Cactus Chords

Our product designs were ready by now, top notch functionality, user friendly, problem solving etc. What was next? The launch…… My heart skipped a beat. What will happen? Will this be a hit or go down the drain? I do not mind if it does not become a hit or if someone stole our idea and came out bigger, but I want everyone to know that, we tried solving a problem that a lot of people were facing. Nothing grave, but still very essential. I wanted everyone to know that, we did it first. That was my aim.

Now you all might be wondering, what this bloody project is all about. What I have been going on about in the pas 4 posts. Patience……… at least grant me this much liberty to reveal the product a while later. I promise I will reveal it in my next post

Sleepless nights followed, I could not distract myself. I was lying in the bed all day, writing down notes on how all my project could be compromised. I was snappy, lost my appetite, had a craving to be drunk every night and even got myself wasted a few times. All tries were in vain. There was no way of finding out what would happen unless we did a soft launch. So I consoled myself. We had to face whatever was in store for us. I had done my part and my team had supported me in every which way possible.

I booked my tickets to Delhi to do my first official market survey when the platform was nearly complete. Remember, I am operating on minimum expenses but there are some factors I couldn’t afford to avoid like a train journey which would easily push my trip by another 3 days as I was traveling from the southern tip to the north. Luckily, our domestic fares and recession were generous enough and I got myself a good return deal. Next on the list was accommodation. Having helpful friends all over the place is a gift and a blessing. My ex-colleagues from the very first start-up I worked with MobME Wireless Solutions Pvt Ltd (one of the start-ups you wish you were the founder of = heavy inspiration), were kind enough to bear me for a week and feed me and take care of my travel to an extent which shaved off a good chunk of expenses I would have incurred otherwise.

I consider myself lucky in that way.

I had the opportunity to work in two start-ups, one where I learnt “what TO do and how TO run a start-up” and the other where I learnt “what NOT to do and how NOT to run a start-up”. Though the experience spectrum was inverted in my case, I got to see both the sides and bore in mind not to repeat the mistakes I made earlier.

To be continued……….

image reference: http://www.hamiltonhall.info/images/nervous.gif, http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j5DN7VQPE2Y/SWm11QTWmMI/AAAAAAAAAbg/B5mWPxFeua8/s320/insomnia.jpg, http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4554217/SaveMoney1-main_Full.jpg,

It would not be inaccurate to draw a parallel between an entrepreneur and a hermit. When one sets out to be a hermit, he lets go of everything precious to him as all he has in mind is his eventual goal, Moksha. Isn’t this the same with an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur’s Moksha lies in his idea transforming into a successful business or for some, merely materializing into a business.

Entrepreneurship, as I always say, is not a job but a way of life.

I had mentioned that I was going to start something to two other friends of mine, one in Bangalore, Rahul, and one in Pune, Aayush (get acquainted). Both of them blindly hopped on board. But this time, I made it a point, every issue was addressed to and tackled before moving to the next step. Keep everyone in the loop and ensure greed, insecurity and ego did not come in the way. I warned them about all the unseen realities, I was aware of, in entrepreneurship. One was doing his MBA in Pune and the other a cozy job at an MNC. They were extremely talented, hard working and efficient.

To harness the technical aspect I rang up a friend, Shoban (get acquainted), who had also, at one point of time, invested his time and effort in my previous firm, while he was in an MNC, but ended up being disappointed with the way things turned out. I was apprehensive about asking him as he would think twice this time before associating with any of us. But decided to tell him anyway and explained the idea, how it should work, what separated us, what problems it solved, future scalability and everything a new member would want to know.

He instantly loved the idea and said he would help me out in whichever way possible. One of the things I would always thank god for, is the team I have. None of us keep money as the goal. It’s the idea and the passion. Money is a mere spin off in this journey. It is important, I agree, but one who chases money, always ends up in a hole.

