I'm Arjun. This is my digital garden.

Early disruptors face a huge challenge in finding their footing in a chaotic, unorganized and unregulated market. Before Zoomcar, the concept of self-driven car rentals was alien to India. One of the reasons Zoomcar caught early traction was because it got people excited about not having the hassle of driving their own vehicles for long distance trips, while having the "fun" of driving, regardless. What sold self-driving rentals early was not convenience. It was carefreeness. Consequently, many of their early vehicles were being driven rashly with drivers cutting corners with traffic laws [anecdotal observations]. Their first few batches of vehicles must have worn out quickly. When you self-drive a rental today, you have to comply with their terms. That includes indemnifying the company, taking potential insurance liability on yourself (which discourages you from sharing the steering with your buddy sitting next to you), and being accountable for breaking any traffic

My father had an interesting view of most things, but it always intrigued me. I try to reminisce some of our conversations on father's day every year. When I was in class 5, I left a question unanswered in a school test. "Why is the sky blue?" or something like that. Papa asked me why I didn't answer it, and I said I didn't know the answer. Now, in his fascinating way, he told me "but half the answer was already in the question!" I said "where?" He said "'The sky is blue because...' see, that's half your answer. Now, all you have to do is study half of what the other idiots are studying because you already know half the answer to every question." I was blown away. This man is a genius, I thought. Years later, I learned about positive reinforcement through Dale Carnegie training and realized how much that helped me in conquering my fears and being more confident in life. Anyway, I still failed in the next test. I

Founders of early stage startups are often anxious about how much their company should be valued at. If your product is pre-MVP and pre-revenue, you can't quantify your cash flows. Consequently, you can't Discount your Cash Flows to a "Oh, that's a cool number!" I ask you four questions before you come to a number - How difficult is barrier to entry for you? Are you competing with Uber in mobility or Swiggy in last mile delivery? Stay low. How big is your competitive advantage? Can you continue to grow at 20% YOY for 15 years? That's 10 years to IPO and another 5 for economies of scale to kick in. Do you have patents? Do you have an intrinsic advantage over your competitors to keep your costs low? If yes, go high! Will it be too easy for your customers to switch to your competitors (Uber vs Ola; stay low), or too tough (Whatsapp; go high)? How matured is the market? Are you positioned for a stable share in a growing market (say gig economy, go high).