I met (virtually) Unni on Quora through a question we both answered. I really liked his answer, so I asked him to share his thoughts on LesMugs.com.

Despite a rocky road, Foradian has had many successes. Their most notable would be their Rupee symbol font, that immediately went viral across India. It was a perfect example to illustrate how technology can solve simple, practical problems.

On your website, Foradian.com, you talk about the ups and downs Foradian had to face on its way to success. Can you give us a few examples of these obstacles?

1.   We had a false belief on overnight success. Our startup team consisted of extremely talented members. We thought we will be super-rich in first year and Google will purchase us in second year. It took some reality kick to understand the real game.

2.   Quality employees leaving due to loss in motivation.

3.   Government regulations

4.   Clients not paying for the product/services

5.   Cash crunch – After using all the initial investment amount, we worked on a 100$ salary continuously for 5 months.

The tech startup landscape is very crowded and competitive. How did you manage to rise above competitors and be noticed by your customers?

1.   Creativity.

Creativity in design, code & marketing. We like to call ourselves “Artists” instead of entrepreneurs, engineers or businessmen. The way we design or code our product is unique to us in the same way Da Vinci did for the MonaLisa.

2.   Persistance.

It took us almost 3 years to build a product that achieved some market acceptance and revenue. In these three years, it was a roller coaster ride with the entire team. One moment, it felt like we were succeeding and everything was fine, the next moment it felt like we were falling down. The reason for our success is that we kept on moving forward in our struggles. Most of our competitors stopped their operations during this time period. We kept growing one step at a time.

As said by Calvin Collidge -

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

How important is vision in your product development process? When developing a product, do you start with your vision? Or do you start with the product, and make it fit your vision?

We dont give over-importance to vision in product development. The product we develop automatically fit to our vision. We focus on solving problems of customers in a creative way.

What are 3 startup tips you would want to give to up and coming entrepreneurs?

There are lots of startup tips available online. So I will give 3 tips that are rare but valuable.

1.   Enjoy getting rejected.

2.   Enjoy suffering.

3.   Watch and understand the classic film “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.

I have also given some startup advice on Quora, which got multiple upvotes. It gives tips on how to start your own software services company in India. Most of the tips I gave can be replicated in other parts of the world too.

http://www.quora.com/I-want-to-start-a-software-company-in-India-how-shall-I-start-and-plan-that-currently-i-work-as-IT-project-manager/answer/Unni-Krishnan-Koroth?__snids__=31783583#ans878661

The best advice I read until now is the following

“Be prepared to manage your own psychology.

There is no school for this. 99% of the “advice” you’ll get will be wrong or misplaced or so vague as to be useless. People will love you undeservingly and they will hate you undeservingly. You will be a target for praise and vilification merely because you’re the boss.

People will see genius. People will see conspiracy. Every day is full of things to react to, things to decide, questions to answer, people to direct. You will question your decisions, feel the pressure of everyone’s livelihoods on your shoulders, lose sleep. You will make mistakes. You will get lucky. You’ll be on a roller coaster of emotions. It’s easy to lose perspective. And nobody else will understand.

You have to sort it out yourself, get ahead of your moods. It’s more than putting on a game face, it’s keeping yourself in an emotional place where you can deal with stuff effectively. If you’re not prepared for that, you’ll get flattened.”

Source: Quora

Who is your role model CEO?

Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, Space-X and Tesla Motors.

Thank you Unni for sharing this amazing insight with us. And I hope you, readers, have appreciated it!