The way I see it, this is exactly what separates a glorified business from a start-up, teach you the value of money. A son/daughter stepping into his/her family business and building it from there is commendable. He/She could kick start various other businesses from there as well, but would he/she have been equally productive, if he/she was to do it all on his/her own like his/her dad or grand dad did? Would he/she manage to even make a mark in the society without the name and fame their ancestors or parents left them? This is what separates you from them. In the case of an existing business, it is only revenues, profits, growth, scalability etc whereby in a start-up its always seeing an idea materialize into a product, watch the first customer use it, hang onto every word he says after he uses your product, the reaction of the market, the appreciation, the pride, the satisfaction. If it did not go as planned, the dejection, the tumble down, the heartbreak, the shame. Money seems to be a factor that is common in neither of the scenarios, whether a success or a failure. It is all about manifestation and the aftermath.

The next few days went into heavy discussions, market survey and ground work. I wanted to keep this project under wraps until I thought it was fine and the team responded beautifully. I do realize, had one entity in the firm faltered, the whole project could come tumbling down. It is imperative to keep work related secrets restricted to their office spaces.

The next aspect was design. We did not have a professional designer until my girlfriend, Nisha (get acquainted), stepped in and offered to help. She spent days on the concept and eventually came up with the perfect concept for our firm. Visiting cards, logos, website concepts, punch lines, theme etc were hers. It is always a touching moment when people offer to help expecting nothing in return. They just help you because they believe in you.

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Office space is the last thing you need if you are not a hardware oriented firm. Being a web based software firm, all could be taken care of through the internet. We all had laptops, internet connections and phones, what more do we need? This followed by roping in one of my previous firm’s employees, Sreenath (get acquainted), to do this. Even him, who had faced the wrath of our previous failed venture, refused to take money for this project and offered to do it as long as he saw this project materialize. I can’t explain this feeling.
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These are the people you should be thankful to all your life, for the ones who did the job for you and believed in you and your idea and decided to stick by you and do their duties without expecting anything in return.

To be continued…………..

image reference: http://www.toastmasters.org/OtherImages/Teamwork.aspx, http://www.indiamart.com/businessanalyst/pcat-gifs/products-small/market-survey-and-data-collection_10693656.jpg, http://www.rimes.org/App_Themes/rimes2/images/growth.png, http://www.vaastuinternational.com/vaastu/vi_vastu_office.jpg

I had lost money in my previous venture, but learnt a lot. It was killing me from inside. I had to distract myself before I tumbled down the hole of aimlessness and cluelessness (read depression). If you find yourself stuck in a job, take my advice and leave it before it destroys you. If you have the courage to quit, then you will have the courage to find another job or start something in no time. Hardships have to be embraced. They should teach you a thing or two about life and how to deal with it.

For those who actually feel stuck should watch the movie, Visioneers. It has, in a very abstract manner, covered the trauma and hassles the corporate world can induce in a human being up to a point where he literally explodes. A little incentive to watch the movie, the bearded, fat guy in The Hangover is the in the lead role.

Days passed and I found myself taking the situation rather well. The job I thought, if I left would ruin my life, made me feel like a new human being once I left it. That is when I realized that except my job, my life was perfect. I, knowingly, had put myself in a situation where I felt stuck. I stopped blaming others and blamed myself. I practiced what I preached. True, you will feel clueless at first, but then clarity will find its way into that head of yours eventually.

I sat down and decided to lay the foundation for the next step in my studies, MBA. That was the only step I could come up with, at that point in time. Without wasting any time, went to the book store, bought myself a brand new book to practice the GMAT, flipped my biological cycle by 180 degrees. I stayed up all night studying and slept till late afternoon. I found myself gaining momentum and self confidence.

One day as I was on the final chapter of the Math section, one of the many random thoughts racing through my head, most of them useless, caught my attention. Why don’t I just go ahead and do what I have always wanted to do myself? Why wait for a team or time or the opportunity or anything for that matter? If I know what I want, I will find my team. Whether it clicks or not depends on my product and they way I sell it and how useful it is. Simple!!! If not this, something else man. At least you did something on your own.

Opened a new document, wrote down whatever was in my head. Yet again, I had nothing but a ball of questions and answers on the document. Spent all night sorting it out and mix matching. Come morning, I had somewhat an idea of what I wanted. The business process and the how it must function. The next step was technical aspect. Hmmmmmm

To be continued………….

image reference: http://learn-wealth-creation.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/losing-money.jpg, http://legacy.lclark.edu/faculty/jsmiller/objects/idea_bulb.jpg

After a long silence I am back. I was astonished by the number of text messages, mails and calls I received asking why I do not blog anymore. It is really encouraging to realize so many people not only follow but appreciate what you write. I wasn’t invisible because I ran out of topics, but because I was fixated on launching and touring to promote my dream project.

