Men can do what men have done
Posted by D D Ganguly on Tue, Jul 18, 2006 @ 09:16 PM
To Babuli with love
I called my father Babuli. For some unknown reason my elder brother started calling him Babuli and then all of us called him by that name. As Dimdim's startup journey begins I find myself thinking of Babuli for I am an entrepreneur because of him.
An entrepreneur needs a certain degree of naïve self-confidence. It has to almost border on arrogance but not quite get there. And Babuli instilled that attitude in me. (Not the arrogance part that was my own doing:))
When I told my friend Marv Goldschmitt about the above he said, "Exactly! What does an entrepreneur say when you say "No" to him?" And I immediately replied "Go to hell". Point illustrated.
Most entrepreneurs will not say, "You have a great point. I must go back and re-think my business plan." He should but won't. Neither will he say, "I have the following reasons to believe that my business plan will work. So let's agree to disagree." No, most entrepreneurs will say, "Go to hell". That's the tinge of arrogance. And I have come to believe that this attitude is essential to overcome the seemingly insurmountable problems that every entrepreneur faces. He must be guided by a sense of self-confidence and optimism that he will be able to solve the problems that are going to come along.
Babuli started building my self-confidence when I was about six years old. I remember standing beside him and looking up to him as he shaved. I asked him a question and have long forgotten what the question was. But I do remember his answer - "Men can do what men have done."
Babuli was to repeat that phrase to me again and again. Even when I stumbled, Babuli's confidence in me never wavered. This confidence was not entirely based on facts. I am not very intelligent, not a very good communicator,... the list is too long to include here. And despite all these shortcomings Babuli told me and I believe, "Men can do what men have done."
When the time came to start my first company I did not think about the risk of failure. Many people had started companies and succeeded, so I thought that I could succeed as well. That was naive but that's the naïve self-confidence that an entrepreneur needs. And that was my father's gift to me. Thanks, Babuli.