Leading the B2B frontier: People fueling profitability
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful conversation, Rupali of Matrix Moments interviews Ashish Mahapatra, co-founder and CEO of OFB and Oxo, two profitable unicorns. They delve into the importance of having a larger-than-life persona for company representatives, the strategy of building in-house talent, and the challenges of integrating senior external hires. Ashish shares his vision on company culture, hiring non-negotiables, and the success of their Management Trainee program, emphasizing patience and the long-term benefits of investing in young talent.
Takeaways
- 🚀 Building a successful company requires a strong founding team with common values and complementary skills.
- 💡 The importance of hands-on founders who are deeply involved in the operations and not reliant on assistants or junior staff.
- 💰 A focus on profitability and prioritizing the company's needs over personal interests is crucial for business success.
- 📈 Scaling a business involves a clear vision, a dedicated team, and the willingness to invest in young talent for long-term growth.
- 🔑 Emphasizing the significance of in-house talent development over hiring senior external candidates for better cultural integration.
- 👥 Recognizing the value of smaller, highly integrated teams over larger teams for efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
- 🌟 The belief that everyone in the company, not just the founder, should embody a 'larger than life' persona to enhance the company's image.
- 📝 The power of personal storytelling and leadership in social media as a free marketing tool and a recruitment strategy.
- 🔄 The necessity of adapting and changing roles for new hires to find the best fit and maximize their potential within the company.
- 🤝 The importance of maintaining promises made during campus recruitment to build trust and a positive employer brand.
- 💡 Leading by example is a key management style, where senior management's actions directly influence company culture and operations.
Q & A
What is the significance of having a larger-than-life persona for a founder or a company according to Ashish Mahapatra?
-Ashish Mahapatra believes that not just the founder, but almost everyone associated with a company should have a larger-than-life persona. This is because in the early stages of a company, the company's image is a summation of everyone associated with it, and having a strong online presence can add to the company's image, attract the right kind of people, and serve as free marketing.
What is Ashish Mahapatra's view on building in-house talent as opposed to hiring experienced professionals?
-Ashish Mahapatra prefers building in-house talent because it can be more cost-effective and allows the company to shape individuals according to its culture. He believes that young people with energy and hunger can pick up skills with time, action, and empowerment, rather than relying on expensive and potentially less adaptable senior professionals.
What common values does Ashish Mahapatra emphasize for the founding team of a successful company?
-Ashish Mahapatra emphasizes that the founding team must have common values, which include being hands-on, focusing on profitability, and prioritizing the company's interests over personal interests.
What is the 'Playbook' Ashish Mahapatra started with when building his organization?
-Ashish Mahapatra's playbook for building an organization includes having common values among the founding team, ensuring each member has unique skills that others can't replicate, and fostering an environment of trust and respect based on these shared values and complementary skills.
How does Ashish Mahapatra define the success of his companies, OFB and Oxo?
-Ashish Mahapatra defines the success of his companies by their profitability and growth. OFB has grown to a team of about 650 people with a revenue of close to 16,000 cror and a profit of 500 cror. Oxo has about 400 employees and manages assets worth close to 4,83 cror with a profit of 200 cror.
What is the team size of OFB and Oxo according to the transcript?
-OFB has a team size of close to 650 people, while Oxo has about 400 employees, making the combined team size approximately 1100 people.
What is the annual revenue and profit of OFB according to the transcript?
-OFB had an annual revenue of close to 16,000 cror and a profit after tax of 500 cror, as mentioned in the transcript.
What is the Asset Under Management (AUM) and profit of Oxo as per the transcript?
-Oxo has an Asset Under Management (AUM) of close to 4,83 cror and a profit after tax of close to 200 cror.
What is the significance of the 'U lala' company term as used by Ashish Mahapatra?
-The term 'U lala' company is a playful response to criticism that Ashish's company was not focused on making money. Ashish turned it into a positive by adding an 'O' to 'la la', making it 'U lala', indicating that they are now everyone's fantasy due to their success, while still maintaining the core of being a profitable business.
