consuming task.  Switch back to smart phone and Platform. Microsoft software deployed on its competitor phone - an Apple iPhone is a good example. The author ensures no matter which phone or platform customer chooses, Microsoft products can be used. It's a great example of coexist and compete. Hope we learn from this and develop healthy and sharing ecosystem.

Hit Refresh is a must read for business leaders, as Satya writes it is impossible to be an empathetic leader sitting in an office behind a computer screen all day.  CEO needs to be out in the world.  I am optimistic that very soon Asset Management industry will "hit refresh" button to upgrade record keeping infrastructure to deliver better experience for distributors / partners.

Platforms and Robo-Advisory

Last couple of years i have spent disproportionate time on Digital initiatives and Platforms and guzzled on loads of content on Robo-Advisory. The objective of this blog is to bring out the true validated attributes of Digital Platforms and Robo-Advisory. The following notes are insights from two relevant authentic books coupled with my experience.

The first book is Platform Scale by Sangeet Paul Choudary, the founder of Platform Thinking Labs, Singapore. He is currently ranked as a leading management thinker by Thinkers50. He is also the co-chair of MIT's Platform Strategy Summit. He explains the inner workings of new business models and their ability to scale rapidly. The starting point is Platforms are not in the business of building software but in business of enabling interactions among all stakeholders. His sixteen points on Platform Manifesto unravels the scope of platforms and how it can function as plug-and-play. The quest for Platform Scale starts with architecture. This cannot be achieved through marketing initiatives but through a series of architectural considerations for high participation for producers and consumers. Successful platforms ensure they capture rich data through learning "filters". Filters are created based on data captured on an ongoing basis through a user's actions. One question that crossed my mind was, - Is there any personal finance platform which has all 16 elements embedded in it? Lets park this question for few minutes.

Switching to my next book Fintech Innovation by Paolo Sironi, a FinTech Thought leader - Spokesperson IBM Investment and Risk Analytics. Reading this book, one can gain insights about the transformation of wealth management industry. Paolo has given rich inputs on Robo-Advisors, Goal Based Investing and Gamification. The main essence of Robo-Advisors resides in their attempt to institutionalize the “personalization” of the investment experience. It's quite obvious to me now - If personalization is paramount then Roboadvisory portals ought to have "filters" to enhance user experience. In other words, tech has to be the core. I concur with Paolo that incumbent firms are not aligned with the strategic imperatives brought forward by disruptive technology and demo-graphical changes. Tipping point may arrive when digital firms are capable of having emotional dialogue with investors. enlarged data-set can strengthen the positioning of the wealth management offer and enable one to act on sentiment.

My independent view is that most of the existing Indian Fintech firms are yet to leverage these tech trends. Hybrid solutions made up of technology and human advice B2B2C may thrive. Time for Robo-Advisory firms to go beyond captivating user interfaces and graduate to Robo-Advisors 2.0. Is there any real personal finance platform ? My take Platforms seems to be ubiquitous in Personal Finance space, but the fact is that at this juncture it is an elusive one.

THE RISE and FALL of NATIONS by Ruchir Sharma is an insightful book on changing landscape of world economies. At the eve of India's 70th Independence day, I found these data points on India very incisive. The following are extracts from his book.

Growth:

In the AC era, there are precious few nations that would qualify as rising stars by the standards of the BC era. In 2007, the year before the global financial crisis hit, the number of economies growing faster than 7% reached postwar peak at more than 60%, including China and India, and Russia. Currently, there are only 9 economies growing that fast, and only one of them is reasonably large: India.

In 1980, when there were only 124 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI), India ranked one hundredth. Over the subsequent decades, India's economy expanded by 650%, while the global economy by less than 200%, and as a result India climbed in the HDI rankings. It now stands at 89th among the original 124 countries, up 11 spots. 

Between 1989 and 2010 India generated about 10 million new jobs in manufacturing, but according to the World Bank economist Ejaz Ghani, nearly all the jobs were created in enterprises that are small and informal. Informal shops, many of them one-man operations, now account for 39% of India's manufacturing workforce, up from 19% in 1989.  

Crony Capitalism:

In 2010 billionaire list, the top 10 Indian tycoons controlled wealth equal to 12% of India's GDP. Between 2010 to 2015 India saw one of the world's sharpest gains in the clout of good billionaires. India's 2015 billionaire list is filled with new faces, and most of them are in productive industries like pharmaceuticals, education, and consumer goods.  

India has a bewildering array of publications, most too small to be economically viable. Of more than 13,000 dailies and 86,000 magazines, fewer than 40 have more than 100,000 readers. They set the tone of a business culture in which it is seen as quite routine to own a newspaper for the purpose of peddling influence. 

Consumerism

The state monopolies like MTNL and BSNL have been allowed to slowly wither in the face of more nimble private telecom companies, and together they now account for less than 30 million of India's 900 million telecom subscribers. For the government to protect these state behemoths is hard, given the consumer demand for better services.  

