15

minutes,

15

new rules for startups.

mahesh@seedfund.in @maheshmurthy
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Learnings from brands managed

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Learnings from brands created

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Geography is history

You can design your business to start from anywhere. Even Yeshwantpur.
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The trend means the end.

Prepare to be a trend-setter, not a trend-follower. Toil a few years in anonymity till then.
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30 25 20 15 10 5 0 A B C D E

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 A B C D E

The winner takes it all.

No room for complacence. Be no.1 or no.2. Or dont bother. Big rewards for success.
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Hard to enter a pre-existing sector.

Easier to create a new one.

Forget billion-dollar market size. Discover how big it is as you go along.
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Biggest determinant of success is insane

customer delight and resulting word-of-mouth.

Will your friend rave about your product or service
to a stranger in a bar, unbidden?
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Your marketing IQ needs to be inversely

proportional to your marketing budget

Are you remark-worthy to your TG?

If not, start again.

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>

>

Digital is not just cheaper than TV as a

marketing medium. Its bigger.

Can you get digital word-of-mouth working?
Facebook = 2.5 X IPL match, Google = 15 x ToI
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Dont think just 360. Think 360 by 365

Its not just about talking.

But listening, responding, analysing, then talking. Do so 24 by 7. Restructure.
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Most important technical skill you need:

recruitment & retention.

Have charisma & vision to recruit for less or free? Can you stave off market salaries?
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10

Worlds most successful VCs: customers

Vast majority of Indian and global Fortune 500 never

got VC money to start. Were the second-best option.
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11

Before getting a VC in, think about

getting them out.

Can you IPO? Really?
Can you be acquired? Do you want to?
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12

Forget about team. Here it starts with

one person.
VCs may parrot the Silicon Valley line. But its
different here. Ones a good start.
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13

Hereditary brilliance isnt bankable.

Institutionalised brilliance is.

Can your firm survive without you?

Do you get richer over the weekend?

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14

Be eco-friendly with money. Break

even by burning as little as possible.

Downturns can happen at any time. Survival is
80% of winning.
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15

The pot of gold is the rainbow.

The payout is an awesome life.

Nobody dies of entrepreneurship.

Its the best kind of life there is.

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Thanks, Im mahesh@seedfund.in

@maheshmurthy
+91 98922 49969
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