What You Think You Know About Growing A Company Is Wrong: Insider Tips From The GreyB Think - Tank

WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT GROWING A COMPANY IS WRONG:
Insider tips from the GreyB Think-Tank
Life, in all its beautiful complexity, is a series of challenges.
Challenges are not roadblocks; they are the very path we walk on.
They are not meant to break you; they are meant to shape you.
They push us to grow, to adapt, and to discover the strength we never knew
we had.
We are grateful for the obstacles and barriers we faced. And we thank our
mentors for giving us the opportunity to find ways of transforming those
barriers into stepping stones.
I hope that as you read, you find inspiration in the journey, like we did, and
that you carry with you the belief to overcome whatever challenges come your
way.
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Contents
Chapter 1 - Finding Cinderella - Perfect Fit for the Team ..... 19
Chapter 2 - People Come, People Go! ................................... 28
Chapter 3 - Keep the Knife Sharp! ........................................ 35
Chapter 4 - How to Know If All Izz Well? ............................ 44
Chapter 5 - Why Would a Consultancy Need Branding? ...... 50
Chapter 6 - Where Does Your ‘Heart’ Lie? ........................... 58
Reflections and New Beginnings........................................... 68
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Author’s Note
Hey, you!
Do you hear that funky beat? It's the rhythm of this book calling out to you! Let
me tell you why you should jump into these pages today.
Inside, you'll find a rollercoaster of emotions, struggles, triumphs, heartaches,

humor, and a dash of vulnerability.
Whether you're an intrapreneur, an aspiring entrepreneur, or an educator

seeking inspiration, I hope this book serves as a guiding light and a reminder
that you cannot succeed, till you read learn from our story!
See you on the flip side!
Supreet, Ankush, Sushant

(The storyteller behind this startup saga)!
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Preface
‘
Do you, too?’
Let me tell you it is possible to achieve this, much easier than you foresee. You
just need to take the right approach.
What is this “Right approach”?

You might have read a lot of content around this directly or indirectly. But our
write-up is centered around a single point. And this is something we three co-
authors have in common. We have grown in an environment that highly
appreciates and pushes through this one aspect.
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Go on further, or else you’ll miss out on hearing the story of how “India’s
Second Largest Patent and Innovation Consultancy Company” thinks!
Before we give away our secret sauce to you, here is an honest confession:
There are 3 reasons why you should ‘NOT’ read this book:
1. It will tell you exactly what you need to do when you don’t have
answers - why would you need a sorted life?
2. You think ‘you think before making a decision’, but do you?
3. This is an awesome book, and you will not be able to stop!
JK!
Well, Jokes apart! What is that ONE THING?
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I am waiting…
<Drum-roll>
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Know What You Stand For!

Ever heard of Iphone? Of course!
What does Apple stand for? Apple simply doesn't do “cheap”.
Apple will never launch a budget friendly phone for middle-class people.
Because that’s not what they believe in. They want their product to have a hype,
a go-get craze among ‘all’ the factions of the society. Even if launching an
affordable product could fill their pockets faster, they still wouldn’t do it.
Similarly, what do you believe in? And you will not compromise with it, no
matter what!
Knowing oneself is knowing the world! This book will make you ask questions
about yourself and will help you find yourself. Identify what your principles are
and what you stand for, what you really believe in.
Putting it in this way, what is the one most important thing for you in your
company?
Profitability?
Clients?
Projects?
People?
None of these!
It’s your
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“In Life, you need some backbone. You need to stand for
something!”
- Trish Regan
Let me share more on what I mean, when I talk about PRINCIPLES?
You can be high maintenance
If you intend to work on ‘only’ high value projects, you might face
difficulty in initial days but if you stick to your principles, eventually
you will build a name for yourself in the market. It will not be your
price that will stand out, but your work. You will be known as a
value service provider. You will then be able to justify higher
service charges as well.
If you care, you care
If you intend to focus on the growth of your employees/clients, you

will go beyond limits to take care of them, find ways to do it. Be it
organizing parties, competitions, trips, giving bonuses, working
overtime - everything will be driven by the above rationale.
Here is an example of one of many instances where we went one

step ahead to help our client -
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You learn, you evolve
If you intend to earn more money, you will find a way to hire people
on a lower pay scale [be it hiring interns, be it giving performance
based salaries, or working from a low-end office [with limited
amenities, simple infrastructure, and a lower budget setup].
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Here’s a little more insight into ‘First Principle Thinking’:
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This book is for
An intrapreneur is an employee which is usually assigned to innovative projects

that can impact the company’s future success. As such, the intrapreneur is an
employee that acts like an entrepreneur within the organization. While the
intrapreneur has access to the resources of the organization, he/she does not
bear the risks connected to it.
Now, let’s go through a few thoughts to ponder upon before you delve deeper
into the thoughts we have shared in the different chapters of this book. Our
discussions, suggestions, recommendations will be focused around the thought
process reflected in these situations.
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If you can relate to these pointers, this book is for you. If you cannot, this is
definitely for you.
1. It’s YOU who needs to learn and adapt, not your team members
Let’s say - you are a team lead on paper, but are not able to grow
your team. It’s been 5 years, but you still have 4 people, none of
them more than a year experienced. What will you say about this
situation? What are the next steps?
Usually the first response people have is - this is not my fault. I have
been trying new things each and every time. What can I do if people
don’t like the work or the company?
Have you considered the possibility that they are leaving your team
and not the company? Is it possible that they just want to leave you?
What we want to convey is that it is imperative to self-introspect.

