The Playbook

Search for core “truth”

Persist in seeking the truth irrespective of confrontation and resistance. Use logic and facts to build your case and gain comfort with unpopular stances. Stand your ground until convinced otherwise. Judgments on importance of discussions and arguments are both arbitrary and invalid. There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist -- it is the fashionable nonconformist (Ayn)
Challenge assumptions and prevailing practices, but with evidence
When faced with problems, identify and resolve root causes. Go beyond treating symptoms

There is no substitute for execution. Upon project conception, seize ownership through implementation and relentlessly drive for completion. Pure determination. No excuses. No bullshit. Repeat.

Own projects, own work, own tasks and own mistakes. Act as an owner of the company would because you most likely are. Think like an owner would. Do as an owner does.

First-in, last-out. Day-in, day-out. This is not the refuge for those seeking worklife balance. Builders and creators discover their life’s work through what is being built not in what is being spent. Work ethic eliminates fear.

Pushing a problem without a recommendation for solution is a surrender. It displays apathetic intellectual rigor that at the worst indicates lack of faith in self-ability and is at best disrespectful to fellow colleagues.

Winning is single best predictor when it comes to the creation of leaders. These leaders have innate intuition for maximizing gains, expanding advantages, clearing obstacles and creating favorable conditions at all times with the singular objective of being the best in any chosen field.

In any operational environment where time is a constraint for oneself while serving as an advantage for opposing elements, the most obvious pathway to success is a compressed learning curve. Put another way, rapid learning has the bi-fold effect of short-cutting experience while simultaneously accelerating the application of these lessons for future solutions.

Differing perspectives and healthy dissent are important generators of nonlinear thought processes.

Innovation is the byproduct of experiments run in conjunction with innumerable iterations. Without deep interest or curiosity, the persistence to iterate would simply be non-existent.

Curiosity is more than being interested in your work or the market. It is going beyond your zone of comfort and skill to learn and contribute to domains outside your own

Everyone should build, create and ship products whether offline/online constantly. Ship the most basic product addressing a deep paint point and build.

This is a state of mind that usually comes from self-belief and conviction. Others should feel this when working with you. That you will do what you say and that it will be done no matter how daunting the task may seem.

Generational companies are built by taking on challenging task and doing them well. Avoid doing multiple easy things and focus on solving large hard problems address user pain points. Doing hard things and doing them well builds the company competency in the short run and adds to the moat in the long run.

Speed is the only moat early-stage startups have. All that matters is growth. It is critical to build, receive user feedback and rebuild. The quicker this is done, the more iterations we are able to run and the faster we can get to a product that our users love. If you conceptualise an experiment or project, execute it. Do not spend time waiting for approvals or suggestions or instructions. Fail fast and reiterate. Note that with speed, there will be inefficiency and waste. The team should be able to honestly answer what growth was driven by each rupee wasted. Do not let yourself become complacent to burn to a point where it no longer drives enough growth.