Never say die : Fall Again Rise Again

Hello Friends,

I am back with the review of yet another enthralling startup journey. In general life cycle of any startup is full of challenges & trying times. The journey becomes even more challenging if any setback from founder's personal life gets added to it. The journey I am going to share is one such where the founder had to handle the challenge of building his dream organization along with a troublesome incident from his personal life. Let's dive deeper.

Fall Again, Rise Again--- the name itself is sufficient enough to understand that it's a story of consistent resilience against unfavorable circumstances. It's the story of Sandeep Aggarwal, a modern day entrepreneur who went through enormous struggles in order to build two billion dollar companies named ShopClues & droom respectively. He co-authored this book with Sunny Sen. So what makes his journey noteworthy?? Quite a few reasons for that.

Firstly, Sandeep's evolution from a simple, struggling English speaking middle class boy to a smart & efficient Wall Street analyst and further to a successful entrepreneur.

Secondly, his passion for an entrepreneurial journey that made him leave all the luxuries of a well settled life in the US & come back to India.

Thirdly, his never say die spirit in venturing once again even after being ousted from his successful first venture of ShopClues.

Most importantly, his immense mental strength & determination to create an equally successful brand in the face of Droom in spite of going through unbearable stress due to the insider trading case in the US.

Too many outstanding qualities. Isn't it?? But let me tell you it's worth exploring each one of them.

For a change half of the book talks about his childhood, school & college life, initial struggling phase in professional life & an unimaginable career further as an analyst. In a hindsight mentioning these experiences makes sense as they form the backbone of his further life journey. Throughout the book his sincere acceptance regarding some of the experiences are visible be it facing 37 rejections during his internship, his first meeting with Hotmail founder, experience working with Charles Schwab or be it expressing his feelings during the turmoil of his legal matter. Entire story has been narrated through small chapters & simple language.

Throughout the chapters one can find detailed analysis or in-depth explanation of certain topics be it logic behind his estimated downgrading of Google & eBay during his Wall Street days or analysis of Indian ecommerce players and their mode of operation. Being an analyst for long & habit of preparing long research reports on various industry trends can be clearly visible among the analyses mentioned in the book. At the same time there are quite a few important information for the e-commerce entrepreneurs available here which are either mentioned directly or needed to be read between the lines.

Nowhere during the narration the reader would feel that any particular incident or topic has been exaggerated. It's all sincere but hard realities of one's life. I also felt working with some great leaders during his Wall Street days gave him that added advantage of creating an era of his own. He didn't forget to show his gratefulness towards each & every person who stood by his side during the challenging phase. Probably I can go on & on writing about this extraordinary journey but I would stop here & leave it to the readers to experience the same. Sandeep has received several accolades for his achievements & one such recognition made by Forbes India can be seen quoted at the top of the front cover which is a real testament to his business acumen. Hence to all those who feel they have lost the battle of life & there is no hope to survive, go and grab a copy of Fall Again Rise Again.

Image Credit:amazon.in

Personal Recommendation( Startup story/Autobiography)