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How Forrest Gump, Don Corleone and James Bond helped our Startup

Note : This article was published on LinkedIn.

I am hazarding a guess that most people would have watched The GodFather, Forrest Gump, and at least some of the James Bond movies. Either when they were young, or for the younger folks, as classics.

I continue to watch them now and again. But over the years, I have started to view them and see messages that are relevant to us in many walks of life. And once we were a Startup, I picked some messages from the dialogues in these movies, that made a lot of sense to us.

Here are 3 famous quotes from these movies that I thought, fit the Startup DNA.

Actually, it applies to any company or employee as well.

Attitude

“Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you’re gonna get”
Mrs Gump/Sally Field in Forrest Gump (1994)

Attitude is everything.

Remember, the things you planned before you set out? The blueprints, the business plans etc.? Most probably, you will throw them out (or threw them out) once you started running your business. Your plans constantly evolve. Your customers change. The Segments you are addressing may evolve to include more or go deeper into a niche. But change will happen.

And change follows challenges. Challenges, that you will invariably face in the early days of your startup.

Don’t have a closed mind about the purpose of the business. Keep your options open and evolve with the business as you go along. You never know what you get next. Where your next order comes from. What your future holds.

Have a positive attitude. Irrespective of what hits you.

Just remember.

Life is a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get next.

Branding

“Bond. James Bond.”
Sean Connery in Dr No (1962)

What is your brand? Do you have a brand at all? Are you just one more of those startups or companies or employees trying to get by?

Are you working on it? If not, you should. How you position yourself and carry yourself and your company makes a huge difference.

Everything about you that touches your customers, clients, or other people should carry your brand- and make it stronger.

And it is not just the Logo.

The presentations you do. The communications that go out of your company. The mails. The proposals. The Website.

How do you carry these off? Are you seen as a “me too”? Do you see anything “different” about it?

Look at every communication as an opportunity put you and your company as being “different”.

If it does, you are in the right path. If not, it is time to look at it and start the rebranding exercise.

Bond. James Bond.

You are not just another Agent.

Remember, you are not just another Startup.

Offer

I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.
Don Corleone/Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)

For a Startup, the first chance you get to tell your story and offer a solution to a customer, is the window of opportunity to blow his socks off. To do that, you need to do your homework. Understand the challenge the customer is facing, get into his boots, and then work on the solution from inside out. You are not bound by any restrictions of having to follow their rule book. You have the opportunity to show a bigger, broader vision to your client.

Design a proposal and an offer that makes it compelling for the client. Something by which he transitions from a “do I need this guy” to “how do I get this guy to help me”.

Make an offer he cannot refuse. Remember he has problems for which he is seeking solutions. Make the offer compelling. Make it relevant. Make it memorable.

Make it an offer he cannot refuse.

All the best. The journey is exciting. The opportunities tremendous. There is an opportunity behind every desk. Start somewhere and start making those changes today.

May.09

The 1 thing you should do before you quit your job and become a full time entrepreneur

Posted by Haja in StartUp

When the bug bites, you want to quit the job and move on and set up your business immediately. Every day counts. The road all set out. The world of fortune beckons.

I know the feeling. Been there, done that.

Before you start, hold on a bit!

Chances are, you have already done a lot of reading, and all those books of how people made their millions is not just making your impatient, but also giving you a sense of urgency of time being wasted doing nothing.

Before you jump in, consider doing this one thing before you jump in.

Invest some money-

– and buy some stakes into one start-ups that is new and struggling for money and guidance. In today’s start-up world, there are a number of companies that need both a little investment and a lot of guidance and advice. Both are difficult to come by unless they are willing to part with some stakes. With a little money, you can get a stake (and I am not talking of 50% kind of stakes- but more like a 10-20% of stakes) in return for guidance/ support.

I say invest money instead of giving time – because by putting your money in, you secure a seat in the table as a stake holder- and enforces your commitment to get a return on your investment (apart from just the learning) while ensuring the company also looks at you as a partner instead of a coach or a guide. Most start-up’s are quite averse to parting with stakes – and it is important they see the value of what you bring so that they are willing to give you some stakes. In return you help them with your skills that will enable them to grow faster (hopefully).

This will help you in many ways.

· Gives you an inside view of how a startup actually works (or tries to work).

· Support the Founders in a number of activities that may be your speciality. You will go beyond the scope of your “job description” and discover new skills (we all did).

· Learn the concepts of cash-flow and how the company works & how they grow.

· Understand the challenges regarding hiring and managing a team.

· Decide on processes you need to put in place to make a company run smoothly.

· Work out various marketing programs that you can design on a bootstrapped model and understand ROI.

· Help the founders in making proposals for investments. This could include making a business plan & a pitch document (significant learnings).

Most importantly, you learn how to manage your money better- and learn while you work.

The list can go on.

You super-charge your learning of how a startup works and after a period of 6 months to a year, you are better positioned to know how to really start and run a company.

Also, as a bonus, your stake in this company could help you as a cushion when you start your own company.

The benefits are numerous. And your learning is significant.

Don’t give up on your dreams of starting off on your own. I am just suggesting you give it a bit of time, and effectively learn what you will anyway have go through when you start a company – while you are still earning a salary.

It could be one of the best decisions you take.

We learnt this after we started 🙂 Sharing this with you so that you could learn from this – and optimize your investments- and maximize your learnings.

Get moving Tiger!

May.02