Why I Said No To $250,000 Pay

Play the dice game with me. And my near death experience.

I build businesses to pursue a rich life. I share lessons I learn along the way.

Here are this weeks insights:

1. Play The Dice Game With Me

2. Why I Said No To $250,000 Pay

3. Lightning Struck The Wing Right Outside My Window Seat

You can access previous editions of my weekly emails here. Let’s begin!

(1) Play The Dice Game With Me

Here are the rules of the game:

• The point of the game is to get as many greens as you can.

• You don’t know how many sides the dice has.

• When you start the game, the dice has only one green side and many red sides.

• Every time you roll a green, another red side turns green.

• Every time you get a red, nothing happens, and you get to go again.

• The game ends if you stop rolling. And if you stop rolling you lose.

You roll the dice. You get one red after another. You keep rolling.

Eventually you get a green. This took you ten years. Your first green was the result of countless red rolls. You get a boost of confidence and celebrate your first success. But then you get back to the game - you roll.

The second green came only three years after the first green. It’s your second success. You now have the label of a “serial-entrepreneur”. Good on you! Get back to work - roll.

The third green came only one year after the second green. Another success! Amazing! You get awards. You get recognition. You have fame and fortune. But you love the game so much that you just can’t stop rolling. Rolling is now a part of your daily routine. It is a part of your identity.

You still see more reds than greens.

Eventually you get to a point where you are getting more greens than reds.

You still don’t know how many sides your dice of life has. You are just grateful that you get to play.

Keep rolling my friend. Keep rolling! You cannot lose if you don’t quit. I hope 2025 is a year where you get your streak of greens.

(2) Why I Said No To $250,000 Pay

You don't have to start a company to be an entrepreneur.

When you build something within companies, even if you don't own the business or assume all the risks, you are an "entrepreneur within a business". People also call such people "Intrapreneurs".

You may be building a software, a department, a sales or marketing strategy, or even a process - each of these actions make you entrepreneurial.

But then what is the difference between a non-intrapreneur and an intrapreneur?

Ownership! (Not just the financial type!)

I think Intrapreneurs take ownership for their work, whereas non-intrapreneurs do the bare minimum.

Interpreneurs 'feel' ownership for the business, whereas non-intrapreneurs just see it as a pay check.

Interpreneurs see themselves growing with the company, whereas non-intrapreneurs see every job as a stepping stone to the next one.

When I was building EthosData as an intrapreneur, I got job offers from competitors. The highest one was a $250,000 paycheck about a decade or so back. That was a good multiple of my pay.

But I didn't even consider moving.

EthosData was 'my' company even though I didn't own any part of it. It was a business I built from scratch with 'my team' for the India market. I had a Founder who gave me the opportunity to express my entrepreneurial chutzpah. He also offered me the freedom to indulge in my own entrepreneurial ventures because he trusted me to do what's right for the business. And I did. Always.

Would I jump ship because someone offered me a massive carrot?

Hell no!

My loyalty ran too deep. I wouldn't have moved even if they had offered me $1 million. Instead I charted out a way to build the business large enough to deserve the money I made.

Eventually the business sold successfully. All the work I did with my team over 16 years played a key role in that acquisition. And as luck would have it, my journey continues after the sale, with ideals, with a bigger mandate and more support than I've ever had before. In Ideals I am in the company of super smart entrepreneurs who are masters in their respective fields. And that just makes me even more... well... entrepreneurial!

Some people ask me how I run multiple businesses.

I break up the day into three parts of eight hours each and ask them what they do in their free time. Some play golf. Some travel. Some dabble in real estate or like investing in the markets. I like building businesses. When you love what you do and do what you love, it doesn't feel like work. You make time, even on weekends, to turn up.

A business is about more than one person.

A critical part of being an entrepreneur is to create a team. You have to hire other entrepreneurial superstars for the business. The ability to spot talented individuals is an under appreciated, undervalued and overlooked skillset. The one man show does not get very far.