What is Ashish Mahapatra's approach to hiring and retaining talent?
-Ashish Mahapatra's approach involves hiring young talent from tier-2 colleges, giving them roles early on with the understanding that they may not deliver significant output for the first couple of years. He emphasizes patience, providing second chances in different roles if the initial role doesn't work out, and ensuring that promises made during campus recruitment are kept.
What are the three non-negotiables Ashish Mahapatra looks for when hiring someone?
-The three non-negotiables are: 1) The person must always aim to do the right thing, not the fast or quick thing. 2) The person must be willing to work hard and go out of their comfort zone. 3) The person must have a commercial mindset and a desire to make money.
Outlines
🚀 Building a Unicorn with Strong Core Values
The paragraph discusses the importance of having a strong persona and core values for the founding team of a successful company. The speaker emphasizes the necessity of in-house talent building, especially in early stages. The conversation introduces Ashish Mahapatra, co-founder and CEO of OFB and Oxo, who shares his experiences and strategies for scaling a business and building an organization with a shared vision and complementary skills.
📈 Scaling Business and Team Growth Insights
This paragraph delves into the growth trajectory of Ashish's companies, OFB and Oxo, highlighting the team size and financial achievements. Ashish shares his insights on team integration, the value of smaller, efficient teams, and the conscious decision to build in-house talent. He also discusses the challenges of integrating senior external hires and the importance of leading by example to maintain company culture.
🤝 The DNA of Organizational Culture and Hiring
Ashish talks about the importance of reinforcing company values through personal actions and making tough decisions in hiring. He outlines non-negotiables in the hiring process, such as integrity, hard work, and a commercial mindset. The paragraph also touches on the mistakes made in integrating senior hires and the delay in establishing formal people management systems.
🌟 Cultivating Young Talent for Long-term Success
Ashish explains the strategy behind investing in young talent straight from college, focusing on second-tier B-schools to find dedicated and patient individuals. He outlines the campus activation process, the importance of giving new hires a chance to prove themselves in different roles, and the long-term benefits of this approach, despite the initial lack of immediate output.
🔄 Learning from Mistakes in Talent Management
The speaker reflects on the challenges of managing and retaining talent, emphasizing the importance of keeping promises made during campus recruitment. Ashish discusses the high retention rate and the evolution of the talent program, including the need for patience and the benefits of a hands-on approach from senior management in the initial years.
💡 Embracing a Public Persona for Business Growth
Ashish shares his views on the benefits of a founder having a strong public presence and the role it plays in attracting talent and building the company's image. He talks about the use of social media as a free recruitment tool and the importance of authenticity in representing the company's culture and values.
🌈 Transforming a 'Lala' Company into a Fantasy Business
In this final paragraph, Ashish addresses the perception of his company as a 'lala' company, focusing on making money. He humorously responds to criticism by stating that they have evolved into a 'laao' company, which is everyone's fantasy. The paragraph highlights the team's supportive response to external criticism and the positive engagement it generated.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Consultant Operator
💡Unicorn
💡In-house Talent
💡Common Values
💡Profitability
💡Company First
💡Team Size
💡Cultural Integration
💡Performance Management Systems
💡Non-negotiables
💡Campus Recruitment
💡Leadership Development
💡Entrepreneurial Vision
💡Social Media Presence
💡Personal Branding
💡Content Creation
💡LAALA Company
Highlights
The importance of having a larger-than-life persona for not just the founder but everyone associated with the company for effective early-stage company image building.
Building in-house talent is crucial, especially in early stages, despite the time and effort it takes to develop such talent.
Ashish Mahapatra's belief in the necessity of common values within the founding team for a successful organization.
The founding team must have unique, non-replicable skills that complement each other to build trust and respect.
The hands-on approach of the founding team, doing their own work without relying on secretaries or drivers, as a core value.
