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19 May 2019, 22:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it |
|
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it ? |
20 May 2019, 07:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: The Idiot’s Guide To Being a Bad Manager |
 Have you been feeling burnt out or stressed lately? Do you hate your job? Forget those self-help books. Consider taking out your frustration on your team instead. It’s much easier- and surprisingly therapeutic- to make their lives a living hell. Here’s how you can punish them for working for you: 1. Act like everything is urgent Pretend that the company has no priorities. Expect them to do everything at once. Set unrealistic timelines. Get frustrated when they’re missed, or if your team drops the ball on the most minute tasks. Get even more hassled when they don’t spend time on the right priorities in the first place. Tell them that you have limited bandwidth, and it’s unreasonable for them to ask you questions or review their work at every stage, for every project. Why can’t they prioritize better? 2. Keep changing the team’s strategy and direction Ideally, you shouldn’t set any direction at all. Don’t set team or individual goals. Better yet, don’t define their roles. Give them ad-hoc work through the year. Keep it coming, and ask them to continuously work harder and faster, with no breaks. When they burn out, question their ability to execute on the next important project. If they ask about the company or team’s strategy, tell them that you’re going to keep trying to do everything. Then reluctantly, set some unreachable goals for the year. Mid-way through the year, change your team’s direction without warning. If you really want to toy with them, don’t tell them you’ve changed your mind until they’ve already done the work. Keep them guessing. 3. Keep your communication vague Don’t articulate deliverables or timelines or show them what ‘good’ looks like. Get angry when they don’t understand what you mean, or are unable to complete a task, but don’t allow them to ask questions. Expect them to read your mind instead. When they update you, respond to the most insignificant point. Answer their questions with more questions. From time to time, simply ignore them. When they follow up, act confused or busy. On the other hand, set a high standard for communication from their end: demand precision, and pick on the slightest inconsistency. Ask them how they plan to succeed if they can’t communicate effectively. 4. Pretend you’re never wrong Hold them to an impossible standard, and humiliate them in public for their mistakes: but don’t apologise when you get it wrong. Showing humility is a sign of weakness. Instead, blame them for your mistakes. If they give you feedback, tell them they’re wrong. Question their loyalty, and tell them that everyone in the company questions their attitude. Tell them to complain less, and work harder. 5. Take credit for their work Offer to lead every single project, and then step away, when the real work kicks in. Tell them you’re busy, and they should step up and learn to lead. If they fail, let them take the fall. It’s not your job to protect them: they need to toughen up. If they do manage to execute, take credit for their work. Ensure you are the face of all successful projects externally. Don’t thank or acknowledge your team when interacting with other teams or external stakeholders. Instead, put them down in front of other employees. Act like you manage to do a phenomenal job while still having a weak team, because you’re just that good. 6. Micromanage their time Don’t waste your time getting to know them. Their hopes, dreams and fears are meaningless. Instead of understanding, supporting and guiding them, micromanage their time. Don’t help set up any structure or processes or help with execution: just focus on the time your employees spend at work. Ensure they come in early, and leave late. Ask why them why they don’t work on weekends. Make them regret asking for leaves: work from homes are obviously out of the question. Face-time matters. 7. Don’t reward talent Don’t reward great work: or even acknowledge it. They’re just doing their job, after all. If you’re really forced to, offer them a bonus or raise. Then change your mind at appraisal time, without acknowledging the shift in stance. When they ask you what happened, ask them why they don’t have more empathy for the organisation’s needs. Why are they so self-centred? Isn’t doing great work enough for them? Remind them how lucky they are to work for you in the first place. Threaten to reduce or cut their role if they’re not more grateful. Insecure employees are easier to manage- and less likely to leave. You don’t want to nurture talent: you’re the star here, not them. Enjoy your reign of fear. Hopefully, you’ll end up scarring your employees to such an extent, that they’ll begin to believe this is normal. Good luck! The Idiot’s Guide To Being a Bad Manager was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. |
20 May 2019, 11:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: The Bad Boss Guide: How to Scar Your Employees |
 Have you been feeling burnt out or stressed lately? Do you hate your job? Forget those self-help books. Consider taking out your frustration on your team instead. It’s much easier- and surprisingly therapeutic- to make their lives a living hell. Here’s how you can punish them for working for you: 1. Act like everything is urgent Pretend that the company has no priorities. Expect them to do everything at once. Set unrealistic timelines. Get frustrated when they’re missed, or if your team drops the ball on the most minute tasks. Get even more hassled when they don’t spend time on the right priorities in the first place. Tell them that you have limited bandwidth, and it’s unreasonable for them to ask you questions or review their work at every stage, for every project. Why can’t they prioritize better? 2. Keep changing the team’s strategy and direction Ideally, you shouldn’t set any direction at all. Don’t set team or individual goals. Better yet, don’t define their roles. Give them ad-hoc work through the year. Keep it coming, and ask them to continuously work harder and faster, with no breaks. When they burn out, question their ability to execute on the next important project. If they ask about the company or team’s strategy, tell them that you’re going to keep trying to do everything. Then reluctantly, set some unreachable goals for the year. Mid-way through the year, change your team’s direction without warning. If you really want to toy with them, don’t tell them you’ve changed your mind until they’ve already done the work. Keep them guessing. 3. Keep your communication vague Don’t articulate deliverables or timelines or show them what ‘good’ looks like. Get angry when they don’t understand what you mean, or are unable to complete a task, but don’t allow them to ask questions. Expect them to read your mind instead. When they update you, respond to the most insignificant point. Answer their questions with more questions. From time to time, simply ignore them. When they follow up, act confused or busy. On the other hand, set a high standard for communication from their end: demand precision, and pick on the slightest inconsistency. Ask them how they plan to succeed if they can’t communicate effectively. 