As I turn 34 today!
As I turn 34 Today, I still don’t know if I should be happy that it is my Birthday or Sad that I am Growing Older & Time is Flying fast. When I was 24 I was clearly crazy to start my Entrepreneur journey( Won’t recommend to anyone), I ofcourse didn’t know that the Company would be called Stallion Asset, there was no thing as Research Analyst License or even could dream that Stallion would be a Portfolio Management firm & Manage 600 Crores + for 700 Families.
The Journey ofcourse has its ups & downs but when I look back the excitement of winning was driving me. It’s not just the Money it’s about the Mental fitness Game that we Stock Market Investors are Playing, It’s the world’s most Exciting game & it’s on 24 Hours, 7 days a week & 365 days a Year.
While I Hate giving Gyaan on anything because I myself change my views if I get New Data or New experiences, BUT I thought today to be a GYAANI BABA JESWANI. I Strongly Believe “Only People who have achieved something big should give gyaan rest should just be Learners, I don’t think we at Stallion have achieved even 1% of what we want be”
Learning Number 1 – Stay in the Game – As an Investor or an Entrepreneur, The Most Important Part is to Stay Alive. When I look back at History I see the most Important thing that worked for us was that we Stayed alive in all Markets or Business Conditions, What doesn’t kill you makes you Stronger. The Idea is not to be Killed by a Big Risk Event. Also Remember & Write this down everywhere, Between a Man who Speaks Conviction & a Person who Speaks Risk Management always choose the Person who Speaks Risk Management. The Markets or Running a Business is very Dynamic, everything works till it doesn’t, calculate what can go wrong even before you make the decision!
Learning Number 2 – Believe in Yourself & Your People – As an entrepreneur (Fund Manager) your decisions starts like a DREAM (A Goal) then we Set a Strategy (Framework), get the Right People (get the Right Stocks) & track Execution. As an Investor your Decisions are built on Frameworks of 1) What to buy 2) When To Buy 3) How Much to Buy 4) When to Sell. As an Entrepreneur in our Business is all about the Three T’s – Trust, Talent & Technology
Learning Number 3 – Right People & Great Management –People are the Toughest Thing to crack for an Entrepreneur, That’s like an understanding Management Quality for an Investor. Between Skill & Attitude of a Person, It’s the Attitude that’s more important when choosing a Team Member but while choosing a CEO is the Skill.
I divide People Between in 4 ways A) Visionary (CEO Material) B) Soldier (Does what is Said) C) Router (Good Manager but does nothing) D) Problem Solver (Give them a Problem & they will Solve it)
The Problem here is that as size of the Firm Changes, Not everyone has the Ability to Pivot, The ones who have the Ability to Pivot are Legends. The Same goes for Business Models, All Great companies have to adapt to Newer Market Conditions & Nail it at Size. At Stallion we have had 30 Total Hirings, 20 are Still with us over last 10 Years. Our First two Hirings Juhi shah who is now our Fund Manager & Behzad Kalantary who now heads business are still going Strong & Nailing it for us.
A firm will grow big only if its Team-Members become Professional Entrepreneurs, if they start trading time instead of Goals, the firm is a Mature Firm not a Startup. Hopefully Stallion will stay as a Start up even if we are 100x our Size today.
Learning Number 4 – Your Customers Create Everything – Consistent Returns attract customers for a PMS, Consistent Growth of the business Attracts Investors! A Company’s Management also has to focus on Creating Value for the Customer, The Market Cap of Any Company is not Created at Dalal Street, Its created by the trust of the Customer to buy again & again from the same Company. Whatever we are is because of the faith & trust of our customers, it’s a big Responsibility of handling other people’s money & prudently allocate their Capital. The Real Judge of a Quality of Business is if customers are Loyal & Happy as they always have choices. Happy Customers get You Happy Team Member & Happy Shareholders.
Learning Number 5 – Be Humble – Every 2 Years I feel I am a Rockstar & Then there are year i feel i am just a Rock! Markets & Business both require you to make decisions, some go right, some don’t but you need to be at the Peak of your Game always! You either learn or make money but either way you’re winning.
The Most important Rule in markets is that never ever criticize anyone, nobody likes Negative People, except on Twitter & Big Boss!
While I can write a lot of Learnings atleast 100 easy, I need to stop here but I promise I am going to write a Blog on my Market Learnings Once every Month! This to not be a Gyaani baba but when I write I learn more about my own Learnings. Thank you so much for Supporting me, especially the Stallion Family for last 10 Years, I promise to work hard for you to create an Positive Impact in your Life for next 36 years!
Blog Written By Amit Jeswani
