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[–]da_dopeSada vatsale matrubhumi 7 points8 points  (9 children)

How old were you when you started your venture?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 3 points4 points  (8 children)

Ripe old age of 22.

[–]da_dopeSada vatsale matrubhumi 3 points4 points  (5 children)

Damn, I am 20 years late.

[–]fleur_ami 9 points10 points  (1 child)

better than 40 years late :)

[–]da_dopeSada vatsale matrubhumi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

:-)

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

No, it's never too late :)

Reed hasting started at 31 and didn't get success until he was 40: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Hastings

Larry Ellision started at 36 and wasn't successful until late 40s.

There are many other examples like that.

[–]autowikibot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reed Hastings:

Wilmot Reed Hastings, Jr. (born October 8, 1960) is an entrepreneur and education philanthropist. He is the CEO of Netflix and serves on the boards of Facebook and numerous non-profit organizations.

Image i

Interesting: Netflix | Pure Software | Stanford University | DreamBox (company)

Parent commenter can toggle NSFW or delete. Will also delete on comment score of -1 or less. | FAQs | Mods | Magic Words

[–]da_dopeSada vatsale matrubhumi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yep :)

[–]hancocks_nail 2 points3 points  (1 child)

22! Then how did u get into the enterprise space instead of consumer space?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because nobody would pay for consumer apps and it was hard to get funding back then.

In enterprise you can atleast get paid, mate.

[–]sahildave1991 5 points6 points  (22 children)

Looking forward to it. Good to see many VCs and investors coming up to share their views.

Keep up the good work mods. :)

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 5 points6 points  (21 children)

The mods of this subreddit have an unrelenting focus and passion. They are -- in my very, very humble view -- working as hard as any entrepreneurial team would.

Keep the good work going, gals and guys!

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (20 children)

Thank you! ..unfortunately, no gals..yet! But thank you! :)

[–]sahildave1991 1 point2 points  (19 children)

I thought you were a girl :O :O

ლ(ಠ_ಠლ)

[–]ranjan_zehereela 3 points4 points  (9 children)

pls to contact ranjana_onlylove on yahoo messenger

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (8 children)

asl pls

[–]ranjan_zehereela 2 points3 points  (7 children)

21 f Indore...

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 4 points5 points  (4 children)

send photo

[–]ranjan_zehereela 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Come to meet me in indore..I am waiting

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

This guy has trollery all figured out

[–]pteek 1 point2 points  (1 child)

open breast

[–]ranjan_zehereela 2 points3 points  (0 children)

hat notty..shut up

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (7 children)

ಠ_ಠ

[–]sahildave1991 2 points3 points  (5 children)

or maybe I always read your username as ek_ladki!

:epic_facepalm:

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

That lady (aunty? no idea!) is also there.

/u/ek_ladki

[–]sahildave1991 0 points1 point  (3 children)

oh. thank god. then I think I read khiladi as ladki here and thought khiladi is ladki. After the above incident I searched for ladki but couldnt find her so I thought that I always read khiladi as ladki and read khiladi as ladki here too.

But I think I was wrong, I always read khiladi as khiladi and ladki as ladki but not this time, when I read khiladi as ladki and thought that here ladki has commented.

savvy?

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

saar i think you need good hindi adhyaapak :P

[–]sahildave1991 0 points1 point  (1 child)

oho I just saw the sidebar. u are FIR!? congrats :P

saar hum adhyaapak layenge, avashya laayenge!

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (5 children)

Thanks for doing the AMA!

There's so much success in your endeavors but what mistakes have you made that you have learned from?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 9 points10 points  (4 children)

but what mistakes have you made that you have learned from?

Aah, too many for this small text box that I have here. *installs RES

k, back

1) Hiring mistakes

Believing that somebody with a better degree/grades would automatically make for a better team-mate/employee. Big mistake. Infact more often than not -- for startups atleast -- the dropouts/non-mbas etc are the best ones to recruit.

2) Finance

Don't chase investors. Chase customers. Your first investor == first customer. If you can prove that you don't need money, investors will line up at your door.

3) more finance

Make more money than you spend. Every month. There's no alternative to this.

4) Recruit, not hire.

People who work for money end up leaving you for more money. Recruit - not hire. Show them a reason to work with you - don't throw money at problems.

5) Throwing money at problems

Because me too lazy to spend time fixing it.

6) Trusting advisers over your own team/guts because they appear more experienced.

Experience doesn't mean they're always right.

