Mark cuban’s 12 rules for startup

In his book How to Win at the Sport of Business, the billionaire Shark Tank investor shares his top tips for startup founders.

Over the past 30 years, billionaire “Shark Tank” investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has not only built his own companies but invested in over 120 others.

In his book “How to Win at the Sport of Business,” he breaks down a checklist for new entrepreneurs. We explain the “Twelve Cuban Rules for Startups” below.

1. Don’t start a company unless your heart is in it.

Large sums of money and strong connections won’t matter for the success of a business if its founder does not have the desire to crush the competition.

2. Don’t obsess over an exit strategy.

It’s fine if you plan on one day selling your company for a large sum of money, but that goal cannot distort your judgment in scaling the company, Cuban says.

3. Hire people who fit your company’s culture.

When hiring, you should look to build a team with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, but it’s necessary that they share core values so that they can work together for a common purpose.

As Virgin chairman Richard Branson writes in his book “The Virgin Way“: “As important as it is to look at what a candidate has achieved elsewhere, I have always believed that the single most important thing to consider is ‘personality fit.’ By that I mean, is this someone whose way of being, sense of humour, and general demeanour will dovetail easily with your company’s culture?”

4. Understand that “sales cure all.”

Cuban tells Business Insider that the greatest lesson he learned in his 30s is that any company, regardless of management issues, can be made to scale if they’ve developed an audience.”

“If you can generate sales you can have a successful company,” he says.

5. Spend liberally on recruiting employees who will play an essential role.

“Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them,” Cuban writes. “Pay up for people in your core competencies. Get the best. Outside the core competencies, hire people that fit your culture but are cheap.”

6. Don’t worry about perks from the outset.

It’s great that Google provides its employees with high-quality food, massage therapists, and scooters, but your company isn’t Google. When you’re building a business from the ground up, stock some drinks and maybe some coffee and snacks in the office, but spend your dollars on what actually matters.

7. Use open offices.

Don’t cramp your employees into cubicles and shut yourself off from them in a private office.

“Open offices keep everyone in tune with what is going on and keep the energy up,” Cuban writes.

8. Use technology you’re comfortable with.

When it’s just you and a few employees in the trenches, don’t worry about the software and hardware everyone else in your industry is using. Stick with what you know and move onto better products and company-wide standards once you’ve established your footing.

9. Keep the organization flat.

“If you have managers reporting to managers in a startup, you will fail,” Cuban writes.

A nascent company is better off without complicated office politics.

10. Don’t waste money on swag.

If you want to create a few T-shirts with your company’s logo for you and your team, that’s fine, but don’t think anyone else will want one.

“If your people are at shows and in public, it’s okay to buy for your own folks, but if you really think someone is going to wear your YoBaby.com polo when they’re out and about, you are mistaken and have no idea how to spend your money,” Cuban writes.

11. Don’t hire a PR firm.

Cuban is adamant about his belief that a PR firm can’t help a startup in a way that justifies paying them.

3D printing : futuristic model?

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), refers to various processes used to synthesize a three-dimensional object. In 3D printing, successive layers of material are formed under computer control to create an object.[2] These objects can be of almost any shape or geometry and are produced from a 3D model or other electronic data source. A 3D printer is a type of industrial robot.” – Source Wiki

In between we keep on getting news about 3D printing of items, replica of some monuments etc. With the advent of wireless technologies, we are now more nearer to each other than before. Advance of wireless technologies has put telegram kind of emergency services to history and its not end of it, instead there will be more surprises for mankind in the coming days. The inquisitive to make life simpler by inventing such gadgets has in fact makes life more complicated and a continuous effort is there to innovate new technologies and one of invention is 3D printing, the noble invention to eradicate hunger by printing food for all. With wireless technologies spawning its presence in every direction, and if we include 3D technologies with wireless then we will have a beginning of third industrial revolution. As per futurologists  Jeremy Rifkin “3D printing signals the beginning of a third industrial revolution,[4] succeeding the production line assembly that dominated manufacturing starting in the late 19th century. Using the power of the Internet, it may eventually be possible to send a blueprint of any product to any place in the world to be replicated by a 3D printer with “elemental inks” capable of being combined into any material substance of any desired form.”

.The proposed solution will use 3D print in both direction, the one to convert any object into wireless format and at other end will convert the object back to shape using 3D printing.

 

3D Wireless
3D Wireless

The above pictorial view describes top level view to send objects using 3D and Wireless technologies. In this conceptual model, the current data conversion to bits and bytes will be extended to include objects too. The presentation layer of communication will be the key to converts incoming and outgoing data from one presentation format to another (for example, from clear text to encrypted text at one end and back to clear text at the other). However it needs to be supported in hardware layer too. The format of data exchange for 3D objects will be more complicated with more complicated processing of such data. I remember, in my first job, the computer I got was of 5gbs harddrive and RAM 256mb. Now my macbook has flashdrive of 256GB and RAM is 16GB so there is continuous effort to increate the power of computing. And I am sure this futuristic model of communication to transfer objects will be a reality very soon.

