A decade ago, I met an entrepreneur in Goa who had built a giant medical devices company (probably worth a few hundred million dollars today).
So when I went to meet him, I expected to see a swanky office. But his desk was covered side-to-side with a 1-foot high stack of papers and documents which clearly had been piling up (and gathering dust) for decades!
So much so that during the meeting, I could barely see his face above the pile of documents. But he did not seem to feel that anything was off.
How did such a disorganized person build such a successful company?
The reality is that success is complicated. People become successful for all kinds of reasons. Some are gritty, some are technically brilliant or great marketers, and some just happen to be at the right place at the right time.
This entrepreneur succeeded because he and his two co-founders had deep technical skills, which they used to brilliantly fill a big need gap in the market. Also, the three co-founders trusted each other blindly.
To be successful – however you define it – you don’t have to fit any particular mold. You don’t even need to be all-round good.
You just need that spike in some area that helps you do something remarkably valuable.
So find your biggest strengths and sharpen them. If you do that right, most other things won’t even matter.
– Rajan