4. Pretend you’re never wrong Hold them to an impossible standard, and humiliate them in public for their mistakes: but don’t apologise when you get it wrong. Showing humility is a sign of weakness. Instead, blame them for your mistakes. If they give you feedback, tell them they’re wrong. Question their loyalty, and tell them that everyone in the company questions their attitude. Tell them to complain less, and work harder.5. Take credit for their work Offer to lead every single project, and then step away, when the real work kicks in. Tell them you’re busy, and they should step up and learn to lead. If they fail, let them take the fall. It’s not your job to protect them: they need to toughen up. If they do manage to execute, take credit for their work. Ensure you are the face of all successful projects externally. Don’t thank or acknowledge your team when interacting with other teams or external stakeholders. Instead, put them down in front of other employees. Act like you manage to do a phenomenal job while still having a weak team, because you’re just that good. 6. Micromanage their time Don’t waste your time getting to know them. Their hopes, dreams and fears are meaningless. Instead of understanding, supporting and guiding them, micromanage their time. Don’t help set up any structure or processes or help with execution: just focus on the time your employees spend at work. Ensure they come in early, and leave late. Ask why them why they don’t work on weekends. Make them regret asking for leaves: work from homes are obviously out of the question. Face-time matters. 7. Don’t reward talent Don’t reward great work: or even acknowledge it. They’re just doing their job, after all. If you’re really forced to, offer them a bonus or raise. Then change your mind at appraisal time, without acknowledging the shift in stance. When they ask you what happened, ask them why they don’t have more empathy for the organisation’s needs. Why are they so self-centred? Isn’t doing great work enough for them? Remind them how lucky they are to work for you in the first place. Threaten to reduce or cut their role if they’re not more grateful. Insecure employees are easier to manage- and less likely to leave. You don’t want to nurture talent: you’re the star here, not them.Enjoy your reign of fear. Hopefully, you’ll end up scarring your employees to such an extent, that they’ll begin to believe this is normal. Good luck! The Bad Boss Guide: How to Scar Your Employees was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. |
04 Jul 2019, 02:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: From Silicon Valley To Bollywood |
 I’ve consistently been surprised by the many similarities between investing in startups and making TV shows. I transitioned from investing in and building startups to running a long-form content house last summer. Over the past year, I have built a creative team, led the scripting of 6 web-series, produced 4 shows and built a pipeline of 15+ ideas that we’re actively pitching to platforms. The move has definitely been challenging: making a show is hard work. You’re managing sets of 60–80 freelancers with very different skill-sets. It often takes at least a year to write, shoot, edit and release a series. It’s also more fun and stimulating than I could have imagined. Some of the similarities I’ve found striking are: The pain and pleasure of being in a hits business Just as in early-stage investing, despite your carefully thought out hypotheses, frameworks and screens, you can’t predict what’s going to work. You bring a strong idea of what you want to make and why to the table: but in the end, your success or failure is determined by what your consumer wants. You take a portfolio approach: you know that you’ll end up having some hits, and some flops, and do your best to ensure that your hits are large enough to more than make up for the failures. Diversification matters: you start by taking small, inexpensive bets on ideas and faces, and testing shorter form content on free platforms. You invest in building your brand, so that you can develop as large of a funnel as possible. In both cases, you’re often looking for a needle in a haystack: we’ve been through over 150 ideas to build our current pipeline. And you learn to be intentional about how much energy and time you dedicate across your portfolio, and tend to the higher potential teams more carefully: they will decide whether you break out or not. But when you do have a hit on your hands, the synergies it brings are absolutely beautiful. You’re caught in an upward spiral, where everyone wants what you have. It’s so much easier to place the next product or season, and make it even better.A heady mix of art and science Great investors and producers are always switching from using their left brain to their right brain and back: you need to be equally creative and pragmatic. Logic doesn’t always win: you’re taking leaps of faith, and visualising what’s never existed before when you initially decide to back a founding team or writer. I love working with a blank sheet of paper: brainstorming characters and settings for our shows brings me joy. You’re doing your homework, but you’re also often operating on gut and instinct. You’re balancing making the best show possible- developing a great script, finding actors who can bring your story to life, a director with a strong vision- both highly subjective and taste-driven- with cost and time constraints- in the same way you’re helping young companies build their initial core teams and run experiments, with scarce resources. In both cases, you run as structured and sensible a process as you can, while allowing room for creativity and unexpected fires, in order to be able to package the elements together, sell the end product, and make the show/product on time and on budget. A long term game: relationships and reputations Supporting startups and making shows are long-term games. They’re heavily relationship based. A lot of people have resources and networks: why should the best creators and entrepreneurs choose you? The quality of your networks and reputation will determine how much people trust you and want to work with you. They’re counting on your support and guidance to bring their vision to their life. It’s not enough to provide the capital or place the show with a platform or brand. You invest for the long term: you start building relationships before they’re ready to pitch to you, and meet as many creators as you can. Your best relationships will arise from taking risks: when you take a chance on people, and give them a platform no one else has. Often your biggest value-add will come from who you can introduce to the team- whether that’s a rockstar VP, co-founder or fabulous director. What your creators say on the ground about you matters most. They will remember how you made them feel, and not just what you did.Adding value without stepping on toes: a careful dance As a producer, you’re shaping the product alongside a range of creative teams: writers, directors, actors and editors, that have their own vision. Your role in is to bring a strong creative and practical perspective to the group: but to also allow the final product to be shaped as collaboratively as possible. I think having high emotional intelligence is key to both being early-stage investing and being a showrunner. You need to have serious respect and empathy for your teams, to not only help them work together and support them as needed- you’re often a counselor, agony agent, therapist, given the high-stress environment- but also to leave them alone, when they need the space. And this is important: as much as you’re there to provide feedback and motivation, you have to know when to back off and allow them to create. Knowing when to get out of the way, instead of becoming a roadblock, is a delicate skill. Open-minded but opinionated: stories evolve Storytelling matters in both early-stage investing and making long-form content. What idea are you supporting that will capture people’s hearts and minds? Why would they want to spend time on your product- given all the choices they have? How can you bring the most authentic and relatable voices to the table? On the other hand, you bring a strong hypothesis. You’re here because you want to create. You have some ideas about what you want to build and why. You have to feel strongly about what you’re backing, given what a long