The first and foremost step should be to recognize that - could this
be your fault? It is very much possible that your team isn’t growing
because they are not getting enough opportunities (you are not doing
enough!).
OR
Another possibility is that everyone does like you - but not the
workplace in general and in this case, they might believe that you
are also just stuck here.
What to do in this situation?
‘’Take charge’’.
Talk to your team to know the truth. Talk to other teams that have
been able to grow in numbers. Read about how to quickly grow your
team.
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All these pointers come from what we have understood falls under
the “FIRST PRINCIPLE THINKING”.
Now - what is first principle thinking?
A 2-liner meaning to help you be on the same page: Getting to the

root cause of the problem, rather than solving it at a surface level.
Once you have got to the root cause, again try to find its root cause.
If you are not able to actually get to the depth of it, you can try
solving all the challenges you have figured out.
So,
Your people are ‘your team’, not you.
You don’t define your team, ‘your people’ do.
Team is what it is, WHEN YOU ARE NOT THERE.
2. Talk about your journey time and again
A mistake leaders make is to think that once you have set the
processes, you just need to follow them and things will fall into
place. A step further in this direction would make you automate
these processes, so that the execution is not dependent on one
person.
However, another important factor that you need to think is - sharing

about your journey - how did you reach that decision.
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No matter what process you have set up - there will be people who
don’t like it.
- Some won’t like the concept of a hybrid work

place.
- Some won’t like that you have an in-house
canteen and it has limited control and is in
control of the management ultimately, so not
much scope for feedback.
- Some won’t like that you give a higher health
insurance coverage, rather would want more
salary in-hand.
But once you explain your reasons - why you did ‘what you did',
you can bring some of these people to your side. Chances are a few
will understand that this is a stage we have reached at this moment,
and they are also a part of the journey. If there are problems in the
existing systems, of course, they will be evaluated and changed if
needed. That’s what company/management has been trying to do all
along.
3. Practice mindfulness
Power of mindfulness is under-appreciated and seldom discussed.
In today's world, it is easy to get influenced, persuaded by so many

people and things around us. Mindfulness holds the key to
reclaiming control over our decisions and finding contentment.
Before taking any call, I try to live through that journey in my head
and feel what it's probably going to be like. Suppose I have to buy a
15 lakh car,
- I would envision what a 10 lakh car loan would look like on my

finances (I will have to think about more things I am going to buy in
the next 5 years and when this EMI can go hand-in-hand).
- I would also look at how that would affect my social status. Is it

the first reason I wanted the car? For this, observing immediate
reactions before delving into future projections could work.
- I should be open to embracing some uncertainty as well.
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If I make a choice weighing the options, I am more likely to be

content with it. Because I did already think about a part of it and if
that's something that makes me happy overall, why won't I go for it.
The control shouldn't entirely (or mostly) be on my parents, spouse,

friends, or some finance educator. Also, the control shouldn't be
taken away from these people.
It should be my decision 'at the end of it' is all I am saying. Even if

it fails, there's life ahead and I now have one more story to tell.
The process may as well take you towards an overthinking phase.

Just remember why you started this process, when it does. Getting
things done is a highly valuable trait.
4. Work on factors that are in your control
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the

things I cannot change, courage to change the
things I can, and wisdom to know the
difference."
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If you feel you don’t have control of things with you, change the
dynamics of the situation. Do something to take that baton of
control.
To know more about this, why not just begin.
We have bifurcated the challenges an ”intrapreneur” might face

while growing the company. Let’s dive right in...
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Chapter 1 - Finding Cinderella

- Perfect Fit for the Team
You are conducting placement drives, taking interviews, but not getting enough
participation/ joinings.
You might be thinking that there is a huge talent pool waiting to get jobs. So
offering high salary packages, or a cool office, or Diwali incentives will get you
all the good candidates you need. This is not what our experience has been.
We have seen people complaining about only two coffee machines being there,
or working on weekends (even if it's a one off instance in a month),
Here's a glimpse of our journey, what made us choose the system and policies
we use now.
1.1 We couldn't offer higher packages in the initial days - but needed good
candidates! After taking multiple opinions in view, we understood that the
first thing candidates look for - is the benefits a company offers. So, we
went ahead with:
● Introducing Stipends
We rolled out a perk - giving out stipends during the training period.
This prompted candidates to join the company at least for the

training period. While we got candidates, the trainees got a benefit.
This increased our hiring rate - as the trainees started learning about
the work, the exposure, the culture, the growth; they started to stick
to the team.
1.2 Do you also think there ain’t “good candidates” out there?
We were experimenting a lot but still were not very happy with the success of
the hiring program. We had to go by the ‘first principle’ here. Rather than
blaming the candidate pool, we started to look within to see if there’s something
we can improve on.
We figured:
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● We had a high rejection ratio in interviews. When we calculated

it, it came out to be 19/20 on average. Now, if we want to grow at
the pace we desire, this is the major obstacle.
● Just take more interviews!
We accepted this ratio and started planning more interviews in order

to ensure that we take a sufficient number of people.
For example, if a team has 5 vacancies, we prepare a plan to

conduct 100 interviews in the next one month. Unless we have
interviewed 100 people, we can't complain.
● Stringent interview process
We streamlined our interview process. We re-evaluated the basic

parameters we ought to look for, in the candidates and finalized
these five -
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Every team member is trained on a specific set of questions that can

be asked to check these parameters.
Imagine this:
Interview round: Technical
Candidate studies all the theoretical concepts, is nervous because

who knows what the interviewer will ask, and is prepared to answer
with all sincerity.
(Scenario 1)
Interviewer asks for an intro, goes for a few technical questions and
then shoots questions to test creativity, like:
- Would you say you're a creative person? Can you share a situation
where you took a creative/innovative approach?
- Can you share 10 uses of a pen other than writing.
- Tell me something I don't know! :D
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Candidate - blank for the next 30 seconds! Then starts to answer but
fumbles. He wasn't prepared for it!
Interviewer is thinking - how could someone not be able to answer

such simple straightforward questions!
(Scenario 2)
Interviewer starts the interview with: The objective of this round is

to evaluate your creativity and curiosity. So it will be a mix of
technical + aptitude-type questions.
I have seen candidates performing way better in scenario 2. Letting

them know of the objective helps them curate their answers.
As an interviewer, I try to create a comfortable environment first. It

mostly starts with a genuine small talk, hoping it will help the
candidate perform to the best of his abilities. I know how it feels
being on the other side and not having that confidence.
● Why were we not hiring ”experienced” candidates?
Our experience of hiring experienced folks had not been so good for
a long while. They were not trained in the way we were. They
seldom used to share the passion, commitment with which we
focused on delivering quality. A senior researcher in another
company had to work as a junior researcher at GreyB for 2-3 months
and only a few used to be given the same responsibilities here.
Mostly,
● From their end, they had to start from scratch.

