Timing
Have you ever heard somebody say that they got their timing right? And, how often have you heard the same person mention how somebody else always got their timing right and that it was easy to be at the right place at the right time?
If only all of this was mathematical.
2008 — Finished my undergrad & was all set to pursue the “Big American Dream”. The recession hit and I wasn’t sure if the timing was right and neither did I really want to study for two more years. Dropped the idea of studying, worked for a startup for a couple of months instead and ended up founding iGenero with Karan soon after. Strange how timing made me rethink my plan & drove me to start a company back then.
2011 — With absolute no plan and completely randomly, I ended up starting Social Samosa. The timing worked very well since social media space was picking up & we already had a headway because of the experience at iGenero. I exited the company in 2014 while the other players in the space went on to raise a ton of money within the next 6 to 10 months. My timing, maybe was wrong!
Later that year, launched Couch Salon, an on-demand salon services at home. Well, I got laughed at over privacy concerns, safety and the fact that why would anyone want a salon service at home. A year or so after, we all know how this space unfolded. You see? The timing again.
Soon after, built Tak Tak, a P2P platform that helped students find real-time answers to their academic queries. But, the venture capital community showed it down and called it ridiculous, asking why anybody would pay for it. Timing — may be too early in the game.
2017 — Enter Snoop! What started off as a weekend experiment went on to become a viral overnight and trended on the AppStore / play store in a few countries. Well, the timing was just about right in this case.
11 years into iGenero, the internet/tech landscape has evolved rapidly. Getting early in the game gave us a first mover’s advantage and kept us relevant in the space through these years perhaps.
Looking back, I realise that timing was indeed the key. Of course, one cannot undermine the idea, the team, the hard work, execution and a million other things that need to work too! But, timing trumps it all.
What did I learn with time? Build Lean. Fail Fast. Scale Quick.
Timing is often underrated. It is a force multiplier. Everything is about timing.
Reposted from aditya-gupta.co
