Startup a Fashion OR a Passion?

Startups are becoming too sexy now a days. Young entrepreneurs treating it like a new fashion which is true up to some extend but one should never forget that the list of failed startups is much more long that successful startup. Number of startups have been reported which does not make any sense, some of them are being created for sake of funding. Changing the world or becoming a billionaire with a new creative idea is a dream of every entrepreneur. But honestly! what excites you about a startup? Funding, success, fame or challenges? The answer itself is self explanatory, decides the duration of startup and shapes the future of your startup.
Just picking one of these options can not predict success of your startup. Building a company and making it great is not a one day process. Various vertical heads like failure of other startups, market analysis, support and more importantly understanding the customer and marker plays critical role.

So What should you know before you start?

1) Passion.

Passion is key to keeping a business strategy moving. "Refused to give up" is the most used word by most successful people. Half-hearted efforts will chip away at your drive to succeed. Keep your hope and passion alive even if other do not believe in you.
So here are the main items to take into consideration if you’re trying to develop a business platform. These elements constitute will support a smart strategy for any new enterprise:

2) Take baby steps.

Jumping all in is rarely ever successful. There are success stories about people who invested everything once and came out winners after six months or a couple years, but those are rare. Risk management is an essential factor in any startup, and balance is vital. You can absorb losses more easily if you take smaller risks in the beginning. Those will provide essential and productive lessons.

3) Learn from others.

Successful entrepreneurs often worked for others in their field of choice before striking out on their own. Spending a few years in the industry under an excellent mentor will provide a good launching pad. Learn from your predecessors’ mistakes and brainstorm about how to improve upon their model. Find someone willing to teach, and think about starting your business elsewhere when you leave.

4) Learn how to self-promote.

Confidence and a good elevator speech can take any pitch to the next level. The first marketing any company experiences comes from its founder. Spend time learning how to share your vision without coming across as “salesy.” Don’t be afraid to ask for the sale, but remember: the client is always the focus.

5) Constantly take action.

Entrepreneurs are movers and shakers. They can’t afford to analyze every detail or they’d never get anywhere. There is no place for procrastination in a startup. It’s a 24/7, no-vacation-or-sick-days kind of job that demands constant forward momentum. Make a brief assessment at every step and move on it. Trust your instincts.

6) Make a plan.

Read about successful businesses. Take in the wealth of knowledge that’s been provided by successful entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs and the personalities from Shark Tank. A successful business plan does not have to be a book. A 10-page plan is digestible yet long enough to include everything you need to start.

7) Build a reputation.

According to Brandi Bennett at HostGator.com, maintaining a blog on a well-hosted website, or volunteering your time and skills, shows instead of tells the community, and thereby builds expertise and trust.

8) It’s never too late to start.

Many successful entrepreneurs started later in life. J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter author), Julia Child (chef), and Sam Walton (Wal-Mart) all started their wildly successful brands after they were comfortably along in their lives. Having the experience that comes with age can give you a unique outlook on your business. Life experiences bring depth that the most educated young adult, by his or her nature, is less able to foresee.

9) Build your "A team".

Finding the skill sets and attitudes that support the culture of the brand you want to promote will foster innovation and enhance your reputation. Include folks from outside the company for the people you rely on. That will start a free marketing chain reaction that can build confidence and revenue.

10) Be mindful of your attitude.

The attitude of the founder will set the tone for the business. Negativity, laziness and entitlement waste time and money while they tarnish your reputation. Success largely depends on making mistakes and accepting blame in stride. Owning up to and facing challenges head-on is what makes a mere business owner a leader.

Starting a business can wreak havoc on the owner’s personal life. While all the above tips are necessary for success, taking care of yourself mentally and physically is also imperative. Exercise, sleep and diet play a central role in ensuring you implement these policies successfully. All of them drive attitude, motivation and relationships.

Successful CEOs tend to follow a structured, daily schedule of rising early, exercising, having snacks on hand for fuel and socializing many evenings of the week.

source: entrepreneur.com

What an startup entrepreneur should never miss while building a team?

Now a days all entrepreneurs are busy to build a great team, they look for a young passionate crew who not only has team leading quality but also can burn his/her energy to make the startup successful. But most of these young passionate crew lack one thing i.e. what is and how to follow a proper process? If not implemented in individual it slows down the growth of the company while their competitors do well.

I am wrapping it up for both entrepreneurs as well as employee. An entrepreneur should ask and an employee should be aware of the questions like;

What kind of process improvement have you done in your working tenure?

Possible Intention:

• To know if you understand in real sense, what process improvement is.
• To know if you have applied the theory, you learned, in practice.
• To know if you have a 'big picture' understanding from process point of view.

