Successful startups require three critical elements: validating that the idea solves a real-world problem with actual market demand, implementing strict cost management during initial years, and building a team with complementary skills and aligned vision rather than just friends or similar personalities; founders should hire for vision and train for skills, avoid rushing to scale before validating the concept, and seek funding only after proving market acceptance with paying customers.
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From 50 to 500 Employees! - Building a Multi Crore Company | Ep-2Added:
He is the CTO and COO of CS Soft Solutions, which is a multi-crore company related to IT and software based in Mohali.
He has been associated with the company since its inception [music] years and has built the company when there was just 50 employees and now it has 500 employees. It has served 25 plus countries and given solutions ranging across the world.
He is the best person who can guide us related to startups. So, we will discuss multiple aspects related to this.
So, let me introduce our guest, Mr. Vajinder Pal sir.
Job versus startups.
So, sir, recently a a by a podcast with Nikhil Kamath had famously said he said other people at the moment we got that though it's a waste.
Then then there are a lot of people say like BTech about there are no jobs in the market. In my personal opinion, colleges are dead.
If you are 25 and going to MBA college today, you must be some kind of idiot.
But if you really want to create something, you know, generational wealth, then definitely startup is something you can do. There are around 1.5 lakh startups, out of which 90% fail within 5 years.
Or even even new hires as well.
Initially, we should, you know, hire for the vision and, you know, train for the skills.
There were five people, then eventually 50 people, and now it's a team of 500 people, sir. So, firstly, sir, we I would like to understand, sir, how this human resource talent acquisition is taken up. What are the prospects? What are the key things which any hiring company sees before they hire anyone?
Funding Without funding survive concept.
We decide Kiss a lady.
What company had done with the great equal?
Just you start up through what the struggle starts keep playing the punch lines at this place.
>> [music] >> Start up with a little bit of glamorization in the current scenarios.
Multiple shows Shark Tank India.
Multiple shows just say that people love it. I personally also love it. Everyone is interested in seeing how these things are source of motivation also. But the glamorization with the every third fourth person is like he have a founder the tag of founder they need. If you love your coffee in the morning with the family and you know want to spend your you know beautiful weekends with your family and friends, don't forget about the startup. Hello and welcome to Story Stitch Digital. So, today we are having our second podcast.
And the topic of podcast today is startups. Startups coffee selling notions in market.
Guess the startups banana get problems with the startups may entrepreneurship make a ticket at the end.
So, we will discuss all integrity related to it.
Before we start this podcast, when we are discussing about startups, let me quote a famous person, Mr. Ratan Tata, who famously said that he doesn't take successful decisions. He takes decisions and make them successful.
So So going ahead We have a person I'll give you a brief introduction.
He is the CTO and COO of CS Soft Solutions which is a multi-crore company related to IT and software based in Mohali.
He has been associated with the company since its inception years and has built the company when there was just 50 employees and now it has 500 employees.
It has served 25 plus countries and given solutions ranging across the world.
So He is the best person who can guide us related to startups. So we will discuss multiple aspects related to this.
So let me introduce our guest Mr. Vajinder Pal sir. Welcome, sir.
>> Hi, good morning.
>> Hello, sir. So sir will be guiding us through various utilities.
This is probably because of the glamorization.
Probably But is startup a really easy ball game?
So sir, first of all, welcome to the podcast.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Uh sir first question to have a more exciting to see the big Uh could be layman person could you Uh the cut would be a John name job versus startups >> [laughter] >> Job career your startup career could be startup career about glamorized season here jobs career could be multiple factors here.
>> I both suits different personalities.
Right.
If you want to enjoy I might be making some controversial statements if that's okay with you.
>> Yes, sir.
>> If you want to really enjoy your life, you know, in early year you want a life balance as well, you know, then go for a job.
>> No.
>> But if you really want to create something, you know, generational wealth, then definitely startup is something you can do.
And another thing is that what you enjoy most.
>> Sir.
>> Right. If you enjoy whatever the startup idea you have, then definitely you need not to work a winner for a single day because what you are doing is a hobby.
And if you are converting that hobby to something credible, something real world uh problem solution, then definitely your startup would be successful. So, it's all together different uh for every personality, but startup have its own charm. To be honest, you know, that you work for initial few years, uh then you definitely create something and you can always associate with that that yes, this is a sense of achievement on my side. Job may or may not give you that kind of uh satisfaction.
>> Sir, sir.
So, sir, as uh you have rightly pointed out, uh startup has its own charm. Uh there are certain stats that I would like to quote, uh among which one says that uh there are around 1.5 lakh startups, out of which 90% fail within 5 years.