● From our end, we were not getting much benefit from
hiring experienced candidates. You would agree that it's
difficult to ‘unlearn’ something.
But since we were kind of out of options, we had to go down this

path. We raised the bar - accepted experienced candidates and once
they got in, we worked foremost on aligning their mindset with ours.
This practice has been successfully going on for the past ~3 years
now.
● Ammm, how about hiring M.Techs'?
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We used to hire only B. Techs earlier. The reasons could be several.

But since M. Tech candidates were an unexplored avenue, we had
to go for it.
It turned out to be an amazing decision! For the kind of work that

we do, having a knack for finding results, reading, analyzing had to
be there. Also, we found master's people to be generally more
mature. Retention ratio has been higher for these candidates.
1.3 Students are not much aware about our industry.
It’s not taught in schools/colleges, there were not many IP jobs for our parents,
so they don’t really know what this is about.
So the job is probably not something you hear about and aspire for!
Unconventional nature of the job role caused difficulty in attracting talent.
Here’s what we did:
● Visiting more campuses, instead of online drives for hiring.
Companies in early stages generally tend to opt for online campus

drives to save time and money. However, the online drives limit the
visibility of a company, shadowing the capabilities and
opportunities it can offer. Instead, if a company goes for campus
drives, they get an immense opportunity to show the opportunities
which can attract new talents.
What else have I done to increase IP awareness? See for yourself -
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● Taking alumni for placement drives
Instead of having a fixed set of interviewers, it is good to take alumni

in the placement drives. Alumni can easily start talks with professors
and get ideas of good candidates. Further, they can influence more
and more people to appear in the interview, expanding the pool of
candidates from where we can choose.
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● What does the name ‘buddy program’ tell you?
College students generally have to go through compulsory training

in their graduation course. There are plenty of companies offering
training programs, but very few trainees get converted into
employees. Two major reasons for this are - the stipend they get and
work culture. We already talked about stipend, to foster a good work
culture we started a buddy program where we associate a dedicated
mentor (we call it ‘buddy’) to the trainees. This gave them a person
with whom they can discuss any problems they were facing
(professional and well as personal) and created a bond . Buddies also
got a chance to provide more clarity regarding opportunities in the
company. This ultimately improved retention of trainees.
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Chapter 2 - People Come,

People Go!
But how do you retain them?
Money is enough, or is it?
You give time/effort to train people. And they started leaving after 1-2 years.
To make sure you do not have to repeat the hard work, you try to retain the good
candidates - offering promotions/higher packages/good incentives, right?
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But is that the right or only solution? Is money the only reason employees
leave?
You see, loyalty can’t be bought, it needs to be earned. The ones looking for
money will ultimately go, but the ones who want to be around, need the right
reason.
Uncover the Surprising Secrets for

Success:
● Shifting from Bond to Bonus - Candidates were leaving us either
after training (6 months) or after completing a bond of 2 years. The
trainees didn’t want to get stuck in a job for 2 years that they might
not like - sounds fair. And employees leaving after 2 years might
have left early but couldn’t due to bond.
Now, note that they were being offered good packages, but they still
wanted to go. Meanwhile,we kept on training them.
Once we figured out what was happening, we didn’t go for the

obvious solution - increasing packages. We nullified the bond
contract and gave everyone a fair chance. Trainees had an option to
explore the kind of job we’re offering and depending on their
likability, they could make a choice. People leaving didn’t matter
now, we were now familiar with the next course of action.
● Appreciating Loyalty - We wanted to appreciate the people

working with us for a longer time. So, we started giving loyalty
bonuses to those who continued with us for 2 years. The former
‘compulsion’ changed to ‘a perk’.
Ever wondered if you are asking for more?
Another reason people leave is because the job is demanding. You might not
accept it or try to compensate for it with money. And we know from the above
chapter - that’ll not work every time.
It could be the late sittings, or night shifts, or late night calls, or working over
weekends, etc. that can trigger frustration and detachment.
But well, of course - the type of industry you are in, these commitments are
needed. Even if you want to, you can’t avoid occasional pressure from clients,
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projects that need extra attention, or working nights. Are you failing in making
your team understand your situation? We did too.
So, after multiple discussions, surveys, and iterations (experiments), few things
clicked in our process -
● Flexible Time Perk - Late sittings were unavoidable situations, so

we gave a leverage to the team members who had to work late - they
could apply flexible work time for the additional hours spent. When
this additional time would count up to 8 hours, a leave would be
added to their account.
Now, they could take more planned leaves during their vacations.
The feeling of ‘taking advantage’ started to shift to ‘being
compensated’.
● Meets and Greets to avoid burnout - All work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy. Not only Jack, but any one would get bored if they
needed to follow a monotonous routine. Why do you or your team
have to miss out on fun while focusing on growth and career? With
this thought, we brought in Annual Meet - a 3 day company
sponsored trip to get away from the routine and brainstorm on our
future vision, while of course bonding and laughing together. We
promoted town halls to openly discuss this with the employees -
‘Baat Karne se Baat Banti Hai’ [Communication is the Key].
Fun Fact - Even during WFH (post lockdown), we kept organizing

meets and greets in different cities. This broke the generic pattern
of meeting your team on a rectangular screen.
● Weekly Activities - Good food, music, dance, should not be the