After completing this book, i felt if India reduces the protectionist measures and becomes more open economy it looks more promising.  As per the book, The most closed economies, with trade less than 50% of GDP, fall into 2 groups. One is a cluster of very populous countries like China, India and Indonesia that rely less on trade simply because their domestic markets are so large. The other group includes oil and commodity driven economies. The more closed they remain, the smaller their share of newly limited global trade flows. 

The number of agreements cut by India went from 0 to 18, including agreements with major economies all over the world.  

Author concludes it very aptly - India's prospects are holding steady and it continues with its long tradition of confounding both optimists and pessimists.

ELON MUSK by Ashlee Vance

Elon Musk’s tweet about Tesla Model 3 launch made headlines in India. The Guardian states 400,000 people worldwide have pre-ordered this car and Musk said it is the biggest consumer product launch ever. To my mind - It’s an incredible product campaign - as deliveries of this car will start only at the end of 2017.  I was naïve to think like this… What if Elon Musk owned an Asset Management company? How he may have looked at designing Mutual Fund Products? I started reading Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance to know more about Tesla.

In 1990s, Elon was keen on building a full-service financial institution online. Navigating through regulator was not an easy one, but he still started X.com, a finance start-up. The company had in fact secured a Mutual Fund license but later moved into to Internet payment solutions. My question was answered when I read about his views on Financial Services. He says, all the bankers did was copy what everyone else did. Looking at Elon's track record – he would have created a mutual fund scheme which is highly compelling to invest. 

Ashlee Vance narration about Elon Musk's life is extremely engaging. After reading about Telsa and SpaceX, one can presume that people working in Detroit and Boeing would have never imagined like Musk. In other words, a start-up can catch large corporates unaware.

Mr.Vance story telling on as to how SpaceX was built and team’s experience at early stage is captivating. SpaceX venture demonstrates many insights – about creativity and execution skills. The office was made more like living, because of the number of hours team put it. SpaceX took 6 years and 500 people to make first privately developed liquid fuel vehicle to go into the orbit around the Earth. An inspirational one. Why do large corporates doesn’t create an environment to nurture creativity and get the execution right?

Couple of days ago, I saw a tweet from one of the celebrated fund manager from India that Elon Musk got Tesla and SpaceX right due to sheer luck. I vehemently disagree to his statement. One of the board of directors of Tesla puts it aptly – that ability to stay focussed in the midst of a crisis stands as one of Musk’s main advantages over other executives and competitors. Ashlee Vance has skilfully elucidated the leadership skills of Musk. He has mastered the art of getting the most out of his employees and hence maximized the power of the individual. 

I suggest that this book is a must read for parents. The first few sections of the book tells the story about his grandparents and parents in Africa and his life in Canada. This teaches us how insane set of experiences can alter the way we look at risk. Do parents strive to give powerful learning experiences to their children? Musk attributes his success to his suffering that helped to make him who he is and gave him extra reserves of strength and will. 

The Golden Tap - Kashyap Deorah

I started reading "The Golden Tap" during the Initial Public offer of Infibeam-the first e-commerce company in India. They were aggressively marketing, but I was very skeptical as their proposition was not compelling. Its a coincidence, that this book refers to the story of Internet IPOs in India during 2005-2008. Only three companies were well funded during that period, later none of them got significant funds. May be the Infibeam promoters understood the timing well and investors didn't. 

As we all know e-commerce business is a red hot sector for Venture Capital (VC) industry. I always had this question -what makes VCs to veer towards a startup and lavishly fund them? Hence, I was very keen to read this book. The book captivated me, when i read a section on This-of-That investing. This=established market spaces. That=emerging market countries. Ideas that are successful in the US, pick the ones that will apply in the Indian Market and then infuse funds. My view this investment strategy is very naive one. Its similar to using copy & paste function in an MS Excel sheet to copy a formulae. A razor-sharp section explaining the VC investment process. 

Mr.Deorah's journey from IIT-Bombay to Silicon Valley and then back to Mumbai is a breezy read but with lots of substance. I liked the way he started his new business venture- Chaupaati Bazaar and sold his venture to Mr.Kishore Biyani. It was inspiring the way he set up the firm, and the way the deal was closed with FutureBazaar.com. 

Mr.Deorah has shared an interesting observation about early days of Flipkart.com, they were fanatical about customer experience (CX) at any cost. Mr.Bansal, co-founder owned up the entire brand experience for his customer. I felt, Flipkart implemented CX culture in early days (2009) where in most of large corporates may have realized it only post 2013. No wonder, they have a great brand loyalty. 