Only 10% of it is able to sustain beyond a 5 years gap.
So, why is that so, sir? What is the difficulty which startup face in its initial days?
>> Amazing question, but a little tricky as well.
>> Sir, sir.
>> But yes, there are some safeguards which we need to take in in a startup journey.
First of all, what is your reason for starting the startup or starting something of your own?
Whether it's just a kind of fancy word that everyone is doing startup, let me I need to be an entrepreneur and let's do that entrepreneurship. If that's that's your thing and that's why you are entering into that, that might not be the right reason.
So, typically, the three things which usually people, you know, miss into the startup.
Whatever the startup idea you have, whether it's real resolving real-world problem or not, that is the biggest catch.
If it's just for the sake of doing startup, we are doing startup and we haven't validated the idea whether it's solving the real-world problem or not, whether there would be real takers of those that startup or the product or the service offering, then [snorts] that make a lot of sense to, you know, jump into that. If not, then you need to think otherwise. Right? Second one is cost management. Right. Initially, you may have access to the infinite, you know, funding or maybe self-funded or some VCs are there or there are a lot of other advisers as well or you who are willing to, you know, put on money onto that as well.
How tightly you can control that kind of spending in initial years when when you are actually validating your idea, you are going to the market and, you know, finding it out whether the real takers of your product or the service offerings are there or not, then you need to take a control of your funding at that time.
Third very crucial aspect, who you are bringing on board with you. That means team building.
So, whatever the startup idea it is, whether the kind of team is just your friends and you are keeping them just because you know them and you know or they are very impressive and that's why you are bringing him and may or may not be kind of contributing to the product idea.
Or maybe, you know, you are replicating the same same minded or similar kind of personalities as well as the skill set uh into the team or the founder teams, then definitely they will they may or may not add value to the kind of startup.
Ideal team is the perfect mix. The one with the energy or the kind of India who is the driving force. Another who do have the grounded approach, who can, you know, control your budget, you can who can control the kind of timing of your spendings as well and decide that, okay, what spendings we can avoid and what spendings are very much necessary.
Whether it's right time to scale or burn kind of funds onto the scale without validating the idea whether its acceptability is there or how how we are behaving at whether we are going back to the chalkboard as well and re inventing what we have done. So, that person is critical critically important. So, team composition is very as we said in any startup or even even new hires as well, initially, we should, you know, hire for the vision and, you know, train for the skills.
>> Right, sir.
>> So, that we can do.
>> Right, sir.
>> So, these are the three major thing which I think that the startup if they they kind of take a tight control over there, that would make a lot of difference.
>> Right, sir.
So, sir, as you have highlighted the requirement of good foundation human resource people initially.
Uh since you were with CS Soft since since its inception days.
So, initially there were as you had we were discussing before also, there were five people, then eventually 50 people, and now it's a team of 500 people, sir.
So, firstly, sir, we I would like to understand, sir, how [snorts] this human resource uh talent acquisition is uh taken up. What are the prospects? What are the key things which any hiring company sees before they hire anyone?
And how how important are they in in building a startup, sir?
>> No, again, uh for the startup as well, like uh the second point which I mentioned that startup need to be take care of the control of the budget as well.
And when we say the control of the budget, what does it mean? That don't bring in the load of liabilities with you at the initial years.
Even though the kind of uh long-term commitments, if you are making long-term financial commitment, whether that how the idea would roll out, you are not dis- sure about that, then if you can avoid that, and instead you can pay on the kind of contract basis or something like that. Do that. So, the hiring in the startup are two type of hirings. I I I'll I'll associate that with hiring. One is the founder members, right? Right?
The [clears throat] founding team.
That is the kind of selection that when when we are bringing on the board as well, that those would be the permanent members, and that the criteria for them is different.
Then the founding team uh other than the founding team, there is the employees as well, employee hirings. Initially, uh we usually uh go with the kind of contractors or the contractor mode, and whosoever or the kind of performance-based as well. And whosoever fits well, then definitely we will bring them board uh for the vision as well. So, we see that the one person might be kind of very good technically, but may he may or may not be aligned with the company vision as well. So, he may be contributing, he may not be contributing at later stage. So, we need to be a little careful on that as well.
So, as we we grow as a business, we keep on changing our strategies on hiring as well. And as the demand occurs.
>> Right, sir. So, sir, you have mentioned about the funding concept.
>> Yeah.
>> Here also, there is one stat which says that in India uh VC funding has recently dropped by 17% and seed funding also by 30%. So, is there a too much of a rush, sir, that founders initial days may be both jaldi ja rahe funding uthane ke liye and people jo funders funding persons hai woh reject kar rahe. Toh sir, yeh funding kab lena chahiye and how how is it impactful in the growth of business, sir?