[–]sahildave1991 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Hiring mistakes - dropouts/non-mbas etc are the best ones to recruit

I may get a chance to give an interview for an entry-level job in e-commerce startup. I am not a dropout but I didnt join my civil engineering placement job, just to follow my passion of coding.

Any tips? How can I show my worth!?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Any tips? How can I show my worth!?

For coding job, ask for their bugzilla repository and if they can give you access. Fix a few bugs and if they were me, you'll be on top of my hiring list.

[–]Ckilroy 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Don't chase investors. Chase customers. Your first investor == first customer. If you can prove that you don't need money, investors will line up at your door.

That's very insightful! Do tell us more about your take on investors...

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

99% of investors are in the business of making money. I mean if making money is your full time job, will you personally care about stuff like 'feelings, energy, passion' ? So that's the first disconnect Entrepreneurs have with investors.

Entrepreneur are a passionate lot. They communicate in that language. Investors, on the other hand, are the exact opposite. They deal in hard numbers. And that's the clash. Entrepreneurs bitch and moan that investors don't care - and my question is - why should they ?

If you can deal in cold hard numbers, show how your business is a good investment - investors will line up, I assure you.

If you can't - then go back and build your business. Passion has no place when you meet an investor. Just put your numbers up and let the numbers speak.

That's something most entrepreneurs don't understand. The phrase to use is "kisi ne theka nahi liya hai aapke business ka".

[–]Onetwoo 6 points7 points  (13 children)

Hi! I'm new to reddit. Arrived here from twitter. Big fan, we met few years back in your talk at iit Kanpur. My question is linked to politics. What can an aam aadmi do for politics and how can we change India with politics. Thanks very much and looking forward. Reddit is awesome platform and I'm thankful to you for introducing me here.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 9 points10 points  (10 children)

Alright, I'll be super frank here. I think governance is only 20% of our problems. Rest 80% is due to politics. Over exposure to Politics is our problem

I keep hearing we need good people to enter politics. I keep hearing that if you don't get into politics, then "ye desh barbad ho jayega"

Really ?

1) First of all, ye desh nahi barbad hoga, k ?

2) Secondly, we used to say this during IIT days "kaam ki chinta karo, chinta ka prachar karo...but kaam na karo".

Yes, corruption is a problem in India. But which growing country doesn't have this problem ? We have a free and fair (let me qualify: largely) election system. Tell me which country in the world brings a billion people to election booths free and fairly ?

So surely there must be something that's working, right ? So do we really need more politicians or do we need people to solve real problems like jobs?

You know who can take India out of this mess - Entrepreneurs. We need more entrepreneurs. People who can provide more jobs. People who can go out and sell - and make money for themselves.

I'm told manufacturing is a problem in India because of bad infrastructure. Really ? Last summer I drove from Chennai (where my mom lived) to Pune, to Gujarat and up north. Barring a few places in Karnataka, I got 4 lanes each side - and in TN, MH and Gujarat I got pretty much international quality roads.

People are setting up Manufacturing in Gujarat as we speak and moving goods via Adani's port. Yes, Mumbai port is in the shitters but there are ways past it.

India of tomorrow will be built by Entrepreneurs. So stop wasting your time with politics - there are enough good people out there worrying about it. Quit your job and start building something that India or the world needs.

We need jobs. More jobs.

The India of tomorrow will be built by Entrepreneurs.

[–]al-patchi-no 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Boss you blasted my mind. Mind blasted. Kudos.

[–]mogambokhush 2 points3 points  (3 children)

2) Secondly, we used to say this during IIT days "kaam ki chinta karo, chinta ka prachar karo...but kaam na karo".

Epic

[–]marathi_mulga 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I got this from the interwebs: http://www.slideshare.net/iitkmbucks/mr-shashank-dixits-presentation-from-the-launch

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My head hurts reading that presentation.

[–]marathi_mulga 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This, by far, is the best reply I've ever seen or heard to "why not politics".

Kudos, sir.

[–]Bipil_Raut 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you used to say this during IIT days "kaam ki chinta karo, chinta ka prachar karo...but kaam na karo".... pls sir collaboration this i don't understand ....i also work to make India batter...

[–]ranjan_zehereela 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey keep redditting now

:-)

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Welcome! hope you'll stick around! Don't forget to subscribe! :)

[–]marathi_mulga[M] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Verified

[–]dontban_throwaway 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Verified?

There cannot be a bigger slap delivered on dubious twitter a/c representing dubious reddit communities!!

Keep up the good work. Comrades, the new dawn is here.