Insights:

• Read more to develop a sense of 'big picture' understanding on process improvement.
• Think of this process improvement more from your productivity perspective. 
• It may be very small improvement but it tells a lot about your project understanding and approach.

Example Answer:

In our project, we used to perform ad-hoc unit testing and completely missed testing of some peculiar cases like null, empty string for some methods. And this used to be discovered in integration testing of the system. When team lead found this, we did root cause analysis and decided to write unit test cases using framework like JUnit. We formed a small team of two members for proof of concept. Once it was successful, we used tools like eclipse to generate unit test cases. Later on it was adopted as best practice for the project in java. 

Anti pattern:

• Do not tell about some improvement which you have not been part of.
• first you need to be absolutely clear about the basic process followed and only then you can suggest something. The suggestion may not be very technology intensive etc., however it should have perceivable benefit which you can substantiate.

Interviewer's Interpretation:

• You have process understanding and orientation, plus experience of working on process driven culture.

Tell me 4-5 important things which you will carry if you have to stay below sea for a month.

Possible Intention:

• To know how creative you are.
• To know if you get baffled by a bouncer question.

Insights:

• Stay calm and use you creativity.
• Give a disclaimer that you are not expert or have any experience of staying below sea, so you are guessing.
• What is expected is, some logical guess work and not the right answer.

Example Answer:

Before giving the answer I would have really searched on Google for the kind of environment and gears required to stay below the sea.

Now let me guess, I need to carry following things:

• Diving gear.
• Sufficient supply of oxygen.
• Any medicines needed because of environment change.
• Food that will be appropriate.
• Equipment that I will need to survive, for e.g. a knife, pressure meter, compas etc.

Anti Pattern:

• Do not get baffled.
• Do not say you may not not be able to answer the question as it is not your area of expertise. Sometime the correctness of the answer is less important than the attempt.

Interviewer's interpretation:

• Logically good answer indicates your basic thinking is fine.
• Witty answer would show creativity.
• Any answer which is not right at least shows that you are willing to encounter problems even if you are not well-versed in it.

What qualities in you make you a team player?

The Importance of a Good Team Player.Teams are created for several reasons. They may need to deliver a one-time project, or work together on an ongoing basis. Either way, if you take advantage of a group's collective energy and creativity, the team can accomplish much more in less time.

Possible Intention:

• To judge whether you are a team player.
• To know if being a team player is important to you.
• To know if you respect your team and can contribute to its business.

Insights:

• This is a tricky question and interviewer may reject and turn down whatever answer you give.
• Imagine that if interviewer is one of your team member, then how you would support him/her.
• Listen calmly for opposite views which you do not agree. Be firm on your opinion and convey it assertively being adamant. Politely agree to disagree.

Example Answer:

• As a team member, I respect the opinion though I may not agree to it.
• I can communicate my views clearly and firmly.
• I support the team by doing some task which may not be directly assigned to me.
• I always take interest and guide my junior team members.
• I seek opinion and help from my senior team members when required.

If possible, give example incidents from your project to support your statement that you are a team player.

Anti Pattern:

• Do not ever give an impression that you will go all out to help others. That might compromise your own deliverables.
• Team player does not mean only helping others; its about seeking timely help.

Interview's Interpretation:

• Here, interviewer is judging your attitude towards team and people who you work with. Question is not about whether you are an independent performer or not. Question is how you would fit in culture of project team where you would never know everything.
• Any derogatory remark about team, manager or any person from the team gives an impression that you are not a team player and find it difficult to accommodate.

7 secrets to ace your job interview.

Most advice on acing a job interview is about memorising answers to an endless number of possible questions. And there, we've got a fundamental problem. Because the interview is not an exam; it's a discussion to establish if you are competent, motivated and trustworthy.Do you want to win your dream job? We have some radically different advice for you. Are they secrets? Well, we don't know, but, for sure, they are tips based on our experience and research:

      

1. Prepare, don't just show up:

Interviews are not walk-ins. Always know the role you are applying for and the company you will be interviewing with. What business are they in, how do they make money, and how will hiring you make a difference to them?

 2. First impressions count: 

From the time you keep to the clothes you wear, from your composure on arrival to the way you greet security in the lobby; it's best to assume that all of this is being observed. Don't let yourself down. Start on a professional note.

     

3. Tell your story, furnish evidence:

The interview is your opportunity to show why you should be hired. So, come prepared to talk about your biggest achievements and highlights of your professional journey. How are they relevant to the new job? How do they put you above what the rest of the herd can do?