term, uncertain and relationship-based ride this is. But it’s your audience that will make or break you. Just as you find while building any consumer tech product: your audience often can’t articulate what they’re looking for, or like or need, until it’s in their hands. Keep testing what they want to see: roll out short form versions on free platforms before you invest in rolling a product or show out. Keep in touch with them: don’t develop such a high-level view or such strong conviction that you forget to ask them what you want. Listen to the feedback, engage with the comments, ask them what they want to see. Keep tailoring for them. Their tastes continue to evolve: particularly in crowded markets, as they grow more choosy. Humbling and inspiring: there’s always hope My favourite part of both businesses are the people you meet along the way. I love how resilient the entrepreneurs and creators I’ve met are. I’ve learned that when the journey is long, persistence and consistency matters as much as talent. I have so much respect for our creators: I see the same passion and vision in the entrepreneurs we backed at my previous firm. I’m inspired every day by being around people who love what they do.I hope you find that too! Do leave your comments below- I’d love to hear what you think. |
06 Jul 2019, 08:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: From Silicon Valley To Bollywood |
|
I’ve consistently been surprised by the many similarities between investing in startups and making TV shows. I transitioned from investing in and building startups to running a long-form content house last summer. Over the past year, I have built a creative team, led the scripting of 6 web-series, produced 4 shows and built a pipeline of 15+ ideas that we’re actively pitching to platforms. The move has definitely been challenging: making a show is hard work. You’re managing sets of 60–80 freelancers with very different skill-sets. It often takes at least a year to write, shoot, edit and release a series. It’s also more fun and stimulating than I could have imagined. Some of the similarities I’ve found striking are: The pain and pleasure of being in a hits business Just as in early-stage investing, despite your carefully thought out hypotheses, frameworks and screens, you can’t predict what’s going to work. You bring a strong idea of what you want to make and why to the table: but in the end, your success or failure is determined by what your consumer wants. You take a portfolio approach: you know that you’ll end up having some hits, and some flops, and do your best to ensure that your hits are large enough to more than make up for the failures. Diversification matters: you start by taking small, inexpensive bets on ideas and faces, and testing shorter form content on free platforms. You invest in building your brand, so that you can develop as large of a funnel as possible. In both cases, you’re often looking for a needle in a haystack: we’ve been through over 150 ideas to build our current pipeline. And you learn to be intentional about how much energy and time you dedicate across your portfolio, and tend to the higher potential teams more carefully: they will decide whether you break out or not. But when you do have a hit on your hands, the synergies it brings are absolutely beautiful. You’re caught in an upward spiral, where everyone wants what you have. It’s so much easier to place the next product or season, and make it even better.A heady mix of art and science Great investors and producers are always switching from using their left brain to their right brain and back: you need to be equally creative and pragmatic. Logic doesn’t always win: you’re taking leaps of faith, and visualising what’s never existed before when you initially decide to back a founding team or writer. I love working with a blank sheet of paper: brainstorming characters and settings for our shows brings me joy. You’re doing your homework, but you’re also often operating on gut and instinct. You’re balancing making the best show possible- developing a great script, finding actors who can bring your story to life, a director with a strong vision- both highly subjective and taste-driven- with cost and time constraints- in the same way you’re helping young companies build their initial core teams and run experiments, with scarce resources. In both cases, you run as structured and sensible a process as you can, while allowing room for creativity and unexpected fires, in order to be able to package the elements together, sell the end product, and make the show/product on time and on budget. A long term game: relationships and reputations Supporting startups and making shows are long-term games. They’re heavily relationship based. A lot of people have resources and networks: why should the best creators and entrepreneurs choose you? The quality of your networks and reputation will determine how much people trust you and want to work with you. They’re counting on your support and guidance to bring their vision to their life. It’s not enough to provide the capital or place the show with a platform or brand. You invest for the long term: you start building relationships before they’re ready to pitch to you, and meet as many creators as you can. Your best relationships will arise from taking risks: when you take a chance on people, and give them a platform no one else has. Often your biggest value-add will come from who you can introduce to the team- whether that’s a rockstar VP, co-founder or fabulous director. What your creators say on the ground about you matters most. They will remember how you made them feel, and not just what you did.Adding value without stepping on toes: a careful dance As a producer, you’re shaping the product alongside a range of creative teams: writers, directors, actors and editors, that have their own vision. Your role in is to bring a strong creative and practical perspective to the group: but to also allow the final product to be shaped as collaboratively as possible. I think having high emotional intelligence is key to both being early-stage investing and being a showrunner. You need to have serious respect and empathy for your teams, to not only help them work together and support them as needed- you’re often a counselor, agony agent, therapist, given the high-stress environment- but also to leave them alone, when they need the space. And this is important: as much as you’re there to provide feedback and motivation, you have to know when to back off and allow them to create. Knowing when to get out of the way, instead of becoming a roadblock, is a delicate skill. Open-minded but opinionated: stories evolve Storytelling matters in both early-stage investing and making long-form content. What idea are you supporting that will capture people’s hearts and minds? Why would they want to spend time on your product- given all the choices they have? How can you bring the most authentic and relatable voices to the table? On the other hand, you bring a strong hypothesis. You’re here because you want to create. You have some ideas about what you want to build and why. You have to feel strongly about what you’re backing, given what a long term, uncertain and relationship-based ride this is. But it’s your audience that will make or break you. Just as you find while building any consumer tech product: your audience often can’t articulate what they’re looking for, or like or need, until it’s in their hands. You test cheaper versions of your product, before you roll it out. You keep in touch with your audiences, and stop yourself from developing such a high-level view or such strong conviction that you forget to ask them what you want. You listen to the feedback, engage with the comments, ask them what they want to see, and keep tailoring for them. Their tastes continue to evolve: particularly in crowded markets, as they grow more choosy. Humbling and inspiring: there’s always hope My favourite part of both businesses are the people you meet along the way. I love how resilient the entrepreneurs and creators I’ve met are. I’ve learned that when the journey is long, persistence and consistency matters as much as talent. I have so much respect for our creators: I see the same passion and vision in the entrepreneurs we backed at my previous firm. I’m inspired every day by being around people who love what they do.I hope you find that too! Do leave your comments below- I’d love to hear what you think. https://medium.com/media/3c851dac986ab6dbb2d1aaa91205a8eb/href From Silicon Valley To Bollywood was originally published in HackerNoon.com on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. |
