Why I Stopped Wearing My Socks

by Alok Kejriwal

As parents, we must remember that our conduct, fears, aspirations, prejudices, desires, and preferences all get passed on to our children. Even when things may not be going well, we must try and not expose our paranoias and deep-seated regrets to our children. In my case, I channelised my inherited paranoia of ‘not having enough money’ positively into developing a relentless and ambitious drive, but things could just as well have gone the other way and I could have become a very negative person. I believe that we must expose our kids to our best side as much as possible. Our worst fears must stay hidden within us. We must deal with them, of course, but quietly.

I believe that entrepreneurs must learn business development and sales skills early in their careers. Generating business needs passion and drive. The salient process of sales must be experienced first-hand by an entrepreneur, and not delegated to someone else. I believe that a market is available to anyone who has the persistence to keep knocking on doors and asking for business. The simple lesson I learned was that business begins to happen when you work towards activating it.

The more significant lesson I learned was that the busiest, most successful people in the world are available to help others if approached. All that one has to do is ask! Entrepreneurs thrive best when they regularly connect with accomplished people who can mentor and guide them. There are mentors out there waiting for you to ask them for help.

These mini-ventures helped me get a feel of entrepreneurship during my formative years as a student and young adult. I learned that business was about connecting the dots between opportunities and people. ‘Dhandha’ (business) could be found anywhere—be it under the trees of the racecourse or in the yards of rundown godowns. An entrepreneur could do anything, anywhere, as long as he had the will!

If you are a young person interested in becoming an entrepreneur, do think about starting a simple service or enterprise that might help you understand the basics of doing business. Many millennials nowadays launch small online advertising, social media and app development services startups. By the time you graduate, you will learn something about most of the pitfalls of business without losing time or money. Whatever business you want to pursue, try and spot a real problem (like the IPO refund issue I identified) and build a solution around it. If your solution is scalable and affordable, it can become a great business that will not just make you wealthy, but also help many people too!

The lessons I learned operating my Nana’s transport company have remained with me forever. I determined that any business associate or a person inherently deceitful or untruthful is not worth being involved with at all. If you get used to cheating and manipulating people and businesses for quick, selfish gains, it quickly becomes your nature. All through the years, my choice of not participating in anything that seemed unfair or tricky (internet-based gambling games, for instance) has deprived me of serious profits, but when I reflect on my decisions, I have no regrets. I have realised that by pursuing pure, unadulterated businesses, an entrepreneur can get the best out of himself and his team and the goal of the enterprise then becomes the search for excellence, not the management of lies.

I insist that entrepreneurs must understand their business costs as intimately as possible and not just rely on accountants to figure out or advise them. Costing is the lifeline of a business and must be appropriated, reviewed and actioned upon by the owner and founder directly.

I believe that for an entrepreneur, awareness of macro and micro business matters is very critical. Entrepreneurs must always have their ears on the ground, looking for signals and developments around them, to seize a business opportunity. With this very discipline, I spotted a chance in the devaluation of the rupee and acted upon it, even though this event had no direct correlation with my business. While trying very hard to get my first business order, I learnt about the tough grind of business development. A lot of backbreaking work, patience and persistence is required when you are trying to sell something. You can multiply that effort many times when you are trying to sell something that has never been sold before. A successful sale can sometimes even take years and frustrate the most optimistic of sellers. Having infinite patience to sell is a critical lesson for startup entrepreneurs.

I learned to persist at things even when people thought they couldn’t be done; to be tenacious and to persevere while chasing an outcome; to be able to source, invent, research, manage and optimise resources and people. I learned not to feel let down by negativity, naysayers, and disbelievers. A thumb rule I came up with through this experience is that a startup entrepreneur will need to do at least ‘x’ number of unique things never done before by him or the world, before succeeding in his/her startup. That x number is his/her age when he/she starts up.

I realised very early in my career that there could be no compromise with honesty. Being correct was not even half as good as being truthful. I learned that respect and trust are won by being frank and honest. And when you have trust, respect and belief, there is no looking back at anything you do. I would urge everyone reading this to never compromise on morals and ethics, no matter what the situation may be. If you are confused, your conscience will always point you to the correct decision. Just be conscientious, and the rest will happen for the best. Another critical lesson I learned from this incident is that partners, clients, associates, indeed whoever trusts you, always expect you to be entirely transparent and forthcoming about business matters, no matter how costly, ruinous or heartbreaking the information may be. Keep them informed and never feel hesitant in updating them about adverse developments. Bad times never last. Honest people always do.

