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Shantanu Deshpande

Shantanu Deshpande

These are the best posts from Shantanu Deshpande.

13 viral posts with 39,029 likes, 2,098 comments, and 516 shares.
4 image posts, 0 carousel posts, 2 video posts, 7 text posts.

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Wrapping up a 2 week Europe trip. Been 3 years since I left Indian shores and felt really good.

As I head back and while in a 4 hour layover at Frankfurt, some reflections

1. India is bloody amazing. The opportunity to build, live well, be free. Europe is reeling under the effects of the war, an ageing demographic, crazy energy prices, and so many issues.

2. Racism exists and it hurts when it happens to you. My skin colour and beard type made me vulnerable to it and there were at least 5 occasions it was blatant. Including in business class and 5 star hotels.

3. Varan bhaat bhaji poli (Dal Chawal Sabzi Roti) is more important as you grow older. Can prob go 6 meals before I start craving.

4. Indian weather and pollution probably is a 50% productivity and 75% health sink. The amount one can walk in easier climates just makes life so much healthier in every way.

5. The common European clearly considers India a superpower of the future. But we need to seriously work hard (enterprise and industry, govt and workers) over 5-10 years. Stability, safety and policy that is industry friendly is crucial. Our currency (literally and otherwise) today is weaker than the narrative.

6. Hearing a stranger speak Marathi on the streets creates an extreme longing to have a chat. In Delhi for sure, but in Dublin 10x. :)

7. Nothing beats Indian hospitality. Airlines, hotels, tourist guides, restaurants, everything. 10x the quality and 1/10th the price.

This is it for now.

I'm so happy to be building a company in India. Our employee and partner base is mostly Indian. Our taxes are 100% to Indian govt.

I wish our cost base was Indian but the world order isn't there yet :)

Whether we build a large business or a small one, only time will tell.

But Indian it will always be. And boy am I proud of that. ❤️

P.S - attaching an unrelated click from the streets of Santorini. The cutest puppy ever.
Post image by Shantanu Deshpande
If you are a friend/sibling/close family member of a founder (or early/senior team member) at a consumer startup, and you care for them, some thoughts:

1. Buy their stuff - as much as you can - full price :). Follow their pages, like their posts. Talk about their products/company as much as you can to your friends. Zero to One journeys are hard. Being a vocal fan, even if its not completely organic/natural, is incredibly motivating. It helps. A LOT.

2. Keep telling them what you think. When you see their stuff in a store, or see an ad, or when they launch something, whenever. Whatever you feel - good, bad, ugly - share it. Can be a simple pic and 1 line on whatsapp. It means the world.

3. Don't start conversations with 'How big is your company now?' or 'When is your next raise?'. More with 'How are you doing?' or 'Are you having fun?'. They over-worry about their outcomes. You don't need to do that. You worry about them, instead. :)

4. Send good people their way if you feel they will add amazing value to the startup. OTOH, don't refer random friends just because 'you know the founder' and put everyone in an awkward situation. :)

These folks help build economies. They take crazy risk, are irrational. They need cheerleaders constantly.

Be one, whenever you get the chance. :)
Of all the things I learnt in school, prepping for JEE (unsuccessfully might I add), in college, in MBA and then my professional experience at McKinsey and now running my own company - the only things I REALLY find useful are small life lessons learnt from people I look up to. Not the courses or the specific work projects.

Some examples that come to mind:

1. Always tell a good story.

2. You always judge others by action, yourself by intent. Switch it around and your EQ will be 10x.

3. You always think you’re more compassionate than you actually are.

4. Procrastination is a sign of insecurity, not laziness.

5. Tip well.

6. The lesser you need, the more you have.

7. Asking for what you deserve professionally (raise, promotion, change of boss etc) is something people find hard to do, Indians especially, Indian women even more so. It’s a critical conversation to have. So irrespective of what side of the table you’re on, have the chat and have it sincerely.

8. Nothing is more impressive than the combination of common sense + enthusiasm.

9. Confident fools are more common than you’d think.

10. When someone expects x from you, do 1.2x. Delight multiplies.

11. Learn a 4th language, a racket sport and an instrument for life.

12. Sending emails isn’t work.

:)
My dad lost his dad when he was 7. Grew up in trying circumstances and modest means. Worked hard day in day out for 43 years and counting - my brother and I have had the most easy and luxurious upbringing because of how hard working he and mom are. Growing up, we never ever could even imagine how different our childhood was from his. He protected us and told us only when we were much older.

He's been in service, was a CEO and then in last chapter a founder. Lived in many countries and his work was and is his life. Extremely successful, by any standard.

Continues to inspire even today.

But what I learn the MOST from dad - Always smile, laugh at yourself and have fun! One of the most generous and positive people I know. He's never too tired to do something new, try a new restaurant, visit a new place or meet someone new. Child like curiosity. And just the most vibing dude ever.

Happy Father's Day dad :)
Post image by Shantanu Deshpande
Unicorn HR reached out to me on Linkedin for a job. Told me I was a great fit. It was a pretty neat role, to be honest. If I wasn't a full time founder, it may have piqued my interest.

I humored the conversation.

When she asked me expected comp, I said zero salary, only esops. What is the max she could stretch. Asked her to check internally and come back.

She took some time to understand. I told her im serious. I want zero salary, only esops. And I want them on some standard terms. She tried convincing me that 30% on current she can do. I said no, I don't want money, I want esops :)

I never heard from them again.

For a unicorn burning 10+ mn a month, a senior hire who takes no salary should be gold. But they didn't get it.

