For a startup to even get to the path of a unicorn, they have to constantly combat their shortcomings and mitigate their inadequacies. That means a whole lot of pivots
If you were to take a flight from Mumbai to Paris, the odds are the aeroplane may not 100% stick to its flight path. It constantly adjusts. There are re-calculations to correct the gap between where the plane is and where it ought to be. That's a seemingly perfect analogy for our lives, and as long as we're holding our joystick in our hands, we curb the risk of drifting off course.
When it comes to being a startup trying to become a unicorn, don’t be a “minimum guy”. Don’t be a pividiot. (HT)
Yet, we also have what's known as the survivorship bias. We tend to glorify and admire the successors of survivors and people who thrived, despite facing obstacles. Those who failed, tend to sweep their stories under the rug, because it makes the rose-coloured glasses we look through foggy. Therein lies the problem: Our ability to systematically underestimate the role of correction.
When the unicorn Gupshup started out, it was a Twitter-like community website that allowed users to join groups and get updates through SMSes. At one point, it was so big that it had more users than Facebook and Twitter in India. But more success meant putting in more money and because of this, they were quickly running out of cash. A near-death experience made them take a B2B (Business-to-Business) pivot to become a forum, where enterprises could experience conversational experiences and have messages like payment confirmation, one-time passwords (OTPs) and more sent to customers. It is now a global leader in conversational messaging, claiming over six billion messages each month across 30 messaging channels.
Or think about India's first unicorn InMobi, which was born out of a pivot. It started as mKhoj, an SMS-based search and monetisation business. Then it pivoted and renamed itself to what it's called now, becoming a mobile advertising business and rose to much greater heights.
Many startups are pivoting to carpe diem and seize the day, transform their business models, and navigate turbulent waters. They’re trying to rebuild themselves from the ground up, fundamentally change their DNA, and appeal to consumers in the new normal. But what about startups that have lost the plot, when it comes to facing tough times and challenges and have gone so far as to even lose their unicorn status? What about falling apart after pivoting? Did they overestimate their set-up?
The startup phenomenon probably has that kind of tunnel vision. Entrepreneurs are probably willing to forego the crushing failures that startups would go through and just focus on the ones that made it, so that they could feel inspired enough to go through the muck and have the temerity to come out the other side successful. But if they actually go down that path, they're surprised by the lack of stability and may overestimate their chances of success. However, entrepreneurs need to keep in mind at all times that the art of the good unicorn — an entrepreneur's ultimate goal for their startup — can only be accomplished through constant readjustment. Is it possible that entrepreneurs would be reluctant to make pivots, restructure and course-correct?
Maybe it's because they think that just because repair work and revision are taking place, there must be a flaw in the plan, which is a fallacy. The good life of a startup and its constant success could only be bred through constant readjustment. It's about incessant fine-tuning and nurturing at every stage. For a startup to even get to the path of a unicorn, they have to constantly combat their shortcomings and mitigate their inadequacies. That means a whole lot of pivots, which might be a kind of rite of passage for fledgling businesses.
A founder shouldn’t run towards the light just because there’s something new and shiny. Don’t have “shiny object syndrome”, according to experts. It doesn’t mean discarding an existing foundation for new rhetoric. That rhetoric has to hold up to reality and be viable and it could truly take your startup to new heights. Even if it is, you have to be honest with yourself to wonder why you’re making this pivot and stand behind it 100%. You can’t make a pivot just because you don’t feel like committing to a business model and seeing it through. Don’t chase the “what ifs” just to see what’s available, because you’re only going to waste your own precious time before reaching a path to profitability. Only go for the pie in the sky when your feet are grounded to the earth.
When it comes to being a startup trying to become a unicorn, don’t be a “minimum guy”. Don’t be a pividiot.
Shrija Agrawal is a business journalist who has covered startups and private capital markets before it was considered cool in India
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