Profitability and company-first mindset as essential values for the team at OFB and Oxo.
The impressive scale of OFB with 650 people and Oxo with 400 people, achieving significant revenue and profit.
The strategy of hiring and integrating new people efficiently, with an average of 25-28 people joining per month.
The belief in smaller, highly integrated teams delivering more value than a larger number of employees.
The challenges of integrating senior external hires into a young and dynamic company culture.
The importance of leading by example and living the company values to instill them in the entire organization.
The mistake of being late to create people management systems and performance management systems within the company.
The non-negotiables for hiring, including doing the right thing, working hard, and having a commercial mindset focused on making money.
The Mt. Program's strategy for investing in young talent from second-tier B-schools, with a focus on patience and long-term growth.
The high retention rate of the Mt. Program, with 60-70% sticking around after two years, indicating a successful人才培养策略.
The power of a founder's personal brand on social media for free marketing, recruitment, and building company image.
The evolution of the company from being seen as 'laa' to 'ulaa', reflecting growth and success while maintaining a strong commitment to making money.
Transcripts
you've been an consultant operator a VC
you have two profitable unicorns it
looks like you've done everything right
my strong belief is that uh not just the
founder but almost everybody associated
with the company needs to have a larger
than life uh Persona um you know
building in house Talent that's right
which is very uh which not which is not
easily seen in early stage we go to
let's say the second tier IMS the
necessity came from the fact that you
know most of our business actually
happens in here to location I ask is U
um what can you give to the company and
most people come up with all kinds of
stuff my biggest miss that I've never
got to work with you in Matrix but I'm
glad Matrix allowed me to know
you hello everyone I'm I'm rupali and
this is Matrix moments people first a
conversational Series where we talk to
remarkable Founders entrepreneurs and
leaders on how they build successful
Ventures by building amazing teams
around them today I have a very special
guest um Ashish mahapatra um co-founder
and CEO of off business and co-founder
of Oxo um Ashish you know I've been
waiting to do this for a while so can't
be thankful enough um you know there are
you've been connected with the Matrix
system for a while I think my biggest um
my biggest miss that I've never got to
work with you in Matrix but I'm glad
Matrix allowed me to know you better
right thank you so much thank you so
much thank you for having me looking
forward to a good uh conversation no I'm
definitely very excited and I'm sure you
know I'm I'm looking forward to knowing
all the secrets um I know you you spoken
a lot right but today we going to focus
more around your Aug Building stories
and hoping that a lot of entrepreneurs
can learn from some of something very
close to my heart so looking forward
perfect so as I'm going you know I think
everybody knows you've been an
consultant operator a VC but when you
started off business while you had and
have an amazing co-founding team you
wear a set of firsttime Founders that's
right right yeah but still when you look
back it looks like you've done
everything
right at least sales guys projected that
way at least it looks seamless it looks
right so I'm sure there was some
framework in your mind right while you
you had a vision to how to scale a
business I'm sure there was a vision
around how to build an org who can take
this Vision forward right what was that
Playbook that you you guys started with
so uh my playbook was very
straightforward what I had seen at work
in most successful companies not just
startups but any kind of successful
organizations was very simple the that
pretty much the founding team has to
have some common values between them
okay and those are pretty much
necessities and you can't really
compromise on them and on top of that
you actually have one or maybe two
skills in each individual that the other
can't replicate so hence you inherently
have trust because they have these
common values but you also have respect
which actually emanates from the fact
that they do something that you
complimentary yeah complimentary so the
common values that we have had and we
still Em are one you have to be very
Hands-On each one of us does our own
work no secretary no driver we pretty
much do our own work no I mean no
Juniors no handyman no p toems uh so one
one that two very commercial so you have
to think profitability first you have to
you know and third you have to think
company first so you have to give your
life to the company first and then think
about yourself so those are common
values but if you look at people who
were in our founding team somebody was
very good in was very high on energy me
Jen somebody who was very good in in
detail and thinking about you know