The kernel of this book is about perspectives on valuation of Flipkart, Housing.com and the way the speculative funds are flowing into the start-up ecosystem. His view on Unicorns made me realise about valuation game. I agree with Mr.Deorah's view on Housing.com episode. Getting excess funds alone cannot drive success, leadership skill at the top is key success. Now, I started respecting Zomato as a firm - they had not raised money from global funds in its journey to becoming a unicorn. The section on Unit Economics is a very prized one. In a funding driven e-commerce companies the operating losses (loss per transaction excluding fixed costs) ranged from -15% to -30%. 

Lots to insights from Mr.Deorah's venture - Chalo app - customers could use this in restaurants for a seamless experience. The way he went about striking a deal with OpenTable was brilliant. My take away from both Chalo App & Chaupaati Bazaar was Mr.Deorah knew the significance of product which most Indian tech entrepreneurs don't attach importance. After completing the book its tacit now what drives the VCs to gaze at start-ups. A must-read for all start-ups. 

It appears to me that the story has not ended as the Golden Tap has not gone dry yet. The question is - After the tap goes dry - who will pay for the "convenience" e-commerce companies or Indian consumers?

Zero to One -Peter Thiel

Why do large companies fail? This question always bothered me as these firms have access to abundant resources and tech knowhow, but why does  "consistent growth" elude them?

Only 12% of the 1955 Fortune 500 companies were on the list in 2015, and nearly 88% of the companies from 1955 have either gone bankrupt, merged with (or were acquired by) another firm, or they still exist but have fallen from the top Fortune 500 companies. Source: American Enterprise Institute.  

In India too, over a ten year period, the Sensex churns by around 50% i.e. of the 30 stocks in the Sensex at the beginning of a decade, only 15 are left by the end of it. Source: Ambit Capital.

After reading Peter Thiel’s book, I have got many answers to my question on consistent business growth. In times to come, this book will recognised as a great "classic”. I was told this book is relevant for start-ups and but I believe it’s highly relevant to large firms too. His notes on "how to build a future" may salvage many large firms.

His 7 questions that every business has to answer, unravels the perception of every business model. They are proprietary  technology, the timing of business, market share, people , distribution , durability and the last is the "secret" question. I wish, all the promoters & CEOs read this as this may save lots of dollars. It’s so relevant in the current context of global economy.  

If we were to start analysing companies based on these 7 qualitative parameters – I am certain many companies may fail in these parameters hence may not be around after few years. For Instance regarding distribution - I spent more than 15 years in Mutual Fund Distribution , I completely related to his perspective on “distribution” and its significance for the success of a firm. I found his approach very pragmatic - superior sales and distribution team can create a monopoly without a product differentiation. 

His viewpoint on business success is attributed to luck or skill is sharp.  His  stance on of how firms operate in "Indefinite Optimistic" mode is shrewd. If one analyses this philosophy, here the business simply believes the future will be better, but it doesn’t know how exactly to get to this mode , so no specific plans. 

Now if we were to look around the companies which operate in this mode - there are plenty without a specific plan and eventually may disappear. To my mind, some of the new firms entering into manufacturing of smartphones are in indefinite optimism mode. They may be believing that surge in demand of smartphones in future will invariably rev up their product sales.

"Secrets" section of this book is worth reading many times as it is profound. Generally most of us operate in a mode of "I know all". He says most people think only in terms what they have been taught. There may be place to look for business opportunities where no one is looking. Companies may be seeking & working within their experience boundary akin to a personal computer - seeks & reads file from existing files & folders. 

 

Triggers

Marshall Goldsmith's previous book "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" was very insightful and a must-read for the corporate world. His latest book "Triggers" is an exceptional and pertinent book for the present-day world.

A "trigger" is any stimulus that reshapes our thoughts and actions. 

What will trigger us in a desired behaviour path?   

This book helps you understand how to close the gap between  "ideal you" and the "real you"

His understanding on why don't we become the person we want to be is worth reading many times. He calls this as "Belief Triggers" these stop behavioural change in its tracks. Generally we employ these to justify our inaction and then wish away the result. This sets the context for behavioural change and leadership.

He makes one realise, the high correlation of our behaviour with the environment we live in. His example on how spending time on airplanes has changed over last three decades is lucid to make us understand about environment triggers. Three decades ago being on plane was ideal environment for reading and writing in a place of serenity. But, now phones, screens and inflight environment has dragged the productivity. We think we control our environment but in fact it controls us.

I felt these are precious:

A) executing the change we hold as a concrete image in our mind is a process. The act of self-questioning- so simple, so misunderstood, so infrequently pursued- changes everything.

B) The concept of daily questions - "commitment device" - this focusses on where we need help, not where we're doing fine. It compels us to take things one day at a time. By focussing on effort, they distract us from obsession with results.

This book intends to spark many positives in you and make it last for a longer time. 

A marvellous book by Mr.Goldsmith

"Working out of the box"

"Working out of the box" by Ms.Aparna Piramal Raje's book intersects between  the business & design. It dwells deeper on workplace, office design and connects with leadership styles of 40 CEOs. A quick tour of 40 corner offices is one of the compelling reasons to read this book. 