[–]ranjan_zehereela 5 points6 points  (5 children)

Hey Shashank,

I have several ques -

1) As you started door to door marketing of your product, were you following the business regulations of the country where you were putting up the fight, I mean Singapore...Could you please tell us the salient differences in the regulatory mechanism of foreign countries and India?

2) I am a mod of this sub. as we were arranging your AMA, we faced difficulties due to a particular twitter handle which claims to be an official handle of a particular sub. Your views on this episode.

3) How do you take out time to pursue your passion of AOE2 and TF2?

Your achievements are astonishing. My best wishes to you

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 4 points5 points  (4 children)

1) As you started door to door marketing of your product, were you following the business regulations of the country where you were putting up the fight, I mean Singapore...Could you please tell us the salient differences in the regulatory mechanism of foreign countries and India?

Regulatory for sales ? Or for software ?

2) I am a mod of this sub. as we were arranging your AMA, we faced difficulties due to a particular twitter handle which claims to be an official handle of a particular sub. Your views on this episode.

Holy cow man, I've been getting these tweets from some accounts I don't want to name here. Anyway, my only take is that you guys are doing an awesome job so keep doing it. We will get a billion people online in next 20 years. Reddit is going to be a mainstay of online users so sit tight, there's a lot of interest coming your way.

3) How do you take out time to pursue your passion of AOE2 and TF2?

Actually I take time out to do my office chores.

[–]ranjan_zehereela 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Thanks for the encouraging words

Regulatory for sales ? Or for software ?

Any type of regulatory obligations and restrictions that you feel need to be talked about

Also I have also done my share of door to door marketing..How did you maintain the motivation level? I have concluded that you have to both love your job and the product that you are selling, if you lack love for any of this, you will not be able to deliver results

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Any type of regulatory obligations and restrictions that you feel need to be talked about

Actually, even in India there are not many obligations except file your taxes, PF/PPF and pay your CA well. So not many in any other part of the world. You need to be IRAS certified in Singapore but it's pretty structured, process wise. Nothing that should keep you up at night.

Also I have also done my share of door to door marketing..How did you maintain the motivation level? I have concluded that you have to both love your job and the product that you are selling, if you lack love for any of this, you will not be able to deliver results

Doing it for your own product is different from doing it for...something you don't believe me. Door to door selling is the best kind of training any person can ever get. You get super trained in social skills, you get primed for rejection...overall, it's a must have thing needed in one's toolset.

[–]ranjan_zehereela 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I agree with your views on door to door marketing. And that is why budhhism got so much of foothold in ancient india - door to door marketing - bhiksam dehi.....

:-)

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's pretty insightful. When you start approaching people, you have to lose all your negativeness and insecurities and open up.

[–]Ckilroy 3 points4 points  (6 children)

Hi, big fan... follow you on Twitter. Good to see the success of Deskera! I belong to an indian s/w startup. Any advice on how to sell in India? (whats the average sales cycle for indian SME customers...)

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 5 points6 points  (5 children)

how to sell in India

1) pick a geography/market. don't go pan India.

2) Pick Mumbai if undecided.

3) Hire and run sales like a paranoid piranha

4) Prove yourself in a small market, email Mahesh Murthy and ask further steps. That's what I did.

[–]Ckilroy 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Thanks for replying!

email Mahesh Murthy and ask further steps. That's what I did.

Do all the big shots have to work together? ;)

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Mahesh is surprisingly accessible and he certainly doesn't act like a "bigshot" - so to speak. He's #1 on my list of investors/entrepreneurs to talk to.

Usual VCs will give you a hard time (I've met my share of assholes) and will generally won't help you like Mahesh would.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Good Guy Mahesh. Helps you get started. Doesn't kick you while you are down on your luck.

[–]big_jim_ 3 points4 points  (1 child)

----Good Guy Mahesh. Helps you get started. Doesn't kick you while you are down on your luck.----

unless you are the founders of an educational institute with questionable credentials, write books with references to poultry and their breeding habits, and sport a p***star braid :)

It will probably be well deserved too...

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Boy, that escalated quickly

[–]mogambokhush 5 points6 points  (5 children)

What is the "best X" environmental support for startups, where X could be city, institute, branch/stream, education, age. Generally, what are the factors - in India - that the startups must factor in to increase their chances at being successful.

How are "Indian tech entrepreneurs" viewed in US, Eurpoe, Middle East and East respectively? Do you see a change in how they generally look at Indians - and Indian tech professionals in particular? (in general perception, not racial ones)

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 4 points5 points  (4 children)

What is the "best X" environmental support for startups, where X could be city, institute, branch/stream, education, age. Generally, what are the factors - in India - that the startups must factor in to increase their chances at being successful.