My success with baby socks taught me that an entrepreneur must constantly do things to improve his margins in business. I learned how simple, yet accurate observations of the marketplace could be leveraged to improve business profitability. I realised that understanding my client’s margins was as crucial as knowing my own. Constantly visiting retail stores gave me the opportunity to observe consumer psychology and this played a vital role in our product development process. Making my baby socks ‘stand up’ taught me the importance of presentation and packaging that went beyond just making great products. ‘Seeing is believing and believing is buying’ became my sales rule. Often, lots of people in the world make high-quality goods, but it’s the superior marketeer and presenter who bags the order.

I learned that being overconfident is the best way to self-destruct. Also, I painfully realised that a single act of greed could kill a super-successful business. In the life of an entrepreneur, many opportunities present themselves, and each one must be evaluated meticulously before being accepted or rejected. I learned there is no need to say ‘yes’ on the spot in any situation, be it business or personal. On the positive side, my relentless pursuit to accomplish what I had set out to achieve, my ability to motivate my partners to collaborate with me and my willpower to keep re-calibrating processes till I got it right taught me that anything was possible if one had the will and the intent. This incident unleashed the power of supreme belief and a sense of deep accomplishment in me. Entrepreneurs must go through such trying times to discover how strong they are!

My success in reviving my machine made me sincerely appreciate the adage: God is in the details. I realised that if an entrepreneur had to succeed, he had to get into the microscopic details of everything. The forensic approach I adopted to revive my Conti machine made me appreciate the principle of ‘dirtying my fingernails’ to stay on top of my game. (My fingernails were always greasy in the years I worked in the socks factory). It was clear to me—without getting into the micro, there was no way I could manage the macro. The other big lesson I learned was to curate, cultivate and unleash curiosity and always to try and keep learning new things. My unquenched thirst for questioning led me to find out why my machine had stopped. I found out who the manufacturer of the fan was, looked up the internet to find a solution, found it and then implemented it, becoming a hero in the process. Curiosity had saved me from a big disaster. I would implore you to develop curiosity as a serious habit. It could become your passport to success.

Each entrepreneur comes across a profound, personal moment of calling—when leaving behind the past and starting out and doing one’s own thing seems to be the only logical way ahead. I would implore readers never to ignore that calling irrespective of how difficult or impossible the occasion appears. In those moments of utter despair, you need to have a firm resolve, and take a single step forward, with a prayer in your heart. The rest happens magically.

As an entrepreneur, I have learned that we have to deal with toxic people and situations and develop the ability to tolerate them to get on with our lives. But there comes a time when you want to break free. I have realised that the intent to gain freedom is of paramount importance. Feeling sorry for yourself and living in self-pity are counter-productive. Even if you are a nonbeliever, I would say that do consider praying sincerely for freedom and super success. There are unseen and unknown forces in the universe that are waiting with bated breath to grant you your wish. You have to activate them. Of course, you then have to act to make things happen.

A critical lesson of this story for me is the importance and benefit of meeting people. By going to that party and mingling with friends, I found that spark of inspiration because of which I began to think in terms of starting an internet business. It’s comfortable and convenient to skip events, meetings and boring parties and stay comfortably at home, but often, it’s in those places that bright ideas germinate in your mind while interacting with people. I firmly believe that entrepreneurs and professionals must meet at least one new person daily in their lives. It does not matter what the agenda is or how the discussion pans out. I have met over seven thousand people so far and have learned something unique from every one of them! Another valuable lesson I learned that while every idea of an entrepreneur is fascinating, it is also crucial to process each idea carefully and beat it down as hard as possible, to find potential flaws and defects. An entrepreneur must play devil’s advocate to each of his plans to test their strength and viability. If the idea still wins, it’s a green signal for the entrepreneur to go ahead.