only way to enjoy. Fun outside the work is needed but having fun
while working is mandatory. To achieve this, we instituted weekly
Team meetings and Friday activities. And boy, did it help. We could
notice a sense of camaraderie among the team members and the high
demands of this profession didn’t affect their well being anymore.
● How to improve work-life balance? Well, first -
Have a life outside work.
And, you would have taken a major step!
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Thought behind it is simple - unless I prioritize something, I won't

be able to get time for it.
I see people saying that they are not getting time out of work, but
they never tell what for? Why do you need time out of work? Figure
out an answer to that and you will find ways to do it. A simple piece
of advice from my side.
What is my future in this industry? Or what is the future of this industry?
If you find yourself in a job or career where you believe there is no future, it
can be disheartening and may lead to feelings of frustration and stagnation. In
such situations, employees end up switching their job.
Company telling them that there is a future won’t help. We took a different
approach.
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● We started sending team

members on client visits.
Resources having
experience of 3-4 years
were presented to the top
level executives, and they
did well.
This brought a valuable learning experience for them and an
opportunity for the other employees to showcase their capabilities.
It allowed the organization to demonstrate its commitment to
employee growth.
● We started hosting webinars, podcasts. Webinars and podcasts

often showcase stories of individuals who have overcome
challenges and achieved remarkable success. Hearing about others'
journeys can serve as a source of motivation for employees, showing
them that with determination and hard work, they too can overcome
obstacles and achieve their goals.
Providing employees with opportunities to engage in professional

development shows that the organization values their growth and is
invested in their future. This, in turn, can lead to increased job
satisfaction and a positive outlook about their career within the
company.
● Client testimonials - Testimonials often highlight specific skills

and qualities of employees that contributed to a successful client
experience. They provide tangible evidence of the impact of
employees' efforts and create a positive work environment.
Acknowledging and celebrating these testimonials can foster a
culture of continuous improvement and encourage employees to
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pursue their professional goals with renewed enthusiasm. Here’s

one we’ve got:
“As you know, I use you for patentability searches and I know you are not
the cheapest one, nor do I search for the cheapest vendor. Why I still use
you is because you respond fast, you tell me if you can do the search, you
refuse when the search is not within the time frame when you can spend
experienced resources. Now, this is important to me because I have seen a
lot of companies doing ‘shoddy work’ just because they could not say no.
Your work quality is what I expect from the search industry but I get value
from surrounding business information that you share in the report. In
short, I am getting more value for the price I pay.”
Partner, Software Practice, Top patent law firm in Bay Area
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Chapter 3 - Keep the Knife

Sharp!
Do you also think training is not needed, OR
Do you also wish to get candidates already trained? OR
Do you also think you will train people as they work on projects? Why bother
with a training program?
Do you also think you can outsource this?
Well, are you ready to hear what we have to say here?
The Untold Secrets They Never Shared -

Until Now!
3.1 Training should be like a magic wand. You swivel it, and in a fraction of
a second, the person starts producing high quality output!
What if I tell you training does not require longer time and the magic can
happen?
Well, generally an employee undergoes a structured learning process to acquire

the necessary knowledge and skills for their role. This involves orientation
programmes, on-boarding, job-specific training, etc. This requires a dedicated
training team having experienced members and their precious time. In some
companies this process even takes 6 months.
But remember, we were a start-up. We did not have time and resources to train
the people, fresher as well as experienced employees. Here is how we trained
people -
● Personal mentoring from day 1

At first, we would assign personal mentors to the new hires after
orientation and on-boarding which used to be completed within a
week. Basically, as soon as people join, they used to get associated
with mentors, working on a live project from day 1. Each mentor
would teach the required skills.
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● Common training module

The previous model had a few flaws we wanted to improve. Each
mentor cannot teach all the things. At times, mentees used to be
devoid of one of the other essential skills because the mentor went
on leave and it never came into discussion again.
On top of that, a common rating system couldn't be implemented.

To sort this, we planned to build a dedicated training team that
conducts a 6 week program. We designed the complete program
with all the minute details precisely captured. If the trainer wants to
know what needs to be taught on the 4th day, at 4:30 pm, you will
find that detail in the program schedule prepared.
This was an overhead for the company, but in the long run, we could
see its benefits.
● Weekly workshop
Once the initial training is done, is that it? Of course not, we have
designed weekly workshops for people with different levels of
experience. There are 5 groups: freshers, 1 year experienced, 2-3
years, 4-5 years, 5-8 years and then the 8+ guys who are a part of
the higher management.
Responsibilities to conduct these weekly affairs are assigned to two

people. For those people, their prime responsibility other than
projects is workshops - they are evaluated on its basis, they take
regular feedback from attendees and their mentors (to see if it's
actually helping).
The organizers also sit down once a week to decide what topic to
pick and how we can impart the learning in the best way. The most
interesting part is - our focus is that these do not become information
delivery platforms, rather there are activities being conducted
through which we indirectly teach what we want to.
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While we started experimenting with workshops for new people, we

got a bunch of positive feedback. One such email landed in the inbox
on Monday Morning –
Here are two examples [posts shared by me] of how we learn

mentorship also touching upon (in)famous discussed topics of
project management:
Post 1
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Post 2
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● AltMBA
One common goal for a team lead or manager is to track the health
of ongoing projects, keep a tab on the efficiency so that we know if
we are on-track with the budget. For this, he might be doing a
monthly/quarterly tracking by collecting data, plotting charts to
figure out needed insights.
Now, imagine a weekly workshop conducted by your company’s

founder where you are told to build systems for your team.
Something that would work even if you are not there. A process to
automate that project tracking you have been mindlessly (don’t
mind) doing repeatedly each month/quarter.
Imagine being told to share one post daily on LinkedIn. It could be

about anything.
Imagine writing a blog post in a 30 minute workshop and it actually

goes live at the end of it.
Imagine leaving the workshop having your head at : “The best time
to do something was last year. Second best time is now”.
These are a few glimpses of a leadership coaching program

conducted by Deepak Syal (co-founder, GreyB) for shaping the
future leaders of the company.
For next batches, he outsourced this to an external coach, by

choosing a few volunteers who he felt were able to implement the
learning from his program.
Intent is to teach people things taught only at the top MBA schools.
And it relates a lot with getting things done - rather than just
studying case studies.
Intent is to empower people with the same exposure so they can

expand their thinking horizon.
Intent is to build leaders within.
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3.2 Is spending dedicated time delivering lectures the only way to train?
● Speed typing
If you have learned typing the hunt and peck way (i.e. two-fingered
typing), you can increase your typing speed to some extent. You
can't type like 100 wpm. If a lot of people in our company started
interacting with clients via email, then increasing their typing speed
became a necessity.
We introduced a speed typing challenge for this. The reward was a

