Are you a follower or a leader? Or is a better question to ask – have you ever forced yourself to be something you’re not? I’ve actually seen it happen too many times. Many people feel that they need to be a leader. Why? Because of two common needs human nature creates: financial and ego. But, people tend to forget, there is a Plan B.

Many people feel that they have a set financial position they want to attain and the only way to achieve that is by being the head guy in charge. That’s a great strategy – but sometimes if the right knowledge of being a leader hasn’t been instilled yet – it can lead to failure. I still encourage people to strive to achieve this but bear in mind Plan B can achieve a great financial and career outcome as well.

So, what is Plan B? It’s simple. Figure out what your strengths are and stick to them. You don’t have to the best at it either, just better than the next guy.

Let’s take a look at the various successful companies built out over recent years. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, YouTube, and even my two successful startups (ClickAgents & BlueLithium). I can proudly say that I’ve helped create many 6, 7 and even 8 digit-aires. But, to even a greater extent, look at companies like Google/Yahoo/Microsoft. In a recent article I read about Google, about 1000 employees now have a net worth of $5MM or MORE. And that organization excels at maintaining great employees – that strive to come to work every day and make the Company a great success. As Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, you’re only as good as your Army’s strength. And great Companies know how to incentivize their armies to share in that evolving pie.

Financial rewards follow if you make the right decisions on where to exploit your passion and energy. Remember – just keep your ego at bay. Life’s all about execution, making the right choices, and focus…

I’m not literally asking the question, but posing a question that we face every day. This is something we think about in all the different decisions we go through in life. It can range from career, financial and personal matters that are all dear to us. I’ve got a slightly different perspective on this topic.

All my life – I’ve faced this dilemma and I’ve realized the formula that works for me. I choose to run. Whatever the situation maybe, but when that inexplicable feeling inside me tells me to go for it – I choose to listen to it. What I’ve realized is that when you decide to go 110% on your chosen path, the energy and time you normally would put at the fear of failure – goes away. You have no option to fail and you choose to put all your energies on the positives. Failure never becomes an option and it shouldn’t be. Life doesn’t always work that way – but the chances are – if you build your DNA to grow a wall that can eliminate any negative noise – your chance of success just grows astronomically. Always stand up for what you believe or want. That inner voice is your friend.

Now – I’m not saying I jump into everything “gung-ho” – there are limitations here. Look at the state of our economy it’s the result of the build-up from the credit crisis we face today. That’s a mistake that’s costing many Americans and the overall economy dearly. The difference here is – separating tangible risk with material risk. If we choose to invest materially into something that we can’t have control of – like money – the risk of failure increases. However, if we choose to invest our time, focus, energy, discipline, values on all the tangible goals we have in life – you begin to build that inner-confidence that defines your DNA to succeed.

So, as even Nike says, JUST DO IT.

What if you were asked the question, what are the three things that matter the most to you? Here’s the catch though, you can’t name any individuals and of course nothing materialistic. That makes it even harder question since you really have to think at a deeper level. I was asked this today during an interview. At first, I would have said family – but since I couldn’t use individuals I took about a full minute to think about this. So, I came up with the following:

1. Health
2. Friendship
3. Faith

This is actually a healthy exercise I think for everyone. No matter what position you’re in – it defines your character. Think about it – and see what you come up with.

What’s more important? The idea or execution?

Most people might be confused and think all it takes to be successful on the Internet is a great idea. That’s completely untrue. It’s actually all execution. Let’s take a look at some key examples of some the biggest Companies/exits:

• YouTube: $1.65 billion merger with Google. Idea = share video. Execution = make it simple and consumer friendly.

• Google: $180 billion market cap. Idea = search engine. Execution = creation of a better ad targeting platform and consumer brand for just search.

• Yahoo: $40 billion market cap. Idea = portal/directory. Execution = creation of the most successful online destinations and starting points for consumers worldwide.

As you can see – there basic ideas didn’t make the company’s successful it was all execution of their respective business plans. So, if you’re an entrepreneur – focus less on just the sheer idea you have and more on the execution of getting it off the ground, making it scalable, and then profitable.

You can also get lost on where to start – so always start everything off by asking yourself “what is the lowest hanging fruit?” And remember, don’t focus on the billion dollar opportunity from day one…it’s a step up play. Baby steps.