It is not a social networking site, not a way to get famous, not just some product I put together with my team. It is my dream. It is trying to solve a problem which I faced while studying and wanted to solve it ever since. Whether it is a success or a failure is something I will have to wait and see and I frankly don’t give a rat’s ass about. My priority was to launch this product and be happy if it helps in the smallest of ways and creates jobs and in turn help a few. If it bombs, what the hell, at least I won’t die asking myself the question, What would have happened if I had done it when I could?

What I want to share with my next few posts are the different phases I went through while developing this product, the traumas, the hurdles, what kept me going. In all, I was going through a mixture of emotions. So here goes…….

Staring aimlessly at my mail inbox, the stats read 0 unread e-mails out of 9436 e-mails. Every morning I wake up and login to see whether I have received a mail from someone unexpected regarding work. I have mails from family, friends, random groups I joined on a social networking site or the technical team. An average of 8 new e-mails every morning was the traffic in my inbox.

I then asked myself, the questions I was running away from all this while;

- Why would someone mail me?  I am no longer on any website, no one knows where I am, what I do. I am a no body. Even if they do, what service could I be to them?

- How can I make myself useful?

- How can I create a product and not just sell something someone else has created, which can make me useful to the society?

- Should I go ahead with my dream project?

- Can I take a risk at this time of my life?

- Am I up for the challenge?

The above mentioned trauma occurred post my resignation from my previous firm which I was a co-founder of. Not something my readers do not know of. For the ones who have just joined, don’t even get me started. The less said, the better.

When in a start-up, revenue inflow is not the only important aspect. The one and only thing that is important in a start-up is, PRODUCT. That is considering you have the other aspect covered ie: a trustworthy team. If you do not have a product, then stop! Do not jump in yet, because you will fall on your face. It isn’t quite a pretty sight after that.

This was the mental scenario I was in weeks before the launch of my product which I will elaborate on in my future posts. You know how nervous you feel before an exam you have prepared well for. Not that you are scared of flunking, but scared whether it will be worth all the hard work. That feeling just skims the surface of the trauma I was undergoing. It has been two whole months of work, day and night. No night outs, partying, long hours on phone, shopping, watching movies, meeting up with friends. All I did those two months was travel around and meet people, mail every Tom, Dick and Harry, do market research, stay up nights and weigh the pros and cons of my project. Create designs of what I want the website to look like, how I want it to function, process flow, prepare necessary documents for the project, read as much as possible and learn about what I am getting into. I wondered whether it would make a difference to the society. If so, then to what extent, my running costs, my revenues, future scalability.

I do not know if it is just me, but when I really sit down to write, my head gives me nothing but a ball of answers which has to be separated manually and matched with the respective questions which is another ball in a separate corner in my head. I presume I am just too confused a soul.

There are a lot of questions one must subject himself/herself to before they take the plunge into entrepreneurship.  There are two basic traits one must possess to succeed as an entrepreneur.

- HAVE A FOCUS

- BE A RISK TAKER, GO GETTER

When I mean focus, it isn’t necessary that you have a product in your mind. But you need to have a goal. In my case, I always wanted to give something back to the society, to be more specific, the educational society to start with. A lot of services I was working with could have achieved this, but I could not hone in on which one would fit it perfectly and how.

Be a risk taker, does not mean you jump from your cozy job to a start-up that has a sure-to-click idea and funding. I mean you should have the balls to be part of the team that is out there with nothing but an idea and believe in it blindly. Be ready to sacrifice a lot of luxuries in life.

If you lack even one of the above, trust me, you will not succeed unless you are one of those extremely lucky buggers. I envy those fuckers…but good for you.

To be continued………………….

image reference: http://cristinalaird.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/depression.jpg, http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u107/risky%20sign.jpg

Something I truly believe and came across when a friend shared it. Thank you for sharing it Sujay.