jelling everybody together
and so guess that's wonderful uh but for
well we have access to seeing your
journey and we know right for our
viewers sis would love to know um the
scale you guys operated from a size
perspective right there are you know
fast forward you guys started this 8
years back fast forward to now 8 years
almost 8 years right seven years you
have two profitable unicorns right um so
would love to know the kind of scale you
guys have built in terms of what is the
team size how big is ofb how big is yeah
yeah yeah so ofb today has close to
about 650 people and uh last year it did
a for the full fiscal it did a revenue
of close to about 16,000 cror and a
profit of close to 500 cres um profit
after tax of 500 cror uh if you look at
Oxo oizo has about 400 OD people and
last year built an AUM which is assets
in the management of close to 4,
83 and uh profit after tax of close to
200 so um so our team is about 1100 is
we've kind of you know um we taken about
my sense is about 300 a year new people
new people okay so um on an average
about 25 people join so I think we lose
about one or two every month and about
27 28 is tickets so um and I think we've
added 300 for the last 3 years so three
years back we were just 200 people wow
PR yeah that's but it's it's a very
highly integrated both thing very much
very much so I think one of the things
that we pride ourselves on uh and we've
learned that with with time passing by
that you know smaller teams especially
they in they are welln they actually
deliver more value just the sheer count
of having a lot more people doesn't
really help so if uh if each one of us
can give 20% more and that to
efficiently it's probably a better
outcome for the organization both on
cost as well as on efficiency rather
than just having more number of people
yeah and and that takes me into the fact
because you said there there needs to be
an Arbitrage that you can fill up right
from work perspective you guys also
adopted very consciously um a method of
um you know building in house Talent
that's right which is very uh which not
which is not easily seen in early stage
you know early stage generally is you
know because it's it's you know you need
hacky Solutions you need people who can
come do on the right um because Bill
is everybody knows takes time effort a
lot of time invested right so why and
and I know now that you guys have this
amazing engine running which works
beautifully for both the organization
right so what was that flavor I think to
be very honest with you I when there was
always this pensent uh or the luer of
actually taking somebody who was senior
yeah but they were expensive I wanted to
make money you know so we could have got
them in earlier they maybe they would
have delivered more than what we all did
but I think it would just cost a lot and
first we wanted to make money second is
I think as individuals who are very
Hands-On it's very difficult to coexist
with people who are very senior and are
very learned for example you know I
think I will Jael very well with an
unskill labor or somebody who's just
fresh out of college than uh than
somebody who is like 20 years from the
industry because he' come and tell me
his stories I would rather tell my
stories to but how do you solve for
functional depth fun dep I think it's
it's I think it's a myth okay people
pick it up with time uh people pick it
up with action people pick it up with
empowerment so if you have a young guy
who has all the energy is ready to throw
in all the energy with all the hunger
and deep down end of the pool he'll
probably pick it up that's the sense I
had I mean to be honest with you I think
that's something that I picked up from
previous organizations that I had worked
with so whether it is McKenzie whether
it is ITC I have seen that at work and
um you know um for example I was was a
maintenance engineer in my first job I
knew nothing about those machines that I
was trying to maintain within a month I
kind of you know figured I figured it
out yeah yeah so yeah um but um Ash if
you see you you you know you guys have
grown super fast 0 to 1 1 to 10 10 to
100 and yeah am I allowed to say that
there is an IPO around the
corner
gross so so the the business has grown
to different scale of growth right um
but are there some behavioral
non-negotiables that you still see
because I'm sure when you build that
core team you looked at certain things
right but I also know that when you go
through a scale not everybody will
evangelize the vision the way your core
team might have done right but how do
you still ensure right um some of those
the DNA St how do you ensure it now that
you know yeah that's the key to actually
building an organization you can have
your set of values they can be different
from each other but how do you really
stay C to it is the key I think couple
of things that we have done uh right and
I'll tell you also what we've done wrong
um I think two things that we've done
right one is we've kind of reiterated
the same set of values by doing it
ourselves so you know leading by example
leading by example and there is no uh
you know going away from it if you don't
