Nistha Tripathi’s book has come at a time when startups have realized that Indian market is different beast and no American book with its cookie cutter approach can help crack this market easily. No Shortcuts runs true to its name. The book is intimidating at the start because it is a tad bigger than usual startup books you see on shelves, but the content is well worth it. When I picked the book up, I did so with a mix of hope and caution. I hoped it would go beyond the starry dreams and fundraising stories and I am glad that to the most extent, my hope was rewarded.

Although the book features the interviews of the founders, each interview reads like a well planned out story. The introduction chapters are also carefully crafted. The author sets the tone for the book perfectly in the beginning by quoting Paul Graham, “We like to believe in genius. It gives us an excuse for being lazy.” The rest of the book follows suit - showing the crests and troughs of the startups featured inside, the thought processes of the founders and decisions taken at good and bad times.

Nistha has gone the extra mile to cover the intricate details of the journeys of each founder. By making an effort to categorise the interviews by their industries and outcomes, Nistha makes it easy to spot the stories most interesting to the reader. The same meticulousness reflects in each interview wherein each story starts with a well-crafted introduction to the startup and ends with the key takeaways.

The book particularly focuses on startup stories that are usually ignored by popular media. This creates a lot of optimism for an entrepreneur. And this is the highlight of the book for me. It is heartwarming to know the dedication and vision of Tarun Mehta as he builds India’s first electric bike. It is a matter of pride to see Girish Mathrubootham raising Indian flag in the global SaaS market and Nithin Kamath bootstrapping Zerodha amidst a tough competition. Gaurav Munjal and the young team of Unacademy, on the other hand, shows how India is changing with these startups. Their app is enabling people from rural India to start teaching and decentralize the whole education system that is holding us back. 

Nistha is an entrepreneur herself. The questions she poses to the founders are very relevant and point-of-view of an entrepreneur. While the startups covered are mostly in the technology space, lessons can be applied to any venture. Her final message is clear to the readers – What a man has done, a man can do! Though Nistha says anybody can do what these founders have done and yet also cautions, do not go by the success stories alone. If anybody makes the mistake of thinking one can copy his way to success, she puts up the story of a startup that had a great start, but still unexpectedly failed in the end.

 I would put this book some in middle of educative startup books like “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries and inspiring entrepreneurial books like “Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight. Be warned though, this book cannot be finished in one seating.

About Nistha: A successful Wall Street professional and early employee in Manhattan startups, Nistha returned to India in 2012 to start her own Indian entrepreneurial journey. After a couple of attempts, she found success in Scholar Strategy, an education counseling company that prides itself in helping 100s of students getting into top universities across the world including Harvard and MIT. This unique lifestyle business allows Nistha to work only 6 months a year, spending the remaining time traveling and writing. Her first novel, Seven Conversations, interpreted Bhagvad Gita in a modern context and gathered rave reviews.

With 35,000+ followers, and 6M+ views on her answers on the popular American QnA based website, Quora, Nistha writes extensively on careers, entrepreneurship and pursuing one’s passion. Her articles have appeared on Entrepreneur, Times, DailyO, DNA, Tribune and other leading media outlets.

Previously, she studied Computer Science at University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and dropped out of MBA program at NYU Stern where she organized Stern’s first Entrepreneurship Summit inviting the likes of Seth Godin.