Anuradha Sridharan

 A couple of weeks back, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine. He is happy in his current role, earns well and settled in his organization for 5+ years. But he wants to try out something different - a new opportunity that is quite different from what he has been doing so far, a complete shift towards a new career path. Our hour-long conversation was mainly around me asking him a few questions and let him talk and share his perspectives. Sometimes, we need to articulate to ourselves on why we are keen on certain decisions/life-changing opportunities. So if you are in a similar situation where you need to decide on a new opportunity / new direction in your career, sit down with a pen and paper and answer the following questions. Or if you don’t like to write it down, talk to someone whom you trust and can open up freely, without the fear of being judged/ridiculed. 1) Why are you interested in this opportunity? What are the goals of yours that this opportunity will he...

A few weeks back, I was interacting with organizers of executive MBA programme at Institute of Product Leadership. They asked me if I could deliver a talk on design thinking and share some of my experiences from past projects. While I was thinking about the relevant topic, I also came to know from them that the students are already doing a course on design thinking, know the concepts and that it would be more useful if I can link the concepts they have learned to real-life experiences. I observe that many startups do not seem to invest enough time in understanding the problem space, exploring the user/customer's context and diving into their motivations. This directly relates to the first 2 stages of design thinking process - Empathize with your users and Define the problem statement . So I structured my talk around these 2 stages and shared relevant examples from the two startups I have worked with so far. Here are the slides: Why the first 2 stages of Design thinking are impor...

It's really heartening to see technology companies taking the steps to support working mothers by extending the maternity leave upto 6 months. Kudos to Flipkart for thinking beyond these 6 months by supporting flexible working hours and supporting a year off without salary. But there's also much more that can be done to enable mothers to return to workplace with a confident, happy and motivated mindset. Especially for mothers who do not have a family support system in place. What happens to the mothers(and their infants) after 6 months? They would need to look for safe and secure day care options. Multiple factors have to be considered in order to narrow down this decision - the location, the care-takers, security, hygiene, food, number of children, child:care-taker ratio, timings etc. It's extremely challenging to find a daycare that matches all the criteria that works best for the parents. Given the traffic situation, mothers have to spend an extra hour or two in managi...

Around 3-4 months back, I visited a new health themed restaurant to have lunch with my family. We were the only visitors that Sunday afternoon. The car parking lot right outside their entrance was completely free. We had a delicious and filling meal and the service was good too. They offered a nice spread (thali) with multiple healthy dishes. And the prices were very reasonable. We came back with happy memories of this place. I shared a short review of this restaurant with my friends in Facebook too. Last week, we had some errands to run in the same vicinity where this restaurant is located. So we decided to have lunch there. To our surprise, there were no parking lots available. When we went inside, the restaurant was packed, with 2 waiters running around. I sat with my daughter in one of the free chairs, which a graceful elderly couple shared. Since we were hungry, we placed the order while waiting for the tables to free up. After around 15 minutes, a family left a table and we quick...

I admit it, I consume a lot of content - books, e-books, blogs, links from twitter feed etc. Most of the content is not really assimilated. I don't often sit back and think through what I read and reflect on the relevant take-aways and how I can apply/expand/refute/customize further. On one of the routine content consumption days, I stumbled upon this wonderful piece - "Don't die of consumption, Learn by writing" . I have read this article thrice so far and I intend to read it atleast once a week. Not to say, my consumption has reduced but I have started to consciously introspect, analyze and write down my thoughts around content that resonated with me. The below article is one such reflection. I was listening to the first lecture in "How to start a startup" series, initiated by the folks at YCombinator. It was a valuable lecture with many useful insights. Although I would have loved it even more if Sam Altman had shared the awesome material in a more prese...

Over the last few years working for a couple of startups, I have learnt this important lesson -  For a startup to be successful, the following 2 principles are extremely important and in the same order as below: Focus Momentum These 2 principles are crucial, especially in the initial few years when you are trying to establish your foothold. Focus : I came across an interesting article this morning which reiterated my learnings. It talks about how Facebook in the initial years was relentlessly pursuing "growth" to be the key focus area, although many skeptics wondered how they would monetize or generate revenue eventually. I believe - "A startup should have a vision that is so big, that it inspires everyone around you. At the same time, it should have a focus that is so clearly defined, that it serves as a guiding light to everyone around you." Focus is even more important if you are entering a new product category. Yes, you will foresee multiple opportunities in di...

One of the best books I have read recently is " Rework " by the 37signals' founders. This book is filled with many interesting and innovative ideas on how businesses should run and adapt. One of the many phrases that left me thinking even after finishing the book is " Decommoditize your product ". The chapter in the book uses this phrase in the context of " Competition " and how you can protect your product/feature from being copied. The example of Zappos and it's obsession with excellent customer service is a good case study of creating a unique product experience. "Pour yourself into your product and everything around your product too. Competitors can never copy the you in your product" I started thinking about the relevance of this phrase to web products or mobile apps. It doesn't refer to differentiating your product alone, but rather investing more effort in giving a unique product experience and taking care of all the little ...

This is a topic I'm so closely associated with and deeply passionate about. To give you some context, I worked full time for 9 years before I took my maternity break for 2 years. I decided to come back to the industry early last year but I was sure that I would only opt for an opportunity that gives me the flexibility to work-from-home. I initially reached out to a few of my trusted contacts in product MNCs. Most of them replied that they want me to come on board full time. One of my acquaintances who runs a startup reached out to me around that time. After hearing about the kind of work option I was looking for, he said he will get back to me. I haven't heard from him after the first phone call. I used to wonder - Why is remote working not a viable option in India? Why do hiring managers stop the process as soon as they get to know that the candidate is looking for a remote working model? After a month or so, I stumbled upon an interesting startup focused in the health and wel...

In an earlier post , I briefly touched upon what goes into a MWP (Minimum Wow Product). There are a few aspects which I want to detail out to provide more clarity. I believe there are 5 attributes that are a MUST for a MWP before it is launched. 1) End-to-end experience The product's promise of solving a particular problem for the user should provide a complete experience. The user shouldn't feel that there is something broken in the whole flow. Take the core feature and ensure you think through the flow step-by-step from a user point of view. For example, a content publishing product should not only support composing, editing and publishing the content but also support social sharing. 2) Unexpected surprise This is where the "WOW" factor comes in. As you talk to more potential users and gather enough insights about the problem, you will get an idea of what the users' expectations are. Brainstorm possible ways by which you can exceed the expectations. Think throu...

I came across an interesting article a few months back on the difficulties that startups face in hiring good developers. I think " retaining " good developers is also equally important, given the scarcity and attractive offers from large organizations and other startups. I want to address the trivial-but-often-overlooked issues that make a lot of difference in the long run. These issues and suggestions will be applicable to startups with a defined business model and an established core team that is already into execution mode. The new developer should feel "at-home" right from the first day. HR/Admin in-charge should ensure the IT requirements are addressed before hand so the person has access to his desktop/laptop right from the moment he steps in.  A designated space should be made available based on the team members with whom the new hire is supposed to work with. "Sit where there is space" kind of an attitude by the hiring manager could be a turn-o...