15 Jul 2019, 11:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: From Silicon Valley To Bollywood |
From Silicon Valley To Bollywood ? I’ve consistently been surprised by the many similarities between investing in startups and making TV shows. I transitioned from investing in and building startups to running a long-form content house last summer. Over the past year, I have built a creative team, led the scripting of 6 web-series, produced 4 shows and built a pipeline of 15+ ideas that we’re actively pitching to platforms. The move has definitely been challenging: making a show is hard work. You’re managing sets of 60–80 freelancers with very different skill-sets. It often takes at least a year to write, shoot, edit and release a series. It’s also more fun and stimulating than I could have imagined. Some of the similarities I’ve found striking are: The pain and pleasure of being in a hits business Just as in early-stage investing, despite your carefully thought out hypotheses, frameworks and screens, you can’t predict what’s going to work. You bring a strong idea of what you want to make and why to the table: but in the end, your success or failure is determined by what your consumer wants. You take a portfolio approach: you know that you’ll end up having some hits, and some flops, and do your best to ensure that your hits are large enough to more than make up for the failures. Diversification matters: you start by taking small, inexpensive bets on ideas and faces, and testing shorter form content on free platforms. You invest in building your brand, so that you can develop as large of a funnel as possible. In both cases, you’re often looking for a needle in a haystack: we’ve been through over 150 ideas to build our current pipeline. And you learn to be intentional about how much energy and time you dedicate across your portfolio, and tend to the higher potential teams more carefully: they will decide whether you break out or not. But when you do have a hit on your hands, the synergies it brings are absolutely beautiful. You’re caught in an upward spiral, where everyone wants what you have. It’s so much easier to place the next product or season, and make it even better.A heady mix of art and science Great investors and producers are always switching from using their left brain to their right brain and back: you need to be equally creative and pragmatic. Logic doesn’t always win: you’re taking leaps of faith, and visualising what’s never existed before when you initially decide to back a founding team or writer. I love working with a blank sheet of paper: brainstorming characters and settings for our shows brings me joy. You’re doing your homework, but you’re also often operating on gut and instinct. You’re balancing making the best show possible- developing a great script, finding actors who can bring your story to life, a director with a strong vision- both highly subjective and taste-driven- with cost and time constraints- in the same way you’re helping young companies build their initial core teams and run experiments, with scarce resources. In both cases, you run as structured and sensible a process as you can, while allowing room for creativity and unexpected fires, in order to be able to package the elements together, sell the end product, and make the show/product on time and on budget. A long term game: relationships and reputations Supporting startups and making shows are long-term games. They’re heavily relationship based. A lot of people have resources and networks: why should the best creators and entrepreneurs choose you? The quality of your networks and reputation will determine how much people trust you and want to work with you. They’re counting on your support and guidance to bring their vision to their life. It’s not enough to provide the capital or place the show with a platform or brand. You invest for the long term: you start building relationships before they’re ready to pitch to you, and meet as many creators as you can. Your best relationships will arise from taking risks: when you take a chance on people, and give them a platform no one else has. Often your biggest value-add will come from who you can introduce to the team- whether that’s a rockstar VP, co-founder or fabulous director. What your creators say on the ground about you matters most. They will remember how you made them feel, and not just what you did.Adding value without stepping on toes: a careful dance As a producer, you’re shaping the product alongside a range of creative teams: writers, directors, actors and editors, that have their own vision. Your role in is to bring a strong creative and practical perspective to the group: but to also allow the final product to be shaped as collaboratively as possible. I think having high emotional intelligence is key to both being early-stage investing and being a showrunner. You need to have serious respect and empathy for your teams, to not only help them work together and support them as needed- you’re often a counselor, agony agent, therapist, given the high-stress environment- but also to leave them alone, when they need the space. And this is important: as much as you’re there to provide feedback and motivation, you have to know when to back off and allow them to create. Knowing when to get out of the way, instead of becoming a roadblock, is a delicate skill. Open-minded but opinionated: stories evolve Storytelling matters in both early-stage investing and making long-form content. What idea are you supporting that will capture people’s hearts and minds? Why would they want to spend time on your product- given all the choices they have? How can you bring the most authentic and relatable voices to the table? On the other hand, you bring a strong hypothesis. You’re here because you want to create. You have some ideas about what you want to build and why. You have to feel strongly about what you’re backing, given what a long term, uncertain and relationship-based ride this is. But it’s your audience that will make or break you. Just as you find while building any consumer tech product: your audience often can’t articulate what they’re looking for, or like or need, until it’s in their hands. You test cheaper versions of your product, before you roll it out. You keep in touch with your audiences, and stop yourself from developing such a high-level view or such strong conviction that you forget to ask them what you want. You listen to the feedback, engage with the comments, ask them what they want to see, and keep tailoring for them. Their tastes continue to evolve: particularly in crowded markets, as they grow more choosy. Humbling and inspiring: there’s always hope My favourite part of both businesses are the people you meet along the way. I love how resilient the entrepreneurs and creators I’ve met are. I’ve learned that when the journey is long, persistence and consistency matters as much as talent. I have so much respect for our creators: I see the same passion and vision in the entrepreneurs we backed at my previous firm. I’m inspired every day by being around people who love what they do.I hope you find that too! Do leave your comments below- I’d love to hear what you think. https://medium.com/media/3c851dac986ab6dbb2d1aaa91205a8eb/href From Silicon Valley To Bollywood was originally published in HackerNoon.com on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. |