You may find these below excerpts very insightful.

Mr.G.V.Sanjay Reddy, M.D. of infrastructure conglomerate- his soundproof office overlooking the airfield serves as a metaphor for his ability to stay calm amidst turbulence. Indeed this is truly composed.

An imperfectly constructed slanted walls in Mr.Vikram Limaye's - CEO of IDFC Ltd., office underline the problem of building world-class infrastructure in India.

Ms.Lynda Gratton- CEO of Hot Spots Movement situated in one of Europe's most beautiful buildings. Her insights on the future of work - is that Organisations must stop confusing hours worked with output, and must understand that people must not be chained to a desk to be productive.

Mr.Park Won-Soon, the Mayor of Seoul, an anti-corruption activist. Each item in his office  has a story. The hand written Post-it notes, kitchen garden & bookshelves in between slanted cabinets - representing social gaps.

Mr.Kishore Biyani, Chairman of Future Group - his office has a wall of portraits of select world leaders. The last panel in the collage is a mirror, where anyone can see themselves- suggesting that anyone can aspire to be a world leader.

Google's office desks are height-adjustable, enabling occupants to stand and work. The workplace is a direct expression of the company's belief that in order to achieve extraordinary results. 

Workplace & culture are key variables to enhance the productivity of employees. 

Dream with Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey

Dream With Your Eyes Open by  Ronnie Screwvala is an inspirational and incisive book. He has shared his insights from his 25 years of work experience. 

I found this following section on business leadership is a must read. The most valuable skill is knowing to spot the opportunities and avoiding failures.  Identifying “Trucks” and “Trends"- Ability to spot a potential trouble is critical to save time, energy and grief, lest this truck will run over. He says organisations can thrive by having a honest and frank interaction on “trucks” and “trends”. Biggest problems getting in the way of these candid conversations is one word: "presentation".  Invariably we present what people higher on the organizational chart want to hear. 

He shares his many key learning's during his new content production at UTV. Author and his team’s resilience story to obtain a censor certificate for "Rang De Basanti". It is motivating to read as to how his team embarked to create 260 episodes each year in 1994- a television series Shanti. Launch of new kids channel- Hungama TV. They disrupted this space by using content from Japan. Doraemon and Shin-Chan.  Despite pressure, legal and otherwise he & his team were undaunted while producing "No One Killed Jessica" 

'When you’re driven by your peers, you are not being disruptive". After reading this statement- now i keep reminding this to myself on a regular basis. Few instances in this book, made me realize the significance of breaking away from classic conditioning thinking.

Ronnie Screwvala has quoted instances about his failed ventures and his lessons learnt from them. While producing "Chance pe dance" he says it was like a "loaded truck" coming towards them. But they did not take decision and paid the price for it.

Trucks, Trends, Focus, Choices and Empathy are his guiding principles for his future endeavours. Going beyond self-importance and know-it-all-attitude will aid in decision making. This is empathy. These sections are loaded with wisdom.

His view point on business plans - Plan B, is very straight. He says real conviction and focus, not Plan B allow one to stay the course and navigate do-or-die scenarios.

This book contains a section of FAQ’s.  These 17 questions and answers are exceptional and direct. For instance, his perspective on brand building is very simple and intuitive. He says most people believe brand-building and marketing are one and the same. They’re not. Credibility, sustained excellence builds a brand. My take of this book - it will certainly ignite the readers.

Arise, Awake - Rashmi Bansal

Rupesh Shah a youth from Siliguri who struggles to pass 12^th standard board exam, aspires to be an intern at IIT. He is keen to get an experience in the technical aspects of Linux Operating system and explores options to get into IITB. He searches for professor’s number on the Internet and makes cold calls. After several attempts and constant follow up for couple of months– he gets an internship for just 3 months. The story goes on. After 9 years – Rupesh’s idea is adapted in 350 schools and his company achieved sales of Rs.3.6Crs .

It’s yet another awesome book from Ms.Rashmi Bansal.  You will be motivated by reading the experiences of these businesspersons venturing at a such young age. Similar to Rupesh’s story, common traits among these stories– “never give up attitude”.  These following four moved me.

Both Shashank  N D & Abhinav Lal grappled promoting their service concept to doctors during the period 2008 to 2011. There were many moments that pushed them to rethink their career options. But they never gave up.  Sequoia capital funded them in 2011.  Now, we all know about Practo Technologies.

Aruj Garg a student of National Law School, Bangalore decides to venture in fast food business.  Since it’s a totally unrelated to Law his idea acceptability was very low and he may have faced a volley of questions. His conviction in his business was very high. Today, I understand bhukkad has two branches serving over 150 customers daily.   

A young girl from Solapur Ms.Apurva Joshi hunts for a job at Pune. She lands at a forensic accounting start-up firm. “A risky and unchartered profession” – she goes on to become a forensic expert and her firm – Fraudexpress compiles a database of politically exposed parties, first of its kind in the country. To my mind it’s the need of the hour for our country. An example: out of the box thinking.   

