Double down on things that work and know when to step back: Ganesh Balakrishnan’s mantra for entrepreneurs

Understand decision-making, learn from mistakes, and double down on things that work. This is the key to staying ahead in the entrepreneurial game, said Ganesh Balakrishnan, serial entrepreneur, marketer, and co-founder of fintech firm Aurm.  

During a fireside chat at YourStory’s Brands of India 2024 event, the IIT-IIM alumnus—whose journey is a testament to the power of resilience and entrepreneurial spirit—also emphasised the importance of external perspectives and objective opinions.

“Through the journey, multiple mentors, including investors and partners with us in our entrepreneurial journey, give you a perspective which is very different from what we have. As an entrepreneur, you are in the thick of things, you are in a forest … Somebody needs to step back and say, this is what it looks like from the outside. You need a little bit of objective opinion,” he said.

Balakrishnan's latest venture Aurm addresses the rising challenges in bank locker security in India.

The startup, which aims to enhance security while storing valuables, was co-founded by Balakrishnan along with former core team members of MyGate, a security and community app, and retired Indian Armed Forces officials.

Prior to Aurm, the entrepreneur had co-founded several companies, including Momoe, a mobile payment app, and D2C casual sneaker brand Flatheads. He has also had professional stints at global conglomerates such as Honeywell and Bain & Company.

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The Shark Tank experience

Balakrishnan, who was featured on television series Shark Tank India 2, also talked about his experience while pitching Flatheads.

Founded in 2018 by Balakrishnan and Utkarsh Biradar, the brand specialised in casual sneakers for the urban audience, including bamboo fibre shoes.

“I had very mixed emotions. The episode was actually shot three or four months before it was aired. The entire two hours of conversation was condensed within 11 minutes. The good part was the story came out well …

"As a brand marketer, it was a dream come true. Imagine your brand suddenly getting national visibility. Normally we used to get 10k or 20K visitors every month. Those three weeks after the episode aired, we got an average of about 80k-100k visitors every day. And it was organic,” said the founder. 

Flatheads was recently acquired by Styched, an online youth fashion brand, in an all-equity deal. 

Lessons from entrepreneurial journey

While making business decisions, the entrepreneur believes in balancing emotions with objectivity.  

“Every startup is somebody's baby. It’s a very hard thing to let go of that emotional connection. You need to balance the emotion with the objective. If you see signs, in spite of your best efforts, that things are not moving in the right direction, then you really need to introspect and figure out what you can do," Balakrishnan elaborated.

"There are pivots you can do, different categories you can get into, you can change your business model, or you can say, ‘Hey, I've tried everything, it doesn't really work, maybe I need to step back.’ So, having that check in the head is very important,” he added. 

When asked about the driving force behind his journey, Balakrishnan credited his father for being his greatest inspiration.

“From an inspirational perspective, I think it starts from dad. There was always a motivation behind pushing me to do better, right from the early days. His mantra was: focus on getting your efforts right, focus on putting your 100% on everything that you do, regardless of the outcome. And that's what entrepreneurship is about,” he said.