Is India the largest slum country in the world?
The difference between the poor and rich is not the age of the Nation.This can be demonstrated by countries like India and Egypt, which are more than 2000 years old and are still poor countries.On the other hand, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which 150 years back were insignificant, today are developed and rich countries.The difference between the poor and rich nation does not also depend on the available natural resources.Japan has limited territory, 80% mountainous, unsuitable for agriculture or farming, but is the third in worlds economy. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw material from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.Second example is Switzerland, it does not grow cocoa but produces the best chocolates in the world. In her small territory she rears animals and cultivates the land only for four month in a year, nevertheless manufactures the best milk products. A small country which is an image of security which has made it the strongest world bank.Executives from rich countries who interact with their counterparts from poor countries show no significant intellectual differences.The racial or colour factors also do not evince importance: migrants heavy in laziness in their country of origin are forcefully productive in rich European countries.Then what is the difference?The difference is the attitude of the people, moulded for many years by education and culture.When we analyse the conduct of the people from the rich and developed countries, it is observed that a majority abide by the following principles of life:1. Ethics, as basic principles.2. Integrity.3. Responsibility.4. The respect for Laws and Regulations.5. The respect from majority of citizens by right.6. The love for work.7. The effort to save and invest.8. The will to be productive.9. Punctuality.In the poor countries a small minority follow these basic principles in their daily life.We are not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel towards us.We are poor because we lack attitude. We lack the will to follow and teach these principles of working of rich and developed societies.
Why do so many startups fail?
There are many different reasons why startups or companies in general fail. In my experience, however, I think there is no one single cause, but a constellation of mistakes or misfortunes that once combined can be fatal. Common causes include: - hiring! having the right people on board is key, a wrong hire can ruin a company; - cash! many entrepreneurs fail to anticipate or generally underestimate the cash requirements of their business; - infrastructure! here I am referring to execution infrastructure which may be as basic as billing system, IT, policies etc. I my experience, most startups neglect this areas as they focus principally on bringing their products to market and hope to figure-out the rest later; - product! sometimes great product simply fail the test of simplicity and consumers or customers simply walk away; avoid complexity in product design;- governance! another aspect commonly ignored by startups. Co-founers, board and advisers are key to the success of any venture. Choose wisely. - leadership! another key success or failure factor is the leader; management style is important. How do you treat your employees? how do you communicate, motivate and chart the course?- customers! most startups create products without a market or a problem to solve, and then spend valuable time and resources looking for the problem. Listening to the needs of the customer / market is very important. In today's 'Lean Startup', it is possible to come to market quickly with simple Minimum Viable Product, and study what works, and what does not, obtain feedback and iterate like mad..