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Education Without Values Is Dangerous
Before we graduated from college, our electrical engineering professor (I think it was Dr SS Prabhu) told us, "As you graduate, it is not enough to be technically competent -- you also need a value system, without which, you are no better than a...
Recent Posts
A Negotiation Win That Didn’t Feel Like Victory
In my 'Negotiations' course at Wharton, we had a live negotiation exercise, where I had to sell a boat (or something like that) to another student....
Micromanagement Is Not What You Think It Is
When I was working with a private equity fund, some of the companies we invested in were performing poorly. So what was our response? We would start...
Why Staying Small Became My Biggest Advantage
When I became a first-time entrepreneur, one question I dreaded was: "How big is your team?" Because everyone was trying to size you up. And my...
The Real Reason My First EdTech Startup Failed
I expected my first EdTech startup to crash but for not for the reasons it did -- here is what happened. In the early days, my biggest worry was --...
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The Day You Stop Learning, You Become a Know-All
Just before I was leaving the Civil Services for my MBA, I went to say farewell to many of the senior folks I knew. One of them said that he also wanted to attend some program for senior executives at a US university, but only to network, not to...
9-to-5 Jobs Aren’t Slavery — The Wrong Fit Is
9-to-5 jobs are not slavery. Slavery is something that sucks your soul, energy, and hope but you can't escape because you need the money, the brand, or some semblance of stability. And this kind of slavery can come in any form -- a full-time job,...
Stop Confusing Busyness With Real Work
You don't walk into an annual performance appraisal meeting and boast -- "I sent 20,000 emails last year." You don't flaunt the number of meetings you have attended. Because nobody cares about those things -- these metrics are meaningless. But if...
Conviction and Delusion in Entrepreneurship
1 year ago, I met a VC who had told me that my first startup idea won't work. And you know what ultimately happened? He was right. Thankfully, when I met him this time, he did not remember that meeting. Nor did I remind him. 😊 But why did I not...