>> Uh funding uh obviously kisi business bhi business ke liye uski lifeline hai.
Without funding survive nahi kar sakta.
Yeh decide karna ki woh funding pehli baat kis se leni hai aur kab leni hai dono hi bade critical stage hai. Theek hai na?
Kab leni hai se bhi bajaye kis se leni hai yeh bahut zyada important hai.
Right?
Whether the person you are bringing in the funding will contribute other than the funding as well.
Or it's just funding and not contributing from the skill perspective or the market outreach perspective or his experience perspective. That is the critical question to answer.
Right?
So, agar let's assume iska best tarika answer karne ka yeh hoga ki agar mujhe ek startup jaise jo CS Soft mein hum karte bhi hai. Toh hamara one line of business yeh hai ki hum initial ideas jo conceptual ideas hote hai uske concept se market ready product banate hai.
Toh hamare paas both sides Sir.
Mhm.
Then definitely Sir.
It's most of the time it's like that they will interfere into your uh you know, creative freedom or you know, your direction of the company as well.
Sir.
Mhm.
If you are not able to or if you are not convinced by with your idea that you want to put your own money into that business, how you are expecting the other person to bring in his own money?
Right. Right.
Sir.
Stage is that why we need funding once the idea is market ready, market accepted, or the first initial takers are there and you know, you have proven your concept.
Then that would be the right stage to scale it. But that also in a gradual way. Don't rush into this. Don't rush that that okay, I'll I'll I'll create a unicorn within a 6 months.
So the don't don't fall for those traps. So that's my advice.
>> Should I say right right? So sir, you had pointed out about um delivery of services.
Uh jab me up to bath karate personally.
Sir, you had shared one beautiful line where you mentioned that clients at initial level ask for a guarantee. So up to bath at the key there is no guarantee in a person. The guarantee should be in a process.
>> But that was offline discussion. Why why you are bringing it?
>> [laughter] >> But interesting one.
>> So it's it's a learning sir. It's a learning for all all people key process may guarantee on a chain. So lot of people sir, they struggle to get their initial first 5 10 clients. Jesse start up through what the struggle starts keep the punch clients the 10 clients to where jump in your founders your entrepreneurs you have to stuck cut guys only up to catch a solution like a sir.
>> Go back to chalkboard.
>> So >> What does it mean?
If you are not able to bring the first five customer, that means your market your market research or your product or your service offering is not validated by the market.
Don't go for the initial marketing automation or like anyone can advise you. Okay, I can bring in you know, good customer base for you. I'll I'll do these marketing activities and they will bring in these pipelines and we will create funnels and we will do some automation for them. Don't don't go for that.
>> So >> When you are starting a business, if you are convinced and conviction have the conviction that yes, this business would work. You will automatically have at least five to 10 ready customer the paying customer.
Another thing, there is a trap.
What trap it is?
Don't fall in the trap. Okay, the those initial customer five two are my family members. Okay, three are my good friends.
Right? And I do have the five and I I cleared that you know the threshold.
Non-paying customers will give you very polite feedback. That will not solve the purpose for initial sorry for to say that.
Whereas the paying customer the condition is the first five customer who are taking your idea or taking your product or the service should be the paying one. And whosoever is paying will give you a very hard time, very tough time to give you feedback. He will ruthless, you know, giving the feedback and that will improvise that will improve your product or service offering.
So that's my advice. Bring in the customer and this is the beautiful way to kind of validate your product or the service offering.
If it's just a tagline, don't go for it.
Please don't go for it. So, if you are looking for the tagline that okay, Mr. So-and-so or Mr. Vijender Pal Singh is a founder of this so-and-so company or Pratyush is founder for so-and-so company, then that tagline will not help you. Like you have given the data, then you may not survive initial five, forget about five years. Initial one year.
>> year.
>> Right?
>> Right, sir.
>> If you love your coffee in the morning with the family and you know want to spend your you know beautiful weekends with your family and friends, don't forget about the startup.
>> [laughter] >> Right?
>> Right, sir.
>> Startup require a lot of energy and passion as well. That the passion which actually force you to work over the weekends as well. Work whole night as well if needed be. And there is a not a single sign of tiring or the tiredness at your face.
Whenever your family is actually looking at you, they are saying bubbling, joying, enjoying the person. That means you are into right track. That means whatever you are working, whatever the startup you are working is actually you are driven by the passion.
>> Sir.
>> So, that's that's the trick.