lead by example if you have any other
method happen is it will flow through
the C so I give me an example so for
example if we say company first like for
example if there is a meeting to be done
and U and let's say your junior is is
not
because he's into something else he's
not well or whatever I think the senior
always steps into actually go into the
meeting rather than asking a parall guy
or a junior guy to come right so that's
the culture in a company if the junior
can't do it then the senior will do it
so it forces everybody to be hands on
right yeah and uh so that's one I think
second is uh when it comes to for
example even it itsy tiny things for
example if somebody's traveling and
there is a cost to be uh incurred on
behalf of the company the person will
pay it without even thinking twice
whether you know he get reimbursed or
not he'll probably get reimbursed
anyways but he will always spend that
money personally first so those are the
kind of things I mean these are small
things sh others pickup and we all we
all practice that ourselves so that kind
of stays true so tell me some of the
mistakes you have made because you know
you you you make it looks you guys make
it look so simple Sal yeah you make it
sound very easy very seamless and but
I'm sure there were innumerable mistakes
so what would some of those be
especially around culture people yes yes
yes spe specifically around culture I
think we were very poor at integrating
people who are senior and from the
outside and I think hence we have lost
out in terms of learning in specific
areas because I think because we are so
young as a team the median age in the
company is probably 25 to 26 what
happens is that somebody who's very
senior finds it very tough to jel and
once they've come in and we've tried a
few once they've come in we've not been
able to really create that conducive
environment certain functions have done
it well but more generalist functions
like sales marketing operations
underwriting and stuff like that have
not have not really done it right so so
hence we probably lost out on and we
always made mistakes that have always
happened elsewhere so that's been the
business outcome so I would say that's
number one um number two on my list on
the people front is that we were very
late to create people Management systems
or Performance Management Systems you
know it was so much like a family so
much like an extension of college that
we kind of never really um
institutionalized we never really
institutionalized input so there
everybody was measured by output how
much revenue you brought for the company
how much cost did you cut down and stuff
like that there were people putting in a
lot of effort but not much was coming
out of it because of the circumstances
that they were in those are the kind of
people who kind of because we did not
put put PMS system and they didn't get
benefited by they didn't get benefited
by I think looking back I would first
correct the letter and then the form got
it got it understood but tell me what
are your non-negotiables when you hire
someone one uh non-negotiables first is
the fact that uh it the person has to uh
always aim to do the right thing not the
fast thing or not the quick thing or not
the most in thing but how will you
measure that that's very simple if you
talk to somebody and you be looking at
it for like let's say 10 15 years you'll
get to know it's very intuitive but
there are some things like for example
if you ask him how you know when he's
been in a trade-off in a business
tradeoff how what kind of decisions he
makes what takes him to those kind of
decision so that's one in the
conversation itself but second is more
importantly blind reference checks if
you do a lot of reference checks you
will realize whether the person is more
jugar or takes time to do the right
thing we would always take the guy who
who take time to do the right thing
because we have enough people who will
do jugar inside right so I stand a you
know living example of it so yeah um so
that's one non-negotiable I think the
second non-negotiable is just working
hard I think India as a country if
somebody's not ready to put in
everything I don't want to mention ours
because it's taboo these days uh so
India as a country needs somebody to
really go out of their comfort zone
whatever those RS are yeah and uh and
really stretch um that's non-negotiable
I think the third thing for us is a is a
very
important part of the business that we
are in which is a commercial Viet the
art of making money the the want to make
money uh is something that we look for
um I think people are from business
families have it to an extent uh but
we've seen that people who've had
business exposure but not necessary from
business families are even better than
ones than who are from business family
so those are pretty much the three
things that we today look for it has
evolved with time today I think these
are the three I think earlier probably
there were s different three Ashish I'm
going to ask you to tell us more about
the Mt program that you run right um
very close to my heart yeah a lot of