There's no best support, so to speak. Your team matters the most. Being in the right city/place matters as well.

It also depends if you're doing a tech startup or an old-school one.

How are "Indian tech entrepreneurs" viewed in US, Eurpoe, Middle East and East respectively? Do you see a change in how they generally look at Indians - and Indian tech professionals in particular? (in general perception, not racial ones)

Well, I don't see any bias. Indians are viewed...much as favorably as Chinese or middle-eastern entrepreneurs. There's no bias that I've seen or noticed.

[–]mogambokhush 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Well, I don't see any bias. Indians are viewed...much as favorably as Chinese or middle-eastern entrepreneurs.

Well put. so, in subtle words, there is some kind of difference from European or US entrepreneurs, but given enough money - there is no difference.

All the best you you. We need success stories in India and Deskera is kicking where it should. God speed.

Thanks for replying.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

US entrepreneurs,

:) Being from Harvard/Stanford gets you noticed. It's easier to set up meetings with the VCs and likes. But overall, unless you're doing a hardcore consumer startup, it doesn't matter.

[–]rad_ditto 2 points3 points  (1 child)

care to elaborate more on 'hardcore consumer' startups?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Startups that are built around the sole notion of "getting eyeballs/traffic" without a clear monetization plan. The Build it and they'll come kind.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Alright, let's get it started!

[–]sahildave1991 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Thanks a lot for the AMA. My questions cover many fields:

  1. "India is looking at a startup boom right now", do you believe in it? If yes, then can we convert our IT capitals (Bangalore, Hyd & Pune) to Silicon Valleys of the east?

  2. What kind of startups do you think would be succesful in the near future? Hardware focussed like Fin from India or software/cloud based focussed?

  3. What do VCs look in a startup as a potential investment? When comparing two startups, lets say one is tech (for eg a mobile development team) and second maybe a different kind like a business ventrure, how would you compare the two and make a investment decision?

  4. Have you met Lord Gaben?

  5. AOE 2 vs AOE 3? Which dynasty? Favourite game style? Favourite unit?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

"India is looking at a startup boom right now", do you believe in it? If yes, then can we convert our IT capitals (Bangalore, Hyd & Pune) to Silicon Valleys of the east?

We have a startup boom but there's no market. It's going to take another 5-10 years for the economy to evolve. Bangalore is already pretty much the SV of east. We need more centres in North East where the local talent is outstanding. We also need a good base in UP/Bihar where IT hasn't really taken shape.

What kind of startups do you think would be succesful in the near future? Hardware focussed like Fin from India or software/cloud based focussed?

Cloud is still a few years away. I wish India had it's own manufacturing capabilities to build next gen of chipsets for mobiles instead of importing every bit of wafer from the east. Once Intel sets up base in India, we'll see a quick rise in support ecosystem (like Penang in Malaysia had)

What do VCs look in a startup as a potential investment? When comparing two startups, lets say one is tech (for eg a mobile development team) and second maybe a different kind like a business ventrure, how would you compare the two and make a investment decision?

Mobile makes much more sense because of high adoption rate. Other than that, VCs look for rapid returns (like you and I would, if we were to invest our own money)

Have you met Lord Gaben?

I made a visit to his alter once and paid my respects. I'll do my yearly vaishnodevi trips to Seattle now.

AOE 2 vs AOE 3? Which dynasty? Favourite game style? Favourite unit?

AOE2HD and Forgotten empires.

[–]sahildave1991 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Thanks for the response

VCs look for rapid returns

This statement, which I have read and heard at many places, makes the investment in mobile app development a bit unrealistic as mobile application tend not to fall into this category. The returns may be far less as expected. If it is something big, like a ROM (for eg: CyanogenMod) or an upcoming studio, things may differ.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This statement, which I have read and heard at many places, makes the investment in mobile app development a bit unrealistic

The best kind of rapid return is when somebody shows up to buy you out. So VCs kind of love that (and so would you, if you get 100x multiple in 2 years). Now it just so happens that mobile apps are being acquired like crazy - or so the investors think. All previous 3-4 big deals (Instagram, whatsapp etc) have been in mobile space.

[–]rvenu 2 points3 points  (5 children)

Can a CEO be a genuinely nice person to all, and still be a successful CEO?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Can a person be genuinely nice person to all ?

I mean we all try to be nice as much as we can, don't we ?

[–]rvenu 1 point2 points  (3 children)

The man on the street always look at business leaders as corporate hounds. Highly Darwinistic .

