Gyaan Sutra On entrepreneurship and technology

300, which was released two weeks back had sales of $70 million on the opening weekend. That was the third highest amount for any film, and the highest for a movie which wasn’t a sequel. The only movies which managed to ever make more than that amount, on the opening weekend, were the last movie of the Harry Potter series (they had a fan following already), which made $102 million, and the last movie of the Matrix series (which too had a huge following), which made $91 million.

Now that’s the story behind 300. The real story that is. The one which they showed in the movie was like there are 300 people under Leonidas, the ruler of Sparta, with a massive attitude, who fight and beat the shit out of a 1,000,000 strong army of Xerces, the gay looking, Persian ruler.

So now imagine that you are trying to create a company. Maybe you actually are running one then it would be a lot easier, but if you aren’t just imagine. Now what would your company need to be successful.

All that your company needs is all that there is in 300.

1. You need a leader people who is strong, intelligent, committed, principled and brave.

Leonidas was all of that and more. Like Jim Morrison would have said, his life was worth basing a movie on. He was a beautiful strategist, brilliant warrior, knew his opponent’s weakness, and had a sense of humour.

To build a company you need more strength, more conviction, more belief and more principles, that you can imagine.

2. You need a team of developers who were born, bred, and brought up to program.

His army of 300 men weren’t potters or farmers, they were warriors. Ever since they were born they were told that glory was only in dying on the battle field fighting against the bravest warriors.

When you startup, your core team will have to work long, tiring hours without money or fame, with just the idea that there would be glory one day. The core team would have to fight their own battles on the war field, and they must be trained and equipped to handle them.

3. You need a marketer who can convince a room full of bald old men that you need their support.

You need somebody to pitch to the VC’s, and that somebody has to be more than excellent. In the movie, Leonidas sends a messenger back to pitch for a bigger arm, and his messenger has to convince all of the senators to get the complete army to fight Xerxes.

Unlike the movie, the VC’s that you approach haven’t decided before hand that they don’t plan to fund you. But still you would need to convince old experienced men, that why your idea is so important.

4. You need your PR to be excellent.

Leonidas would have preferred to have his men stay there, but he chose to send a messenger, so that the world would know what happened there. Maybe it was because Xerxes told him that he would wipe his name off history, but whatever, you get the point.

As a leader it is your duty to pay attention to every detail. Just superb programming would not help you become the market leader. You need to let the people know what are you up to.

5. You need a team which is loyal.

So many of the 300 could have easily run away, but they chose to stand there, fight and support their leader. Now in your company, you team won’t have to die for you, but you will need all the support. For even Leonidas would have been nothing without his warriors.

Every time one of your employees run away to another company which pays more, you lose a part of yourself. Loyalty works both ways. Trust your team, help them build themselves up and they will love you for it. They will stand up for you when you need them, only if they love you as much as you love them.

6. You need the luck to favor you.

Keep lady luck happy, she can help you in more ways that anything else ever can. If Xerces coins hadn’t dropped when the queen had killed the traitor, things would have been a lot different. However, luck would be on your side only if you do what you need to do. The Queen was the queen because she chose wisely.

7. You need a beautiful wife, who will give you strength, when you are about to die.

Ofcourse, you need a beautiful wife, so start looking for her too. Don’t just sit there and keep coding. There are more important things in life, like making sure your lineage remains intact. (I am sorry for being a sexist here, but that’s only because I believe that women dont’ need any inspiration for strength. Even the biggest of challenges cannot bend a woman’s will.

Business is the warfare of the 21st century. This is where you will make your conquests.

So in case you already haven’t (which I doubt), run now and watch the movie, and start a company when you come back.