>> Sir. Sir.
>> Yeah.
>> Right, sir.
>> So, if you love your initial, love your evenings, then go for the job. Don't go for the founder. But yes, if you really really passionate about your idea. And another catch as well, as mentioned, that passion also need to be validated by the external parties.
>> Sir.
>> Not about yourself only.
>> Sir.
>> Right? I might be passionate about, you know, badminton.
>> Sir.
>> Then if I take the kind of business out of or or maybe skiing and I'm opening a skiing resort in India, >> Sir.
>> then you know how much taker rate there might be, right? So, >> So, it should be the passion.
>> Passion >> validated.
>> Validated.
>> Be logical.
>> Sir.
>> Don't don't, you know, blindly jump into that. Okay, that Okay, I'm passionate.
Good.
Validation, market validation? No, sorry.
>> Right.
>> Have the funding? Have the persistence?
Have the courage to be kind of jobless for next 3 years?
>> Sir.
>> Maybe paying very less to yourself?
>> Sir.
>> And you are okay with that? Your family is okay with that? Go for it.
>> Right, sir.
>> Sky is the limit in that case.
>> Right, sir, right.
So, uh sir, coming to uh the AI uh models.
I mean, market is booming in terms of artificial intelligence. Lot of debates happening. Uh employees are getting laid off. Um people are uh you know, reducing their workforce.
>> Yeah.
>> But on a contrary, AI startups uh have seen a 600 million rise >> Right.
>> uh in recent times.
>> Right.
>> So, AI startups are booming. And simultaneously, a lot of layoffs are happening in terms of human resource.
>> Right.
>> So, sir, when a company like yours, when you hire, as you are also the CEO of the company, when you guys look at hiring, do you see the AI skills in a person? Like, how how do you judge them? And also, sir, how do you integrate AI in in your day-to-day activities, sir?
>> AI is a new, uh you know, revolution, >> Sir.
>> I must say. There is no denying that.
And if someone is saying, "No, AI is a hype." Or "This will No, it's not." It's it's a reality. It's harsh truth as well. But we need to look at that, that what kind of job AI is replacing.
>> Sir.
>> What kind of things which you AI is taking. That's very critical to look at.
>> Right, sir.
>> Right. Original thinker will always be in demand.
>> Mhm.
>> Experience cannot be replaced. Maybe kind of, you know, the experience of the kind of situation AI is still in future what would happen like, you know, there is always a new tool coming up whenever you are wake up you you know that that awkward day. Uh the landscape for the AI tools has changed.
Right? Like every immediate Yeah, Japan up simple follow current given uh set of instructions to just a developer. So, it's the replace going over here developer. Right? Reason being the developer become similar.
Right? Joe could say uh subject matter expert many have. Yeah, could say concept you need to decide get by the whatever I'm building whether it will solve the client's problem or not.
Right? Those developers not the one who are original thinkers.
Right? So, I'm being just AI Yeah, just obviously AI skills are like whenever we are hiring new guys we are looking for the AI skills, but what kind of hiring we are making who are either AI experts and who are subject matter expert with the exposure of AI tools as well. So, that's the hiring which we are doing and market is actually evolving based upon that as well.
They are rightly into the correction phase I must say. Right? There were certain jobs which they were doing just kind of mundane tasks as well. The initially the the kind of AI is replacing and eventually they are coming into the critical and the creative roles as well and AI is doing beautiful things about that as well.
Saving the time as well. Then then now the boom is because AI help the developers to deliver more and beautiful and stable products than kind of a human developers were doing and much quickly.
>> Right, sir.
>> So, there you can say sir that AI is coming out hard, sir. In the very near future.
>> Sir.
>> There's no denying that.
>> Sir, sir. So, uh sir recently it's a waste.
Uh then then there are a lot of people say key like BTech karne ke baad, you know, there are no jobs in the market.
It has become BTech kar rahe hai. That's a routine thing and going to the job circle.
Kaam kar rahe sir. To sir as a companies top management Aap sir kya suggest karte ho sir to the young youth, sir? What what how should they define their career? How should they choose it?
>> Again, it's it's applicable on the person that whether he's passionate First the kind of education he he's taking. And what is what is the force behind it?
Whether they are doing those education just for the kind of looking okay everyone is doing engineering and I need to do engineering whether I like the coding or not. Whether I like the conceptualization of the idea or not.
Still they are into the engineering field. I don't like people I I'm not a good people manager, right? If if someone is say and he is doing MBA into this HR then what kind of HR he would be?
Right? I don't like kind of So, first thing which I'll look into the person is whether the kind of his education is in line with the personal personality traits or not.
