- Published on
September month Start of 10th year for NFN
- Authors
- Name
- Rajesh Padmanabhan
- @rajeshpadman
NFN Labs logos over the years
10th Year for NFN
September month is the Start of 10th year for NFN. A couple of years ago as we entered 8th year I wrote this. From September 2011 to September 2020, this 10 year has been an excellent period. Looking back when we decided to extend our offering from Design to Development, it was a calculated move. We were learning mobile app development by launching our own products. Products like ‘PNR Status’ and iPanchangam application. Both these were native apps and was available in iOS and Android. During this period we have built popular utility apps like Screeny, Water, BuySellTickets, StormIt, NFWalls, SMSFilter. There are apps that never saw the light of the day, apps that are removed by us from the store since it longer served the purpose. But all these apps have one thing in common - Gave us enormous learning.
We build products - Purpose and benefits
There are many companies who do Design, There are many companies who do Development. There are companies that build Products. But very few companies who do Design, Development and have their Products. NFN is one such.
We build products for multiple reasons: Team to Learn, Act as Catalogue, Make Money. We built products because our team wanted to learn something new, there are products from NFN that hasn’t seen the light - SlickFind & Water for Android, are examples. There were blockbuster products and later dropped by the team because the team felt it served its purpose - PNR Status, iPanchangam and BuySellTickets.
Our products are a catalogue for our sales process and to an extent it’s has been a reference for our members.
Our products make money, for us to go for a quarterly outing. But the reference it serves is what fuels our services business.
Team and Work Environment
We are well aware of the following, our team is great, they are technically sound, they are self-made and they don’t have any god-fathers in the industry. The only piece of advice we used to follow; Don't be cocky. Don't be flashy. There's always someone better than you. Share what you've learned with others. Be truthful with the options available. If we don’t know it or made a mistake, own it. Will make you a better person - A professional
As a team when we face a problem we try to explain it by using the word ‘We did’ instead of ‘I did’ or ‘They did’. Everybody makes mistakes, for us, this is not a problem. We strongly believe ‘To err is human’. As a team, you will always have setbacks. There’s not one single team out there that doesn’t have a problem. The most difficult problems, the most painful events, are the ones where you learn the most. In the end, we learn from it, recover and come out stronger.
10th year - Strategy
For us, Strategy is a three-dimension approach - Idea, People and Execution. A winning strategy. We Strongly believe you are as good as the team you get. Differentiation is the biggest thing to perform. Strongly believe that Every sale has a follow-on sale. Continue to be boot-strapped.
Way Forward
Together we have built a business that combines creativity, passion and problem-solving. It's all about delivering happiness.
We say 'Success lies in the eye of the beholder'