18 Jul 2019, 23:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: The Overlapping Worlds of Startups and TV Shows |
|
Startups and TV Shows: Overlapping Worlds ? I’ve consistently been surprised by the many similarities between investing in startups and making TV shows. I transitioned from investing in and building startups to running a long-form content house last summer. Over the past year, I have built a creative team, led the scripting of 6 web-series, produced 4 shows and built a pipeline of 15+ ideas that we’re actively pitching to platforms. The move has definitely been challenging: making a show is hard work. You’re managing sets of 60–80 freelancers with very different skill-sets. It often takes at least a year to write, shoot, edit and release a series. It’s also more fun and stimulating than I could have imagined. Some of the similarities I’ve found striking are: The pain and pleasure of being in a hits business Just as in early-stage investing, despite your carefully thought out hypotheses, frameworks and screens, you can’t predict what’s going to work. You bring a strong idea of what you want to make and why to the table: but in the end, your success or failure is determined by what your consumer wants. You take a portfolio approach: you know that you’ll end up having some hits, and some flops, and do your best to ensure that your hits are large enough to more than make up for the failures. Diversification matters: you start by taking small, inexpensive bets on ideas and faces, and testing shorter form content on free platforms. You invest in building your brand, so that you can develop as large of a funnel as possible. In both cases, you’re often looking for a needle in a haystack: we’ve been through over 150 ideas to build our current pipeline. And you learn to be intentional about how much energy and time you dedicate across your portfolio, and tend to the higher potential teams more carefully: they will decide whether you break out or not. But when you do have a hit on your hands, the synergies it brings are absolutely beautiful. You’re caught in an upward spiral, where everyone wants what you have. It’s so much easier to place the next product or season, and make it even better.A heady mix of art and science Great investors and producers are always switching from using their left brain to their right brain and back: you need to be equally creative and pragmatic. Logic doesn’t always win: you’re taking leaps of faith, and visualising what’s never existed before when you initially decide to back a founding team or writer. I love working with a blank sheet of paper: brainstorming characters and settings for our shows brings me joy. You’re doing your homework, but you’re also often operating on gut and instinct. You’re balancing making the best show possible- developing a great script, finding actors who can bring your story to life, a director with a strong vision- both highly subjective and taste-driven- with cost and time constraints- in the same way you’re helping young companies build their initial core teams and run experiments, with scarce resources. In both cases, you run as structured and sensible a process as you can, while allowing room for creativity and unexpected fires, in order to be able to package the elements together, sell the end product, and make the show/product on time and on budget. A long term game: relationships and reputations Supporting startups and making shows are long-term games. They’re heavily relationship based. A lot of people have resources and networks: why should the best creators and entrepreneurs choose you? The quality of your networks and reputation will determine how much people trust you and want to work with you. They’re counting on your support and guidance to bring their vision to their life. It’s not enough to provide the capital or place the show with a platform or brand. You invest for the long term: you start building relationships before they’re ready to pitch to you, and meet as many creators as you can. Your best relationships will arise from taking risks: when you take a chance on people, and give them a platform no one else has. Often your biggest value-add will come from who you can introduce to the team- whether that’s a rockstar VP, co-founder or fabulous director. What your creators say on the ground about you matters most. They will remember how you made them feel, and not just what you did.Adding value without stepping on toes: a careful dance As a producer, you’re shaping the product alongside a range of creative teams: writers, directors, actors and editors, that have their own vision. Your role in is to bring a strong creative and practical perspective to the group: but to also allow the final product to be shaped as collaboratively as possible. I think having high emotional intelligence is key to both being early-stage investing and being a showrunner. You need to have serious respect and empathy for your teams, to not only help them work together and support them as needed- you’re often a counselor, agony agent, therapist, given the high-stress environment- but also to leave them alone, when they need the space. And this is important: as much as you’re there to provide feedback and motivation, you have to know when to back off and allow them to create. Knowing when to get out of the way, instead of becoming a roadblock, is a delicate skill. Open-minded but opinionated: stories evolve Storytelling matters in both early-stage investing and making long-form content. What idea are you supporting that will capture people’s hearts and minds? Why would they want to spend time on your product- given all the choices they have? How can you bring the most authentic and relatable voices to the table? On the other hand, you bring a strong hypothesis. You’re here because you want to create. You have some ideas about what you want to build and why. You have to feel strongly about what you’re backing, given what a long term, uncertain and relationship-based ride this is. But it’s your audience that will make or break you. Just as you find while building any consumer tech product: your audience often can’t articulate what they’re looking for, or like or need, until it’s in their hands. You test cheaper versions of your product, before you roll it out. You keep in touch with your audiences, and stop yourself from developing such a high-level view or such strong conviction that you forget to ask them what you want. You listen to the feedback, engage with the comments, ask them what they want to see, and keep tailoring for them. Their tastes continue to evolve: particularly in crowded markets, as they grow more choosy. Humbling and inspiring: there’s always hope My favourite part of both businesses are the people you meet along the way. I love how resilient the entrepreneurs and creators I’ve met are. I’ve learned that when the journey is long, persistence and consistency matters as much as talent. I have so much respect for our creators: I see the same passion and vision in the entrepreneurs we backed at my previous firm. I’m inspired every day by being around people who love what they do.I hope you find that too! Do leave your comments below- I’d love to hear what you think. https://medium.com/media/3c851dac986ab6dbb2d1aaa91205a8eb/href The Overlapping Worlds of Startups and TV Shows was originally published in HackerNoon.com on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. |
17 Mar 2020, 09:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Raising the Bar for Storytelling in India |
