Running one’s own venture ain’t so easy and while it takes a toil on one’s emotional well being, there are some companies who have ‘fun’ built in the DNA.
Here are two examples of companies that actually seem to be having fun.
Woot
Post acquisition, CEO sent out following email to the employees (fun part highlighted).
From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are simply adding one person to the organizational hierarchy, except that one person will just happen to be a billion-dollar company that could buy and sell each and every one of you like you were office furniture. Nevertheless, don’t worry that our culture will suddenly take a leap forward and become cutting-edge. We’re still going to be the same old bottom-feeders our customers and readers have come to know and love, and each and every one of their pre-written insult macros will still be just as valid in a week, two weeks, or even next year. For Woot, our vision remains the same: somehow earning a living on snarky commentary and junk.
We are excited about doing this for all sorts of reasons. One, our business model is so vague that there’s no way Amazon can possibly change what it is we’re truly doing: preparing the way for the rise of the Lava Men in 2012. Also, our deal means that Jason Toon will finally be released from that Mexican jail owned by Zappos honcho Tony Hsieh. No, don’t lie, Tony, we’ve seen the paperwork. And we need a powerful ally in case Steve Jobs finally breaks down and comes after us for all our Apple jokes over the years. Don’t think of it as a buyout; think of it as NATO!
Vaultpress
Vaultpress is a security plugin for WordPress and is currently an invite only service. Check this ‘Request for an Invite’ form. You can’t come up with something so different and interesting, if you aren’t having fun.
By citing the above examples, I am not saying that that every startup should have fun.
But if you are enjoying the ride, your customers will too. It rubs off on you – people tend to get less pissed off, if you commit mistakes. But if you are always the ‘read the manual’ kind of a company, you always will get ‘As per SLA, you are supposed to..’ complaints.
The golden rule, however is that if you aren’t having fun, do not fake it. It shows up. A lot of Indian companies (especially telecom operators) fall under this category.
What’s your take? Do you see majority of Indian entrepreneurs having fun..or are they way too serious?