MacBook, so everyone participated. Many people learnt the touch
typing, as this was the only way to improve their typing speed,
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● Make-a-thon
People were facing issues in quickly replying to a client. Drafting

response, getting it reviewed, and a lot of to and fro was taking a lot
of time.
We noticed that many times the client faced a problem that we have
solved for another client. So ideally, a similar email response can be
shared with both the clients. With this thought we got an idea of
making a database of all the emails that we have shared with clients
- Email Einstein. We created an email ID which we needed to keep
in CC while replying to the client. Within a few months, our
database had hundreds of emails pertaining to different situations
that a person can refer to.
● Stock trading challenge
People were facing the problem of judging whether a company is

good for acquisitions/partnership. Now, this requires a thorough
analysis of a company. And we did not have time to train people for
the same.
So we started a stock challenge.
But we are not a finance company, are we? WHO CARES!
Everyone was given a sum of money to invest in the share market,

and before investing we needed to write why we invested in a
particular company backed by data and our analysis. Unknowingly
people learned how to judge whether a company is good or not.
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● Book-writing challenge
This attempt is an outcome of this challenge. Do I need to say more?
43
Chapter 4 - How to Know If

All Izz Well?
Why do you need a feedback system?
● Do you tell your team where it is going wrong?
● Does your senior member know he/she will not get promoted for
another year?
● Are you able to pass the same vision to your team members?
● Ever wondered why a particular member is not able to learn as fast
as others?
If the answer to any of the above questions is NO, read this chapter twice.
We had a vision - to deliver a 7-star experience to the client. For that, it was
very important to be aligned towards this common goal. But it’s obvious that
not everyone will give the same results.
There came an offset between the mentor and the team. It was not worked upon
and later it resulted in expectation mismatch. So, before the team started falling
like dominos, we introduced a feedback system.
Dispelling Misconceptions for Better

Outcomes…
● Monthly feedbacks
We set a few work-specific parameters and started evaluating every

team member on those. The percentages reflected monthly
performance and progress w.r.t. last month. The detailed feedback
helped an individual to understand what was not going in the right
direction and where to work upon more.
44
But this system had its own challenges.
- We got so invested in highlighting the errors (improvement

pointers as we called it), that we forgot to mark the good points as
well. The team started dreading feedback, worrying about how their
performance will be perceived by others, they started becoming
vulnerable to criticism.
-Every mentor had their own perspective of judging the

performance. As a consequence, two analysts with the same job role
were being evaluated on different parameters, or were being
evaluated on the same parameters differently.
● Quantifying Feedbacks
Once we got to know the shortcomings, the percentage system

seemed obsolete. We introduced a new system - Feedback Rating
System.
The ratings range from 1 to 5, with common definition, i.e.
45
To make this system work, we made few tweaks:
-Introduction of Quarterly feedback, but with monthly one-on-one

discussions. This gave a fair chance to team members to work on
their weaknesses in the same evaluation time frame (in a quarter).
This helped the team members to improvise in the same quarter
itself so that their quarterly rating comes out to be good.
-Addition of positive pointers and appreciations in the feedback
-Streamlining the same parameters across different teams to

maintain standardization
Consistency did not work. Surprised?
As a matter of fact, standardization was still not solving the purpose. The
evaluations were helping out with improving efficiency of the team members,
but again, there was a gap.
For instance - Let’s say client call handling is one of the evaluation parameters
for ‘candidate A’ and ‘candidate B’ in a team. The candidate A reached 5 stars
in client calls in two quarters, but candidate B is still at 3 stars. Now, in Q3 -
candidate B will have to push himself to reach 4 or 5 stars, but candidate A does
not have to put in that much effort. So, now what?
46
Shouldn’t we train candidate A in another aspect, rather than getting him

comfortable? Or give him a new opportunity so that he can grow faster? That’s
why we again made some changes.
Setting variable OKRs (objectives and key

responsibilities)
We started playing by team members’ strengths, by

allocating customized OKRs after talking to them.
This gave the members a sense of care, that their
growth is being looked after. This inspired the others
around them to pitch in new initiatives, and fostered
an empowering environment.
360 Feedback
"Leadership is not just about giving feedback; it's about actively seeking
feedback from your team." - Ed Catmull
If you feel that there's politics in your team or company, would you stand for
yourself?
I have seen most people just staying silent on this. But I believe being silent
doesn't give us mental satisfaction in the long run. We are eventually not content
with the work and it affects our mental health.
On the other hand, talking about it could be even more dangerous. First of all,
it is so difficult to explain, isn't it? Then, you may have to convince somebody
that he/she is wrong!
You might have sensed that I have been in this situation and I acted in both
ways - stayed silent for a while and then spoke up about it.
Which one was easy? Staying silent.
Which one would I opt for again? Speak about it, get it sorted.
Why? Because it kept my mind at peace. Knowing that it wasn't intentional was
a relief. Figuring out that we all are just trying to learn was satisfying. :)
We all have heard that communication is a two-way street. It is important to

give a platform to the team members where they can suggest any possible
improvement pointers for their mentors.
47
Earlier we thought that we might receive a couple responses from the team
because we are doing things right. But, boy, we were wrong. Once we
implemented this practice in our team, we saw a flood of responses indicating
what is wrong in the process.
This gave us an opportunity to retrospect and amend our ways.
Coaching
I am sure you have heard someone saying feedback is only ‘Negative’. And that
is why getting people trained regularly on how to deliver constructive feedback
and on how to receive feedback is very important.
How to do this?
Weekly workshops, external coaches, team meetings - you know the drill by
now.
48
49
Chapter 5 - Why Would a

