This article details the common AI traps startups fall into. In general, it is very exciting to talk about Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and its possibilities. However, there is still a question at large as to how ready the market is.

Of the technologies that make common rounds in the startup world — Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, Block Chain are probably the most common trends. Not only startups, but the investors too seem to be swayed by the buzz words.

I recall an investor conversation about why our AI software is not going to use Block Chain technologies. It almost…

It wasn’t long ago when I came across this phrase: Invisible funnel for marketing. Naturally I was curious about it to find out more and explore whether it can actually work in a startup context.

As with most articles, you know very well by now that the answer is “It Depends”. Having said that, we will explore this in a subjective manner to explore the pros and cons of having this as your startup marketing strategy.

What is Invisible Funnel?

So what is this invisible funnel? Most marketing lingo talks about funnels, converts, pipelines etc which form the very basics of the marketing exercise…

Maslow — The Hierarchy of Needs: I have been wanting to write about the hierarchy of needs for quite some time. During the early days, this was one of the theories which had a formative impact on understanding people.

Although the theory belongs to the 1940’s and a lot of it is not as valid anymore. I still find some of it valuable enough for us to derive use from and define our leadership strategies:

The 5 hierarchy of needs as per Maslow are:

Source: By Chiquo — Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77918631

Food, water, etc — the very basics. In a modern-day work environment, I would classify…

Micromanagers: This post is dedicated to the micromanagers within us. The more experience I gain in the business sector, I realize that there’s an ounce of micromanager left inus in a certain shape or form. This discussion is dedicated to finding the ones among us and its relevance in a leadership position,

As a business leader, the first question we must ask ourselves is — What is expected out of me from this role? Of course, there is a natural list of requirements in the form of -> quality of output, timeliness, business priorities, profits — the list continually goes…

Normally, there are two ways to arrive at the price for a service/product in startup phase. This discussion focuesses on cost-based pricing in startups with a fundamental question — is this a valid method of arriving at your price point.

Is cost based pricing valid for startups?

I find the cost based pricing model rather difficult as a startup. The theory behind the cost based pricing model is to add up the costs in product development/service delivery process.

As a startup, the initial focus through the MVP or agile based approach is to get the product out ASAP. If I extend the same logic to fast moving…

Hiring in Startup: As we continue to touch upon various facets of a startup, I would like to talk about the hiring process and how to get the most we want.

As a startup, it is incredibly difficult to attract the right kind of talent and ensuring that they stick with you through the journey. An ideal world would present itself with a key resource with the perfect skillset and an attitude to make a difference. Often, the reality has been

The Myth Buster

• Expert talent is not cheap or affordable, they always have better offers in hand. How can you ensure to…

Satisfier Dissatisfier Theory: The discussion takes me back to the old management philosophy — satisfier dissatisfier theory by Fredrick Herzberg in his two factor theory of motivation . I have however adapted it to impress the aspects of product development and ensuring that product priorities are efficiently managed to satisfy the key tenets of product management — business, customer and product. On that note, we tackle satisfiers and dissatisfiers in the context of product devleopment with certain allusions to product prioritisation for new and upcoming features.

Satisifer Dissatisfier Theory

What is a Satisfier?

A satisfier is a feature which makes a customer/user happy. This is a feature…

Having been in two startups and one in particular going through a scale up stage, I’ve been very interested in the idea of control in a startup. As a founder, it is often one of the hardest things to do — to dissociate oneself from the product and handing it over to a few specialised experts with dedicated chunks of work.

This discussion focuses on managing control as your startup is growing. It touches upon the familiar dilemmas and concerns about quality, trust, speed, knowledge transfer and a lot such related issues when it comes to growing your startup.

“You…