The 9 Start Up Lessons I learnt from:

The Anna Hazare Movement!

A case study

by Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal

Disclaimer & Concept!

This presentation IS NOT about Anna Hazare’s ideology.

This IS a case study based on the thinking of Anna Hazare’s movement AS A START UP through the eyes of an ENTREPRENEUR.

I am a Start Up Entrepreneur. These are my credentials - (Google search result)

Lesson 1

State your Start Up Mission Clearly &

Simply

Anna Hazare declared WAR on Corruption.

It was CRYSTAL Clear and SIMPLE to understand.

Lesson 2 The Start Up Team has to be

impeccable

Anna Hazare suited the CEO role perfectly.

He used his experience & background to create an impression that he was the boss who could deliver.

Arvind Kejriwal came in as a strong second. He seemed to be the perfect COO.

Lesson 3Describe your ‘100 day’ plan

Anna Hazare and team announced that the inclusion of the JAN LOKPAL BILL in the next 100 days was their ‘go to market’ plan. That was it.

There was no ambiguity about what they intended to do as a ‘Start Up’.

Lesson 4Leveraging a ‘Big Bang’ moment

The ‘Ram Leela’ Ground rally was the BIG BANG moment for Anna Hazare and team. That singular event catapulted them to the PARLIAMENT.

They leveraged that one event to extract more than they ever expected – a written PROMISE by the govt. to action the Jan Lokpal Bill.

It’s rare for Start Ups to get such a launch. It’s like TechCrunch announcing that your Start Up is the best idea they have seen in a while!

Lesson 5 Moving from Proposal to Agreement (with track

changes)!

The Congress DID pass a motion in the parliament to move their version of the Jan Lokpal bill. Sure, their bill was diluted etc. - like any agreement received is amended and returned with track changes. Real entrepreneurs work towards making a proposal into an agreement!

The follow up threats, deadlines and finger-pointing by the Anna team was amateurish. They needed to work on the track changes – NOT reject it outright!

Lesson 6

Focus on business – not stunts after launch

Going into ‘protest’ mode after a spectacular parliamentary debut was a bad idea by the Anna Camp. Launching a “go to jail” movement in Mumbai really backfired. Stunt time was over!

Anna and team confused priorities. They should have stayed focused on getting the bill negotiated in the parliament with RESPECT for due process and timelines.

Issuing threatening deadlines is like telling your client to SIGN the first draft of your proposal by 9 am the next day or consider the agreement void! That’s STUPIDITY and never works in REAL LIFE.

Lesson 7Don’t publicly show helplessness. Fight!

I was shocked to see Anna Hazare walk off in the middle of a news conference in Mumbai. That signaled helplessness.

Arvind Kejriwal admitted that they were “confused”!! that too, to THE TIMES OF INDIA!! Sure, Start Ups are confused for a long time BUT why announce that to the world?!

Lesson 8

Aligning with Allies; shunning the ‘Naysayers’

As the Jan Lokpal Bill began moving in the Parliament, the real skeletons began to emerge. The different political parties and their stance on the bill and its sections were clearly argued in public. The non supporters of the Bill became public!

The Anna Camp, in my opinion, became belligerent towards everyone. Any Start Up faces rejection. Finding the supporters of the concept is the challenge. I haven’t seen any ‘collaborative’ dialogue of Team Anna with anyone...

Lesson 9Keeping the PUBLIC fire burning!

Post the Mumbai debacle, I don’t hear much about the movement. That’s a pity. Team Anna’s pole position seems to have ended in a crash.

Constantly telling people that you are around, rethinking, regrouping, etc. is important for Start Ups. STARTING UP is NOT CELEBRATING Christmas Day! It’s SURVIVING 365 days of the year…

The last slide – the usual stuff

I am available on alok@rodinhood.com / facebook.com/rodinhood / @rodinhood / rodinhood.com / therodinhoods.com

If you have counter arguments, opinions, views etc., send them to me. I will be happy to review them and add them as comments/reactions to this ppt!