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How I managed running a startup and writing a book
A chance meeting at the Cricket Club of India (popularly known as the CCI club) bar in late 2008 led to this nascent idea turning into something concrete…
This is where I first met my publishers - Tata McGraw-Hill. We started a conversation dating back to my move from the U.S. back to India in 2005, starting DeskAway in late 2007 and being extremely passionate and optimistic about Software As A Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing in India - especially how everything is moving online and why/how business owners/ professionals can leverage online tools & techniques to gain competitive advantage. We ended up mutually agreeing a need for a book on Web 2.0 and SaaS (btw, this is the first book on SaaS from India).
After corresponding with them for the next few months, they finally liked my idea of having a non-technical book targeted towards business owners and taking them through a journey from Web 2.0 to Enterprise 2.0 and how software today is considered sexy and a must-have for every business. Most importantly, as the new generation grows up and joins the workforce, they will want software/tools that looks and feels like Facebook - not something that they need to install or configure on their computers or servers.
This chance meeting propelled me on a journey that I had never traveled before - especially, as I was already on a journey of growing my first startup baby, DeskAway. Initially, it felt like running 2 startups - overwhelming, demanding and a massive challenge. Today, as an author, I look back and have identified some of the things I might have done that helped me manage running a startup and writing a book better - these are lessons that will work for anyone juggling multiple projects…
Block time
I guess we all agree with this cliche - You can achieve anything if you can manage your time well. Though this is easier said than done, good and honest time management was key while I shifted from business stuff to book research and writing. I set aside a couple of hours each day and about 6-8 hours on weekends initially so I could gather my thoughts, pen down ideas and the plan for the book.Office is not a place to work
Other people have echoed this comment too. Office, by no means will give you a quite place to work. There are just too many distractions and interruptions. I worked in the office when I had to work on DeskAway and rushed off to either a coffee shop (you need to find a quiet one though in Mumbai city e.g. Kala Ghoda Cafe), Willingdon Sports Club or home when I worked on the book.Set expectations
Convey to your team why you need to leave the office early and why you won’t be coming 1 day a week. You will be suprised with the increase in productivity a conversation can generate.Don’t try to do everything - get people to help you
Getting stuff researched for the book requires a lot of parellel activities - planning the chapter content, getting facts, examples and casestudies. Instead of me doing everything, a couple of members from DeskAway worked in parellel - I involved them to get me statistics, interesting examples from other companies (a few hours a week).Delegate
Knowing my time was limited I was forced to delegate more stuff to my team. I would make a list of things I was doing and then check if it made sense to have someone else replace me. It is tough letting go of something that you are used to doing but after a few days you wonder why you hadn’t let go of it in the first place. A few things that I let go were answering simple support requests, getting our monthly newsletter out, blogging about where we were getting reviewed and helping out with account management (upgrades, downgrades, cancels). Today, thanks to my letting go, we have built processes that are running smoothly - for some, we have built software that has completely automated the task.Log-off from email
Email is a huge distraction when you want to get actual work. It is better to log-off completely from email and other notification based programs. Bottomline, you can’t multi-task when you need to think.Break it down
A large task or a project seems overwhelming and even daunting at first. Take baby steps and gain some traction. Break the project down into sections and sub-sections and work on a small part to which you can tag realistic and achievable goals. Knowing that you have progressed even a little is a huge confidence booster.Make a simple plan
I know its hard to stick to a plan when you have other things going but you need to put something down on paper to know when you are going to work on the stuff that you have broken down into sub-sections. I had a weekly plan for a few months in order to complete the first draft of the book. Some people have daily plans or to-do items. It help when things are organized and you have a bigger picture to work towards.Use technology
I used a combination of Google Apps, Google Docs/ Spreadsheets, Dropbox, Delicious and DeskAway. Looking back, it would have been good to use Evernote too to clip interesting snippets on sites that I came across. Anything that can help automate is a time saver and should be leveraged!Q&A onTwitter & Facebook
Social networks are a beautiful way to get your questions answered or even ask for opinions or suggestions. There a lot of smart people out there who you can get in touch with now. I would often post on Twitter and get a few replies within minutes. I am getting more inclined towards Twitter to answer some of my questions and getting fresh results that doing a Google Search and getting presented with stuff dated a few years old - in technology, a few years is a decade!Say no to unnessary meetings
Luckily, my business doesn’t need me to go out, cajole and suck up to clients. Hence, I saved a ton of travel and wait time. I probably would have been too pooped to write if I was traveling around the country. If email wasn’t good enough I would get on Skype and talk to people. One meeting traversing through the crazy Mumbai city traffic can cost you half a day!Listen to music
Music makes me zoned-in. I prefer using headphones and like listening to electronica/ house (anything upbeat without vocals) while I am writing. People tend not to distract someone who is wearing headphones and working on a laptop :-)Stress buster & sports
You can’t be workingor being in front of the computer all day. I then start to feel like a zombie. Play a sport, take a short vacation or even do an outdoor activity to rejuvenate yourself. I played tennis about 3-4 times a week and took a short vacation every 4-5 months. They say that taking a break from something helps you concentrate better when you get to it again (this does not include interruptions). It’s so true.
