I had a privilege of meeting Sridhar Vembu, the illustrious founder of Zoho, a few months back during our program - Jagriti Yatra.
Clearly, he is a man who is shifting the mindset of our generation away from the glamour of the funded startups to the beauty of sustainable enterprises, away from the hustle of metros to the calmness of small towns and villages.
When asked how to become a 1 billion company from a 1 million, his answer was sheer brilliance.
Referring to the technique of mathematical induction, he answered that if you are a 1-million company, you next think of 10 million, not 1 billion. You take it to 10 million, then think of 50 million, and so on.
We thought of brushing up our maths, and looked for the technique of mathematical induction. Here is what we found.
Mathematical Induction is a mathematical technique which is used to prove a statement, a formula or a theorem is true for every natural number.
The technique involves two steps to prove a statement, as stated below −
Step 1(Base step) − It proves that a statement is true for the initial value.
Step 2(Inductive step) − It proves that if the statement is true for the number n, then it is also true for number n+1.
In simpler terms, if you are climbing a ladder and you are on a certain step, you focus on the next step, not on the last step.
And what he said holds true for every walk of life, not only for businesses.
The experience, and thus the confidence, one gains by focusing laser-sharp on one step at a time accumulates and then grows exponentially.
And when you enter into that ‘exponential zone’, then naturally you will be equipped to think of many steps ahead.
Till then, act like a confused one 😊 to eventually become confidently confused!
Signing Off,
Aarti & Ashutosh
Confidently Confused
It was a great learning experience to hea Shridhar Vembu at Vivekanand Kendra. His theory to growth wa simple. Thank you for reminding that gem of thought.