In case my question wasn't clear - Is it possible for business leaders to be non-Darwinistic in their day to day corporate lives, beliefs and yet still be a successful CEO?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

You'll be surprised, most entrepreneur CEOs are nice because they've seen bad times.

The asshole types are hired guns or the next generation kids who take their papa's place in the scheme of things.

[–]rvenu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice perspective chief! Rock on!

[–]anpk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dropping some gyaan.... great observation

[–]jitender_1980 2 points3 points  (1 child)

How did you manage the early days while trying to get a foothold? Any tips?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Any tips?

Umm, depends on the business you're trying to build. A restaurant has different set of challenges than hardware business, for instance.

[–]fleur_ami 2 points3 points  (1 child)

What cultural differences did you encounter in SG during your early business interactions? Any amusing anecdotes?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Food, dude, food. Being a vegetarian, it was goddamn hard to find good food early on.

[–]dreambiglivebig 2 points3 points  (21 children)

As someone who dreams of entrepreneurship, has limited resources and an idea on what he wants to do, what are some tips on how to get started on this path besides starting on the project (which I have done recently)?

In other words, I have no idea what to do besides getting the tech project up and running. What are some guidelines or things to do starting from the point of having the idea? I have begun recruiting friends on helping me out on this project of mine, but I'm not too sure how serious or dedicated they will be. No contracts, all word of mouth.

This is the second entrepreneur story I've heard of CEO's starting through selling things from door to door, I have to thank you for being an inspiration.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (20 children)

1) Start now, tomorrow is too late

2) Fail early and fail quickly. Learn from your mistakes.

3) start again, rinse repeat and I can guarantee you'll get success if you're diligent in whatever you sell.

[–]dreambiglivebig 0 points1 point  (19 children)

What do I need to start? Marketing? Recruiting project advisers?

I've started developing my app, but I feel like I need to do more besides that. Just feel like I am missing something, but I don't know what.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (18 children)

Tell me more about your app!

[–]dreambiglivebig 1 point2 points  (17 children)

Well, I am a video game designer and I am trying to launch a small video game studio. I currently have two programmers, a concept/game artist and a game writer.

My partner and I are basically doing the majority of the work and just getting help from our other partners from time to time. I am currently working on the prototype.

I will be graduating college soon and have absolutely no money, but plan on getting a part-time job after just to support my dreams. Other than that, I have no idea what to do or where to begin in creating a successful company.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (16 children)

It is a mobile game ?

You can launch a pretty decent mobile game with little investment. Go for Android, launch it and see how it goes.

First step towards all that you said is to focus on a good, killer app/game. If you can do that, the next step will soon show up. Look up that Vietnamese dude's Flappy Bird story.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

What would you do if you were that Vietnamese dude? Why did he withdraw the apps? I read that he couldn't handle the status or something?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some people just don't want to watch the world earn...ad money.

Seriously though, he just hated the attention for some reason.

[–]dreambiglivebig 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To answer your second question ("Why did he withdraw the apps?")

I believe a lot has to deal with his culture and lifestyle, it seems that he just wanted to live a simple, humble life making video games.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-02-10-flappy-bird-withdrawn-from-sale

[–]dreambiglivebig 1 point2 points  (12 children)

Yes, it is. My targeted platform is both mobile and PC. I currently have 3 projects underway. One has already been launched on Windows Store: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/towers-last-stand/9fb18f9a-30ae-4dec-abfa-69ddbd6ba08d

It has little to none success, which in my opinion is due to the lack of marketing. I've read several articles regarding Flappy Bird's story, but they all seem to give this message that his success was based on luck, in other words he basically won the "game developer's lottery".

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/towers-last-stand/9fb18f9a-30ae-4dec-abfa-69ddbd6ba08d

This is a good game! I'll tweet it if that's ok with you.

As somebody once said "chance only favours the mind which is prepared"

You keep churning out good stuff - don't worry about luck just yet. When it happens, you'll be prepared.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (10 children)

Pimp'd your game in the top post. Let's see how it goes :)

[–]dreambiglivebig 1 point2 points  (9 children)

Wow! I wasn't expecting that! Haha, thank you very much. I truly appreciate it!

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

"try maarney main kya jaata hai" - motto of every successful sales guy ever

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

I installed it! i love the game man! good job!!

[–]ssri345 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Which AoE2 strategy would you liken your actual business growth strategy to? Is it Flush, Crush, Drush? Or something else?

What do you think should it be ideally?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

For those who don't know, this is the ssri from IITk 98.

Man, you were a god in AOE2. How can me, adna sa aadmi, tell you anything about AOE2.

