My Philosophy

I made my career working in startups — all the way from IT services to digital marketing to advertising tech. I built digital products, managed finances, did sales, serviced clients and fostered great teams. Along the way, I would find myself running into problems that appeared simple but were actually quite complex when put in a specific context.

There is a real need for structured problem solving for founders of early stage companies. The need is not to “get answers” in the first order, but also to look at second and third order consequences of the decisions you take today.

The need is to systematically solve these problems and minimise idiosyncratic risk. The need is to cut the noise and keep the signal.

I offer untemplatised consults to the founders that I work with. When I'm working with you, I am thinking about your problems as a founder. I'm thinking about whether I have run into those problems as a founder myself? Have any of my clients had similar worries? And how do we think through solving those problems systematically, as opposed to going a quick fix way.

I look at these problems in first principles and search for solutions in that show up in second order. Most people fail at losing weight because they are trying to lose weight. Most people who succeed in losing weight realise that it is a byproduct of living a systematically healthy lifestyle.

• No Bullshit, no sugarcoats. I call a spade a spade.

• Part of my job of working with you is to disagree with you.

• I sign up for assignments where I can add real and tangible value.

• I value your time and I appreciate the reciprocity.

• I don't work with assholes.

This is so that I am on my efficient frontier while I'm working with you. I'm thinking about your problems not just when I'm on my desk, but also when I'm on my morning walks or when having my coffee, or when I'm watching Netflix.

The only time I am not thinking about your problems is when I am thinking about the problems of the other founder I am working with.

(Or when I'm thinking about my own problems.)

Let's talk about peaches and lemons. There are a ton of indie consultants out there — each worth her or his salt, but everyone is operating at different efficiencies. I know I am a peach among the lemons, but you, the reader, cannot be sure of that, can you?

When price becomes the only differentiator for a consultant, s/he has to optimise for her/his time to money ratio. This leads to a trade-off in quality or quantity. Consultants will either sell templated packages, or will take up more assignments than they can add value in. Marketplaces have a lowest-bidder-wins model. This model penalises the good consultants because there are a lot of suboptimal ones also present in the same marketplace.

The customer can only know whether a consultant is worth her/his salt is when they hear about the consultant from someone they trust. This is usually a friend, colleague, client or someone who has a credibility with the customer.

And so, you won't find me advertising my services anywhere. You'll not find me selling consulting packages on marketplaces. You'll not find me spending any time on negotiating my prices.

• First call with founders

• Pitch and sales deck feedback

• Introductions with investors, CEOs, CTOs, Product Managers in my network

• Referrals of good recruitment candidates, service providers, vendors

• pro bono consults with founders who have insufficient cash flows but have a willingness to give back to the founders' community

My retainer is of 3 months or longer until a set of specific objectives are accomplished. These objectives can be MVP launch, Product Market Fit, User Acquisition, Fundraising etc.

For short term projects, I do 1-1 consults over chai (20 minutes), vada pav (45 minutes), or a wholesome brunch (90 minutes) altogether.