Pile On Motivation

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Category: Self Help

  • 4 Steps to a “Habit Forming” Product – Key Takeaways from “Hooked” by Nir Eyal

    “Hooked” By Nir Eyal mentions of 4 steps every company takes in order to create “habit forming” products. The steps are as follows:

    1. Trigger  –  Internal followed by external to cause a craving
    2. Action – Take action after getting enticed by the trigger
    3. Variable rewards – These make dopamine to flow through our veins
    4. Invest – Invest once convinced with the rewards

  • “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely – Some irrational habits

    Lot of food for thought after having read this wonderful book.

    A look at some of our irrational habits – 

    1. Seller always values his possessions much higher than the buyer anticipates
    2. A high priced items always seems more lucrative to solve a problem than a similar but discounted item e.g. medicines.
    3. Having too many choices makes us indecisive and more prone to making wrong choices.

  • Some key takeaways from Predictably Irrational

    Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational is a true masterclass and shown below are some of the key takeaways from Predictably Irrational.

    1. Decoy effect – Introducing a –VE of something , as a decoy , can influence choice/human behavior  when that something is pitched against some other option.
    2. Anchor effect – First impression is always the best impression , and can influence all our decisions relative to that impression.
    3. Gravitational pull of FREE – We agree with it or not , all humans have a natural inclination towards something offered for FREE even though that product/service being offered is not something that we desire.

  • “Schmoozing” for entrepreneurs

    The term “schmoozing” is related to forming more social connections and contacts so important for entrepreneurs of start ups.

    In his book “Art of The Start” Guy Kawasaki makes a mention of “schmoozing”  and the need of it wherein :

    The most important thing is NOT WHAT WE KNOW OR WHOM WE KNOW , IT IS WHO KNOWS YOU.

  • “Answer the SMALL man” – Art of pitching

    “Art of the Start” by Guy Kawasaki mentions some very important points on “pitching” for entrepreneurs.

    One such concept is “Answer the Little Man”.

    When you are trying to make a point , be it in a presentation to a venture capitalist or to an audience , always imagine a SMALL MAN sitting on your shoulder and asking the question ” SO WHAT “ after every point is made.

    This way we would make more relevant & easily understandable comments.

  • Why is there a need to hire ‘A’ grade employees for emerging start ups?

    The “Art of The Start” by Guy Kawasaki mentions the following famous saying of Steve Jobs , on the need to hire ‘A’ grade employees , for any emerging start up:

    ‘A’ grade employees would hire ‘A’ grade employees , ‘B’ grade employees would hire ‘C’ grade employees , ‘C’ grade employees would hire ‘D’ grade employees and soon the organization will be filled with bozos of no use.

  • Kinds of people whom we recruit – “Art of Start” by Guy Kawasaki

    The following are two kinds of people we end up recruiting –

    1. Ones those who do NOT have any MAJOR WEAKNESSES – NEITHER do they have any MAJOR STRENGTHS
    2. Ones those who HAVE MAJOR STRENGTHS – THEY MAY HAVE MAJOR WEAKNESSES as well.

  • Don’t forget this “P” of marketing – Seth Godin’s masterclass

    Aside from the widely accepted “P”s of marketing the most important and often forgotten “P” for marketers is the “Purple Cow”.

    By Purple Cow , what Seth Godin means is creating something remarkable and building a story around it to create customer stickiness.

  • Art of “pitching” for entrepreneurs – Key takeaway from Guy Kawasaki’s “Art of the Start”

    10/20/30 rule of pitching:

    10 – 10 slider presentation

    20 – 20 minutes of presentation

    30 – 30 Font text in slides for ease of readability

  • “Goal v/s Vision” – Best Definition

    The best and the crispest way to visualize the difference between Goal and Vision is the following definition by Simon Sinek.

    The difference between vision and a goal is the finish line.

    • A goal is 26.2 miles. You can simply count the metrics and know when you’ve completed your goal.
    • A vision is having a crystal clear sense of what the finish line looks like, but no idea of how far away it is.