Lessons for Entrepreneurs from Bhagavad Gita to Keep Their Boat Sailing in Nascent Stage It's important to keep things moving, irrespective of the results

Entrepreneurs in India are avid learners who get influenced by ideologies and philosophies from their most unconventional experiences. However, what seems to have been lost in transition is connection with our own intellectual heritage. Indian culture records a universe of wisdom and knowledge hidden in between the pages of our own sacred epics. Let's take a peek into the excerpts from Bhagavad Gita that translates into practical habits start-ups can refer to keep sailing during their nascent stage.

A mind Obsessed with Money Cannot Meditate

It is about value creation and not valuation. I left Yahoo to work at a start-up, which was about beginning life as an entrepreneur rather than leading the comfortable life with a large successful dotcom. The vision was to build something that had the ability to transcend boundaries, and have a sense of sustainability. Money is and will always be a by-product of anything driven by passion.

Progress and Development are Rules of the Universe

Things are evolving and change is constant. We need not be upset if things change. Just accept and go with the flow. It's important to keep things moving, irrespective of the results.

During the initial days, we were a small company with just two of us in the office. It was very difficult to hire talent, especially in the industry with a high attrition. Gradually, after an exhaustive process, we identified and hired our first designer and salesperson prior to building the product and did a market study. Hereafter, we failed time & again, redid the design 6 times in order to create the final product. From not attracting talent to handpicking team member, we have come a long way. Things do work out in the end and if it has not worked yet, it's not the end.

Accept the Dualities of Life

The key is to work towards your goals and focus on them. There will be moments when we will be stressed and worried but we should not let them put us down.

There are days when things never go your way. With an online start-up, the fact is that financial bleeding is inevitable initially. We have to allocate and reallocate resources wisely, while investing heavily to attract customers and building credibility. Under such circumstances it is easy to lose faith and get bogged down with even the simplest everyday challenges. At a time like this, it also helps when your partner stands by you and helps you hold ground and stay focused and true to the vision.

Life is a Battlefield. Fight boldly

Treat life as a battlefield and improve your game every day. Fight fair and fight hard within the rules of engagement. We at our company follow the mantra – never give up. A widely known and accepted term failure is the stepping stone to success is inevitable. When you step into the game of entrepreneurship, you wear the shroud of a warrior who is busy sharpening his sword with every stone pelted at him. Only the ones who weather these circumstances get to see the daylight.

Surrender the Fruits of your Actions

Work and focus on the drivers. The outcome takes care of itself. There will be many instances when the outcome of your work is not to your own satisfaction. There will be modules within your project that fail completely. The idea is to just keep walking the path as eventually things fall in place.

In our company for example, the venues module was built first but we were not able to get merchants to sign up. Finally, our well-charted sales channel helped us sign our first merchant and once demonetization took place, bookings started coming for the module. Demonetization didn't work for a lot of businesses, but it helped us out tremendously. People wanted an online platform where they can transact cashless.