The Man Behind India's First Unicorn | Naveen Tewari of InMobi

Key Concepts

Conviction, resilience, product-market fit (PMF), building global teams, company culture, dealing with failure, mission-driven work, pain as a motivator, staying centered, the "minus one to zero" phase, non-obvious strategies, bold bets, entrepreneurship, leadership, team dynamics.

Pivotal Moments and Value System (Minus One to Zero)

Navin started his entrepreneurial journey in 2005 with a voice-over IP company called VCube. Despite developing codecs and a working system, a tier-one venture capitalist dismissed the idea, predicting that telecom companies would replicate and kill the service. This led Navin to abandon the project and his co-founder to quit.

Lesson Learned: Navin realized the importance of trusting his own conviction and not being easily swayed by others' opinions. He now prioritizes listening to others' inputs but making decisions based on his own beliefs. He emphasizes building a high level of conviction and backing it.

Finding Fellow Believers and Product-Market Fit (MCO to InMobi)

MCO, an SMS-based search company, failed because Navin and his team recognized it was not the right approach after AskLaila received funding. They pivoted away from the idea even with external validation elsewhere.

Challenges in Finding Co-founders: In the early days, it was difficult to find like-minded individuals due to the stigma associated with starting a company. The focus was not on complimentary skills but on finding people with the conviction to persevere through the tough journey. The key was to ensure not everyone wanted to quit at the same time.

Airport Test: This test evaluates whether you'd want to be stuck with someone for 4 hours at an airport, covering value systems and personality fit.

Team Dynamics and Staying Together

Navin highlights that the InMobi co-founding team, together for 18 years, never experienced anyone wanting to quit. While they had disagreements, there were no trust issues. They were aligned on intent and ambition.

Rituals and Low Moments: The team bonded during low phases, showing camaraderie and a commitment to "die together" if necessary.

Chemistry and Alignment: The team's chemistry is hard to describe but works because they are aligned on ambition and trust. Even without constant communication, they understand each other's thinking.

Building High Talent Density Teams and Culture

InMobi has a unique approach to talent:

1. Entrepreneurs Who Leave: They often build their own companies, and even if they fail, InMobi welcomes them back.
2. High Performers: They are given bigger and bigger challenges within the company.
3. Family Members: Those who remain connected to the company and contribute in various ways.

InMobi's Indian Multinational Ethos: The company strives to maintain a family-like culture while competing globally, distinguishing itself from American multinationals.

Culture Map: Navin emphasizes attracting ambitious, entrepreneurial people who are comfortable disrupting things and thinking big. He supports this by accepting failure.

Finding Product-Market Fit at InMobi

Initially, finding PMF involved believing in the mobile ecosystem. Navin faced rejection from Indian VCs who doubted mobile internet's potential. In the US, investors questioned building a product company in India.

Key Decision: Going Global: The significant decision was to build a global company from the start, recognizing that the effort delta between a small market (India) and a global market was minimal. This allowed InMobi to succeed while competitors focused on Asia failed.

Navigating Difficult Moments (2015-2016)

Launching the Meep platform (similar to Glance) and its subsequent struggle taught Navin that the company could not rely on external investment and had to achieve profitability.

Key Takeaway: Navin learned that no one would save the company and that self-sustainability through profitability enabled bolder changes.

Attrition and Mission: During the most difficult time in 2016, InMobi had its lowest attrition, even after pay cuts. People worked for the mission, emphasizing the importance of keeping the mission alive.

Staying Motivated and Centered

Navin loves what he does, especially creating something big. He thrives on pain and discomfort, leading to bolder decisions.

Qualities of Successful People: An insane ability to deal with pain and the ability to think big while in pain.

The Glance Example: Navin emphasizes that Glance was a weekend hack that became huge, showing the importance of fostering innovation and experimentation. He admits he may have ignored other similar opportunities. InMobi maintains a "minus one to zero" mindset across various internal projects.

Focus vs. Multiple Initiatives: InMobi believes in pursuing multiple initiatives simultaneously, creating a dynamic environment.

Spirituality, Meditation, and Mindfulness

Navin emphasizes being okay with one's weaknesses and having high conviction in one's strengths. Practices like meditation help filter out noise and maintain a centered state.

Mindfulness and Hustle: It is essential to be mindful and centered to avoid distractions and focus on one's purpose and ambition.

Questions and Answers

• Overbuilding in Minus One to Zero Phase: Navin suggests building for oneself rather than trying to impress VCs. If the core product is not strong, bells and whistles won't help. Avoid overcrowded spaces where success is less probable.
• Reflecting on Early Life (IIT, McKinsey, HBS): HBS was transformative, exposing Navin to ambitious individuals and the idea of building something significant.
• Validating Ideas: Early on, the focus was on survival and rapid movement. Navin now prioritizes ideas that seem insane to others and aim for a large impact.
• Coping with Failure: Embrace the pain and keep going. The system tries to eliminate those who give up easily.
• Purpose of Life: If financial upside is the primary motivator, failure is likely. The focus should be on impact rather than money.
• Regret and Time Passing: The best work should feel like the best moments of the day. If there is talk of work-life balance issues, one may be built for the work.
• Low Moments and Thinking Big: The Indian Cricket analogy explains how to come out of those moments - go for a radical strategy that is not obvious to everyone. The whole point is to play a non-obvious game where the reward comes when something is believed to be insane or hard to pull off.