Another key lesson here is – you don’t necessarily have to start a business that’s entirely different. That actually makes it harder. You end up having to reinvent the wheel and focus more proving the concept rather than on your overall execution. Innovation can always happen after you’ve reached parity…

I was fortunate this weekend as I got to celebrate a lot of things. On Friday it was my elder brother’s birthday, Saturday was my nephew’s birthday, and of course Sunday was Mothers day. It was a memorable time since I cherished every moment with my family. It’s not too often we’re all in the same place for 72 hours.

I also spent a lot of 1:1 time with my father, whom I admire greatly. Given the success I’ve had in my life – he also knows the great struggles and problems it comes with. As well as, the shift in how society ends up labeling and taunting you when you become more visible. Therefore, he reminded me of a famous shayari (poem) that he heard. It was great to be reminded of these words. I’ve translated the words from hindi to the best of my capability – as I think the words are beautiful and powerful and the underlying theme is something we can all relate to.

Chal Rahe ho tho – bathani ki zaroot nahin
As you begin to reach your destiny – there is no reason to say

Chal Rahe ho tho – bathani ki zaroot nahin
As you begin to reach your destiny – there is no reason to say

Rukh ge jis din – pooche ga koi nahin
Because, if you ever fail – no one will ever ask

Jhante he jo – dhol vo peethe nahin
But, those who know – will never expose their noise

Chalte rahte hein bas – mor kar dekhte nahin
They will simply march toward their destiny – with never looking in the past…

I don’t want to be biased here – but I wanted to recognize my very own brother for this. He’s turning 29 and chose to celebrate his birthday like this: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9179020. He wasn’t expecting San Jose Mercury News to do any coverage and that just happened by surprise. I know he spent several weeks planning this out to make sure it was an incredible day for all.

This goes hand in hand with my previous post – you always have to remember where you came from and never change who you are. Great job again, big brother! And, ofcourse, Happy Birthday…

This week I was interviewed by the New York Times, and during the interview process – I was asked what famous quote, if any, I live by. After thinking about it, I had an instant flashback. When I was 16 – I took Philosophy 101 – and did a paper on Socrates. I’m not going to say that I’m philosopher by any degree – but I remember one quote that I read about that stood out. And you can say that – I’ve lived exactly like that over the last nine years.

“Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, and undue depression in adversity.”

Read it a few times, as it may have an entirely different meaning for you. But, in my eyes – the way I see it – success is a virtue of control. The more control you have of your success – the more you will continue to rise. Don’t get too cocky or think you are a god – since that’s what will eventually bring you down. And when you fail – it’s not the end of the world – since every true success has had its failures.

In my book – you’ll hear a lot more examples of how I saw my success and managed it carefully. At the end of the day, don’t change who you are as a human being – no matter how successful you get. I’ve seen it happen too many times and that in essence becomes the ultimate fall. Stay humble. Live for yourself and don’t let life, live for you…

Many people have asked me. Why are you raising capital? You don’t need the money – so why not self-fund it yourselves? I’ve been asked this several times in pursuit of the venture financing I’m closing for gWallet. The simple answer is: I know my DNA. You’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. Let me explain. Generally, here are the top three reasons why people want to raise money:

1. They need the money.
2. They are hoping investors will land them big clients.
3. They’ve reached the natural evolution in their company where they need to add a board.

Fortunately, in my last two companies – #1 never applied to me and even this time around it doesn’t apply to me. #2 – is also a first time entrepreneur’s dream. Venture money doesn’t always guarantee new business. Board members are going to make introductions – which means your product and your sales acumen will still have to speak. #3 – is a natural occurrence when you’re a first time entrepreneur and need expertise on how to grow a real business or if your business has matured and requires the experience of a proper board to take it to the next level.

Now let’s get back to my reasoning. I know my DNA. What does this mean? It means a lot to me. Part of my upbringing – we struggled as an immigrant family. Constantly, we’d have to live under the scenario: need vs. necessity. What do you really need and what is necessary? Survival. They are two very separate ways to live. Think about it. The need maybe a new car – but the necessity maybe just a car with four wheels. That’s how I lived growing up – and that’s how I founded both of my Companies. The first time I never raised any capital and I bootstrapped it the entire way. The second time around, I bootstrapped it for 1 year and then ended up raising $11.5 million but never actually used it (since we remained profitable at all times).