Consultancy Need Branding?
How do you think the business comes? Sales?
Who does the sales? Sales team!
How is it that the business grows? Sales and marketing?
Who does sales and marketing? Don’t say Sales and Marketing team!
What if I tell you that one of the best ways to unlock the true potential of
business growth is all of your people, including the operations team, HR
team, IT support team. If you don’t tell your analysts to start sharing stories
from their work with the world, you are missing out on a lot.
Leveraging a quality work product is not the only way to grow your
business!
The best thing the sales people do is - picking up case studies that the team has
worked on in the past and sharing it to attract new prospects.
If we go one step further, you can hire marketing geniuses to help publish some
content and gain traction for your website.
But when you start doing a lot of work, you have to have systems in place to
ensure that such stories keep getting updated, and keep coming out.
And you cannot simply rely on your sales and marketing teams to do this.
It has to be in the DNA of your people who do the actual groundwork to talk
about their war stories, their successes, and their failures as well. When you talk
about such things, it tells the outside world how you think and operate.
The more your share, the more are the chances of somebody feeling
connected/relatable to that.
Here are a few things we have been trying in this direction:
So, synergy between Sales and Operations works wonders!
50
51
5G SEP report:
We were one of the firsts in the world to work on a study that confirms the
essentiality of declared Standard Essential Patents.
Believe it or not, but the existing SEP system is so rigged that it’s almost
unbelievable! If you develop a technology that you believe is essential for the
3gpp/ETSI standards for 5G technology, you can declare your patent as
essential to the 5G standards being developed by this organization. Now if a
company manufactures 5G phones/base stations, it would likely comply with
the 5G standards and therefore, will have to pay you the money equivalent to
how much your invention contributes to the standard.
You might be thinking of the obvious question here - what if you are declaring
patents that are actually not essential? Be it purposely or unknowingly!
Sadly, there’s no cure to this.
52
And we got the opportunity to work on a study where we manually analyzed

~10K 5G Declarations to see what’s the actual relevance of each of the declared
patent against published standards. It was a huge study for us that went on for
almost a year, really challenging at the beginning.
But this has led to a revolutionary change for GreyB. We now have a team of
experts who can work on any complex technology in 5G.
53
This automatically led people to think about staying ahead in the game by
researching about 6G. We wrote whitepapers, kept track of 6G standard
development and also kept sharing our thoughts on our blog about 6G.
As a consequence, we have been getting technology landscaping project work

from clients.
One of our articles on 6G is a top ranked piece on Google! Go check it out (ask
Google about which 6G companies to invest in?)
What They Never Told You and What

You Need to Know!
If employees start getting awards, they will have a good portfolio built and
will eventually leave!
If you think like this, then our experience tells us that you’re wrong.
We are working on a different kind of branding where employees are

encouraged to submit nominations for various industry awards. We have been
able to bag a few of those as well, including Edison Award, Brian Stockdale
award, CODiE award
Till date, GreyBians have also bagged 5 patents to their names, while working
on day to day projects.
Of course though, our directors have also been IAM Top 300 Patent Strategists
and a part of a few patents.
Alongside this, GreyB has been getting recognition internationally in the form
of recognitions in the likes of Singapore Business Award, Great Place to Work,
Red Herring Asia, SBR Management Excellence, and accordations by TIE
Global Awards and NASSCOM.
All this is part of branding of the company that we generally don’t go for.
Revealing the Myths That Hold You Back - What if my competitors copy
anything I publish!?
Now this is not a first world problem. But what would you do if it happens?
54
Or here’s another portrayal which might seem more relatable to you - what if
you tell your manager to share about how he cracked the last project and he says
if we do so, everyone will know our tricks. We will lose our USP!
We have (luckily) faced such situations where initially people hesitated to share
their strategies, and eventually when our blogs started gaining some traction,
our competitors started copying the content. They would publish something on
the same topic in a week or so!
What did we do about it? Did we sue them for copyright infringement? Did we
tell them to remove the content?
No.
We did nothing.
And if you have reached this far reading our piece, you would know why.
Here are two of the messages we got from our directors on this:
55
56
57
Chapter 6 - Where Does

Your ‘Heart’ Lie?
Culture is not something that you need to do separately. It is not merely the
reviews written on Glassdoor. Or superficial gestures like singing Happy
Birthday for colleagues.
So what is it?
The Truths That Can Transform Your

Culture!..
Culture is an intangible yet powerful aspect of an organization that goes beyond
mere surface-level practices. Instead, culture is an intrinsic part of how a
company operates, shaped by the collective mindset and values of its
employees.
Culture is how you think.
Culture is who you are.
Culture is how you behave in front of your people and how you tell
your people to think.
Culture is whether you choose to lash out on somebody OR whether

you listen to them calmly.
Culture is whether you share feedback publicly or privately or can

do both, thinking about it first.
Culture is whether you cry about policies or you take charge to

highlight it, do something about changing it.
In essence, culture is about fostering an environment where employees are