Eshwar Vikas & Sudeep Sabat budding engineers set out to create an automatic dosa machine.  After 3 years of arduous work they succeed in producing world’s first tabletop dosa printer. Eshwar draws inspiration from movie Dark Knight – Batman falls into a well and keeps trying to escape using a rope. But he falls, again and again. And the rope saves him. I feel this story is apt to explain about these youngsters.

Its very impressive that these young entrepreneurs have picked up the nuances of Sale & Marketing very early. For instance Practo Technologies team during their sales call focussed on creating a wow experience in first 5 minutes. This helped them to clinch the deals faster from doctors.

Prakash Mundhra, Sacred Moments product & brand name - The Shubh Labh ‘Puja Kit’  & ‘Blessingz’. These are captivating.  Prakash chose the names so aptly – this will attract positive attention due to the perceived value among target customers.

Bhukkad positioning is so distinct. We make food that's fast, natural, exciting, awesome to taste and easy on the pocket. This book is a must read for parents as it gives insights about pursuing entrepreneurship at an early age. I presume that most of the colleges may have encouraged their students to read this.

My Previous posts on Ms.Rashmi Bansal's books: 

connect the dots

I have a dream

What Got You Here Won't Get You There

Marshall Goldsmith’s credentials compelled me to read this book.  He is one of the select few consultants who have been asked to work with more than 80 CEOs in the world’s top corporations. He is one of the 50 great thinkers and business leaders who have impacted the field of management.  He is a pioneer in the use of customized 360-degree feedback as a leadership development tool. What Got You Here Won't Get You There is a New York Times best-seller, Wall Street Journal #1 Business Book.

Off late, I have been reading articles on how to get to the corner office and the key qualities one needs to possess to thrive in the corporate world. After reading this, I realize that interpersonal behavior can get us there than technical skills. Author has quoted innumerable relevant case studies and examples to explain this attribute.

I could relate to one of his examples of a financial consultant in New York firm who manages HNI clients is highly skilled and takes seven-figure salary but is not aware about the impact of his behavior on his prospects and customers. The story goes on that he could not on-board a very high profile prospect. He thought he had all the answers, but the prospective client saw it as ‘self aggrandizement’. One gets deluded to success and resists changing. Author cites’ the Ad by Unum – An Insurance company – you probably feel like the bear. We’d like to suggest you’re the salmon. An apt example.

Author’s role as a coach is to help one to identify a personal habit that is annoying their co-workers and help them to eliminate and take it further. His questioning skills to get clients into coaching ‘mode’ are amazing.  This one is very relevant to sales professionals – salespeople who think their pushy and belligerent sales tactics with customers are the reason they close more deals than their peers. Author asks, how do nicer colleagues sell anything at all? Could it be you are selling a great product or making more sales calls?

The unique content in this book is ‘what to stop’. Peter Drucker says ‘we don’t spend enough time teaching leaders to stop. Leaders need to learn what to stop. Author says Instead of the usual ‘To Do’ list, start compiling ‘To Stop’ list.  Author has listed 20 common faulty behaviors at work place as ‘to stop’ list. After reading this, I believe that seeking feedback and good listening skills are crucial variables to get a leader to the next level.  

Yesterday, I was reading an article about McDonalds and reasons for the CEO’s exit. I found a high correlation with the key takeaways in this book and Mr.Donald Thompson’s (now Ex CEO) story. Quoting from Forbes the ousted CEO thought ‘In his eyes, McDonald’s was still mighty, and could overcome the global movement to healthier food and ingredient knowledge by running some new marketing or adding items to the dollar menu. These questions crossed my mind, Was he deluded by his past success? or did he ever have a ‘To Stop’ list? 

Gurus of Chaos by Saurabh Mukherjea

We associate investment related books with authors from Western world and seek experience from best money managers from U.S. and U.K, however here the author has made an attempt to break this pattern. Gurus of Chaos by Saurabh Mukherjea is about ‘experiences’ of fund managers in India and his key learning’s on investments.  The author’s narrative is simple and the book is a quick read for the professionals in financial services industry.

I liked his opening research data point – In the past 20 years, over 80% of listed Indian companies have failed to give share price returns better than the rate of inflation (which is around 7%).  Certainly, there is an interesting story to narrate about our fund managers who have generated substantial returns. This book contains such stories of fund managers/investors.  It’s worth reading all of them; however my favorites are these two interviews.

a)      Sanjoy Bhattacharya , Founding CIO of HDFC Asset Management: his experience in the initial days at CRISIL are very insightful.  His principles on exiting a stock are intuitive.

b)      Akash Prakash, CEO of Amansa Capital: his perspective on mutual funds in India is a must read. He says funds sometimes act sub-optimally and don’t have freedom to invest.