After about 1.5 years, ‘The SaaS Edge’ is finally published. It will be hitting the bookstores (Crosswords, Landmark etc.) anytime soon. I have created a Facebook page that will include announcements, reviews, my thoughts (like this one), and some web stuff related to the book - www.facebook.com/thesaasedge. Feel free to ask me any questions related to the book, SaaS, Cloud Computing, online tools and how it can help your business etc. Hope to interact with you and good luck with what you are working on!
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One way to shield your business from knowledge vapor
While casually chatting yesterday at Seedcamp Mumbai, Ankit of Instablogs made a valid point - today, companies need automation and knowledge management software even more. I asked him why and he said because the churn rate for employees is pretty high compared to what it was back in the days. Loyalty is very low. People come and go.
I agreed after pondering on this statement for a while.
When people come and go they take with them knowledge which technically should be a part of the company. Knowledge is in the form of business communications, discovered strategies, tricks, common business process know-how etc. When these things are a part of a system (a web-based app that is rolled out) it makes learning and re-learning much easier when new people join your enterprise. It helps makes your business more “intelligent”!
Use this argument to sell your app the next time you are faced with a stuck-up manager.
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Status upgraded to “author” - my new book called “The SaaS Edge”
I might be going overboard with this but “oh what the hell”! I want to seize the moment. I feel excited and a huge sense of achievement after almost 1.5 years of researching, writing, editing the book - and running a startup! I think this might be the first book on SaaS/ Cloud Computing from India. From a simple non-tangible idea to a final product - it just seems like a journey so worth it! Even the frequent downs, mental blocks, distractions seem like a process that I had to go through to get this baby completed.
I am hoping this book serves as a great read for business owners, professionals and anyone wanting to leverage online tools/ techniques to market and run their businesses efficiently.
The pics are of the private copy I got from the publisher today. ‘The SaaS Edge’ should be released in the next 20 days or so - would be a good New Year’s gift to buy for someone you know :-) lol.
Update: There is a dedicated Facebook page for The SaaS Edge.
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Status upgraded to “father” - my brief thoughts
On Nov 20, 2010 my wife and I had our first baby girl :-) Since then, I have been on cloud 9. Life has got a new meaning and form - and more responsiblity. I have never felt like this before. I worked a total of 4 hours last week at the DeskAway HQ and answered some queries from my phone. This week I am back to work full time and have noticed the following changes (for the better) in my work-life:
* I want to get the most important things done first
* I want to delegate as much as I can and work on things that matter
* Unnecessary strategizing is a waste of time. Lets get the things currently on our plate done and worry about other things at a later date
* You can only do one thing at one time
* Not everything ‘tweeted’ or ‘liked’ is important.
* Filter the shit out of shared links and reading material. I will only read stuff that matters. No more “How to” SEO articles. Cut the information overload
When faffing around is not an option I want to pack as much meaning to the limited numbers of hours I have in the day.
Parkinson’s Law is so true - Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
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You have only 90 days to live
Caught your attention, right? Well, I often think about (especially after reading The Last Lecture) what would be different if I really had 3 months to live. How would I think differently? What would I do differently? And above all, how would I spend my last 90 days? It is amazing how we take life for granted and assume we have all the time in the world to do the things. But, in reality the end could be anytime. No one really knows and once you start thinking about it it really makes you introspect and think. I use it as a sort of an exercise to get my priorities right.
Spending time with family and friends is most important. More than even work. When you have limited time work will be secondary.
Work on something that is meaningful. Let that run on its own and not be dependent on you. Let your work make a difference to other people whether or not you are around. What you are doing is more important than who is doing it.
Start fulfilling your dreams rather than putting it off for a future date. If you love to travel then go for it. Doing whatever that will make you happy is living. All work and no play is just not worth it - not even for start-up entrepreneurs.
The clock is ticking….would love to hear how you would spend your last 90 days…