empowered to take ownership and contribute their ideas freely. The
achievements mentioned in this book are not the outcomes of assigned tasks;
they are the results of employees' own ideas and initiatives. Whether it's
winning prestigious awards like the CODiE and Edison awards, or securing
patents, or developing internal tools, these accomplishments were all born from
the creativity and enthusiasm of team members who voiced their thoughts and
had the determination to see them through.
58
The crux of this culture lies in the willingness of individuals to embrace their
role as proactive contributors, not just passive workers completing assigned
tasks. Such a culture is not something that can be enforced; it must be nurtured
and embraced by everyone within the organization. When employees feel
inspired and supported to explore their own initiatives, they become motivated
to excel and go beyond the ‘Call Of Duty’!
I can recall a powerful story from my childhood related to this:
When I hit my first six in 'gully cricket', nobody applauded me, except my
younger brother and that one friend who had also just recently hit the first six
of his life! :)
It was a big ground for us. We were like 6th-7th graders, playing with the
neighborhood guys studying in college. We had been fielding for a long time,
sometimes getting an over to bowl, getting caught at the boundary at times.
Clearing the boundary the first time certainly felt special. We were grown-ups
now.
Afterwards, we three cheered a lot whenever it happened for anyone else. We

thought the celebration would be special for them as well. But while we realized
not everyone thinks/feels like us (it ain't an achievement for all), we could still
see the little joy in them as they celebrated.
Now as well I think encouraging people like this and celebrating the little wins
is really important. If I'm mentoring someone, I try to relive my journey through
them. And what I like is - not everyone thinks alike, so their journey is going to
be unique - but there are a few milestones I can make sure they don't miss
celebrating.
Truths you need to Embrace…

Create a “Safe-Space”
By fostering an environment that values individual creativity, supports risk-

taking, and rewards innovation, the organization sets the stage for continuous
growth and success. When people feel valued and respected for their ideas, they
are more likely to be engaged, committed, and productive.
If you want to foster a culture of openly and consistently sharing experiences

[successes, failures, learning], you will have to lead from the front. Lead by
example.
59
How to encourage people to share their experiences, learning with others?
When I took a workshop on this, my intent was to let them know - why is it
important? Why do we encourage this practice? What's in it for them?
I discussed my background with them for ~15 minutes - what type of things I
share and most importantly, why?
Then I showed them a few of my LinkedIn posts (and even 7-8 year old
Facebook status).
They had a lot of questions in between, like
- what to share?
- is there anything that shouldn't be shared?
- what's the right platform to share?
We talked about them as a group, and figured out the possible ways to overcome
these mental barriers.
At the end, we did a 5 minute activity. Joined random breakout rooms (on
Zoom) and posted something in those 5 minutes on any platform.
If you are waiting for a 'good' post to start sharing, you are only delaying it.
We can start small and learn to improve with time.
Best time to do something was yesterday, the second best time is now (I learnt
this in one of the workshops).
● During COVID, we set up a task force to help all our fellow

employees. We made a team of 2-3 volunteers who created a
detailed database of hospitals, beds availability, medicine
availability, oxygen cylinders, employees having symptoms, their
location, and whatnot. Whenever anyone needed anything, the task
force made it available in a few hours. Everyone felt that they are
doing a great job by helping each other.
● Every team has a “happiness” manager. Never heard of that? Well

you might have heard employees getting stressed, demotivated, and
burnout. These happiness managers are there for them. You might
have seen people who will crack a lame joke that makes everyone
60
laugh. Or a person who will always be ready for a party, and then
convinces everyone to go. These are the happiness managers of the
team. Just tell them that you are doing a good job in keeping the
team and they will never disappoint.
61
● Quarterly Culture surveys are a great tool for a pulse check.
Here’s a snapshot of the culture survey report each team gets:
● Gentleman’s promise: One fine day, our director - Deepak Syal

made a promise to us:
62
Ever since, each month, we have been getting new toys to play
with. That’s our culture!
● Prepare a “culture document” for each team: Do you know what

is the long-term goal of your manager? Your founders might have
talked about the company's vision, how about your team’s vision?
Do you know what are the values that matter the most in your team?
Do you know the thought process of your team mates?
Have a section called ‘Know your team’ where team members share
What skills do I bring to the team?
63
What do I need to feel productive or successful on this team?
What about our team or its mission do I feel optimistic about?
Make ‘an attempt’ to define your team’s culture
For example, here’s how a team has written this:
Topic 1: Efficiency - Independent project delivery by each member of the team
(Error free work is the key to growth)

Why is it important for us?
If we can generate an error free report or work then lesser feedback will come
up from our mentors. Not only that, if there is no need to change anything then
we can complete our work within time according to our schedule. Hence, we
will be able to log-off on time to enjoy personal life, plus work on other
initiatives as a bonus. :) This will also lead to a huge increase in our trust-
worthiness rating, meaning more opportunities will be given to us and hence
more growth.
What will it look like?
1. People with more than six months of experience will be directly

handling delivery of projects to clients as there will no longer be the
requirement of any reviews by their mentors.
2. More clarity in expression will be noted, whatever people will say
or write, they will do it after putting enough thoughts. People will
not be able to find flaws in their logic or work.
3. People (after six months) will not be dependent on their mentor for
decisions like whether a result could be useful or not, how to use the
result, which search query to build, where to search, etc.
How to achieve this?
1. Make full use of the tools that we have in kitty and come-up with
more and more tool suggestions to make our life easier.
2. Know your mentor’s working style and your client’s requirements,
design the output according to that. This will reduce the chances of
additional requests from mentor or client.
3. Review your deliverable, results and output from a third person’s
perspective, and try to find all the mistakes in it, correct them before
64
sending them to anyone. Don’t worry about time in the initial stage,
this will automatically reduce with second, third, and subsequent
iterations.
Efficient work impacts our growth like finding results accurately in less time.
Therefore it will automatically help to improve our time management skill and
most importantly, if we are very much clear with our mentors thoughts and
expectations then only we can provide error free output with no feedback. So it
increases the transparency between mentor and mentee. Also, by providing
error free results, we can show our intelligence specifically as a team. Not only
that, for providing good results we need to think from the client perspective as
well so we can handle our client in a better way by providing a useful solution
or result efficiently and independently without your mentor's help. All in one, it
will help us to grow as a team and individual level as well.
Topic 2: Time management (I must govern the clock, not be governed by it)
Why is it important for us?
If we work according to the time and be focused to finish the work in a span of
time, our work will be efficient. This will help in giving equal importance to
Employee perspective and client perspective in terms of timelines and workload
and will make employee's mindset to also be considered rather than just
completing client's requests. If we understand everyone's qualities and based
on that we judge them and assign them projects, this will help in better workload
management for them.
What will it look like?
1. People will be logging off from their systems by 7 PM, or according

