My Mantra: I am a Cool Startup - Shradha Sharma

At the Delhi Roundtable of TechSparks many startups went on to take many messages/thoughts shared by the distinguished speakers and panelists. I for one, loved the candid statement from the Co-Founder of Micromax, Rahul Sharma, - "As an Entrepreneur, everyday in the morning you got to tell yourself in the mirror, I am Cool." The statement is simple, very much a lingo in the college parlance but when it comes to internalising this statement rarely anyone of us follow. Yes, we know we are cool, yes we know what we are building is cool but one questioning remark from an investor, buyer and we start doubting our capabilities.

You might say,"not me" but please mull over this. As entrepreneurs we have to everyday cross a road ( and mind you mostly alone) which is full of skeptics and negative talkers. Its easy to get demotivated ( i for one did get hurt/demotivated many a times in the last 2 and a half years), so if we practice this mantra of not just believing ourselves we are cool but internalising it in all our being, we are surely going to force everyone to believe we are cool. Most entrepreneurs who are successful today, have one thing in common, even in their bad days they believed they were cool and what they were building/creating was cooler.

Incidentally it brings to mind, one interview show on NDTV of film star Shah Rukh Khan, when the reporter asks him ,"you are always surrounded by people who seem to idolise you and its like your camp..why do you promote this? To which SRK replies, " I like positive affirmations when i get up in the morning and when i go to sleep at night, why not have people around who instill positivity in me .. when there is so much negativity and competitiveness everywhere? I think its a good food for thought. Surrounding oneself with positive people or atleast people who instill positivity/confidence in us.

Think about it. Like everything else, being Cool is a state of mind, and what is our state of mind determines our state of life.