Do Epic Shit

by Ankur Warikoo

Venture capitalists are in the business of entering and exiting businesses. And that often means the interests will eventually clash.

I am who I am because of these failures. The scars that you wear on your body. Don’t regret them. Don’t hate them. Don’t reject them.

I don’t set goals, for two reasons: – You do it for a destination, instead of becoming someone in the process – You invariably start chasing another destination, upon reaching one. Instead, habits have come to help me in the smallest to biggest things in life.

You have no idea how the dumb questions that you avoid asking could solve someone’s dilemma that they can’t avoid!

The last 60 minutes of my day are family time. Either I read with Vidur, or I help Ruchi put Uzma to bed, before we catch up on our day. Lovely time!

The things that are easy to do are also the things that are easy to ignore. If you choose to do them with consistency instead of ignorance, they can change your life completely

We may have a hundred plans, but, what others see is the one we are executing. Plans don’t work without performance.

We nod to show that we are listening. But we are not listening to the opposite person. Instead, we are listening to our mind telling us what to say.

The quality of your presence is way more important than the forced quantity of your attendance when you’re not present.

Who you spend time with will define the stories you hear. The stories you hear will define the stories in your head. The stories in your head will define you. Choose who you spend time with, wisely!

Anyone can be calm when things are calm. Being calm despite the storm is a powerful skill.

The world despises satisfaction. I believe satisfaction is the most powerful skill to have. Satisfaction in your journey. Satisfaction in how far you’ve come. Satisfaction in all the unwanted parts of you you’ve scooped out. Satisfaction in your satisfaction!

Not making a decision because you are scared of making the wrong decision? If you don’t move, you would’ve already made the wrong decision.

The most dangerous people in the world are not the ones who are ignorant. They are the ones who are ignorant but BELIEVE they are right!

Our power to imagine comes to haunt us. Or help us. The one we pick. Is the one we live with.

It’s okay to accept things you don’t know!! It’s more than okay to learn even after you’ve become an adult!!! Because those who learn, irrespective of their age, are the ones who continue to grow.

If you didn’t say it earlier, don’t say it during your exit interview. Instead of giving vent to your anger at the time of leaving the company, it always helps to have a conversation with your management when you are a part of it. The best companies get built by candid conversations, instead of irreversible irritations at the time of your exit.

If you do what everyone else will do, you will end up like everyone else. Here’s how I resist the obvious. While making a decision, I ask myself, ‘What would most people do?’ Then I consider alternate options. This one question has led to so many opportunities and different directions than I could have imagined had I opted for the obvious route.

When people are driven to bring their right intent to the table, they are the first ones to surprise themselves with their capabilities.

Entrepreneurship is not a profession. It’s a state of mind. You can have a job and think of building new things, energizing your team and making sure you are helping the business grow. Figure out the right problems to solve. Ask for work beyond your job description. Treat your job like your own business. You do not necessarily need to have a start-up in order to become an entrepreneur. You can start where you are. Move things that need to be moved. Change the status quo for the better. And you are an entrepreneur.

You don’t become the most capable one when you know the answers. You become the most capable one when you go beyond ‘I don’t know’. And surprise everyone in the process. Including yourself.

Attitude >> Experience >> Education The hiring principle I have always followed. Skills can be taught. Attitude is really hard to teach.

An optimistic, driven individual will figure out a way to learn more. A successful skilled individual will struggle hard to grow if they see pessimism in every possibility.

Build a team so strong that someone from outside doesn’t know who the boss is! Do you admit your mistakes? Do you allow your team to make mistakes? Do you trust your team members to do their work? Do you ask questions instead of offering prescriptions? Do you give them autonomy instead of micromanaging the team? If this is how you run your team, no one from the outside would be able to guess who leads it. Because now, everyone is a leader!

The toughest skill as a leader is to be calm during the toughest moments. Anyone can be calm when you are hitting numbers or when a customer is satisfied. The power to be calm when your team’s morale is low, the power to empower your team members despite their mistakes, and the drive to move them forward when things aren’t moving forward are the greatest skills.

Mistake 8 Investing late. 20s is the time to have fun. Will start investing in the 30s. 30s is the time to build a family and enjoy it. Will start investing in the 40s. The right time to start investing was when you turned 18. The next best time is TODAY.