The most important lesson I learned was being proactive and initiating the execution of an idea. I’ve noticed that while many of us think of ideas, (some genuinely brilliant), very few of us do something about them. We all procrastinate, delay taking action and then painfully watch our great ideas become someone else’s successful business. You have to get up, get out, do something and just get started. Also, another learning is to leverage the people you meet, to achieve your goals, in the same way that I leveraged Gopala Krishna to help me create my website. All you need to do is connect the dots!

I learned that to get a new business off the ground, it takes hard, gruelling, undying, maniacal effort. Every deal in the initial years felt as if I was physically pushing a large airplane from the rear and building speed for it to take off. In my case, I realised that as an entrepreneur trying to solve a new, unfamiliar problem, it was imperative to do lots of research on the industry I was trying to enter. Ideally, I should have familiarised myself with how the industry worked instead of running around like a headless chicken, just making random calls. When I had terrible days as I often did, I felt deficient and regretted not having a better education such as an MBA. On the positive side, I learned that no matter how uninitiated an entrepreneur is in a new business, one can win customers by focusing on innovation and actual problem-solving. The best lesson I learned from my HLL experience was that even while swimming in an ocean of sceptics and nonbelievers, I persisted in trying to find someone who would believe in me and throw me a lifeline! I hope you will believe me when I tell you that someone out there is waiting for every entrepreneur who dares to try something new and unique. All you have to do is work with all your might and courage, and you will find your true believer.

The biggest lesson I learned was to be prudent, practical and street-smart while pitching a business proposition. Many entrepreneurs I knew could not accept giving away their products and service for free. I fought that mindset and did the opposite. The advantage of starting out as a free service meant that I did not have any critical deliverables to be held accountable for. Who would demand anything from something that came complimentary? For many months, contests2win was a free service that partnered with the world’s greatest brands, without having to live up to their stringent expectations or asked to deliver an ROI (Return on Investment) because really, there was no ‘I’—Investment! This amazing relationship allowed me to perfect my business, create a deep value proposition for clients and build a great brand for myself. I mastered the art of ‘piggyback value creation’. Another deep lesson was understanding the psychological drivers of a business (which exist in every business) and leveraging them to the fullest. In my case, it was the lure of ‘free’. Free prizes made consumers go crazy, and they visited my site very frequently looking for free prizes. Soon online contest on contests2win.com had become a habit. And a habit, as I would figure out, was the foundation of a super-successful business model.

I have learned that if you spend quality time with your clients and consumers, they will point you to what they are looking for. All you have to do is remain super-alert and aware. Often their rebukes and excuses not to do business with you will tell you what you need to do! Another valuable lesson I learned was the value of patience and to be an unapologetic seeker of business. I say this without a hint of embarrassment. If you want to create something unique and valuable, you will have to learn to please and seek. It’s a cruel trade-off between your ego and your ambition. You must have the ability to wait endlessly outside people’s doors waiting for them to call you inside. It feels humiliating but it is the price you have to pay for enjoying eternal glory. In the first seven years of starting contests2win.com, this training in waiting bore rich fruit. I became an expert at waiting outside clients’ offices for hours just to meet them for as little as five minutes. Never once did I feel bad or humiliated. I became best friends with these busy people’s assistants and secretaries and learned a lot about the way their business functioned. ‘All good things in life take time’ is the tenet I live by. One has to first learn to wait and watch. The win will come in time.

I learned that when an entrepreneur starts to do good work, there are many people including some silent ones who notice. These are the people who will reach out to you proactively to guide, mentor and support you. Just keeping doing good work and the angels will come. I was also blessed to experience that miracles do happen in businesses when you least expect them.

There comes an inflection moment in a startup entrepreneur’s life when he receives a reliable signal that he has begun creating value in this business. These signals can come in the form of proactive clients, strategic partnership deals or as inquiries for an acquisition. All of these are important because they validate that the entrepreneur is creating something relevant, interesting and valuable. At times, these are also signs that encourage an entrepreneur to go on and keep pounding the pavements, even when the world at large seems very harsh and dark.

