UtkarshSpeaks. – Blogs by Utkarsh Kaushik A learning shed for like minded readers.
I recently had an amazing opportunity to give a session around Entrepreneurship to school kids.
I was invited to a Govt School in Shivpuri, New Delhi to inspire some 400 or so students by sharing my journey of entrepreneurship.
This was an amazing opportunity for me as an individual. I love sharing my experience, plus I love to learn from others.. and this occasion of getting in touch with 400 curious young minds with their unfiltered thoughts was something I could not say no to.
I shared my journey of how I started with programming, and how from a hardcore coder, I turned into a business guy.
Just writing this post to share few points I did put an extra emphasis on.
Take Away Notes to young minds:
- Know what you really want to do, if not sure about it stick to what you do best
- Parents and teachers are not always right, learn to take a dive into an unconventional method if required
- Learn to say NO and Learn to QUIT when required
- Business and Entrepreneurship is mostly about problem solving and innovation, but not always. You can be just as good as a regular Entrepreneur in whatever you choose to do.
- Intrapreneurs do exist(Satya Nadela and Sundar Pichai are examples of successful intrapreneurs). So a regular job doesn’t make you lesser cool. Its like Apples and Bananas. I like bananas, you like apples.. That doesn’t mean that I am more boring than you are. At heart we all are boring and entertaining at the same time.
- First keep a Plan B, then Choose your Goal and then NEVER LOOK AT THE PLAN B EVER AGAIN – GO FULL THROTTLE AND ALL IN WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE
- Never be afraid to seek help. We all need our mentors, coaches and guides.
- What ever you do and where ever you go, People (YOUR TEAM AND YOUR CUSTOMERS) are your strength, never forget them and see to it that whatever you do, you benefit them all too.
Funding Quick Notes for school kids or people who have not started yet:
1. Funding is good, but so are loans
2. Seed Funding means more equity and less money
3. The more advance stage your product/startup is on, the lesser equity you need to give
At the end of the day it was a lovely session with a great audience and I loved the diversity of questions I was asked. And it was not just that I was sharing my knowledge.. They taught me so much too in their own ways. And ofcourse I loved the coordinating faculty members for putting in extra efforts in all the arrangements.
