Managing the Law

Seen the Sylvester Stallone movie ‘Judge Dredd’?

It was one of those silly, comic-bookish super-hero movies about a bad-ass, no nonsense, gun slinging judge, set in the future, who goes around knocking off the bad guys.

The reason why we loved it was because it appealed to our ‘Black and White’ vision of the world. You know, the ‘Good Vs Bad’, the ‘Ugly Vs Pretty’ and the ‘Powerful Vs Meek’ mentality that has been drilled into 0ur heads. Though a very Catholic way of looking at the world, it has its place in every Religion and Ethinicity. And it helps keep order in this world.

And what else did we love about Judge Dredd, other than when he screams ‘I am the law!!!’ (Distended jaw and fearsome spit)?

We loved the fact that he was right, moral (though gunning down people or their cars can hardly be called that, but let’s move along), direct, honest and still won. Hands Down.

And we loved it as kids, many still do, it serves as a model (though flawed) of the kind of person we wish we could become. Unfortunately in the Real World, we must manage the law.

Before you go ahead and denounce me as the devil himself, I want to tell you something… Take a Hike.

This post if about Laws and not Morals. Don’t mix the two.

Laws are made by men and mostly powerful men who have always had self interest in mind.

Morals have a divine purpose. They must be followed.

God never invented the Tax Laws or ordained that bars must shut down by 11.30 on New Years (What-a-joke)

And men never made laws directing us to help old ladies cross the street.

This post if about Startups and the fact that they manage laws in India.

Examples?

Most Startups and Small businesses have started out with lots of ‘illegal’ history.

No. Not drugs and Human trafficking.

I mean many of the successful ones I know, have worked without paying VAT for atleast the first year.

Restaurant Owners have paid huge sums for licenses (12 in some places) to start off. Most never recover that money.

Black money, which comes at an affordable 1.5% interest rate per month, has been used as the seed capital for many small companies.

Millions of families subsist by running kirana stores selling stationary, groceries, clothes without a bill and only on cash. Hence pay no VAT (12.5% direct profit). Here I don’t mean the well-off Lalas. If you can afford to maintain a huge belly, you can afford to pay taxes.

Many small time street vendors (More entrepreneurial that many well funded startups) have to pay off cops just to earn a daily living.

College based startups don’t have any licenses, but still make it work. I haven’t seen college faculty insisting that startups get registered before they can sell their first product.

My Point?

India has loads of laws to follow. In most cases we become aware of them only when in deep shit. Many have been used to fork out money from law abiding citizens.

On close inspection of laws one will realise that this nation will see no real innovation or startup/small business activity if we zealously start following all laws. Following our laws will lead to most startups shutting shop before they can break even.

The laws are crazy. They are obstacles to entrepreneurial activities at best. At worst they are backed by fat babus in safari suits waiting to legislate us out of existence, if we don’t pay up.

They themselves are backed by the Economics of Corruption. More on that in a future post.

Once you get into the world of registrations, taxation, accountants, bankers, police, municipality, agreements, contracts, state laws and by-laws, you will really wish you had either married a Lawyer, been born in a family of Lawyers or had atleast dated one.

You get jacked and most can see a dream slipping past with the rapidity of a well oiled loo flush.

It’s primarily because of the above reasons that IT/ITes/BPO really mushroomed in our economy. In the 1990s the babus didn’t know what to tax and which licenses to make money out of.

So my point is. If it isn’t going against your basic morals and human decency, learn to manage the law.

And if you can’t handle it. Don’t give in.

Get a well paying job with good increments.

Cause you will still have to pay the extra ‘tip’ for your gas cylinder.

Why can’t we get Design right?

This is a question I have often asked in good competent company. People who understand that I am neither talking about the Delhi/Mumbai fashion week nor snappy office presentations.

I mean design associated with startups in India.

I get blown away with the kind of design that barely year old startups come up with, from parts of Europe and the Americas.

And though things have improved in India, design is copycattish at best and downright insulting at worst.

When I say design, most think about issues with website, blogs, social media, collaterals etc. It’s like saying that the worst part of chronic illness is the symptoms and not the disease itself. Its a mistake many of us make with our health and now we intend on doing the same thing with design.

So whats the disease?

It’s a simple lack of empathy for the customer coupled with our absolute, almost cultural aversion to the concept of quality and perfection. Add a total lack of taste/flair and Wolah! you have the average Indian Startup.

Now a few will probably jump with indignant fury at the above statement, foaming from their mouths, ready to take names like – Zomato, Flipkart, Bluebustees etc.

That’s like asking me to look at the IITs/IIMs when I talk about national literacy issues.

The only reason why we talk about the above names, is that they have been written and re-written (and copied) in like dozens of articles who write about them in the same terms as pre-teens talk about Justin Bieber and Edward Cullen (Twilight).

Where does it all begin?

Just like all answers, this one is simple and yet complicated.

1. Economics – It pays to be an engineer, MBA, accountant etc. The road towards arts is probably a bumpy, unpredictable and does not  pay (not to mention no HB1 Visa).

2. CopyCat – Look around you. Almost every major brand, product, mall, building etc is a bad copycat of an amazing product/service somewhere in the world. So if it’s cheaper to copy, why be original?

3. Perfection and Quality – When is the last time you met a customer/boss/subordinate/entrepreneur who would bring you to the verge of tears and mad rage for not getting these 2 parameters right? Cause that’s what it takes to make something great.

4. Education – Our education system does a great job to make sure we become some of the best liner thinkers in the world. But it fails when we have to use that liner think and combine it with design.

5. We don’t care – For the customer. Period.

6. There isn’t enough competition – Yet

Analysis

Startups and founding teams must stop aspiring to become the ‘Best in India’ and start aspiring to be the ‘Best in the World’, we will have badly designed products/services from them.

Till the time they don’t put customers are central to their existence. They will continue to be substandard.

“The only way to up your game in basketball, is to stop playing with the boys from the neighbourhood and start playing with men who can kick your ass” – My Basketball Coach.