Trust me when I say that when an entrepreneur starts doing something innovative, disruptive and compelling, capital begins to chase the entrepreneur, as opposed to the entrepreneur having to chase capital earlier. There are billions of dollars sitting idle with investors all over the world, all waiting for the ideal entrepreneur with a solid business idea. During my VC rounds, I realised how crucial it was for the entrepreneur to narrate an immersive story, present a detailed, meaningful business plan and to be able to sell himself as much as his business while attempting to raise money. As the years have unfolded, I have learned how important it is for an entrepreneur to choose his investors wisely. That decision should be treated with the same care and sensitivity as when selecting a spouse. VC stands for Venture Capital, but it could well mean Vapour Capital, Vulture Capital and Vampire Capital. It is important for the entrepreneur to choose a VC with the utmost prudence.

I learned that it was imperative for entrepreneurs to engage with experienced mentors and investors, and have them ask tough, hard-hitting, even upsetting questions about the entrepreneur’s businesses and value she is creating. I realised that an entrepreneur must be bold, forthright and demanding of revenues when building a business. I was hesitant to ask clients for money because I was afraid of losing them. Neeraj demystified my fear in a single conversation—something that I could have done much earlier, but held back because I was fearful. Finally, I learned that an entrepreneur meets many accomplished people while conducting his business, and some of them can be motivated to become a part of the entrepreneur’s team by just asking! An entrepreneur must develop the confidence and courage to seek partners confidently and without hesitation when he thinks they are the right people to partner with. Being meek and reserved are qualities unbecoming of an entrepreneur.

As I mature, I have learned that even though fame, fortune and glory are important, it is utterly futile and silly for an entrepreneur to sacrifice precious personal moments to chase transient business events. I believe that a person’s highest success is best demonstrated by the happiness of the people closest to him. The most significant lesson for me was that everything else could wait when it comes to one’s family and their happiness.

I bitterly learned that the best-laid plans could go up in smoke when the wind changes direction. Nothing was certain in business and a hero today could quickly become a zero tomorrow. We were lucky that we had started generating revenues as compared to the other more popular portals of that time that had not yet figured out how to make money. Those websites vanished in a few weeks after the dot-com bust because they had been late in getting down to generating cash flow. In a down market, no one wanted to risk spending their money on them. The VC debacle taught me about the fickle nature of money and how one could never assume that it would always be available. I decided never to build a business by relying solely on venture capital funding. This incident also helped me evolve a vital caveat of mine: ‘You never get money when you most want it, but it’s always available when you least need it.’

The hardest times provide the most excellent moments of clarity. As an entrepreneur, anything and everything is possible if you put your heart and soul into it. The most important lesson was about the critical and vital role of sales in a business. Without the ability to sell what you create, everything goes downhill, beyond a point. A key learning was that a founder must roll up his sleeves and jump straight into the heart of the business problem. Sitting on the sidelines giving instructions to the teams doesn’t help. In contests2win.com, sales was key to survival. So, I decided to become the greatest salesperson the startup world had ever seen!

I always thought of VCs to be financial investors, but the partnership, funding and active participation by Softbank to set up our China business showed me how truly supportive, hands-on and valuable a VC relationship could be if they had the ability to incubate and launch startup businesses. In the event that startup entrepreneurs have a choice to choose between multiple VCs, they should consider giving extra points to those VCs who could help in executing their business as opposed to those who are only interested in funding the business. The success of Ranga in China and his flawless execution in kickstarting a difficult, new-age business in a hostile country taught me that an entrepreneur must strive to hire people better than himself to be his partners. I learned that nothing was impossible if you have an innovative and disruptive business idea—not even going to a super-competitive market like China and competing with the Chinese!

The Mobile2win China experience really taught me about how an entrepreneur should carefully choose his investors and align his interests with the agenda of his investors, to succeed. Financial investors are ideal partners in the early stages of a startup and strategic investors are best suited to come in towards the end (as potential acquirers too). I believe that Siemens was justified in trying to operate and control Mobile2win China since they were strategic investors who wanted the business to operate within the do’s and don’ts of their corporate framework. I should have been more aware and prepared my team for business process changes after we decided to get funded by Siemens. The appointment of Nick Zhang was a very interesting learning for me. I had always despised expensive consultants and their elaborate proposals, but the success of Heidrick and Struggles in hiring the perfect CEO for the Mobile2win China business taught me that there was a reason why the world’s top companies worked with such consultants. They delivered and really created value for their clients. More so, I learned that startup founders were not always right. In this case, I would never have hired Heidrick and Struggles, but the VCs did, and that decision catalysed the sale of Mobile2win China to Walt Disney. The sale of the business also made me realise that even though operationally, startups can be very troubled and often badly messed up, the value they create through their struggle and strife...