 

 

Grig and Trout : Virtues of a leader

Grig is a kind of sweet water fish( in Odia language called “Dandikiri”), a finger size, weight would be around few ounces, generally found in ponds, rivers. These fishes stay near top surface of the pond , keep on jumping with a little disturbance at the surface, to thwart enemy by pretending its much larger and more strength. Trout is a sweet water fish(in Odia language called “Balia”), much bigger than Grig, maximum size it would grow half meter, with weight around of 50 pounds, much stronger. This fish prefers to stay at bottom of the pond or river, dont get disturbed with little disturbances, very difficult to catch.

My mother always gives example of grid and trout, to tell that people with real power, intelligent and rich in qualities don’t boast of their virtues, whereas people with little knowledge always jumps and boasts like grig. One should always follow trout. Dont always boast of your virtues, show your power only when needed at the right time. Now a days its difficult to find a trout, everywhere people keep on jumping, boasting to tell people that they have qualities, virtues to lead but in reality they dont know their strength. With lack of capability, they don’t concentrate on work  and always blame others for failure. A leader is somebody who always credits its team for success. If you talk to a leader you will feel yourself important, worthy whereas if you talk to a manager/boss  then you will feel that manager/boss is important. A leader always leads from the front and a good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit. Beware of such people.

Startup India Initiative : Key challenges

India’s startup space is now talk of the world with startups now have easier access to capital, mentors, and there is lesser taboo associated with starting a new venture. This has brought lot of challenges too – lot of crowding in ‘upcoming sectors’, founders unable to grow their ventures beyond a certain point, administrative red tape etc. Only a small percentage of startups are able to sustain themselves and grow and expand.

The recent #startupindia program by Modi govt is a great initiative and it should have been started longtime back as mentioned by our hon’ble President. The active engagement of PM Modi with key CEOs has given a fillip to the startup ecosystem. At the startup event in California, he said, “When I shifted to Delhi last year, I thought of my government as a startup. So, I also saw some of the bumps you face on the road. I understand your challenges, but also the wonderful feeling of creating something new.” There are lots of ideas put forth in this program and some of them key points  are

Startup India Key Points

1. One-day incorporation via a mobile app

2. The exemption of startups from labour inspections for the first 3 years

3. 3 year tax holiday for startups

4. Faster exits for startups

5. Capital gains exemption on startups

6. Credit Guarantee Fund for loans to startups

7. Fund of Funds that invests in startups

Currently starting a company is not that rosy and there are lots of administrative challenges associated. The key issues are

Angel Tax: This was introduced in the Finance Act, 2012, mandated that if an unlisted company raise capital from any individual against an issue of shares in excess of the fair market value, then it will have to pay 33 per cent tax under Sec 56 (2) of the Income Tax Act.  The government has made no attempt to recognize the fact that angel money by private investors is a big part of the ecosystem and the current tax regime is a big disincentive. This has meant startups are now shifting base to countries like Singapore.

Administrative Bottlenecks: Unfriendly regulations and policy paralysis have led many startups in India to set up ventures in other developing countries. Currently, most of the startups fail to compete with the large firms as public procurement rules are tailored towards larger firms, mostly PSUs and MNCs.

Harshad Lahoti, Founder of Ah Ventures, says, “In India, a same level of compliance is required for a private company valued at Rs 20 lakh or Rs 20,000 crore and the New Companies Act has made matters worse. Delayed justice due to over-burdened judiciary is also a huge deterrence for investors, both domestic and international.”

Lack of infrastructure: Good roads, lower polluted environment, high speed Internet, corruption free business environment are very crucial to draw the interest of overseas startups in India.

However, due to rapidly-rising population, Inadequate infrastructure, A politician-realtor nexus and rising pollution. most of the metro cities in India are lacking the basic charm to attract talents. Bangalore is called silicon valley of India and recently Capgemini threatened to leave city.

These are the points, Modi govt should concentrate to make India a startup destination of the world.

  • Favorable infrastructure with less traffic, less pollution, high speed broadband
  • To create a favorable environment for small-ticket co-investments which can help early-stage entrepreneurs raise between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 2 crore.
  • To encourage the vast diaspora of innovative, educated, and smart Indians to move back to India and start up.
    Encourage the US tech majors to set up operations/support startups in India.
  • Cost of capital needs to be brought down through disruptive technologies like P2P lending marketplaces. FinTech innovations like P2P lending and crowdfunding need an impetus and clarity from the government.
  • Law like US’ JOBS Act should be enacted in India to open alternative avenues of raising capital for SMEs and startups.
  • Persuade the US tech majors to play a bigger role in Digital India without diluting net neutrality.
    Get universities and research Institutes to set up hubs in India.
  • Allow moratoriums for student loans for those pursuing entrepreneurship.
  • Consider matching investments for seed investments by central funding agencies.
  • Legal centres to help startups in understanding the legal framework surrounding various businesses in India.
  • Simplify regulations for companies for first three years of operations including incorporation, annual filings and closure.