Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Lesson # 47: Thinking Small Infinitely Small

There's a reason why most startups fail and it doesn't have to do with the economic crisis or over priced IPO's more often than not it's a bad idea and the traditional thought of thinking BIG.

So why is thinking BIG so bad for an individual, or a startup or a company?

Let's first understand the fundamental difference between thinking big and thinking long term.

Quite clearly thinking big is going to be different for every individual or company as it's completely relative. So for a 20 year old it's probably thinking about making a million dollars and retiring at the earliest whereas for a tech startup the idea is going to be about going on to launch their IPO and probably become the next Apple or Microsoft.

In contrast, thinking long term for the same individual is going to be about saving money every single day for the next few years so that ten years down the line he/she has those million dollars to retire. Similarly, for a startup it's going to be about developing sustainable products that will ensure that it will not run out of steam in roughly six to eight months and that probably in a few years time it is able to achieve that target of establishing itself as a successful company in comparison to both apple and microsoft.


The following having been defined perhaps it should be understood now that it is essential to think small and think Long.


There's a reason why an Apple product is perfect in every single sense. Right from the edges to the smooth transition between applications to the flawless touch sensitivity it offers. Similarly, there's a reason why each and every Lindt bar tastes the same, looks the same and is packed the same throughout the world. The beauty lies in each of these brands being able to think small.


Imagine a scenario where you say "I wanna be a millionaire". Brilliant, Perfect, What a thought. Now imagine leaving lose change in your pocket here and there. Or Imagine leaving about five rupees a day for say sixty years that amounts to 1,09,500. That's a whole lot of change and a whole lot of money you might never see. Or imagine buying full priced books when you can get them on heavy discounts on the internet. Do you still feel that it makes sense? What if on your death bed you realize you made exactly 98,90,500 and that you could have made a Crore had you not let go of all that loose change. The basic idea is to think small.

What if you buy an insurance policy and not read the fine print and suddenly when you need that money you curse yourself for not reading the finer print or as in this case thinking of the smaller things.

They say (And they are a bunch of idiots) that take care of the small things and the big things will fall into place. Perhaps it's the other way around.

On behalf of Doodle inc
(Udit Sabharwal)