The event FuckUp Nights is based on the global movement born in Mexico in 2012 to share publicly business failure stories. And yeah, it’s really one of the most difficult tasks in the world to tell the mistakes one has committed and the learning which came out as the result. We were fortunate enough to have two enthusiastic entrepreneurs Mr. Venkata Pingali and Mr. Gunjan Kejriwal on the stage ready to share their story and thus making the attendees realise that nurturing a start up from idea to establishing it as a reputed firm is not a child’s play.

I would like to share with all the lessons I got to learn that evening:

1. Try to solve only one problem at a time.

Juggling between many problems to solve at one go is  one of the major factors behind many start up failure. Solving the main problem efficiently establishes your start up and gives you the firm platform to represent your idea in front of customers and helps seeking funding also.

2. Hearing, not listening.

It’s important before you start pouring the benefits of your company on the customer to hear what he has to say, what he is facing day in and day out. Instead, of just being just ‘another business’ it’s necessary to provide value and to simplify the life of people you are dealing with. This instinct of a successful entrepreneur develops brand value and many a times saves him from serving someone who needs something different and not the product in hand.

3. The vision of your company is your aim, customers don’t give a shit about it.

The prospective client is dealing with difficult issues every day. He doesn’t care what the words on a cardboard say about your company and sorry to be rude, but that’s not going to solve the problem. It’s your responsibility to solve the immediate problem instead of promising a distant dream.

4. Understand customer’s cash flow.

The solution to issue subjected makes direct impact on the cash flow of the client and helps you add value to your company. It is necessary to analyse the impact your product is making on your client’s organization.

5. Know what not to do.

Steve Jobs used to say “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”

And our speaker seconds the opinion. According to Mr. Venkata, in order to save company it is necessary to have intelligent people around to tell what not to do.

6. Build a team that knows it is risky.

Collaborate with people who are aware of the situation and are ready with exception handling ideas. Bring a bunch of guys together to work with whom you can talk even if you happen to shut the company.

7. Initially, relations matter more than technology.

Strictly avoid the situation where the customer considers you to be just another guy with some random technology. Give them more than a reason to do business with you.

8. Customer decides the use use-case better.

The client will tell you the next feature to be added and will add a new dimension to your product. Improvement is a never ending cycle. You don’t need to worry but focus on providing value service to your customers as word-of-mouth marketing matters a lot.

Followed by the presentation was Q&A and networking session. It is indeed a praiseworthy idea to spend evening with like-minded community while taking sip of the wine.

Looking forward for more opportunities to learn, explore and experiment.