Dream To D:FY The Odds

Hello Friends,

My love for books on startup stories has brought me today with yet another review of a startup journey but this time it's not a journey of glory rather a tale of an ambitious journey which started with lot of aspirations and expectations but couldn't reach its ultimate destination. We read lot of articles and social posts about successful startups. Stories which talk about their people, marketing strategy, external funding, innovation, products and what not. But the fact is that all these success stories that we keep reading are just about 10% of the entire startup ecosystem. What about the rest of the 90% then? They don't reach their destination. Yes, that's the hard reality of the startup world. If there are dreams that see the daylight, there are quite a few which get shattered before completing this exciting journey. But why does some fail and some achieve extraordinary success while they start the journey with similar passion? We never talk about those who inspite of giving it their all don't get the crown of success. Since our childhood we have learned to celebrate only success. And the opposite of success is always failure, isn't it? But sometimes failures are lot more worthy than success as they teach us quite a few valuable lessons and at times help us find the right direction. I am going to share one such untold story from Indian startup ecosystem. Let's start and find out if it's a story of failure or learning.

The Biography of a failed venture is an apt title for a book that depicts a venture with lot of promise. Unfortunately it could not achieve the desired success it was supposed to. The venture had an ambitious(At times overambitious) founder, decent amount of capital to start the operations, an efficient and attractive bunch of mentors & brand ambassadors, good enough opportunity in the market and above all an indomitable passion and determination of the founder. Still it did not succeed, but why? Are the above mentioned qualities not good enough to create a successful enterprise? Where was the deficiency? Was it the product or marketing or strategy or a mix of multiple factors that led to the downfall of a dream? All those questions are answered in depth in a simple manner in the book authored by the dreamer Prashant Desai himself.

Prashant, a chartered accountant holds a substantial corporate experience apart from venturing into his own firm. He had the opportunity of working closely with industry stalwarts like Kishore Biyani & Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Currently he is associated with brands like Everstone group & Burger King at the strategic level apart from pursuing his passion as a trained speed reader and an influencer who spreads financial literacy through his social media channels. Such a passionate learner he is who loves to wear multiple hats. More can be accessed about him @https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsprashantdesai/

The book talks about the journey of an Indian sports brand and its various hiccups. Prashant , a finance guy (CA to be more precise) started his entrepreneurial journey with a particular financial goal in mind & dream of creating a made in India brand in heart. The story initially talks about his childhood days, early professional career before getting into a detailed narration of his roller-coaster ride as an entrepreneur. Every step taken in his entrepreneurial journey has been detailed in the book. It's a no filter version of a shattered dream. Honesty & simplicity are the two prominent features that can be felt throughout the narration. There is no exaggeration of events, simple language coupled with true emotions & an attempt to connect with the readers through the story is clearly visible. Mostly we are so used to read success stories that suddenly finding a story that talks of failure and a gamut of learnings more than any success story would ever talk is like gold. This reminds me reading the story of India's first ecommerce venture in the book Failing to succeed (Click here for my review) which echoed similar emotions.

I am not sure how many of you have heard about the sports brand D:FY but that's the brand Prashant tried to build with a determination of making it a success. But despite having all the right skills and resources Prashant couldn't succeed as some of the decisions which were quite crucial for the success of the business went wrong. From the overall narration it is kind of evident that at some stages the founders went with emotional decisions rater than one based on rational. Even after stalwart of Indian retail business like Kishore Biyani reminding him of the risk associated with certain moves, Prashant decided to go with his instinct but couldn't really replicate his thoughts into results. There can be multiple factors for a business to succeed or fail. It is difficult for any outsider to judge that. Kudos to the author as he could narrate even the smallest of the incidents with equal perfection. While going through the series of events one could easily feel the emotions that he would have gone through. That's why it's one of the most honest explanation of someone's journey.

At times we feel embarrassed to even share smallest of our mistakes or any of our failures. But it takes a lot of courage for someone to come forward and share their journey which was full of learnings of a lifetime. The best part of the book according to me though comes towards the end when the author points out what all the things could have been done differently to succeed. That shows his humility as a person who is not shy of accepting his shortfalls and honesty as an author who expressed his thoughts without any bias. This book is not just for entrepreneurs, it's a reflection of someone's life which is full of ups & downs. Hence there is a lot to learn for every individual whether a professional, student, homemaker or business person. Prashant's story is definitely going to inspire you to pursue your passion but with caution. I am sure his journey is going to make lot of other individuals to come forward and share their story which can be a big learning for the rest of the world.

Image Credit: amazon.in

Personal Recommendation(Startup story)