The successful launch of Mobile2win India taught me many valuable lessons. The first one was that it was important to have a clearly identified business goal especially when starting up. I wanted to partner with a large TV channel for strategic reasons and I accomplished it. I firmly believe that from time to time, an entrepreneur must focus his energies on a single ‘laser-targeted’ task and work positively towards achieving it, with a premeditated mindset of victory. In my experience, when you wish for something and work hard at it, you will achieve it. The second lesson I learned was to be open to the idea of finding like-minded co-founders and partners who were committed to making a startup business successful. I found Rajiv and Ranga who were rare professionals with a solid entrepreneurial streak in them. Then comes the need to be ‘street-smart’ whenever the situation permitted. My trick of impressing Sunil Lulla with the Jassi ringtone taught me how important it was to demonstrate great ideas instead of just talking about them. It is imperative for an entrepreneur to develop his unique marketing and presentation panache and deliver it in his unique style. One has to work hard at this, but it is extremely important. My success with the Mumbai hoardings taught me that any industry or process could be reinvented and disrupted with creative and innovative energy. Above all, I learnt that when an entrepreneur created ideas that were inherently helpful and delightful, the w...

There were so many lessons I learned from the success of ‘Indian Idol’. The first one was never to underestimate success. As an entrepreneur, I had become so adept at facing rejections, defeats and multiple failures that any unprecedented success seemed to appear like a fairy tale to me. The Indian Idol show proved to me that good fortune awaited the entrepreneur who executed on his vision. Young Sachin Jain taught me what I refer to as the ‘creativity of naivety’. The concept is simple: when your mind is pure and not clouded by any preconceived notions, you have amazing clarity and breakthrough ideas emerge. Sunil Lulla’s outstanding leadership and ability to take a massive risk with Mobile2win taught me how great leaders help make big ideas become a reality. He also demonstrated to me that cultivating partners and trusting them was vital and crucial to creating long-term value in a business.

This incident is one of my favourites and makes me proud of my salesmanship. In this particular case, instead of begging and pleading with a demanding customer or yielding to his demands to get him to accept my offer, I said, ‘No. Not interested. I will not bow or bend to accommodate your unreasonable demand.’ I have learned that for a successful sales person, sacrificing profit margins, underselling, competing blindly (often to prevent someone else from getting an order) should never be an option. You must boldly say ‘not interested’ and move on. Trust me, if your product or service is valuable and will add value to your customer, they will call you back. Finally, in the rare cases, where you need to act tough, you should act tough and get your deal done. It’s all good karma when it comes to sales.

I learned that VCs could destroy and wreck a great startup if left uncontrolled. Mobile2win India might have declined in profitability but would not have been sold at a throwaway price if the VCs had retained some entrepreneur DNA in it. The incident taught me about people and their motivations. I learned that it was not fair on my part to expect loyalty forever. This deal also educated me a lot more about VCs and investors. Many of them did not understand the day-to-day, granular details of running a business and assumed that a business model was just an excel sheet that could be projected to grow by formulae extrapolated into months and years. This story also made me experience personally a famous saying I had heard all my life: ‘Whatever happens, happens for the good.’

As a seller, I have learned that come what may, I will never lose or compromise my self-respect for anything, leave alone a business deal. Losing dignity means stooping below the threshold of purpose, intent, and effort. As a salesperson, your pride in your work should come shining through. No matter if people laugh or try and play tricks on you, you must hold your chin up high, smile and keep striving. In the case of folks who just want to have fun with you, you must politely set them right. Having said this, a great salesperson always keeps his ego aside when doing deals. Sales and Ego never go well together.

As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned that no one knows the power and destiny of an idea when it begins to get executed. Projections captured in Excel sheets, beautifully sculpted Powerpoint business plans and future roadmaps seem inconsequential when you look at them a few years later. Intriguingly, almost always, an entrepreneur underestimates the significant potential of his idea, the success and the accomplishment it may bring. What I have learned well is that all that the entrepreneur must do is keep building his business hour by hour, day by day, year by year. When doing becomes more important than succeeding, everything falls into place. If you have the commitment, drive, and enthusiasm to pursue your dream, you will achieve super success. You just have to be diligent and patient and when you feel disheartened, just remember my Dad’s message: ‘All things start small.’

