Flood Reflection

It’s 6 months since heavy rains and ensuing floods devastated parts of Chennai but life is seemingly back to normal, as one drives down the very streets that were swimming pools not so long ago. The presence of debris on the sides of some streets is a giveaway of the horror that befell some of us living in low lying areas, on those fateful days of November and December 2015.

Have we truly learned the lessons that would prevent the likelihood of another such disaster? The signs are not very encouraging though, and disaster preparation anyways has never been on top of the political agenda much less to a wide section of the populace that prefers election freebies over long term development.

In the aftermath of the floods, the loss of a potential client or the inability of your startup to gain traction may have caused extreme stress. Being a startup founder myself, and an advisor for the Startup Leadership Program, Chennai Chapter, I decided to write down a few lessons that a few of us could learn from the floods and the devastation that followed.

Don’t be ambushed by indispensable employees, customers & investors!
Precious lives were lost ‘cause the deceased just did not comprehend the ferocity of the onrushing waters. Many seniors, women and children had to be evacuated using boats which unfortunately seemed to be in short supply.

Similarly in a startup, you may be rolling along nicely until a key employee quits, a customer decides not to renew or an investor pulls