Founders have asked me and our Founders
that love have to know how Ashish and
team does it right and it's it's like a
in-house IP that you have created for
you right so tell us more about so it
come it starts off with the belief
rupali that uh you know young people
will be better off uh in the company
than than some of the older guys I think
that belief is crucial because that
belief brings you to investing in young
talent because fundamentally they won't
deliver for the first couple of years I
think the third year onwards is when you
really start seeing output from them it
will be really out of the par the fifth
year so first of all you have to have
that belief you don't need to really
measure them for the first couple of
years at least when you're starting off
the program so one is that two is I
think to be very concentrated in a few
colleges you can't be going to Tom Dick
and Harry which colleges you pick so we
kind of zeroed down on saying that we
will not take the top tier first of all
we will go only to B schools okay not to
the engineering grads because if the
engineering grads join in then they will
fly off to B schools after some time we
want people to join to retire yeah um so
we in even in B schools we took the next
rung not the really the top rung because
the top rung is really hungry he's
always mobile he's always but may I ask
why because you are in I and that is why
I hate I so you know what if I'm from an
i or if somebody's from an IM or an ISB
he's always looking for his next Greener
pasture so more mercenary more mercenary
more I mean I don't want to say it but
but is it bad it's not bad but it's it's
bad but not for what you're trying to
solve you want people who will stay do
that if people join to retire if they
can compound in a particular role within
a certain company they will actually
clearly hit it out of the park after
like 3 four years but nobody's ready to
give in those three four years so we
kind of zeroed down on saying that hey
if we go to the tier 2 colleges then
probably the best ones from there are
the ones who really put in a lot of
effort and those are the ones who will
actually have a little more patience so
um we go to let's say the second tier
IMS kashipur uh tii Ur Rak um
if FMS not really second year but but
still not really abcl right so we go
there and a few other colleges which are
a little less next strong and so second
is to be targeted and we go there every
single year right the third thing that
we do there is we do a lot of Campus
activation okay for example um day after
tomorrow I'm I'm the lead speaker in
their campus induction program and I'm
Kash so you have to invest prior the
campus has to know you so that they know
what you guys do and Senior Management
does it it's not like left to the you
know the most recent uh the third thing
that we do is that when these guys come
in that's when the proof of the pudding
comes by um you actually give them
something and quickly and and should be
quickly ready to change if it's not
working for them so you should always
give them a second chance because likely
when you're throwing them at the deep
end of the pool you'll get it wrong most
likely the first time around and you
can't judge him by the fact that he
actually failed in the first vocation
that you gave him so quickly change if
he's in sales don't do well give him Ops
if he's an Ops didn't do well give him
sales of Finance but somebody has to
process manage this yes so what we've
been blessed with is a team that has
been at it for the last 7 years we 7
years old and somebody's been leading it
from the HR team uh right for the entire
seven years so that amount of solidarity
is also very important because otherwise
you know campus handovers are very very
tricky and how big is this batch usually
uh last year it was 107 wow 107 we uh
for the first year it was just three
people so from three we've now grown to
and a lot of your leadership is from
your first second batches is what I know
yes that's right Wonder in fact I would
say that um if you take the senior
management team which is close to about
30 odd people my sense is uh about 20
would be from Wow freshman or zero to
one batches because what happens is once
you start taking these people from the
campus as freshman within 6 to 9 months
they would get their friends as well who
are probably working elsewhere and not
really so happy so it kind of build that
you know ecosystem which you can always
dip into and a lot of use cases now for
other to refer to right so they have but
it has its pitfalls the real big Pitfall
is that you have to be very patient in
the first two years it will not give you
any output in the first two years so
what does it need you to do in the first
two years the guys who are actually at
the top have to go down and work on
behalf of those guys so that they can
one learn and also substitute for the
work that you expect out of them so I
think that that is a big deal but the
fly will comes into place after a while
coule right three years I I say but huge
Roi after that huge Roi after that yeah
understood and I think the other thing
rupali that we've done right uh also