Author’s case study approach on Asian Paints and TTK to decipher the quality of financial statements is a good read. I respect his viewpoint on giving importance to the promoter’s competence and integrity. His simple rules for successful investing are  

1. Only buy a stock if you understand the business model          

2. Only invest in companies which can generate cash flows and high return on capital employed for long periods of time.

3. Buy the franchises identified by rule 2 when they are available at prices which build in ‘margin of safety’.

 In the later part of book, author dwells on investor psychology.  He has referred to the most acclaimed book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and many psychologists. He drives the point that we all can rewire our brain and can become disciplined investors.

I felt that this book could have had a separate section for beginners or novice investors. It’s high time that successful investment professionals in India connect to the prospective investors by writing such books. This may motivate investors to relate to Indian context. 

David and Goliath-Malcolm Gladwell

Let’s look at disadvantage situations with a fresh perspective - this thought crossed my mind after reading David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.  Normally, we get deluded by advantages and avoid disadvantage positions, but if one reads this book it will encourage pursuing ‘desirable difficulties’.

Vivek Ranadive example sets the tone of the book. A businessman and techie, who digitized Wall Street, decide to coach his daughter in basket ball and her team goes on to win the national championships. Since he was an underdog and misfit he attempted something new. Certainly a must read chapter – the advantages of disadvantages (and the disadvantages of advantages)

I liked the author’s viewpoint on parenting, classroom size, children with dyslexia and upbringing in adverse conditions. As a parent, we all strive to provide resources – how much wealth is important to grow children? At what point wealth starts to negatively impact well-adjusted children. He gives many examples to explain- excess wealth goes against good parenting. These children may end up as Goliaths later in life.  Parents who have excess ought to ponder this point – how much less?

On a lighter side for an Indian middle class person – the answer to this question on how much wealth is important to grow children?  - It’s always more… J .  Five days of the week we expend all our time and energy to make ends meet. Wealth is very important to provide consistent love and attention for a healthy atmosphere at home. The key question the author is asking – at what point does money stops making a difference?

You wouldn't wish dyslexia on your child. Or would you? This chapter on theory of desirable difficulty is the best part of this book. An extraordinarily high number of successful entrepreneurs were dyslexic.  His interpretations as to why people with dyslexia thrive are remarkable. His example on Gary Cohn- President of Goldman Sachs is sharp. He goes on to explain geniuses are those who grow up in adverse conditions. After reading this section I felt – there are many talents in each one of us which we aren't aware, and some situations ignite these, but most of us don’t step-up.  

Author’s viewpoint on Big Fish-Little Pond, Little Fish-Big Pond is very energizing. His findings on relationship between number of children in a classroom and academic performance are insightful.  We all spend lot of time debating, pondering on student class size – too small doesn't help. I felt this theory can be extended to our corporate career. Which pond do we want to be in?

What’s missing in this book? – I would have loved to know author’s opinion on David vs. Goliath in the corporate world. 

GET to the TOP

I was little surprised when I saw Suhel Seth in Guzaarish (2010) movie - A corporate chief, moved into Bollywood. I am sure you will also recall watching Suhel in one of the news channels.

Naturally, I was curious to read his book ‘GET to the TOP’ – The ten rules for social success.

When I saw Vijay Mallya’s endorsement on this book cover, I thought author's timing has gone wrong.

Why did the Suhel Seth choose Mr.Mallya during the 'bad times' of Kingfisher Airlines?

But I got the answer after I completed reading this book.

Suhel ensured that you don't loose interest after reading few pages. It is largely divided into three parts
A) How to draw people to you?
B) How to make friends?
C) How to keep your friends?

A) How to draw people to you?

Suhel strikes the chord with the reader in the very first section by advising - 'be interested and interesting' and ‘have an opinion’.
These are his first two rules viz., self development and the impact.

It's so revealing!!!

We would have met many academically bright people in our career, but the successful is the one who is interesting & creates an impact.

B) How to make friends?

Suhel says the trick is to not judge people and accept them on their own terms. Judge their opinions, but not them as people. It's a great piece of counselling, as invariably we exclude people based on their idiosyncrasy.

Being non- judgemental opens up to engaging with all kinds of people and as a result more popularity.

He is critical the way we use Google, to know the background about people and jump to conclusions before we meet them. I agree, generally net savvy people deduce based on the postings in the social networking websites. It's artificial.

Suhel substantiates his views by giving several examples from his experience.
For instance, by being non-judgemental he has friends like Russi Mody, Ananda Shankar- musician, R.K.Laxman and Subhash Ghai.

I liked his trust rule - he says gossip and bitching are key factors of creating distrust among friends.

Networking rule- he says aim always to make friendship, not contacts. Networking should not be seen as transactional. He also suggests seeking for accomplished people, not important ones, as designations are transitory.

The work rule is a brilliant one - make friends out of clients, not clients out of friends. Work must be merit driven and friendship is often driven by values and emotions.