     

4. Even freshers have experience: 

If you are fresh out of university with no job experience, talk about what worked well for you in coursework and internships, the experiences that have shaped you this far and the lessons learned. Forget the myth that you have no experience worth talking about.

     

5. Leadership skills matter: 

Companies are looking for a good match and for people who have the potential for bigger things. If the role they are trying to fill today does not exist tomorrow, will they still have a need for you? Can today's junior analyst be the leader of the business unit in eight years' time? What you know doesn't matter as much as how you work. Be ready to discuss teamwork, your ability to influence and inspire, and what keeps you going each and every day.

    

 6. An interview is not a one way: 

Use the interview to get to know the company better. Is their work culture aligned with what matters to you? Is this the right organisation for you at the stage of life you find yourself in? If you are a young parent, a 24x7 work culture might not exactly be what you are looking for. Remember that a lot of your motivation and happiness will come from the company you join.

    

 7. Rejection is part of the game: 

For all the work that you put in and the advice we can provide, interviewing is still a process loaded with unknowns. If an opportunity does not open up, take it in your stride.Maybe you didn't fit the bill, maybe the position was already spoken for, or the budget disappeared. The truth will never come out. Don't let a rejection bring you down, but learn what you can and keep going.

Think about these tips, take your time and prepare how you will convey your message. Right through your professional journey, whether you are in the final days of your notice period or in the first weeks of your new job, nurture your personal brand. How do you want people to talk about you in your absence, what would you like them to say? Careers are marathons; the interview is just an intermediate step.

Ref: TOI

What do you like about current job?

Possible Intention:

• To know what kind of interest and passion you work with in current job.
• To know whether you have generally a cribbing attitude.

Insights:

• Keep in mind that you are going to leave this current job. Do not over glorify what you like.
• Introspect and keep this answer ready. There is definitely something you like about your current job, but you may have ignored it until now.

Example Answer:

1. I was involved in projects on testing of finance and healthcare related application. As I saw curious about financial markets, working on the financial project was fun. Working on different business domains and involvement in the load testing of production ready system, exposure to new testing was really exciting for me.
2. I am working on GBD group. Lot of security configuration, server hardening, technologies such as virtualization are part of regular work. It is really exciting to work with a new set of servers, provisioning and making the network more secure from hacking attempts.
3. I am working on .NET technology project. In the group there are technology discussion on design, architecture and deployment. Every week freshers like me, are supposed to research a topic and present how that technology can be used. This environment is very conductive for learning and it helps us to learn from each other.

Anti Pattern:

• "Nothing" is the worst answer. Since there are chances that this might happen in new job also.
• Do not talk about a specific person or situation which is peculiar to your previous job. If the new organization cannot provide what you like then your performance might be affected.

Interviewer's Interpretation:

• Something arbitrary irrelevant answer indicates you are not appreciative of good things.
• Non-enthusiastic answer shows cribbing attitude. It will be a "task" to motivate you.
• In the new job you would be happy about certain things and that would keep you motivated.

Why did you quit your last job so early?

Possible Intention:

• To know the reason for your job switch.
• To check if you are just a mercenary who works for whoever pays more.
• To know your experience that made you leave the previous job.

Insights:

• Be ready with a convincing answer. The interviewer is trying to judge whether to hire you or not, if you have left your previous job after a very short stint.
• Have a list of reasons which do not say bad things about your previous employer.
• If you have had disagreement with your previous employer, do not wash dirty laundry in public.
• Do not give a flippant reply. It shows that you are not a responsible person and do not take your job seriously.

Example Answers:

1. I had to leave in a very short period due to some family problems and continuing my job was not possible. Since I had not completed my probation, getting leave was difficult, when my family needed me the most. But I assure you that nothing of this sort will happen again now since the problem has been sorted out.
2. I had few disagreements with my manager in the earlier employment, and as I could not make compromise with my core believes, I thought it would be a good idea to seek out like-minded people who can foster those believes.
3. There was a gap between what I do with my life and what the organization needed, so rather than having a disturbance in my personal life as well as work envirnment, I decided to approach people with same vision as mine.

Anti Pattern:

• Do not say left because you did not like the work environment or the project that you were assigned. It may indicate that you are not adaptable.
• Do not say that you did not like working at the earlier organization and hence left the job.
• Do not elaborate and dwell on the problem you might have faced earlier.
• Do not portray yourself as a victim.

Interviewer's Interpretation:

• The interviewer may appreciate you honesty and forthrightness as long as you can justify what you core beliefs are.
• The interviewer will understand that you have the courage to take strong decision, but not out of malice.
• That you are a sincere, thoughtful and responsible person who is capable of taking the right decisions,