Sandeep Balaji : How to survive and build Business | International MBA | Study Abroad | Startup #28

This podcast features an interview with a successful entrepreneur who discusses his career journey, including his time at Wipro, his MBA at INSEAD, and his experiences in Japan and Singapore. He shares common mistakes startup founders make (customer selection, cash flow management, problem obsession, and fundraising), his investment misses, favorite books, and his involvement in the KPH entrepreneurial community. He emphasizes the importance of seeking top-tier education, building strong networks, and learning from both successes and failures. Felix describes his enriching experience at Wipro, emphasizing the fast-paced growth and exposure he gained through technical projects. He contrasts this with the experiences of peers who joined average companies, illustrating the benefits of working in a dynamic environment that promotes rapid professional development. Felix shares his upbringing, academic journey, and the significant impact of his engineering college experience in Kochi, highlighting the competitive environment and the lasting connections he formed with fellow students. This segment offers valuable insights into the importance of networking and the influence of a supportive college ecosystem on future entrepreneurial endeavors.Felix details his college experience, emphasizing the diverse environment that fostered creativity and entrepreneurship through a blend of academics, sports, and arts. He contrasts his college life in Kochi with his prior experiences in Chennai, highlighting the distinct cultural and academic differences that shaped his perspective. Felix explains his decision to learn Japanese, highlighting the long-term benefits of language acquisition and its impact on his career trajectory. He details his transition from financial services to product engineering sales in Japan, emphasizing the challenges and rewards of working in a foreign market.Felix recounts his early success as a salesperson in Japan, emphasizing his unique approach to sales and the valuable lessons he learned from experienced colleagues. He then discusses his decision to pursue an MBA, explaining the factors that influenced his choice and the timing of his application.Felix details the process of applying to and gaining acceptance into INSEAD, highlighting the challenges and rewards of pursuing a top-tier MBA program. He also shares how he secured a sabbatical from his employer, showcasing the importance of strong professional relationships and effective communication. Felix emphasizes the value of attending a top-tier business school, arguing that the quality of learning and networking opportunities outweigh the costs. He shares his personal experience of working backwards from his goal of gaining admission to INSEAD, illustrating the importance of strategic planning and perseverance. Felix discusses his post-MBA career, focusing on his transition into consulting and his work with a US-listed company in Japan and Southeast Asia. He highlights the differences between working in large corporations and smaller startups, emphasizing the unique challenges and rewards of each. Felix shares his intense 90-day GMAT preparation plan, highlighting the importance of focused effort and disciplined execution. He then discusses the transformative impact of his INSEAD experience, emphasizing the value of the learning environment and the diversity of his cohort. This segment details the speaker's investment approach, focusing on supporting founders operationally rather than solely financially. He emphasizes the importance of founder conviction, adding value to the company, and building a supportive network to navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship. The speaker shares his experience of working closely with founders for several years, sometimes taking on advisory roles and providing equity, highlighting the long-term commitment and collaborative nature of his investments. This segment identifies four critical mistakes frequently made by startup founders: poor customer selection, inadequate cash flow management, neglecting problem obsession, and raising funds for the wrong reasons. The speaker stresses the importance of professional financial help early on, focusing on solving substantial problems before seeking funding for growth or R&D, and avoiding overspending on unnecessary hires. The speaker reflects on three significant investment opportunities he missed, including Property Guru, early crypto investment, and a Ramy platform. He emphasizes that these missed opportunities are valuable learning experiences, highlighting the unpredictable nature of success and the importance of recognizing and acting on opportunities promptly. The segment concludes with the observation that while overnight successes appear sudden, they often result from years of dedicated work.This segment discusses the speaker's passion for reading and its impact on his knowledge and understanding of business. He recommends several impactful books, including those by Richard Branson, Ben Horowitz, Phil Knight, and Bill Campbell, emphasizing the value of learning from the experiences and insights of successful entrepreneurs. The speaker also shares his podcast listening habits, mentioning specific podcasts he follows, offering valuable recommendations for viewers interested in expanding their knowledge in the business and entrepreneurial fields. Common Mistakes of Startup Founders: Poor customer selection, inadequate cash flow