I am lucky that my superpower is people. I have a knack for identifying the entrepreneurial disposition in individuals. I then try to align incentives. And then I let them loose, just like I was let loose at EthosData. At Happy Ratio, Vidit has been a star. He's been with the company for more than five years. He has his flaws but he also has the kind of persistence and optimism that one needs to survive long periods of uncertainties. Vidit has gone on to hire Nikita and Ashish for marketing. They are entrepreneurial in their roles; and much better than Vidit or me. Similarly at ideals when I was putting together my team I looked for a different set of character traits - their attitude and willingness to work, learn and adapt in a role that requires tireless volume in order to win against billion dollar competitors. Akanksha, Ajay and Vikram have what it takes to succeed. And when they stray, I get on a call, show them where they are going off-course and help them get to their targets by being involved in every-way.

The journey is the reward

What I've learnt in the past 18 years as an entrepreneur and intrapreneur is that the process is the reward. As long as I keep enjoying the climb, I will do just fine.

(3) Lightning Struck The Wing Right Outside My Window Seat

The plane shook for a second. My wife smelt something burning. The air hostess sitting in front of me looked worried.

I peeped out of the window to see if the engine was on fire. It wasn't.

I asked the air hostess whether all was well. She said "relax". The tone and expression didn't feel very reassuring.

A few minutes later, another air hostess came running down the corridor and said to the passengers “if you see smoke or fire please inform us right away.”

My heart was pounding out of my chest.

I cranked up the music on my headphones to try and relax. I felt like I was on an Disney joy ride with every turbulent shake giving me goosebumps. My Kindle stared at me to read "Behold the Leviathan" or "Fooled by Randomness", the two books that I was reading. But the fear of death wasn't letting me focus.

My wife held my hand with her usual happy disposition and said "Planes are built to take on all this and more. Don't worry. You know that air travel is one of the safest modes of transport."

I responded with an uncomfortable smile and said "we'd be very unlucky, statistically speaking."

She responded with "Shubh Shubh Bol!" (Be Positive!).

The fact that you're reading this message means that we weren't unlucky after all. We landed.

Takeaway: Life has so many uncontrollables. It will eventually be all over in a jiffy. The fear of death makes you realize how lucky you are to be alive. We are all on borrowed time. Be present and grateful for all you have.

Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)

Thank you for reading. Writing helps me learn, reflect, and share—it’s how I grow and connect with purpose. If you’re curious about the businesses I build as part of pursuing a rich life, here they are:

1. iDeals VDR - If you are running M&A transactions, planning an IPO, or sharing anything confidential online, you won’t find a better Virtual Data Room partner than us. Here is a 90 second video of iDeals. Companies like Pfizer, Mercedes and Tata trust us. Thousands of investment bankers, lawyers and insolvency professionals use us everyday to run their due diligence processes. If you have a need to share anything sensitive online, send me an email on harsh@idealscorp.com. I’d love to work with you.

2. Happy Ratio - I founded Happy Ratio because I am immensely passionate about health. To get the most out of life you need to be healthy. To be healthy you need to eat the right foods and drink the right beverages. But this is not always possible or easy. Happy Ratio provides clean, tasty and healthy foods and drinks. Check out our menu on Zomato and Swiggy. Or visit us at our quick service restaurant at CyberHub in Gurgaon. We serve employees from Deloitte and Marks & Spencers and do events for companies like Samsung and Oppo. If you want us to do an event for you reach out to us at ops@happyratio.com.

3. Marcellus Investment Managers - I am a Marcellus client because their investment philosophy resonates with how I think about investing. Their approach to investing in clean, honest and cash flow positive businesses can yield stupendous results over time. I trust them with my savings and evangelize their approach. Investing comes with inherent risks so please do your own due diligence before deciding where to put your money. I am also an Independent Financial Advisor with Marcellus.