How to pick a startup idea / 5 years of Mishmi Takin
Every time I talk about entrepreneurship, I get this question, ‘Kapil, Entrepreneurship sounds great and I want to start but I get too many ideas. I don’t know which one of the ideas to start with. How should I pick?’. It is a valid question and as usual, there are many ways to skin this cat. However, I am a simple guy and look at things in simple ways. So, here is my take on this.
If there is one thing which can be said about entrepreneurship, it is that it is hard. You invariably struggle and go through tough times and have to stick with it. Being able to persevere through tough times is a defining characteristic for an entrepreneur. Because of this, I often compare entrepreneurship with love. Falling in love is easy, saying ‘I love you’ is easy. But it is the follow through, doing the small things day in and day out which your commitment demands, that is hard. How you meet your commitments when the initial rush of falling in love is long gone is the true test of love. Obviously, there are great days but often you suffer and endure because you love.
Just like love, entrepreneurship does not accept half measures and half-hearted attempts. It demands the complete you. A poet once famously wrote, ‘ये इश्क़ नहीं आसां इतना तो समझ लीजे, इक आग का दरिया है और डूब के जाना है’. Loosely translated as, ‘This love is not easy, please understand. It is a river of fire and you have to drown to get through’. The operative word to note here is ‘drown’. This is not a river you swim through, rather you drown in it to get to the other side.
To answer my initial question, you pick an idea to work upon just like the way you pick a partner for a long-term relationship. You do not necessarily go for the hottest guy or gal in town or the most popular or the richest, rather you go for someone who moves you and means something to you and whose fundamental values align with yours. Similarly, you don’t necessarily go for the latest trending idea or the one easiest to raise money for. Rather, you pick an idea which means something to you, something which makes you emotional. That emotion is what will eventually get you through the dark, lonely nights.
In our modern society, emotions often get a bad rap. We are constantly told to remove emotions from our decision making. But, as the movie ‘Blade Runner’ postulated, emotions are what make us human. Any machine can think logically but only humans can make the subjective value judgements based on emotions. In my humble opinion, a person who cannot process emotions is as flawed as one who can not think. Nothing great is ever achieved without harnessing the power of emotion.
For me personally, that emotion comes from my daughter and my love for nature. 5 years ago, in March 2014, my daughter was born and one week after her birth, I resigned from my job. Everyone tells their children to chase their dreams but I wanted to show my daughter by personal example what that statement really means. I wanted to build something which one day I could hand over to her. That journey has become Mishmi Takin. At its core, Mishmi Takin is not just about a product, a boot or a jacket, it is about my quest to learn how to live and to love and to pass it on to my daughter. It has been a joy to see both Mishmi Takin and my daughter grow up at the same time. My daughter loves paramedics, and, in her mind, she already runs a new business unit – Mishmi Takin Rescue Services!
Along with my daughter, this month effectively marks 5 years of Mishmi Takin. I want to thank you for supporting Mishmi Takin through its first 5 years and to welcome you as we embark upon the next 5.
To Mishmi Takin – Powered by Emotion, and to love and all other emotions which make us human.
Thanks,
Kapil
P:S - To celebrate 5 years of Mishmi Takin, we are offering a 25% off promo on our website. You can use the following code 'MISHMI@5' and avail of the promo. We just received our Kameng inventory and are receiving Jampui boot inventory this month. So, both are now available. The promo will last till April end. When you get a moment, check us out. For our Indian customers, the promo is available in the retail stores as well.
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