But, here’s what happened to me as an entrepreneur. I changed. My frugal mindset never changed. But, I was more comfortable making all the RIGHT decisions when I felt best we needed to make them. For example, after 12 months of starting BlueLithium, I made the decision to open Europe. It ended up becoming one of the best decisions for the Company since we ended becoming the 2^nd largest ad network a year later in Europe. Second example, in any interview I did, it was all about hiring the “best” talent or “rockstars” I like to call them. Never did I worry about “how am I going to afford this person?” or “Oh my god, this person is going to make 2-3 times more than me!” It was all about getting the best and paying for the best.

So here I am company #3. While I can self-fund the entire lot myself. I don’t want to hold back and I want to hit the ground running hiring the best and executing on the best decisions. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it…

Now that I’m a distant outsider I can actually talk about my thoughts regarding this potential merger. First off – a disclaimer, I am a shareholder of Yahoo and Microsoft.

As you may know, Microsoft has been trying to acquire Yahoo for the last three months. The deal broke apart this past weekend when Microsoft offered up to $33 a share, and Yahoo wanted $37 a share. Yahoo traded at $28.67 on Friday and was originally at $19 a share when Microsoft first announced their original offer on January 31^st.

First off, as a shareholder, I would have loved the outcome to happen since I would have been personally benefited. But, taking the personal emotions out of it – here’s the business analysis for it and how it could affect you as a consumer. Microsoft needs Yahoo. As we all know, Microsoft has been a monopoly in the operating system and browser war. As of March 2008, Microsoft held a 91.57% market share in the OS War and 76% in the browser war.

Operating System Market Share

Browser Market Share

According to Comscore, in March 2008 – here’s a look at market share via the search engines.

Google has a 59.8% market share that continues to trend higher. Yahoo is at 21.3% and MSN is at 9.4%. If Yahoo decides to stay independent that means its only option will be to outsource search to Google. What does this mean? Google will have a total of 90.6% of the market share in search queries (when you add Google, Yahoo, Ask, and AOL). That would leave Microsoft in the dust with single depleting digits in the search market place.

What does this mean to the consumer? Probably won’t have a direct effect till later – since the direct effect will be faced to the advertisers that advertise on Google’s marketplace first. Yahoo believes that by outsourcing its search business it will gain as much as $1 billion in more profits annually since Google will be able to add more search queries to its market place and charge more for them.

It’s a classic supply and demand problem. Search is a very scarce marketplace – the more volume you put in it – and as the demand increases, the prices will go higher. So, how will this eventually affect the consumer? Well, the hundreds of thousands of advertisers that advertise on Google – to make a “ROI profit” – will be making less of a “profit.” And, they will eventually have to increase prices – which “YOU” the consumer will have to pay for. Not exactly, the best result especially in this economy.

Therefore, outside of personal reasons for the merger to have gone through – my business approach is that – I hate monopolies and would hate to create one so hard to break in the advertising world. Google would have too much power, and Microsoft was on the other side of the fence this time around, trying to stop this power – with the proposed transaction. It’s going to be a very interesting week for the three companies mentioned and what it means to their stock prices this week (Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo).

This week I spent a several hours working with my ghostwriter, Pablo, on a draft for “The Dream.” When I was a kid – I could have never thought that I’d be writing a book at 25. And over the last few months – given what’s happened to my life, it’s been one of the most amazing experiences thus far. If you think about it – whenever you go through a life changing experience – you need to sometimes realize the checks and balances in life. What I mean is, realize what got you there and what your priorities are. This helps you stay grounded. Writing this book has not only been a great experience, but it’s been a very humbling exercise. It made me realize in detail all of the different elements I went through as early as 16, to be where I am today. And of course, who in my life – supported me all the way.

One of the upsides of writing a book is that – in the first page of the book – you’re able to write a dedication. It took me less than 30 seconds to write this dedication. It was an easy decision for me, since I realized that after all I am – and after all I’ve been through – it’s because of my family. So, thank you once again:

Dedication

“This book is for my father, who taught me the meaning of perseverance; for my grandmother and mother, who showed me the true meaning of love; and for my three siblings, who have been there for me every step of the way.”