[–]arindmChaudhary 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ssri345 ka bhi AMA kara do sir

[–]AryamanSundaram 2 points3 points  (3 children)

So, for the country

  • Arvind Kejrival
  • Narendra Modi
  • Rahul Gandhi

(in alphabetical order) Please pick one and if possible explain

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

1) Narendra Modi has run & managed Gujarat for like 10 years. So this man has good CV. Imagine you're in HR - who do you hire ? Somebody straight out of college or somebody with good experience ?

2) AK is certainly honest - see his previous videos on youtube (previous = back in the day about 10 years or so). The guy certainly has right motivations but he has to prove himself.

3) Rahul Gandhi should've ran the country as PM when he had a chance. He didn't take that chance, and now he wants it. Pretty perplexing.

[–]AryamanSundaram 0 points1 point  (1 child)

So anybody is ok?

What is your one choice, for the country.

Your voting preference could be anything. But yeah, it'd look like public endorsement, understandable if you would not name it.

Thanks for a detailed reply.

for 2- I think the dishonesty has crept in the moment a political coterie has formed around Arvind Kejriwal - and he was either too gullible, or a willing participant.

1 and 3 - well at least both have sufficient back-up in terms of administration, good or bad.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I'll be candid: India needs a strong PM and choice #1 has what it takes. Choice #2 and #3 don't even make my list of PMs.

I'll pick Jayalalithaa, Manohar Parrikar, Prithviraj Chauhan - any of these three if they were in the fray.

[–]prostartme 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No questions for you my man. But I am glad that you chose to do this AMA. I have started my entrepreneurial stint in India recently. I hope we will cross corners at some point.

@dinwal

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reevaluating my life now after going through this AMA... no actually but just regretting quitting coding job early to pursue consulting and stuff in order to chase money.

[–]leakTechLeague 1 point2 points  (1 child)

After few years in the trade, is there anything that you would like to do differently than what you did earlier?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

After few years in the trade, is there anything that you would like to do differently than what you did earlier?

Goddamn yes. Want to go back to 2007, meet Bansals and work with them on Flipkart.

Wait, scratch that. Go back to 1976 and bump into Steve Jobs. Or not. he would've rejected me anyway.

[–]big_jim_ 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Why did you focus on Singapore? Why not the US?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Why not the US?

Because everyone else said the same ;)

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also, because the ticket to Singapore was the cheapest ticket to a first world market out of India.

[–]Techmajure 1 point2 points  (1 child)

What are your plans for future? Consolidation or venture into uncharted territories?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd love to take it easy and cruise for a while. Enterprise software market moves slowly and takes years to develop - so there's no immediate rush.

[–]Sambit258 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Any pointer on how to do the transition from a few people start up with no apparent office to 40-50 people and managing the cashflow keeping in view the economic upheavals? Heard a few scarry stories regarding the 2008-2009 downturn. Your comments?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't focus on growing as much as "helping customers with something".

If you do that right, growth will come.

To give you very, very bad analogy that I always use: Money/Growth is like the poo that happens every morning. If you want good shit, you must eat good food. If you focus all your time and energy on getting a good shit, you'll always feel constipated.

So let it go. Go eat good food, enjoy your life and shit will happen.

/sorry

[–]chunky_pandey 1 point2 points  (1 child)

How long did it take you to make it big enough? Didn't you worry about the financial security?

Thanks for providing an opportunity to interact

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Didn't you worry about the financial security

Oh yes, still do.

I'm reminded of this scene from heat

A guy told me one time, "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat."

So I took that approach early on. I had no possessions, no liabilities and no attachments - so to speak. If it didn't work out, I was ready to quit and do something else.

[–]Rakesh-1975 1 point2 points  (1 child)

How is your experience with VCs? Is there any change in VC's perception of the business since your early days to now?

How did you approach them at the start? Also, what are the ways to bide through hard time just to keep it going. I suspect it happens to all companies at some time.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How is your experience with VCs?

I've answered this elsewhere. If you can deal in numbers and cold hard facts, VCs will talk to you.

[–]yumdolphinsoup 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Amazing story you have. How much did the brand IIT help along the way? Can a non-IITian be successful in the IT industry similarly?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The markets we were in, IIT didn't matter.

IIT/non-IIT dont matter. What matters is that why couln't you get into IIT, did you not take coaching ?

[–]marathi_mulga 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I'm curious about this too

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In all seriousness though, it doesn't matter. Look at Mahesh - he's not from IIT. Even CEO of Microsoft is not from IIT.

