Today, the angry young man of Bollywood has turned 70. Amitabh Bachchan’s life continues to inspire a whole lot of us and here are a few great lessons that startups can learn from BigB.
BigB has seen failure (13 continuous flops), rejections, has been written off multiple times (esp. after ABCL), but the man simply kept fighting and in the startup speak, kept finding a product-market-fit.
- 13 Flops before the first success
- 13 Flops before the first success
And we talk about pivoting etc? Persistence pays. Keep trying.
- Never say Never
- Never say Never
Anand was supposed to be Rajesh Khanna’s movie. But BigB stole the show. He didn’t mind playing the second fiddle, but still gave his 100% to the role.
- Professionalism
- Professionalism
“You cannot say this is my second innings. I will say that I have got a chance to prove myself again.” – BigB, after ABCL crisis.
- Reinvented himself. Again and Again
- Reinvented himself. Again and Again
Failure.Near death experience.Politics. #WrittenOff. ABCL/Miss World organizer.#WrittenOff.Pivoted (to *TV show anchor*). #WrittenOff.
Bloody, Buddha Hoga Tera Baap!
- Experimental
- Experimental
Never shied away from experiments. Tried hands at all possible roles. Black to Nishabd to Cheeni Kam to The Last Lear to latest project, Mehrunnisa.
And we have A/B testing that has spoilt the web :)
- Tech savvy
- Tech savvy
And while entrepreneurs discuss whether to learn coding or not, BigB embraced new technology more proficiently than a lot of us. He is super active on Twitter and blog.
- Age no bar?
- Age no bar?
The god of Bollywood still has roles written for him exclusively. The man ceases to give up and *accept* retirement.
He is still experimenting and going strong. Like a shehanshah.
- Converted weakness to strength.
- Converted weakness to strength.
He didn’t know dancing. So created his own style.
He didn’t belong to the industry. But never gave up.
On the sets of Sharaabi, he burnt his hands. Had to put the burnt hand in his pocket, which incidentally became style statement!
- Rejection anyone?
- Rejection anyone?
He was rejected for his voice (thank you Ameen Sayani). And we all know the rest of the story.
At one point, he had to mortgage his bungalow to Sahara India Finance to raise funds for his company.
His comeback attempts were unsuccessful (mostly). He kept trying. Succeeded. And is still trying. STILL.
- Multiple Roles. Multiple Hats
- Multiple Roles. Multiple Hats
From narrator, TV anchor, playback singer to producer, politician, blogger – Vijay has been walking ‘Ekla Chalo Re’. Like a shehanshah with a clear note – Main Azad Hun.
To the man who inspired a whole lot of people, Happy Birthday!
