Book Review - Ganesha’s Global Startup

 Book Review  - Ganesha’s Global Startup

Prachi Garg

 

Ganesha’s Global Startup is the third book of the Fiction Series on Startup business models from Ms Prachi Garg, and her 6^th book overall. All previous titles are on Startups, making Ms Garg India’s {maybe the world?} first and only Startup series writer in both Fiction and Non-Fiction. This book, like the other two before this, is also based on a fictional startup, and its planning, strategisation, tactical execution and growth phases, including funding, organic and inorganic strategies, and more.

 

THE IMPACT OF READING IN THE PRACTICAL WORLD

I am myself in the startup space, and have handled more than a dozen startups in various consulting full time  and part time capacities; in my opinion, the 6 books, all of them, are valuable resources for any startup expert on enthusiast.  More than once her first 3 books have given me reference models and examples in my professional capacity. More than once, the 3 fiction books have provided ideas, motivation and options in my strategic planning.

 

READING FOR THE PRACTICING MANAGER

Before I go further into the review, let me note and underscore the importance of reading literature on business. For the practicing manager, at any level, it is an absolute must. The wider the reading within a defined direction, the greater the chances of ideas, plans, paths, tactics occurring to you when in need. The brain has an amazing capacity to absorb information, and bring it out when need. All it needs is brain food – reading, and a lot of it. 

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THE BOOK REVIEW

Off all the books she has written, this one is easily the finest, and by a very long distance. This is a book on absolute fundamentals of building a global scale business, right from the planning exercise, to implementation, growth and funding, and inorganic growth onwards to self-actualisation. Kudos to Ms Garg for writing, and double kudos to her for managing to be so succinct and short about it, packing a veritable knockout punch in a small fast readable book. Given that Managers in general, and the startup community in particular does not read much into strategy, this is a vital point.

 

This book packs so much in one short sharp volume – just like the other 5 books of Ms Garg, that it is a must read. Furthermore, given that the IT-dominated Startup community is not too aware of Business Strategy, this is one set of books – especially this one – that they can surely read. Wont take too much time to go through, yet packed with information. Best of all, there is an ease-of-read factor here; the approach is practical, making the content very easy to absorb.

 

The book in its approach scans the growth phase of a startup; this is a bootstrapped startup that has learnt to stand on its own two feet. The books starts from this platform, and builds the startup to organic growth, global as well as national, and then goes onto to the inorganic phase. Simultaneously, it also tells of the growth of the founders, all the way to self-actualisation, where the book ends. That is the fundamental premise and approach : building from a platform achieved by hard work.

 

It deals with funding pangs, preparing for it, growing the organization itself, the numbers game, standardization of deliverables – product / service delivery and their processes, using funds wisely, customer centricity and competitive analysis and its importance. These are all areas where companies in general tend to be weak, and falter with success as the focus shifts. But basis my personal experience, Financial Literacy and Wisdom & Customer/Competitive centricity should be the two key learnings from this. These two are the focal point of all business; I am delighted that Ms Garg has brought them out so strongly in this book!

     

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A SMALL DIVERSION

For those interested – small diversion here – a practicing manager, especially the startup founders – must be reading Business Strategy, Economics, Accounting and Finance, Regulatory Matters on a regular basis. It may not help immediately, but in the long run it always helps. Be it Ms Garg on Startups, or Mr Anil Lamba on Finance or Mr Ruchir Sharma on Global Finance / Business, or any of the other noted writers Indian or Western, make it a point to read them. Each will add value, and build your skills in small ways.  

 

The reason is straightforward – the further up the chain you move, the older you get, the wider is your interaction outside your specialty; and at the top, all functions are equally vital. That is where and when multi-disciplinary skillsets will come in handy. Not only that, even in sales, the more complex Long-cycle B2B sales models cannot be effectively handled without extensive cross-functional interactions with various and sundry teams.

 

BACK TO THE BOOK : IN CONCLUSION

I have not stated anything about the story itself – I leave that to the reader to discover. Suffice it to state that this is the story of a successful startup and the story of its founder both. It has two distinct storylines built into it, and both have been treated fairly, and given their due importance and balance. That makes for fun reading, converting what could have been a bare case study of success into a fleshed-out, engaging and enthralling fun learning session. This is the hallmark of this writing style, and packs a strong punch in its messages, as the medium is not dry, but is rather more of an experience, a fun time spent reading.

 

I have given two different reasons for Startup enthusiasts to read – one skills-based, and the other experiential. This is the third reason – it delivers a message in a  sublime fashion, and teaches you, gives you ideas and manages to add value in an effective manner. Take it not as a book, but as a fun training exercise. The only thing it almost misses {though this is a late-stage startup with a successful idea & plan, to be fair} is plan validation and assumption analysis, which nearly no one does, and which is the key point VCs, Seed Funders, and FIs nowadays tend to go into… a bit more on that would have been nice. That apart, not a word wrong in this. A brilliant book with a strong set of takeaways! 

Available on Amazon.in : https://www.amazon.in/Ganeshas-Global-Startup-Prachi-Garg/dp/9390441307