 There’s never been a better time to be a storyteller. And yet- why aren’t we seeing more groundbreaking shows and films- when there seem to be so many media buyers and sellers?The digital content ecosystem hasexploded in India. Heavyweight TV and film players- Dharma Production, Zee Entertainment and Sony to name a few- have launched digital houses. International houses like Amazon, Netflix and Disney have set up shop and are scaling quickly in India. Both these powerful players have announced that India is their no.1 priority market. That’s a big statement. On the other hand, not only do you have hundreds of millions of Indians coming online for the first time, you also have an increasingly smart audience with well developed tastes, who are hungry for more nuanced and relatable stories. There’s definitely a surge in content creationto meet this demand. And yet, while it’s tough to pick a great foreign show or film to watch, our local options are still severely limited. Sure, we have a Sacred Games or Made in Heaven release once a year and change the game, but these stories are still too few and far in between. We think the digital medium is still sorely unexplored. Boundless Media is a digital and story-first creative house. We tell bold stories for a new India. We choose to tell stories that are highly original and locally rooted, but can travel globally. We respect our audience: we know they’re always a step ahead of us. We think Gen Z and millennials want to see themselves- their lives and relationships- reflected on screen. And they’re ready to hold us to a global standard: they’re comparing our work to Suits and Breaking Bad. They also have their own discovery mechanisms for stars: digital India fetishises a different type of face. We showcase a quickly evolving generation. At Boundless, we believe great storytelling takes time, patience and real love. There’s not enough focus on telling truly great, high quality stories. It takes time to develop a new world, it’s fictional realities and the unique characters that inhabit this world.Because we’re story-first, we’re highly selective about which shows we work on. We have a clear reason for choosing to tell the stories we do: and back them wholly and personally. Our incredible team goes above and beyond to pull out all stops to make sure they’re top notch. We have a stellar team of experienced creative producers, writers, directors and designers, who are driven by making high-quality stories. We’re all creatives ourselves: so we respect our creators. We believe having a strong voice and culture matters. And yet, creativity isn’t enough: a little bit of common sense can go a long way in this industry. Filmmaking is an art: but the whole process doesn’t have to be complicated, if you can balance planning and flexibility. We work on stories end to end- from conceptualisation to edit- so we can ensure a consistent vision. We find talent, align on a vision, and simplify and organise production so our creators can hone their craft. Want to help raise the bar for storytelling in India? Come join us: www.boundlessmedia.in |
19 Mar 2020, 03:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Stop Complaining About Being At Home |
 You got what you wanted. Continue reading on Medium » |
24 Mar 2020, 04:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: COVID-19 |
 it’s spreading! cause/ effect/ correlation who’s to say? we amplify the noise leading to panic leaders fumble markets crash borders shut wash your hands! stay in! #canceleverything can we just breathe (with a mask?) let the experts speak. |
29 Mar 2020, 06:02
| FROM Bschooladmit20: COVID-19 |
 Photo credit: Cri Marca, used with permissionit’s spreading! cause/ effect/correlation who’s to say? we amplify the noise leading to panic leaders fumble markets crash borders shut wash your hands! stay in! #canceleverything can we just breathe (with a mask?) let the experts speak. COVID-19 was originally published in P.S. I Love You on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. |
19 Apr 2020, 06:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Time |
 Photo by Icons8 Team on UnsplashClock ticking. the seconds pass noisily as we come to a total standstill look away from my screen look out of my window shut my eyes look in breathe. stare. (like it’s the first time) the real 21 day challenge- can you keep your mind still? Time was originally published in P.S. I Love You on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. |
22 Apr 2020, 23:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Thank you so much ❤️ |
|
Thank you so much ❤️ |
16 May 2020, 02:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Us |
 At first, you ignore it. Then you label it a ‘them’ problem. They should have known better, acted sooner. You move on with your life. Continue reading on Medium » |
16 May 2020, 03:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: A Post World |
 Credit: Boundless MediaAt first, you ignore it. Then you label it a ‘them’ problem. They should have known better, acted sooner. You move on with your life. You only start to really pay attention when London and New York get affected. Not unlike terrorist attacks, lives seem to matter more in some places. Could this happen to you? You look around you. People don’t seem to be taking this seriously yet. How could they shut down or control a country like yours anyway? No one follows rules. We don’t have the infrastructure or resources to deal with a health crisis. We’re ungovernable. Maybe we’re resistant. Our immunity is strong. The heat is a good sign. Maybe we’ll be safe. It starts to come up more in conversations. Your friends are still joking about it, on the whole. Some are scared, they refuse to come out anymore. You laugh at them with your other friends, but privately you wonder: is it time to be more careful? The news is changing. Papers are dedicating entire sections to this. Social media is flooded with crisis-related posts. It’s obviously trending. Little else starts to come up in conversations as powerful photos of pain and suffering of other countries- countries that you had labelled differently than those seen as backward, unfortunate, closed, poor- start to suffer more than you thought they would. Italy is the first global call to action. The first time it really starts to affect you is when you start working from home. You can’t risk going to office any longer, being in an unregulated environment. At first, it’s not too bad. You’re happy to be done with the commute, have a little more time to yourself. Then, they do it. They start to shut borders. You didn’t think that was possible. Does this mean you can’t leave? You’re blindsided when a week later, they shut the country. Wait- what this mean for resources- food, medicine? How will you see your friends, family? What about the parties, commitments, the travel you had planned? At first you think this can’t possibly last- no one will follow this. But resources start to get more constrained. The on-demand delivery, travel, events you took for granted are gone in a blink of an eye. You have to start planning your meals. Pictures of people hoarding protection, toilet paper rolls, food are shared all over the world. Is this real? The debate quickly moves on: what about the poor? The community comes together in heartening ways: donations are made, food is organised. The class divide has never been sharper. The help leaves, and then you’re at home, an endless cycle of cooking, cleaning, working. You wonder about the families with children. How are they adjusting to homeschooling, keeping their children entertained and healthy at home? What about those in long-distance relationships, about to get divorced, away from their families? What is happening to the elderly, at risk, those with chronic conditions? How do you go to hospital? There’s fear. For a while, you cant get any protective gear: it’s all sold out. There’s panic for a while, and then people seem to adjust, surprisingly, if they can afford to, to lockdown. The jokes