to their will (completing the allocated work or 9 hours).
2. People will share more personal experiences and get to know their
colleagues better by having more personal connections.
This will have an overall impact as this will help everyone to manage time
efficiently for work and can involve in other activities as well without being
tensed about the work. Also with this the person will be getting sufficient
personal time to refresh the mind for the next day's work. Hence an overall
work improvement/efficiency as he will be well motivated and more
concentrated when he starts the work next day.
Summing up - It is not only HR’s job to keep the employees happy. It is every
mentor’s job to take care of their mentees, it is every team leader's responsibility
65
to know if his/her team is fine, it is an individual duty to make sure that the
person sitting next to him is having a good day.
One fine day, when odds were against the team, a push of motivation did
wonders!
66
67
Reflections and New Beginnings

The pages of this book have carried us through the memories of trials and
triumphs of an extraordinary journey. In this context, under these 7 pillars of
Hiring, Retention, Training, Feedback, Branding, and Culture - all under the
one roof of “Principles”, you can grow your company.
In the final moments of this literary expedition, if you’ll find yourselves

standing at the crossroads of reflection and self-discovery, you are on the flip
side. The journey we embarked upon together has been one of courage,
enlightenment, and transformation. As we reach this journey's end, let us not
forget that the true essence of life lies not in its destination but in the steps we
take along the way.
Each decision, each connection, each repercussion, and each experience has
shaped us into the people we are today.
Now that you have uncovered the mantras of how somebody is doing a few of
the things you might be struggling with, it is time to TAKE CHARGE.
The objective of this book was to give you at least a couple of solutions if you
are facing similar challenges. But REMEMBER, even if none of this works,
your principles are your NORTHSTAR.
Know what you stand for.

And then figure out what to do, without compromising on it.
Let this curtain fall be a celebration of all that has been, and a prologue to all
that will be, as we turn towards the horizon of possibilities. May we embrace
the uncertainty that lies ahead with open arms, knowing that within the depths
of our souls, we carry the strength and wisdom needed to craft our own
narratives.
And remember,
This is Only the Beginning …
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69
BTS:
Writing this book on a work day was not easy, but we wanted to spend
more than just weekends. So, this is us, finalizing the content of this
book, after a hectic work day, at 1 AM.
70

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What You Think You Know About Growing A Company Is Wrong: Insider Tips From The GreyB Think - Tank

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WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT GROWING A COMPANY IS WRONG:

Insider tips from the GreyB Think-Tank

Life, in all its beautiful complexity, is a series of challenges.

Chapter 2 - People Come, People Go! ................................... 28

Chapter 3 - Keep the Knife Sharp! ........................................ 35

Chapter 4 - How to Know If All Izz Well? ............................ 44

Chapter 5 - Why Would a Consultancy Need Branding? ...... 50

Chapter 6 - Where Does Your ‘Heart’ Lie? ........................... 58

Reflections and New Beginnings........................................... 68

Inside, you'll find a rollercoaster of emotions, struggles, triumphs, heartaches,

Whether you're an intrapreneur, an aspiring entrepreneur, or an educator

See you on the flip side!

Supreet, Ankush, Sushant

What is this “Right approach”?

Well, Jokes apart! What is that ONE THING?

Know What You Stand For!

Let me share more on what I mean, when I talk about PRINCIPLES?

You can be high maintenance

If you care, you care

If you intend to focus on the growth of your employees/clients, you

Here is an example of one of many instances where we went one

You learn, you evolve

Here’s a little more insight into ‘First Principle Thinking’:

This book is for

An intrapreneur is an employee which is usually assigned to innovative projects

What we want to convey is that it is imperative to self-introspect.

What to do in this situation?

Now - what is first principle thinking?

A 2-liner meaning to help you be on the same page: Getting to the

Your people are ‘your team’, not you.

You don’t define your team, ‘your people’ do.

Team is what it is, WHEN YOU ARE NOT THERE.

2. Talk about your journey time and again

However, another important factor that you need to think is - sharing

- Some won’t like the concept of a hybrid work

Power of mindfulness is under-appreciated and seldom discussed.

In today's world, it is easy to get influenced, persuaded by so many

- I would envision what a 10 lakh car loan would look like on my

- I would also look at how that would affect my social status. Is it

- I should be open to embracing some uncertainty as well.

If I make a choice weighing the options, I am more likely to be

The control shouldn't entirely (or mostly) be on my parents, spouse,

It should be my decision 'at the end of it' is all I am saying. Even if

The process may as well take you towards an overthinking phase.

4. Work on factors that are in your control

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the

To know more about this, why not just begin.

We have bifurcated the challenges an ”intrapreneur” might face

Chapter 1 - Finding Cinderella

This prompted candidates to join the company at least for the

● We had a high rejection ratio in interviews. When we calculated

● Just take more interviews!

We accepted this ratio and started planning more interviews in order

For example, if a team has 5 vacancies, we prepare a plan to

● Stringent interview process

We streamlined our interview process. We re-evaluated the basic

Every team member is trained on a specific set of questions that can

Interview round: Technical

Candidate studies all the theoretical concepts, is nervous because

- Can you share 10 uses of a pen other than writing.

- Tell me something I don't know! :D

Interviewer is thinking - how could someone not be able to answer

Interviewer starts the interview with: The objective of this round is

I have seen candidates performing way better in scenario 2. Letting

As an interviewer, I try to create a comfortable environment first. It

● Why were we not hiring ”experienced” candidates?