Sometimes we're scared of things we don't understand. And it hurts us if we don't take the effort and time to understand it. :)
Have heard so many of my friends in large organizations say 'I am an entrepreneur within my company, I have so much independence' or 'Hey I'm hiring for XX role, I'm building a startup within my company'.

No offence, but that is just plain ignorant and stupid. People make random associations to startup journeys just to sound cool.

- are you building something which starts off being OWNED COMPLETELY by you and the team?
- is putting in your own life savings (or a big chunk) a no brainer?
- is your paycheck on the 30th ever in question?
- do you illogically feel like delaying reimbursements so runway can be that little bit longer?
- if you fail, will you feel gut wrenching grief?

No. No chance.

Renting a few WeWork desks, hiring some cool engineers and allowing your team to wear shorts isn't a 'startup within my large organization' and it sure as hell doesn't make you an entrepreneur.

Don't get me wrong, you're likely doing great work. Just don't trivialise 0->1 journeys because you're too ignorant to know the difference.
A small note to all founders who are raising obnoxious amounts of capital:

1. In your impatience and exuberance to 'Grow 100X in 1 month', don't offer 3X salary and poach people from good startups. You do no one a favour. The person gets an irrational, market-unbacked baseline and if things don't work out, gets badly stuck. You expect the moon and stars in 3 months and are likely to be disappointed.

2. Build a GREAT esop pool. Strike at face, 4 year prorata vesting, exercise options infinite, liquidate at good intervals, >15% of equity early on and always >8-10%.

3. If you think the opportunity you have is genuinely great for a candidate, get the founder/employer in confidence. Collectively think about how the person can maximise success. Figure out a mutually beneficial transition process. Small things matter.

4. A great team is important. But a great team isn't built by hiring alone. It's built painstakingly brick by brick, and the glue is time. You can't fast forward it.

Remember - what goes around, comes around. We're all part of the same ecosystem. There are ups and downs. What is constant is goodwill and karma.

Small note to everyone working in the Indian startup ecosystem:

Great time to make awesome career choices, shift baseline salaries in big way, negotiate great equity kickers. Do it. But remember - if it seems too good to be true, it most likely is. :)
This is special for 2 reasons

1. This is Shreeji Store at IIM Lucknow, my alma mater. 50k stores now, but this may be the most special one.

2. Pic sent by Ankur, a BSC alumnus now pursuing his 2nd year there.

Valuation, scale, brand salience etc chahe jitna bhi aage badhe, as a founder this is what makes me happy ❤️
Post image by Shantanu Deshpande
Way to go ❌

Long way to go ✅

What a way to start FY 26. 🔥
Post image by Shantanu Deshpande
World class founder, former CEO of TechMahindra, prolific angel mentor etc etc etc - but I think my dad has found his happiest productive moments in helping around the house.

Cutest human ever ♥️
One does not fully understand the scale of an FMCG business until you breathe in the warehouse. No dashboard and analytics can give you that sense.

Last week, we inaugurated our own WH. After 3+ years in a shared facility, we got our own - 20000 Sq ft, 30 dedicated staff, customised ops. Very happy.

Thoughts:

1. Our WH partners KDL were introduced to us by Colgate. They work closely and treated us like a part of Colgate. For a small co, this is a big deal and made things 10x easier. Very thankful.

2. Half our WH staff are women. Our ops leader Maninder put in thought on how we can employ local women, enforce strict timings, safety, invest in clean separate washrooms etc while the facility was being created. Very happy that they're doing well.

I shared #2 with family and friends. Sakshi was very proud too. But she did pose a deeper question to Maninder and I - '50% is great. How many women in supervisory roles?' And we realized none. And thats our next milestone - identify high performers and elevate them up. Representation isn't enough, representation across levels is the real test. To be honest, even in BSC women are well represented at junior levels but it skews at management level and that is a HUGE to-do.

One step at a time.

Pedes in terra, ad sidera visus.
I get mostly very positive reactions for explicitly calling out that we want to hire women.

Couple of thoughts :

1. Many people call it 'diversity'. Diversity by definition means there is representation of minorities - LGBTQ, seniors above 60, people from minority religions like Jews or Muslims or Christians, ex army, ex national sports persons etc. Actual minorities in India. But women is HALF the population. Hiring more women isn't 'diversity', it's equality.

2. Women make more economic sense in an enterprise. Enough studies to prove it, and now I've seen it. Hiring women is a very selfish decision.

3. People who feel hiring women explicitly is non meritocratic - Bah. Don't even know where to begin.

To all people in recruiting positions - hire women. Remove biases ('she's a new mom, can she do sales?', 'will a woman be aggressive while negotiation?', 'so much travel, can we risk a woman's safety?', 'can 6 men report into a younger woman?') - and hire her. If you think she's capable, more often than not, it's the best decision you'll make.
It took me a long time to realise

1. Introverts can often be the most fun colleagues.

2. Poor hold on language does not mean poor communication. Conversely, great hold on language does not mean great communication.

3. Great hold on math does not mean great at analytics. Converse is also true.

4. Women and men are conditioned to negotiate differently. It’s crucial for the other side to recognise and calibrate.

5. Trajectory is more important than current standing while recruiting. I’d much rather have a lower skilled person with a solid trajectory.

6. More often than one can imagine, the best way to transform an under performer is to change their boss.

7. At the highest levels (principal <-> principal), deal making is so easy if there is intent. It’s the detail that derail.

8. CCing someone’s boss as a way to get accelerated action/response is a shitty way to influence someone.

9. A Dominos garlic bread is always supposed to be had with TWO dips. One is just not enough. :)

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