start on social media. People talk about their lives before, what the plan to do after, make fun of Zoom calls. There’s a period of social explosion of Houseparty and chatter about adjusting to a more online life. People notice the skies getting more blue, the animals coming out. The humor dies down as the migrant crisis starts. You see pictures of the poor, dying as they struggle to go home. But what can you do? How much can you give? As time goes on, the charity dies down. This is the government’s problem: they should have thought about the poor more.People jostle to be the new leaders, experts, even though no one has any idea whats going on. There’s webinars everyday around what this means for different industries, the economy, investing. People start doing skill-based workshops, exploring their creative side. Poetry, design , Youtube shows explode. The quarantine flexes mushroom. People make bread, Dalgona coffee, post recipes. They work out, post their new bodies on Insta, still hoping for a chance to display that summer bod, even if spring is shot. Then, the quarantine starts to get old. You grow restless, you miss your old life. What’s the plan? What happens after? People start sharing nostalgic photos. We’re counting down the days. There’s talk of rebellion, breaking the rules going back, shock that this has gone on so long. Governments start to debate opening up, as experts warn it’s far too soon. Should we prioritize life or the economy? This is what it’s come to. This is actually being debated. The stock market gets stranger, even more disconnected from reality. Oil prices go negative. Do macroeconomic rules hold anymore? Celebrating clear skies and clear air seems stale now. Would you risk your life for personal freedom? Trials start, countries compete in the rush to come up with a cure. Miracle drugs are tried and fail, misinformation is rampant. It’s becoming clearer than despite all the simulation models, no one really understands the spread. Front line workers struggle with exhaustion, get sick, die. There isn’t enough equipment, enough resource. We’re not prepared even if we should have been. We’ve had more than enough warning. We just chose not to act. Countries start to get blamed, as new of magic bullet cures are painted as false promises. We underestimated the enemy. Are we doing too little? Is it too late? As global supply chains falter, states enforce new immigration rules. We worry about a police state. How long can we have every move monitored? At how many points will you check people’s temperature, take their blood? We dream of going back. The pause highlights how unsustainable our lives were: the on-demand access, the constant travel, the false online lives. You can see influencers break down, and the new rise of authenticity. Tik Tok over Insta. And yet, we dream of going back.Then people worry about mental health. Should we be productive during a crisis? Then the job cuts start. AirBnb lays off 25% of its staff. The US loses 20 million jobs. That quickly shuts down the debate. There’s no question of work life balance, if there’s no work to be done. Twitter and Google and Microsoft announce indefinite work from homes. Is the office dead? Is it time to look for a new job, go freelance, start a company, make a career pivot, apply for an MBA. Obviously, starting a podcast is the answer. You google building on online community. Is everyone going to get creative? Are we seeing the rise of a passion economy? But who’s paying? In some ways, you can see the bright side. You now know your neighbors: you talk to your family more, you keep your friends close. Who knows when your’e going to meet new people, or have spontaneous, unplanned interactions next? The days start to blur together. It’s easy to feel like you’re in a time loop: what do weekends mean ? Lockdown 1, 2, 3. By the fourth one, the announcements are a joke. The days of clapping and singing and lighting candles is over. Creators are only watching the speeches to create memes. You’re questioning if there’s a way out of this. Everyone is. Now there’s no talk of after. There’s extensive debate around the ‘new normal’. What will work, travel, entertainment look like? Is it time to invest in a VR headset?Governments are announcing relief packages, loans, printing money, the rules around lending, debt, firing employees, wage laws are changing.A few countries seem to be doing well. But they’re rich, sparsely populated. What hope does a country like yours have? Are you exceptionally well positioned, as the world gets more flat, more globally connected, as work increasingly gets digital, remote outsourced, or are you on the brink of a crisis: as the poor suffer, migrants leave. What will cities do without the people that run it: delivery and construction workers, cleaners, security, staff? It’s time for reinvention. Maybe the world is going to be more digital now, less offline, more online. Travel, leisure, luxury, hospitality is dead. We always knew our previous lives didn’t work, they were unsustainable. New industries will necessarily mushroom. There’s always opportunity in a crisis. The wealthy start to consider moving to second homes, buying more property, where they can at least be safe. Periodically, we remember the dead. Celebrities are mourned. Periodically, we celebrate the front line heroes. Inward, then outward, then inward again. Physical, emotional health, loneliness, families, friends, ageing, the sick, the dying. Rich countries. Poor countries. Innovation. Resources. New jobs. Old jobs. Layoffs. Stock market. Oil. Global deals. Time. What’s next? Has anything really changed? How many deaths does it take? Read the above again. Pandemic or climate change? |
16 May 2020, 04:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Shockwaves: Pandemonium |
|
Credit: Boundless MediaAt first, you ignore it. Then you label it a ‘them’ problem. They should have known better, acted sooner. You move on with your life. You only start to really pay attention when London and New York get affected. Not unlike terrorist attacks, lives seem to matter more in some places. Could this happen to you? You look around you. People don’t seem to be taking this seriously yet. How could they shut down or control a country like yours anyway? No one follows rules. We don’t have the infrastructure or resources to deal with a health crisis. We’re ungovernable. Maybe we’re resistant. Our immunity is strong. The heat is a good sign. Maybe we’ll be safe. It starts to come up more in conversations. Your friends are still joking about it, on the whole. Some are scared, they refuse to come out anymore. You laugh at them with your other friends, but privately you wonder: is it time to be more careful? The news is changing. Papers are dedicating entire sections to this. Social media is flooded with crisis-related posts. It’s obviously trending.Little else starts to come up in conversations as powerful photos of pain and suffering of other countries- countries that you had labelled differently than those seen as backward, unfortunate, closed, poor- start to suffer more than you thought they would. Italy is the first global call to action. The first time it really starts to affect you is when you start working from home. You can’t risk going to office any longer, being in an unregulated environment. At first, it’s not too bad. You’re happy to be done with the commute, have a little more time to yourself. Then, they do it. They start to shut borders. You didn’t think that was possible. Does this mean you can’t leave? You’re blindsided when a week later, they shut the country. Wait- what this mean for resources- food, medicine? How will you see your friends, family? What about the parties, commitments, the travel you had planned? At first you think this can’t possibly last- no one will follow this. But resources start to get more constrained. The on-demand delivery, travel, events