In this episode, Dave is excited to welcome Dinesh Kandanchatha . Dinesh is a serial entrepreneur, consultant, and investor. He has built over 13 businesses and exited 3 of them – one for over $200 million, and has built an extensive global network that he uses to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
As Dinesh will tell you, he initially went to university for sciences, which lead him to a career in software. It wasn’t long before he realized that his pay would hit a ceiling. You might say that the reason he got into business was the money. He saw the sales guys driving Porsche's and Jaguars—and wanted in. Little did he know that his passions were in unlocking a business' potential, which goes far beyond the sale.
A big lesson he learned in the early days is that money is a measure of the value you create for customers, not an outcome. An MBA later, and after PHD from the school of “hard knocks,” Dinesh has been able to create a ton of value with some amazing entrepreneurs throughout the world.
www.dineshk.com
Clarity.fm/dineshkatwork
Dinesh started out in the sciences following a typical route of going to be a doctor. But decided to do something that no one in his family had done which is go into business and entrepreneurship. As he says, he was blessed to be able to live his passion as his job.
His first business was huge success that was quickly built into 7 figures and he was able to exit through a purchase. He then had a few startups that did not pan out before starting his most successful business which was bought by a larger competitor for over $200 million in 2010.
Since 2010 he has been doing investments and advisory to early stage companies helping them scale and position themselves for success.
Biggest challenges small and mid-size businesses have?
As Dinesh says’ there is no magic bullet in changing the role of a founder to give them the time they need, but he does discuss how important it is to have a schedule and daily plan that allows for that time. He suggested asking “why?” Asking why you do things the way you do. Asking why things are working the ways they are. The key is to not provide the solution at this time, but to ask the open question and then figure out how you can leverage those around you to help create the solution. Dinesh recommends just an hour a day 5 days a week, but the results can be massive.
Dinesh’s Advice for Growth Hacking and Growing Sales:
As the 18 min mark, Dinesh gives his thoughts on how to get off the fast start and good start to the year as an entrepreneur:
At the 24 min mark, Dinesh talks about raising capital, busts a lot of myths you may have been taught, and what entrepreneurs should know.
At the 28 min mark, Dinesh talks about what entrepreneurs should know when exiting a business.
At the 33 min mark, Dinesh talks about how to manage a fast growing business and cashflow to keep it growing. “Cash is king. And if you have to sacrifice growth for cash, sacrifice it.”
At the 36 min mark, Dinesh gives advice for those just starting out and great general advice for anyone
Best Quote: "Run the business like you are never going to sell it, but always build it to be sold."
Dinesh's Misfit 3: