What Rules Did You Break While Creating Your Business? Five entrepreneurs share why they did not go by the book, and instead trusted their gut and reaped the benefits
By Pooja Singh
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur Asia Pacific, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Rules are a comfortable idea. They make you feel safe when you're taking a big decision like starting or growing a business. But do you think Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos followed the book while creating their empire? Certainly not. We asked startup founders across the Asia-Pacific region, whether they ever broke a rule and why. Here's what they had to say.
Edited excerpts:
-- With inputs from Nidhi Singh and Komal Nathani
Entrepreneur Asia PacificJEMMA GREEN, Co-founder and Chair, Power Ledger
In the heavily regulated energy market, rules are king and we weren't invited. So we ditched the rule book, and are making our own market.
Entrepreneur Asia PacificPRAKASH GOVINDAN, Co-founder and CTO, Gradiant Corporation
Majority of newly founded companies face constraints such as limited finance and network, forcing entrepreneurs to focus on a single market or technology to maintain majority ownership control and keep costs low. Despite being a new business, we decided to break the rules, investing capital to develop customised end-to-end solutions, and it paid of
Entrepreneur Asia PacificNILESH MAKWANA, CEO, Illuminance Solutions
If you really want something, seize the opportunity. Despite not having a ticket, I managed to talk my way into a high level mining conference so I could network with mining business executives
Entrepreneur Asia PacificSANDHYA SRIRAM, CEO, Shiok Meats
I broke the rule of starting an independent company that isn't a spin-off or supported by any academic university or institution. I broke the rule of becoming an entrepreneur from being an academic scientist with a successful career and well-paid job. I broke the rule of starting up a deep tech company with a check of just US$10,000 in hand.
Entrepreneur Asia PacificGREG MARTIN, Group CEO, The Praxis Company
We broke the rule that going digital is necessary for innovation. Instead, we blazed ahead to create a traditional, yet continuously innovative gameplay instead. I remember my very first big boss once said to me, "When everyone else is zigging, you must zag."
