A Journey Of No Nonsense Approach

Hello Friends,

I was contemplating for a while to have an exciting start to my reading journey this year. And finally I was able to do that. My love for startup stories and also curiosity to understand the journey of one of the most talked about entrepreneurs(He was leading the startup world headlines for past one year or so) of the recent time made me pick up this absolute cliffhanger. I am sure you will love this story if you are fond of bold & strong personalities. Let's dive deeper into this then.

Ashneer Grover needs no introduction. Without a doubt he has been the poster boy of that region of startup world which produces gutsy business leaders. Probably there could not have been a better time for him to tell his story to the world than this when he was being the headline of news channels & social media sites for all the wrong reasons. Ashneer's story is an eye opener for another reason too. It talks about all those setbacks, frustrations, heartbreaks, missed opportunities, extreme stress that an entrepreneur has to go through to build a successful enterprise. In a country like ours where startup founders are judged mostly on basis of some of the common terminologies like company valuation, brand value, external funding, IPO Ashneer's story shows there can be a completely different side to it too where a founder has to pay a hefty price for building a successful company out of sheer determination & hard work. What his story also tells is an entrepreneur can be comfortable with bootstrapping but not bootlicking.

First thing about his book that attracts readers' attention is its title. The title Doglapan is a reflection of all that he has experienced in recent past. Once you read the book you will realize that the title is quite appropriate. On a lighter note I still felt a non-Hindi speaking reader might take a bit of time to understand the real meaning of the title. Even though quite a few pleasant experiences have been mentioned by the author starting from his IIT days, initial learning experiences in corporate world, marrying the love of his life & building his dream venture but eventually the turmoil that he has gone through leading to his ouster from his own company takes the centre stage in the entire narration. During every phase of his life the bold personality that sets him apart from the rest comes out prominently.

Doglapan can be termed as the journey of yet another billion dollar made in India brand as well as the journey of yet another aspiring middle class young man who was determined to make it big in the business world that also on his own terms. And he did that too. Narration of the chapters consists of simple language with no exaggeration of the facts. Even though some of the explanations in terms of business valuation or funding components might seem a bit difficult for readers to understand unless they have a thorough knowledge of the same but overall the narration is business jargon free & simple. Coming to the story part Ashneer has been quite expressive while remembering his early childhood days, college life & initial days as a successful corporate executive. One aspect of the book is easily noticeable throughout the chapters is his honesty while explaining any phase or a particular incident. He doesn't hesitate to accept if it was his fault in any of the matters either.

If you think the book is all about serious stories only then you are wrong. There have been quite a few incidents or narrations which bring out the humorous side of the author too. Ashneer's story is not just another business biography rather a tale of extreme grit, determination & passion. His recent announcement on social media of starting his next venture is another example of his never say die spirit. One might say that it is his version of the story as there could be other side of it too which is correct. But rarely we would find someone sitting at the peak of success being so vocal about the most challenging phase of his life. Kudos to Ashneer for telling his story to the world in possibly the most unfiltered way. Great to see his participation in the popular business reality show Shark tank India as an investor has found a place in the book. The show is definitely one of the important aspects of his career as this was the platform which earned him immense popularity courtesy his no nonsense straightforward approach. Also somewhere down the line this overnight success might have worked as the catalyst for his critics during the entire controversy.

Overall Doglapan is definitely worth a read. There have been enough appreciations over the social media for the way it is written. I am sure you won't be disappointed after reading this book whether you are an admirer of Ashneer or not.

Image Credit: amazon.in

Personal Recommendation(Startup story/Business Biography/Autobiography)