you took for granted are gone in a blink of an eye. You have to start planning your meals. Pictures of people hoarding protection, toilet paper rolls, food are shared all over the world. Is this real? The debate quickly moves on: what about the poor? The community comes together in heartening ways: donations are made, food is organised. The class divide has never been sharper. The help leaves, and then you’re at home, an endless cycle of cooking, cleaning, working. You wonder about the families with children. How are they adjusting to homeschooling, keeping their children entertained and healthy at home? What about those in long-distance relationships, about to get divorced, away from their families? What is happening to the elderly, at risk, those with chronic conditions? How do you go to hospital? There’s fear. For a while, you cant get any protective gear: it’s all sold out. Soon, the world is on lockdown. We’ve come to a grinding halt. Sports, Broadway, festivals. Even Burning Man. Everything is cancelled. There’s panic for a while, and then people seem to adjust, surprisingly, if they can afford to, to lockdown. The jokes start on social media. People talk about their lives before, what the plan to do after, make fun of Zoom calls. There’s a social explosion of Houseparty. People notice the skies getting more blue, the animals coming out. The humour dies down as the migrant crisis starts. You see pictures of the poor, dying as they struggle to go home. But what can you do? How much can you give? As time goes on, the charity dies down. This is the government’s problem: they should have thought about the poor more.People jostle to be the new leaders, experts, even though no one has any idea whats going on. There are webinars everyday around what this means for different industries, the economy, investing. People start doing skill-based workshops, exploring their creative side. Poetry, design,Youtube shows explode. The quarantine flexes mushroom. People make bread, Dalgona coffee, post recipes. They work out, post their new bodies on Insta, still hoping for a chance to display that summer bod, even if spring is shot. The quarantine starts to get old. You grow restless, you miss your old life. What’s the plan? What happens after? People start sharing nostalgic photos. We’re counting down the days. There’s talk of rebellion, breaking the rules going back, shock that this has gone on so long. Governments debate opening up again, as experts warn that it’s far too soon to go back to normal. Should we prioritize life or the economy? This is what it’s come to. This is actually being debated. The stock market gets stranger, even more disconnected from reality. Oil prices go negative. VC’s stop promising they’re still doing deals. Do macroeconomic rules hold anymore? Celebrating clear skies and clear air seems stale now. Would you risk your life for personal freedom? Trials start, countries compete in the rush to come up with a cure. Miracle drugs are tried and fail, misinformation is rampant. It’s becoming clearer than despite all the simulation models, no one really understands the spread. Front line workers struggle with exhaustion, get sick, die. There isn’t enough equipment, enough resources. We’re not prepared even if we should have been. We’ve had more than enough warning. We just chose not to act. Countries start to get blamed, as new of magic bullet cures are painted as false promises. We underestimated the enemy. Are we doing too little? Is it too late? As global supply chains falter, states enforce new immigration rules. You worry about a police state. How long can we have every move monitored? At how many points will you check people’s temperature, take their blood? We dream of going back. The pause highlights how unsustainable our lives were: the on-demand access, the constant travel, the false online lives. You can see influencers break down, and the new rise of authenticity. Tik Tok over Insta. And yet, we dream of going back.Then people worry about mental health. Should we be productive during a crisis? Then the job cuts start. AirBnb lays off 25% of its staff. The US loses 20 million jobs. That quickly shuts down the debate. There’s no question of work life balance, if there’s no work to be done. Twitter announces an indefinite work from home. Is the office dead? Is it time to look for a new job, go freelance, start a company, make a career pivot, apply for an MBA? Obviously, starting a podcast is the answer. You google building on online community. Is everyone going to get creative? Are we seeing the rise of a passion economy? But who’s paying?In some ways, you can see the bright side. You now know your neighbours: you talk to your family more, you keep your friends close. Who knows when your’e going to meet new people, or have spontaneous, unplanned interactions next? The days start to blur together. It’s easy to feel like you’re in a time loop: what do weekends mean anymore? Should we all celebrate our birthdays next year? Lockdown 1, 2, 3. By the fourth one, the announcements are a joke. The days of clapping and singing and lighting candles is over. Creators are only watching the speeches to create memes. At least we’re self-aware enough to laugh about the dystopia we’re living in.You’re questioning if there’s a way out of this. Everyone is. Now there’s no talk of after. There’s extensive debate around the ‘new normal’. What will work, travel, entertainment look like? Is it time to invest in a VR headset? Are your visas still valid? Governments are announcing relief packages, loans, printing money, the rules around lending, debt, firing employees, wage laws are changing. Maybe it’s finally the time to invest in crypto. A few countries seem to be doing well. But they’re rich, sparsely populated. What hope does a country like yours have? Are you exceptionally well positioned, as the world gets more flat, more globally connected, as work increasingly gets digital, remote outsourced, or are you on the brink of a crisis: as the poor suffer, migrants leave? What will cities do without the people that run it: delivery and construction workers, cleaners, security, staff? It’s time for reinvention. Going digital is no longer a choice. Travel, leisure, luxury, hospitality is dead. We knew our previous lives didn’t work, they were unsustainable: we just didn’t want to admit it to ourselves. We were addicted to the convenience. New industries will necessarily mushroom. There’s always opportunity in a crisis. The wealthy start to consider moving to second homes, buying more property, where they can at least be safe. Periodically, we remember the dead. Celebrities are mourned. Periodically, we celebrate the front line heroes. Inward, then outward, then inward again. Physical, emotional health, loneliness, families, friends, ageing, the sick, the dying. Rich countries. Poor countries. Innovation. Resources. New jobs. Old jobs. Layoffs. Stock market. Oil. Global deals. Time. What’s next? Has anything really changed? How many deaths does it take? Read the above again. Pandemic or climate change? |
26 Jul 2020, 03:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Fear |
 I wake up Continue reading on Medium » |
26 Jul 2020, 05:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: Fear |
|
I wake up in a cold sweat have we locked the doors? we’re alone here- what if someone breaks in? Continue reading on Lit Up » |
02 Sep 2020, 11:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: A Family |
 The first time I say I don’t want to have kids, I’m dismissed. You’ll grow up, things will change, wait until you meet the right person. Continue reading on Noteworthy - The Journal Blog » |
04 Sep 2020, 03:01
| FROM Bschooladmit20: I want to be part of Writers’ Blokke! |
|
I want to be part of Writers’ Blokke! @Natasha_Malpani |
|
|
||
Hi Guest,
Here are updates for you:
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