Saturday, September 11, 2010

An Entrepreneurial Lesson

Avoid involving any relative or a good friend in your entrepreneurial venture, because there will be a boundary of the bond that you've with that person that will always be an obstruction between free flow of ideas, directions and responsibilities.

Consider this case: If he doesn't work, you won't be able to scold him to work just because he's your very good friend or relative. And neither would you be able to fire him, because he's again your kin. Now, if he works too much, he would not be comfortable being under your supervision and this would create problem. He would want to be at your level, which is outrightly impossible owing to professional hierarchies. It is really difficult to make them understand this fact. You would never want to share the equity with a person just because he's enthusiastic and also, your relative. Many a times, if there are any personal unresolved issues, you would find yourself bringing in those personal duels in professional situations.

I've often found rifts occurring in the team just because the other person doesn't like to be assigned tasks by a friend or a kin, because he doesn't want to be bossed around by a person with whom he shares a very intimate personal bond. And otherwise, if he's really interested in your work he starts encroaching too much in the administration of the entire venture, just because he thinks that the professional hierarchy doesn't hold for him and personal proximity that one has with that person holds at the professional level too. And this is when situations crumble up and things complicate. Friendship goes. Professional peace goes. And you end up irritated, a bit hopeless and sometimes even depressed, if you're too much attached to the person.

Your start-up emerges out of your desire and determination to render your idea plausible in the real world and you've thought very clearly about how you're going to do it. So, your good friends, working under your supervision, might not apprehend it and could create trouble very often.

Whatever I wrote is just out of experience. So, if you're the director of your venture, involve trustworthy but a little bit distant people, pay them and get the work done. Don't involve people who join you because of you. Involve people who join you because they have faith in your idea and they are capable as well as willing to make it happen.

I've tried my best to keep out all my close friends from my venture. Just to treasure our friendships. The only friend with whom you could be compatible in your venture will be your business partner, because he is your equal and you both will share the longer vision with unconditional faith in each other.

P.S. Starting up is not a picnic. Involving too many close friends and relatives might make it one.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

IIT Life

Ten Best things that I've done in my IIT life:
  1. Tasted all the grades - 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10; except the E and F grade, which touch-wood, I don't want to taste.

  2. Climbed the insti-top and got caught. The security officers were really tough-asses. Glad mine was tougher.

  3. Did a mini-project under the worst professor of the Physics Department, Tarey, name unchanged to make sure intentional libel. After surviving three failed nervous breakdowns, two unsuccessful murder attempts and one almost successful suicide attempt in the process, he gave me an A grade. Sweet guy. Glad, I survived.

  4. Fell in love. Fell out of it. Fell in love. Fell out of it. And the process continues ... unfortunately, with the same girl.

  5. Wrote a book. Yes, being in IIT without even a book written by you - seems too sad and boring. That little fame, jealous peers and big money - who doesn't want that?

  6. Made some real good friends. Fought with them. Befriended them. Kicked their asses. Let them kick mine, making sure I hit them twice as hard as possible.

  7. Blogged. Yes, that's the best hobby ever. You would never ever get bored. Even if no-one reads your blog, you can always find that irritating little sucker called YOU who goes and reads some of your juvenile crappy bullshit, smiling in self-admiration.

  8. Explored hostel LAN - completely. Yes, I've watched all the good movies, fast-forwarded; all the bad movies - at the normal pace. Yes, I'm a bad guy.

  9. VIDESH YATRA. IIT-life without a hefty dose of firangs during summer looks quite incomplete. I went to Glasgow, UK, lived in a royal suite, traveled whole UK and earned my first money 1000 pounds, and invested them all in fun and more fun.

  10. Cracked PJs. Not the poor ones, but the pathetic ones. Some of them being so bad that the persons hearing it felt a sudden shock wave up through their bodies until their head sprang up like the-center-shock guy and their legs shot in revenge at my cute little chubby ass. If you stood there in that serious condescending face of yours just because you didn't crack PJs, don't feel proud. You missed a HELL lot of fun.

Ten things that I'm yet to do in my IIT Life:
  1. Get drunk.
  2. Get drunk.
  3. Get drunk.
  4. Get drunk.
  5. Get drunk. Now that I'm done, I think I'm done. Good night.
P.S. If the numbers seem wrong, don't mind. You're probably drunk too.

The Purpose of Life

Our life has a purpose. Everyone has his own. The good thing is I know my purpose. And it's called entertainment.

My life statement is - to keep myself entertained through each of the passing moments and to live in the glory of the fun of sheer entertainment that I get.

What's yours? Rather where's yours?

P.S. Search your purpose. It is a good pastime.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Dreamer

When night sky is dark,
Lull prevails, stark.
Dreamers see the light,
Invigorating. Ah, what a sight!

Inspired, he saw that sight.
Determined, to give a tough fight.
Lonely but not alone,
His ultimate fate lay unknown.

He was ready to fight the odds
Smash the hurdles and win the Gods.
The place was far, where he urged to go.
A stormy sea, awaiting conquer, he knew

Fully prepared, he began
A tireless journey, thus spanned
The waves lashed against his chest
He rowed and rowed, without rest

The sea seemed dark and endless
His spirit, however, soared amidst distress
Sea showed no mercy, ghastly waves rose up
He kept trying until the sea gave up

The sea lost
The dreamer won.
For he ran for his dreams, when
Others didn’t know for what to run.