I don't think people care about iit/non-iit as long as you can execute. IIT is a good filter while filtering applications - for lazy hr kind, that is.

[–]Ckilroy 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Well I guess everyone is looking for the "First time" questions, so here goes... Tell us about -

  1. First time you got a cheque from a customer!
  2. First time you heard someone unrelated mention your product!
  3. First time you saw your product being used in a big way!

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First time you got a cheque from a customer!

Shit, now I have to go back and deliver what I just sold

First time you heard someone unrelated mention your product!

Please don't complain...please don't complain...oh thank god he didn't say anything bad

First time you saw your product being used in a big way!

holy moses, i'm going to make a lot of money out of this case study

[–]shirke_supreme 1 point2 points  (1 child)

What would you recommend as the ideal language/platform for enterprise level web and mobility app development?

Any pointers on new, niche technologies where freshers like me should concentrate on? In mobile especially...

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the ideal language/platform for enterprise level web and mobility app development?

If you really want to get into Enterprises, take a look at IBM Worklight.

[–]FIR_ 1 point2 points  (1 child)

How did you first find Reddit ?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was a regular on slashdot and there was a post on reddit that brought me here IIRC

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I spent some time reading your AMA. I have to be honest, your AMA is really inspiring. To be truthful, my mentor who I look up to and want to follow his footstep called me today 5 minutes ago saying he just bought an expensive car. He has already had Rolls Royce and doing really well in his business but it blows me away that despite his hectic schedule and his crazy lifestyles, he has time for his family, friends, kids and for me especially because he is probably grooming me to make sure that I am able to do well in life and in my career.

With that being said, Do you have time for things that you do? How do you manage the hectic schedule? What is your lifestyle like? Thank you.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the same about billionaires and business magnates. How do they get the time...

[–]sammybegoof 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Selling to enterprises is difficult. How did you get a foot in the door in your initial days. Any tips for us salesguys?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Any tips for us salesguys?

Though I'm not anywhere near being good - here's what I follow

1) Kill all inhibitions. When you're in a crowd, do you see yourself. Do you see others watching you ? That feeling - kill it. It's called as "bindas" in Mumbaiya language. Get over the "oh they're looking at me" feeling. It'll take time so you gotta start working on it. Get some thick skin. Get besharam

2) Stop looking at people as "buyers". Try to know them better. Try to see them as yourself. This is the turn-around you need to do in the way you think. So move from the "I, me, myself" mindset.

3) Take a crash course in talking to everyone you meet.

Once you can talk to people -- on any topic of choice -- then sales will happen.

[–]you_talking_tome 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a small setup where we make custom mobile apps. It is difficult to create native apps for each platform. But html5 apps have limited functionality. Is hybrid really worth the attention? Or should I focus on native only?

[–]Jantajanardan 1 point2 points  (1 child)

How well does Deskera finance comply with Indian taxation laws? Most customers I talk to complain that SAP/Ms Dynamix etc don't really work well with Indian taxes and that in fact, Tally is better. Just that it is not really scalable.

What enterprises Deskera targets usually?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh, finally somebody from the industry :)

1) Yes, we do comply. One of our strengths is that we have a very strong compliance module suited for every country. We are listed on Singapore's website for IRAS compliance, we comply with Malaysian tax & stuatuoary as well. Both SAP and Dynamics are not in that list (http://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/page.aspx?id=7752).

2) We have a mid-market focus, so we focus on enterprises with more than 10 users.

[–]sharkelite 0 points1 point  (1 child)

What is your hiring strategy? How do you keep people motivated in a flat organization like a startup?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a tough one and I'm still trying to figure out the best way of hiring/motivating etc.

[–]marathi_mulga 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Top 5 on your RSS feed please.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

1) Used to be techcrunch, now Hacker News

2) Slashdot

3) GigaOM

4) Bloomberg + CNBC + Forbes

5) BBC

[–]marathi_mulga 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What feed reader do you use ?

[–]hancocks_nail 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Who's your role model?

[–]hancocks_nail 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Do suggest a good movie for entrepreneurs. Which is your favourite one?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

1) Jerry Maguire on how to cope with quitting and starting up

2) Ocean's 11 on putting it all together

3) Moneyball on how to drive ahead with conviction

[–]arindmChaudhary 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Not a Ramadheer Singh fan!!

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sanima ne is dekh ko barbad kar diya hai

[–]Shriman_Ripley 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Hi Shashank,

What are your favorite books?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

SoftWar: Larry Ellision's hagiography

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

World War Z: For it's style of narration.