C) How to keep your friends?

He advises the readers to be loyal and consistent with friends.

I am impressed with Suhel, as he seems to be publicly defending Mr.Mallya during the bad times.

I found social success mantras in this book very pragmatic and useful as he substantiates with numerous examples.

This book will be very useful for those who manage HNI clients as he quotes various examples from his work life.

I have a Dream by Rashmi Bansal

Why isn’t Media reporting these types of articles in the cover stories?

This question crossed my mind after reading ‘I have a Dream’ by Rashmi Bansal.

‘I have a Dream’ is awe-inspiring. The author has narrated twenty social entrepreneurs stories who chose to follow their heart and made a substantial positive impact in our society.

Preview of a couple of sections.

a)Vineet Rai of Aavishkaar Social Venture Fund.

Vineet who failed getting into the Army, worked as sales rep. selling taxation books and later on worked in remote areas after completing Forest Management.
In a while Mr.Rai emerged with an idea of ‘micro-venture fund’ – sponsor business ventures between Rs.1 and Rs.20 lakh to rural entrepreneurs.

I believe, initiatives like these will bring a ray of hope to rural youth as 69% of total population stay in rural India.
Source: 2011 Census report.

b)Ms.Ishitha Khanna of Spiti Ecosphere

A back bencher in her school days and after completing her Masters, Ishitha fell in love with Nature. She started a NGO which harvested ‘orange berries’ in Spiti valley, Himachal Pradesh. Subsequently from harvesting these shrubs she got into eco-tourism as well. It’s inspiring to read that Ishitha’s venture is profitable and employs local youth.

After I read about Ishitha , I remembered Dr.Sudarshan* of BR Hills.

Just think about it – what if we had many entrepreneurs like Ishitha and Dr.Sudarshan?

Rural youth can be gainfully employed.

Author has prudently chosen 20 stories from different strata of society.

It’s pleasant surprise, that she has covered three stories in Spiritual domain as well- ISKCON and Belur Math. There are hardly few authors in India who appreciate social entrepreneurs in the Spiritual society.

May be the author’s dream has come true as her third book is also one of the ‘best selling’ in non-fiction category. Other two books are ‘Connect the Dots’ and ‘Stay Hungry Stay Foolish’

*
Relevant links which you make like to browse
http://www.aavishkaar.in/investee-portfolio/

http://www.spitiecosphere.com/index.htm

http://www.soligahoney.com/about/soliga.htm

The Art of Choosing

What is the relationship between how we choose and who we are? Do we have the ability to exercise control over ourselves and our environment?

‘The Art of Choosing’ by Sheena Iyengar explains the cause behind of our choices we make in our life through numerous research and examples. I found these below research findings very appealing.

Author sets the tone by highlighting the study conducted on animals; Curt Richter’s experiment on rats is very noteworthy. He placed dozens of rats into glass jars – one rodent per jar- and then filled the jars with water. The rats were left in a literal sink-or-swim situation. The researchers were puzzled when rats of equal fitness swam for markedly different lengths of time. Some rats were more convinced than others that if they continue to swim, they would eventually escape. The takeaway from this research is about the persistency they exhibited could well have paid off in the real world.

Experiments conducted by Professor Michael Marmot of University College London is very relevant for all of us. ‘The less control people had over their work, the higher their blood pressure during working hours’. Stress can be due to work related and daily grinds that are beyond our control, such as traffic jams, smog, noise et al. But we have the ability to create choice by altering our interpretations of the world – ‘learned optimism’.

Experiment on Children, the ‘the marshmallow studies’ is intuitive. It goes like this… the man asks a four year old little boy to point out the snack he would like to eat the most, and the boy chooses marshmallows (candy). But the deal with the little boy is - ‘he can have only one marshmallow or he can have two after the man is back’. The man gives a tiny bell to the kid and asks to ring the bell to call him. On an average, the children waited only three minutes. Follow-up studies found that the teenagers who had exercised self-control all those years ago went on to have stronger friendships, better coping skills and fewer behaviour problems. Though self-control may not be solely responsible for the positive outcomes, the co-relation suggests that we should not underestimate its impact on our lives.

Robert Goizeuta, CEO of Coca-Cola Company in 1980’s challenged their colleagues’ notions of growth. Since they owned 45% of market share in Soft drinks, they targeted 5 to 10% growth for next few years. Goizeuta asked them “What % of entire liquid market – not soft drinks market?” The answer was just 2% . He reframed the issue and encouraged his colleagues to broaden the vision. By 1997 the stock burgeoned from $4.3 billion to $152 billion. Author says, every time we encounter new information or re-examine old information, we are influenced by its presentation. We can use framing to our advantage, but sometimes it has a negative impact on the quality of our decisions.