learned over a period of time not doing
it right in the beginning but then we've
kind of zeroed down saying that hey this
is very important is that you have
whatever promises you make on campus you
have to keep them keep them like for
example if you go to campus and say that
hey you know what you'll be a pnl lead
in a three-year time frame there have to
be people from the same campus who done
that who've done that who've been there
and and stuff like that so I living up
to the promise is something which is
very important you know and frankly it's
not like we've always been successful at
that I think in our in initial two or
three batches we were really successful
and then we had a 2 to threee highest
when we didn't see any success and then
now then we have completely refreshed
back into uh motion again but assuming
you've done you know you've given them
chance sales Nikia F Opia
opika I'm assuming after all this cycle
there would still be cases where it
doesn't work out oh yeah very much see
typically retention in a batch uh my
sense is between 60 to 70% after a year
but that 60 to 70% after a year turns
turns out to be 60 to 70% even after 2
years so the guys very high after that
yes not only the stickiness from our
side is very high but also from their
side they do very well so they also gain
from the fact that they've been around
for a year got it got it very
interesting you know we should write a
you know you you should come up with
this Playbook
we just a simple one it just needs
patience no it he does I think that's
what start off lack that initial time
they just want results very very quickly
right we were on the wrong side of 30 or
the right side of 30 when we started and
that's where the solution looks very um
Unbecoming of the stage because you know
I'm thinking at that stage you were you
guys want needed fast solution for right
still you guys invested in this but to
be honest with you rupari at that time
we didn't have an option also the
necessity came from the fact that you
know most of our business actually
happens in tier two locations and if you
really take people who are from the
industry they would like to be in metros
they would like to be in the hometowns
they like to be where they're already
rooted correct because they would have
children and stuff like that so it was
more necessity and more options for
opportunities and yes got it understood
sir I have a couple of rabbit Fires for
you what's your management style um
leading by example
okay um let go or level up uh let go and
are you okay okay to have some of these
conversations directly how do you do
always so you take the bandid off in one
shot or yeah one shot got it deal
breaker question that you ask in any
interview uh deal breaker question that
I ask is U um what can you give to the
company very intense right now yes and
most people come up with all kinds of
stuff right it ranges from um saying
that um I'll give all the money that I
have in my pocket right now knowing that
we are commercial in Outlook to and is
there the right answer I don't know it's
the passion says that right because the
moment he says that I'll give you all
the money in my pocket I says yeah do it
seriously some people have actually laid
it on the wonderful to saying that you
know I'll get my U cousins my uh my um
uncles to also work for you for free
I've heard that as well this one I
really like the first time I I heard it
I told him that hey tell your friends
that is a good answer very nice very
nice high on skill but low on intent
high on skill but low on intent but um
um low on scale um right but very high
on intent and energy which one you'll
pick uh none none neither neither yeah
yeah yeah okay because if you're making
the tradeoff you're not a good recruiter
yeah you have to find out at least
somebody who's average on both because
anything so that you can work on one so
then you can work on one yeah right if
one is so dinged on one you just can't
get him up anyway yes so I have one
question that you and I have discussed a
while for a while um is this is my last
question I promise asish I remember when
my first few years First Years in Matrix
right I was in awe with what you would
write your Sunday afternoon content in
itself can be you write it in maybe I
read it around afternoon time but it's
like religiously you write to the tea
every Sunday
it can be a master class in itself it
also gives people a chance to not only
understand about the business you're
building but also sneak peek into the
culture that you have right different
you know um and and you have also guided
me many time when I said you know how do
you do it and I want to write and I'm
skeptical and I remember you telling
me just put put it down there but now
because you are also a Founder you
represent you're like the face of right
business right um do you believe a
company benefits When a Founder has a
larger than life personality or is f you
know vocal about his or her perspective
on social media because it can backfire
also too many of time yeah yeah it can
backfire but I my strong belief is that
uh not just the founder but almost