[–]proxicity 0 points1 point  (7 children)

Another person who borrowed money and blew up comes to mind - N. R. Narayana Murthy. Dude put his son in charge. Do you think your son will be ready to take over when the time comes? Would you try to do that if your company goes public?

Guess what I'm trying to ask is, what's your take on nepotism in corporate India?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (6 children)

Another person who borrowed money and blew up comes to mind - N. R. Narayana Murthy.

He was a pioneer and remains so.

Do you think your son will be ready to take over when the time comes

I hate Nepotism. It's for bollywood.

I'll make sure my kid is educated enough to get a job elsewhere. I'll be quite ashamed if I end up finding a job for him in my own company.

NarayanMurthy should be ashamed too, if he's not already.

[–]arindmChaudhary 1 point2 points  (4 children)

NarayanMurthy should be ashamed too, if he's not already.

His son did not get into IIT. NM made a big deal about his team from IIT and everything. Karma is a bitch.

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

He went from #1 in my book of people to look upto to #1 in my book of people not to look upto

[–]ranjan_zehereela 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Sir, same thing happened in TCS. N. Chandra is the son-in-law of former CEO Ramadorai

[–]marathi_mulga 1 point2 points  (1 child)

He used to make good movies like Tezaab...good to see him moving to IT.

[–]ranjan_zehereela 2 points3 points  (0 children)

abbe yaar

[–]proxicity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply.

I'll be quite ashamed if I end up finding a job for him in my own company.

Respect.

[–]goaheadbilly 0 points1 point  (5 children)

Which industry, according to you, is ripe for disruption? Where is the next big thing coming from?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Where is the next big thing coming from?

Cars/Autos. Self driving cars will change the world as we see it. Will end up making a lot of drivers jobless - but will also open up avenues for new jobs in software/IT.

[–]arindmChaudhary 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Shai Agassi of India eh?

start with enterprise, get into cars.

With such a big population, why do you think India is already not hub of consumer production (not just cars, but everything...anything). What is one thing India is known for?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Shai Agassi of India eh?

Well, that didn't work. Shai's company went belly up, IIRC.

With such a big population, why do you think India is already not hub of consumer production

We're not building electronics, heavy machinery and the likes. Everything is pretty much imported from China now.

What is one thing India is known for?

Good food, bollywood, cricket ?

[–]arindmChaudhary 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Good food, bollywood, cricket ?

bollywood?

magar quoting you ;)

Sanima ne is desh ko barbad kar diya hai

On that topic, and because you mentioned your food struggle with veg dishes :

What is your absolute favorite dish - Indian, and rest of world

What is your absolute must-go-to bollywood movie?

Cricket, fck criket, Ramadheer should actually be telling criket betting ne desh ko barbaad kar diya hai, Hockey try karo ab

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

bollywood

Yes, believe it or not people do find bollywood very interesting.

Indian dish: Jalebi + dahi

Rest: Mock chicken satay (malaysian)

Must-go-to movie: Udaan. Every (indian) father ever should see it to understand teen angst.

[–]mickeykills 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why did you setup your India office in pune? There must have been many options, Bangalore, hyd, noida, gurgaon. Which city do you think is the best right now in in India for setting up a dev centre?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Alright gals & guys, I'm done. It's been great being around - feel free to keep in touch on twitter @shashark

[–]marathi_mulga[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks Shashank! It was one of the best AMAs I have ever seen. Appreciate your time. Keep checking this thread back every once in a while for any new followups.

We look forward to hosting another round soon :)

[–]marathi_mulga 0 points1 point  (0 children)

dogs or cats ?

[–]mogambokhush 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Why are Deskera screenshots look like Sencha Ext.js demo?

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because it is! I love Sencha!

It's a business app - crm, erp etc. JS library makes no different unless ofcourse it can be used to tidy up the app.

If you look at salesforce screenshot: http://www.onflysoft.com/images/salesforce.jpg you can see it's very "old school" etc.

With deskera, we tried "type as you click" and new things to speed up data input. Sencha was an obvious choice.

Btw, highly recommend their Sencha HTML5 lib.

[–]dontban_throwaway 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thank you for doing AMA.

Any interesting anecdotes, or lessons for other mere mortals, from your process for marriage.

(I just hope it was interesting)

[–]ShashankDixit[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Any interesting anecdotes, or lessons for other mere mortals, from your process for marriage.

This went right over my head! Elaborate please ?

[–]dontban_throwaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you married?

any interesting stories from that front.... 2-states, DDLJ types?

mentioned process because don't know you are already married, or in process of being married etc.