I was taking a casual stroll one evening at our apartment complex. I saw a small boy, my son’s friend, after a long time. Both of us were wearing a mask. Me: Suhaas? Suhaas: Yes. Hi Uncle! Me: Hi Suhaas! Suhaas: How are you, uncle? I was pleasantly surprised. Me: I am fine, Suhaas. How… Continue reading 3 Lessons [Gems] I learnt from children!
Category: Problem Solving
The strategy used by a competitor….
My competitor sold more than I did. Do you know why? In the initial days of my sales career, I sold antivirus software. For a year, we had product specialization at our company. I specialized on AV. [That was not my choice but my manager’s.] The whole market was mine to take. No account restrictions.… Continue reading The strategy used by a competitor….
One of a kind Sales Strategy that I stole from a friend!
I instantly liked my friend’s job & wished I had such a job too. My friend & I studied Mechanical Engineering together in college. We used to do ‘Joint Study’ often during college. He often made everything look easy & simple. I thoroughly enjoyed studying with him. We graduated. We parted ways. He was fortunate… Continue reading One of a kind Sales Strategy that I stole from a friend!
Steve Jobs’ Pirates Metaphor!
In Jan 1983, Steve Jobs along with Apple employees were at an off-site retreat in Carmel, California. Jobs, to motivate the developers, offered a maxim: “It’s better to be a pirate than join the navy”. “Being a pirate meant being audacious and courageous, willing to take considerable risks for greater rewards.” The group was in… Continue reading Steve Jobs’ Pirates Metaphor!
Builder Par Excellence!
He is a small time real estate developer in a neighborhood locality in Chennai. He doesn’t advertise at all. He doesn’t cut corners. Instead, he delivers a good quality. He completes the project as promised, on time. He lives in the same locality in his own house built by his company. He follows the law… Continue reading Builder Par Excellence!
Two University dropouts…
Two university dropouts had a dream. They dreamed of making computers that the average person could use. One of them had a family garage. Both of them started working in that garage. One of them sold his Volkswagen and the other sold his expensive Hewlett Packard Scientific calculator and raised US $ 1300. They started… Continue reading Two University dropouts…
Make mistakes early!
If someone had advised me to make as many mistakes as possible, at the start of my career, so that I learn from them, I would have discarded that advice then. But now, I think that’s the advice I will give to someone who is in the early stage of his/her career or business. Unless… Continue reading Make mistakes early!
TED Talks – a source of inspiration!
TED talks are a major source of inspiration. Think of your subject matter and there will be many TED talks on it. These talks are approximately 18 minutes long and are easy to grasp & have some actionable tips or lessons in them. If you are drawn to some of these talks, then of-course, you… Continue reading TED Talks – a source of inspiration!
Who is your customer?
I remember my days selling Microsoft Office & Lotus Smart Suite, Lotus Notes [Domino] & MS Exchange, Oracle Work Group Edition & MS SQL Server, SCO UNIX Openserver & MS Windows NT. Depending on who I am selling to or who I am selling against, I used to propose one of these two competing products.… Continue reading Who is your customer?
Ideas are nothing, it’s the execution that matters!
That was a time, a friend of mine & I were deeply engrossed in discussions on what to start. I was running a small Professional IT Services firm & he was employed with an IT major then. We met during the weekends and spoke about everything under the sun. We kept our eyes and ears… Continue reading Ideas are nothing, it’s the execution that matters!