She advises the reader to focus on things that really matter, than avoid running ourselves ragged over decisions that are simply not important in the long run. The cumulative results of the diverse array of studies revealed, that we have the power to reduce the exhausting effects of choice, not by expanding our options but by delegating parts of a decision to others or by limiting ourselves in ways that positively affect the choosing process. She says – science can assist us in becoming more skilful choosers, but at its core, choice remains an art. We must embrace uncertainty and contradiction.

My take –‘The Art of Choosing’ is a great compilation of psychological research; a book of self-discovery and must read for all Marketing professionals.

Author dwells on varied subjects like marriage, religion, faith, impact of advertisements on our choice and investor behaviour patterns.

Except initial chapters, the writing style is not very involving as the reader can drift away from the book. A mix of narrative and creative style would have been highly engaging as the subject is very abstract.

On the lighter side, since nobody can access our source code to undo our decisions, it is useful to be aware of our choices.

In case you missed The movie Sourcecode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm9eCIwiHkQ

Corporate Chanakya

Think of Chanakya... Wittiness, Intelligence and a great Strategist- these adjectives comes to one’s mind. Can we use Arthashastra in corporate world? This question came to my mind when I saw “Corporate Chankaya’ at ‘Crossword Best-Sellers bookshelf. I was inquisitive when I understood that Mr.Radhakrishnan Pillai (author) conducts workshops for students and corporates based on the teachings of Chanakya.

I found this author’s story very motivating. Mr.Pillai is like one of those successful new age entrepreneurs who venture into a unique business. He dares into realms of Spiritual Tourism- a soul fulfilling endeavor. I admire him because he diligently followed his clairvoyance at Lake Manasarovar and has dedicated his life in preaching Arthashastra. I can relate to author’s experience because I was also fortunate to visit Manasarovar last year and it is very overwhelming.

‘Corporate Chanakya’ dwells broadly on Leadership, Management and Training. Author quotes 175 verses from Arthashastra and explains the meaning and relevance to the respective field in Management.

I found few chapters well written for the corporate world but others are just useful to management graduates.

For instance a section on ‘Advice to Entrepreneurs’ is very apt for budding business executives. It starts with the importance of Entrepreneurship in the current business environment, then a relevant Chanakya’s verse along with Mr.Pillai's view. Examples of Bill Gates, Narayana Murthy and Madam C.J.Walker are quoted who displayed the attitude of ‘make it happen’.

But I did not find the same flow in most of the segments of this book.

The section on ‘Ethics in Business’ could have been scripted in a more appealing manner. Mr.Pillai could have quoted more examples to highlight the magnitude of ‘ethics’ in the corporate world. He just explains the meaning of Chanakya’s verse and his interpretation about it. He refers to Peter Drucker view on value system and subtly mentions about an successful Indian Company which has high score on ethics. (Reader has to guess the company!!!)

Author could have mentioned names from the most ethical companies in the corporate world and explained their value system.

http://ethisphere.com/2011-worlds-most-ethical-companies/

He could have taken examples of Enron and Bernard Madoff to substantiate the significance of Arthashastra in competitive business world.

But we need to applaud author’s effort to master Arthashastra and share this in a lucid style. Certainly after I read this book I was influenced that Arthashastra is pertinent in these times.

Man's Search For Meaning

I was very inquisitive to know more about Dr.Viktor Frankl on learning that he inspired Dr.Stephen Covey (author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) after Mahatma Gandhi.

There must be something about Dr.Frankl to have been placed in the same pedestal as Mahatma Gandhi.

‘Man’s Search For Meaning’ is mentioned in the first habit – ‘Be Proactive’ in Dr.Covey's book. The first edition of this book was published in German in 1946 and author was professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School.

He was imprisoned into Nazi concentration and extradition camp and was one among 1500captives in a shed where hardly 200 could be accommodated. After he clears the first selection at the camp for survival he is given a customary bath and full body shave, both in just 2 minutes!!!

This marked his induction into the camp.

The only way a captive can survive in the camp is to look fit to work. Even small blister can lead one to gas chambers. Dr.Frankl strives to survive in spite of all odds. The first part of this book is full of his spine chilling experiences and tactics to endure. The second is a summary about Logotherapy - a psychoanalysis method to help the dependent to find meaning his/her life

We cannot even perceive hostage’s life at Nazi camp; this book is a great insight to the humanity – ‘power of choice during horrific situations’. ‘An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is a normal behavior. Author displayed this attitude in an utter desolation.

Unlike other self-help books which are generally a well thought rhetoric, this is a factual incident. I realize that many self-help books are derived from this book and hence a classic.

Apart from his experiences these below maxims were energizing…
- ‘I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved’. The Salvation of man is through love and in love.
- Humor was another of soul’s weapons in the fight of self preservation.
- He who has a ‘why’ to live for can bear almost any ‘how’.
- Live as if you were living already for the second time

Author says meaning of one’s life is a like a movie: it consists of thousands of individual pictures, and each of them makes sense and carries a meaning, yet the meaning of the whole film cannot be seen before its last sequence is shown.