everybody associated with the company
needs to have a larger than life uh
Persona because frankly at the early
stage of the company the company's image
is a is is a summation of everybody
who's literally online and uh whatever
little you can do um assuming that you
do it well uh can only add to the image
of the company because I I'll give you
some examples right I think true to us
also true to everyone else if a company
posts an article okay um and if you
compare that with a Founder who posts
the same article the I think the viewers
are long 10 to 20x totally right so you
have more leadership that way also more
important what happens is people connect
more with individuals and hence whatever
the individual rights they kind of at
the back end connect to the uh company
as well and that's marketing for free
right so so if the company does it I
think uh the social media sites will
also chase them more for money but if
the individual does it they will think
that he's doing it for free and I think
also it helps you attract the right kind
of people yes for different reasons
maybe if somebody has a BD that's why
you started I mean it was free it was a
free recruitment tool yeah yeah because
I I remember we thinking about it in the
initial days as to whether we should use
a recruiter either in-house or outside
and then we realize hey that costs so
why don't we just start writing and in
every article we end up with saying that
you know hey this is how it happens at
our business yeah and people will just
send their resumes and it actually
happened that way right so so it was a
free I do tell to all our new Founders
right that they should because I do
believe ASI that you can't Outsource
that you know somebody a recruiter or
anybody else can do it for you some
extent but I think nobody else can
represent your firm better than you U
out there right in in all hestness but I
think as you grow rupali it is more
important that everybody else in the
company fix up like for example if you
look at us I've been pushing everyone
for like close to 3 to four years now
there are active probably three to four
other writers as well it takes a long
time for somebody to make that jump but
once they made the jump they stay there
right so it has to be a group of people
it can't be just the point no you've
done you have converted me for sure I
was you know some outside the yeah sorry
outside the company right I remember my
first conversation with you was around
this this yeah um my last question again
sorry a lot of last
questions what is in ulala
company so so to be very honest with you
I have always been you know a big
proponent of making money right and I
was a big proponent of making money even
when it was not The Fad around today
it's The Fad everybody wants to make
money
right um so so people used to call me uh
a laala and used to um say that our
business is like a laa company so um um
somebody wrote a pretty long article
about it and I you know I'm pretty sure
I almost read it and then I thought you
know what is the right way to respond to
it and I got like close to hundreds of
messages right on just LinkedIn saying
that hey we're waiting for your respond
why don't you respond why don't you
respond so I came up with this concept
of saying that hey we are laa but the
reality is over a period of time we've
grown so much over the last s years that
we've added o to it so we are laala but
we've added o so we are U laa and and is
sorry o is laa I knowa you know it's
just just okay understood
it'sa you
know fantasy so we are everybody's
fantasy right now but still two3 aala
because four out of six words of aala is
still alala so that was the no but I
must confessed what an elegant respon I
think it you know apart from that
response bit I think that's we some
somewhere everybody expected you to do
it you you know because you are active
and we thought you but you know what
stood to me was how your team ried
towards it right your team the entire
ofb ecosystem Oxo ecosystem sharing
commenting right was it stuck actually
we made a few posters it did it did and
I could you know I and I think going
through the comments was amazing to
understand you know because this were
your employees telling and sharing lot
of them were ex employees as well is it
no no amazing that was great and I hear
you doing you you're doing an article SO
waiting for that but now this has been
amazing Ashi thank you so much for
sharing your journey um you know um I
think I've been always a big fan of you
know even when you join Matrix right you
hear stories any place you join you hear
stories of Once Upon a Time you
definitely are the Once Upon a Time
stories that we still hear but uh but
you know I I I think being part of
Matrix has allowed me to know you learn
from you so I'm very excited and I I'm
hoping this um experience would be you
know a lot of Founders can new Founders
can learn from it um so thank you and U
looking forward to where the ulala
company to the next level thank you so
much thank you for the kind words and
good luck with the show going ahead no
thank you looking
forward
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