management, neglecting problem obsession, and raising funds for the wrong reasons. Key to Successful Education: Aim for top-tier institutions to maximize learning and networking opportunities. A degree's value is relative to the individual's goals and the prestige of the institution. INSEAD Experience: A transformative year marked by rigorous academics, valuable networking, and exposure to diverse perspectives. Post-INSEAD Career: A mix of corporate roles and entrepreneurial ventures, highlighting adaptability and a willingness to embrace new challenges. The experience involved both significant successes and setbacks, emphasizing the importance of resilience. Investment Strategy: Focuses on supporting founders with strong conviction, providing operational assistance, and bringing in value-added investors. Avoids solely financial investments, prioritizing collaborative growth. Lessons Learned: The importance of separating personal identity from business feedback, the value of diverse experiences (including backpacking), and the power of collaborative networks. Kerala's Entrepreneurial Landscape: Significant potential for growth, but requires collective effort to reach the next level. A supportive community is crucial for success. Book Recommendations: "Losing My Virginity" (Richard Branson), "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" (Ben Horowitz), "Shoe Dog" (Phil Knight), and "Trillion Dollar Coach" (Bill Campbell). Missed Investment Opportunities: Property Guru, early crypto investment, and a Ramy platform. These highlight the importance of recognizing and acting on opportunities, even with uncertainty. MBA: A postgraduate professional degree in management and business administration. It typically involves rigorous coursework and case studies, preparing graduates for managerial roles in various industries. GMAT: Graduate Management Admission Test; a standardized test required for admission to many MBA programs worldwide. It assesses analytical, writing, and quantitative skills. SWOT analysis: A strategic planning technique used to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or business venture. MVP (Minimum Viable Product): A development technique in which a new product is launched with only basic features, allowing for early user feedback and iterative improvements. SAS (Software as a Service): A software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and centrally hosted. P&L (Profit and Loss): A financial statement summarizing the revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during a specific period, ultimately showing the net profit or loss. Seed Funding: Early-stage funding provided to startups to support initial development and operations. Advisory Equity: Equity granted to advisors in exchange for their guidance and expertise, rather than direct monetary compensation. Cash Flow Management: The process of overseeing the inflow and outflow of cash within a business to ensure sufficient liquidity and solvency. Bootstrapping: Starting and growing a business with minimal external funding, relying primarily on the founder's resources. Venture Capital: Investment capital provided by firms or individuals to startups and small businesses with high growth potential. Cryptocurrency: A digital or virtual currency designed to work as a medium of exchange. It uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions and to control the creation of new units. Biomimicry: An approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies. The speaker's career involved several significant transitions. Initially, they worked in large company services sales and then moved to a smaller startup in Bombay. Following this, they transitioned to mid-market enterprise sales for seven years ( ). A desire to avoid repeating the same work prompted a move away from a managing director position in Singapore to explore new opportunities ( ). Subsequently, they engaged in extensive mid-market consulting, leveraging their expertise to advise large media companies and private companies on valuations, finance, and market entry ( ). The speaker's Japanese connections also played a role in shaping their career path ( ). The text doesn't explicitly state what prompted each transition beyond the desire for new challenges and learning opportunities. your point of view? Very brutal, Oh, very brutal because so I looked at digital signage, I did a lot of consulting, some consulting, not a lot of consulting butting was with early stage companies which didn't have either a lot of funding or a repeatable product service inment. So sometimes when you look back you you do stupid things. But so I was like, hey, I'm making decent money. Why don't I invest and get a nice office space and a pad and whatever? So he this was in central bus district, a lot of money that time right? It was like 30, Maybe it was 30, 33 Rupes, 32 rupes, but still is a lot of money. So I took an apartment and uh, literally you people moving out, you could see people walking up with their boxes, general fear. So you could see panic two and a half months after us, But you could see horror stories, people moving out bankers, losing jobs. All that thing was my, my burn is way too high. And I don't have people That was good thing. My burn is way too high Didn't mean anything was big struggle. I even now you look at good Cavos manager. I mean, experience might have taught you in a better, I think when you in that situation, you don't feel that way over multiple iterations. Maybe I can manage it better than a lot of people.