Right? If that's there and definitely he will do wonders. If not, then I'm not sure what kind of developers Again, vision is very important.
>> So, sir it should be driven by vision, passion and strategic planning.
>> Strategic planning. Right, right, sir.
Uh sir um coming to the end of our podcast.
Uh again, one stat I would like to quote. Uh tier one cities tier one cities you say Bangalore, Delhi uh they have more unicorns as compared to tier two or tier three cities, sir. To other Google which banana has an entrepreneurship in general and if they want to you know grow their company, is it really necessary to be in this tier one cities or they can you know tier two or three cities also have their own advantages of company itself based in Mohali, Chandigarh. Uh to care advantage or disadvantage sector is a scenario may Okay, uh better question to you have key for the startup ecosystem whether we should go for the tier one or tier two. There are multiple criteria based upon which we can say that where we would be operating from.
Uh Initial startup killing a cheese you bought important with you what would you connections?
Right, networking.
So Right connection, finding the right talent as well. That's so wherever that right talent is there then definitely you should go for there, right? We jump out here tight uh one city car to have uh clear advantage built up here but at the same time tier one cities or these kind of market job market to already bought your the exploit to key here or bought your the exposure here they do have their own challenges. So Right, like uh employee retention You know that every average employee retention into those company is just kind of one year or even lesser than that. Whereas a tier two cities offer better employee uh stability as well as the retention and work-life balance as for employees as well. Like Chandigarh, it's it's coming up very well.
You name a big firms which which are going to the instead of, you know, the going for the tier one cities, they are going moving towards tier two cities as well. There are recent reports regarding that as well. I can I can give you offline as well on those report references as well.
That the kind of businesses are moving towards tier two cities for those advantages.
Uh another is the cost advantage.
So, initially, depending upon the product or the service offering you are giving, how much I I I already mentioned that the cost control or that kind of budget control is very critical initial year for the startup as well. If you go into the tier one cities, then definitely you will burn a lot of cash so quickly.
Tier two city will give you that price advantage.
And from the employee perspective as well, employee stability wise as well.
>> So, both have their own own pros and cons.
>> It it basically the that would be better if we exemplify it with the kind of business. If you give me example, okay, what about this kind of business?
Whether it will survive on to the tier one city or tier two city, then I'll I'll be in a better position to comment on that.
>> Right. Right. So, so it's business-centric and also has its own pros and cons.
>> Yes. Yes.
>> Sir, since you mentioned about network, I I famously remember a quote by Warren Buffett. He had said that your net worth is your network.
>> Exactly.
>> So, jaha pe bhi network banta hai, sir, it's better ki we start developing from there, sir.
>> Right.
>> So, sir, the last question from uh our side, sir. We have had an elaborate discussion related to startups, found founders, kaise karna hai, everything mostly we have covered.
Uh last question is a little bit philosophical. Uh thoda sa matlab I would like to uh take you back probably some years behind jaha pe be if you are 25 currently.
As a young 25 years old if you had to come up as a founder or entrepreneur or you have to chalk out your entire road map in your career.
What would that be, sir?
>> Wow, amazing.
>> [laughter] >> As as 25 years, I'll I'll try to you know hire people based upon their vision.
Right?
And I'll be quick in taking decisions as well.
One thing uh I I must say that I want to change from my past is that we waited for things to work for a very long time. Wherever if if you think that yes, we are failing, fail it very fast. And don't waste time on that. Take the decision.
Take the decision very quickly.
Don't linger it on. Right? Don't expect that okay, things will work automatically. That's that's the one thing I must say is we we need to be very focused on. And another thing is don't don't just jump on to the one idea that okay, the Another thing, don't try to do multiple things at a single time. Instead, if I need to restart something, I'll start something one very niche area.
Work on it.
Bring it to the success.
And then you know, expand around that.
Scale it around that. Instead of doing multiple right things, I'll try to do one right thing and you know skip rest of them.
That's that's >> Right, sir. That's really wonderful, sir. So, sir, first of all, a heartful thank you because you shared so much insights about your long career.
And I'm very hopeful that our audience will get to learn a lot of things. And I hope all all the queries related to startup, entrepreneurship, building a career in this field has been answered.
Uh I I am very sure key Joe sir has experience shared here for anyone, any young person including me. Uh we can learn a lot of things. Like instead of making the mistakes ourselves, we can probably learn from the seniors and you know go ahead in the curve. So, that was a wonderful insights from sir. And please do let us know any other topic which you would like to listen from this podcast. Do comment below and stay tuned for the next episode as well. Thank you.
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