SALES—THE ‘HOLY SCIENCE’ In my view, Sales is a ‘Holy Science’. After all, it is the magic of sales that led me to create my startups, attract VC investments, hire people, woo customers and even find buyers for my businesses. Sales, I believe, is the noblest of professions. It is what keeps a business going. Sales is ‘the moment of truth’ of any product or service. Most entrepreneurs know the universal law—no matter how great their product or service is, it is worth nothing until it sells. Also, sales may not always be for money. It is also about consumption—the ability to get people motivated to consume what you offer. As some of the most valuable companies in the world providing free services such Facebook, Google, and Dropbox have proven—if consumers love what you can offer them, and can’t get enough of it, plenty of money flows in eventually. I believe that everyone must acquire the skill to sell. This applies to entrepreneurs, businesspeople, professionals, homemakers, artists, students, everyone, anyone! If you’re wondering why I am so enamoured by sales, read on. I have my reasons.

Selling is a skill acquired by training. It takes oodles of common sense, passion and the love of people and product to make things happen. There are no finite rules of sales. You can invent your own. Awareness above all, is a salesman’s best friend.

A great speaker and storyteller makes a great salesperson. You must practise public speaking. Try and accept as many speaking invitations as you can. If you are are afraid of being on stage, follow my simple trick : When you speak, look directly at the people in the audience, smile at them, engage them, and make them participants in your presentation vs. being silent observers. Do not try to impress or convince them. Just converse with them and tell them stories. As you do this, you will notice how the audience will become your accomplice in your presentation and completely bond with you. You can also look up top presentations made by the global entrepreneurs you idolize and understand their format, style and messaging. You will discover that apart from being masters of their subject, they too are great story tellers—much like Ashwin Sanghi!

As a salesperson, I have learned to practise, practise, practise till I have become near perfect. When it becomes painful, I think myself as a movie star, getting my ‘take’ right. If you are starting up, I would advise you to practise your pitch on friends and colleagues and make them object, ask you random silly questions and agitate you. When you go out in the real world to sell, these things are going to happen to you. So practise beforehand. Finally, remember that when you sell, you not only sell your service or product, but you also sell yourself. Think of the last time you bought something from a dull, snobbish or ill-tempered salesman. Entrepreneurs have to keep selling themselves to VCs, the press, strategic clients, and customers and it’s important that they remember the golden mantra: ‘Practice makes makes a man perfect.’

The takeaway is to be original, interesting and genuine. Your demeanour must be everything but that of a seller. That is when you will be able to sell what you want, to whom you want. The more vibrant your personality, the more people will like to meet you, and that will you get more business!

As a seller, I have learned that meeting and engaging large, successful customers on a continuous basis opens up avenues for a lot more business ideas. This does not mean getting distracted from your core value proposition, but if the salesperson is attentive, open-minded and creative, many new ideas can come your way. An advertising Company CEO summarised this very well by telling me, ‘Alok, when we sign up clients as their AOR (Agency on Record), we normally don’t make a profit on their existing business. However, being the official agency allows us open entry into the client’s offices all the time. It is our job as well to land up there every day and keep sniffing for business opportunities we can lay our hands on. Our clients trust us and mandate us to do their extra creative, media and marketing executions instead of constantly hiring and managing smaller agencies. All the extra business put together makes us profitable, per client.’ So, if you are starting up, try and spend time amongst large corporations and super-successful startups. You will not only achieve your sales objectives but also get inspired to expand and innovate on your business offerings.

I learned that a great salesperson is never in a hurry and keeps his composure and balance even when things turn out better than expected. A salesperson should deeply understand how his service will benefit his client and price his costs to achieve an equal win for both parties. Thanks to Dinesh Chandra, I realised how silly I was to think that I could outsmart astute professionals who have been in business for years compared to a novice entrepreneur like me who had just started up. Developing a sense of deep respect for your buyers helps in achieving repeated and predictable sales.