Please take it easy and do not worry too much in life. There is absolutely no use worrying. It will just add on to your problems. My mantra….Hassle-free!!!

Quoted:

“Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and all relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One thing about nurturing the spark – don’t take life seriously. Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

Don’t be serious, be sincere. “

Cheers!!!

image reference: http://justanotherwordpressweblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/bhagat.jpg

“Secure your future”, “Get a job”, “Get promoted”

I do not know how many of you consider this gospel. A job is necessary, I agree. Getting promoted is also necessary, I agree. Saving up for your old age so you do not depend on anyone is also necessary, I agree. What I insist up on is, get a job, but get one which you are happy and satisfied in. Get promoted and progress, provided you do it on your terms and based on your skills and not by being a kiss a$$. If you have these two sorted out, the third one of securing your future will automatically fall in place.

Logic: When you doing something you love, you automatically put in your 200% and you won’t expect heavy monetary returns as your heart is content. A 100% in a job you are not satisfied in is as good as 50% input and you also expect a lot as the work you did was purely physical and not from heart. I have confused you big time, haven’t I? Pardon the vagueness. It is an innate trait that I can’t seem to get rid of But if you dig what I am trying to get across, then good.

But as the universe has it, you reap what you sow. If 200% is what you pitched in, whole “heartedly”, you will reap the benefits, inevitably. On the other hand, you can not expect much at all for the other as the work was more mechanical and not soulful. Thus, the outcome will also be compromised.

What if I am not a person who can afford to lose a job, even though I am not happy in it, as I am the only one providing for my family?

First of all, I bow to you for being so responsible. Hats off! Second of all, if that is the case then do what you have to do initially but have it in the back of your mind to step out and do your own thing or get a job you are satisfied in later on. You can not expect yourself to be chained to the same job for eternity in which you are not satisfied in. I know a person who has been afraid all his life about quitting his job and doing something he loved doing. Eventually he said, “I could not take it anymore as I was putting my self esteem and credibility at risk. My boss was literally piling work on me and expecting me to work 15 hours a day”.

He moved out and I won’t lie to you, he struggled for a good 6 months without a job and trying to figure out what to do. But after that he got a job which made up for all the 6 months he did not have a job and is beyond satisfied. So it’s all a matter of taking the risk. If you do not know what you want in life now. Relax!!! A lot of people don’t like Baz Luhrmann says in his song “Sunscreen”. Get your hands on this if you can.

If you are scared of being stuck in the purgatory after quitting, make sure you have honed in on your passion before hand and laid steps t achieve the same once you have quit.

Cheers!!!

image reference: http://images.askmen.com/money/keywords/promotion_965844.jpg, http://sloone.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/kiss-my-ass-3-2.jpg,

“Do not indulge in the vices”, “Secure your future”, “Get a job”, “Get promoted”, “Progress in life”, “Live a peaceful old age”

Common statements we all have encountered at some point of time in our life. All the above mentioned are guidelines or rules we can live by, which may ensure we do what the society wants us or expects of us. But do we truly need to do this?

It is just my mind thinking out loud and me merely penning down my thoughts. It’s something that you should ask yourself, just to see what YOUR answer would be.

“Do not indulge in the vices”

Smoking, drinking, getting high, tripping, sex, lies, deceit, envy and all the remaining sins we can think of, is bad. I do agree, but if overdone. Willpower is what determines how strong a human being you are. Nothing else.

You might know scores of people who might have kicked the bucket at the age of 25 or 30 of say, a heart attack, who never touched a cigarette, sipped liquor, known the warmth of a woman, cheated someone, lied to anyone, been jealous of anyone.

What wrong did they do to go away so young? Did they deserve it? No, they did not, it’s very evident. But simple questions which were left unanswered by them. Were they satisfied with life? Were there things they wanted to try, achieve, see, do before they left us? Hell yes!!! There would be a million things they would want to do….

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Let me put it to you this way. You might be a person who does not indulge in any of the vices, whatsoever. Fine, I am proud of you. But ask yourself this question. What all would you want to do if you found out you have exactly one month to live. Be honest to yourself, not me or my post.

If in that one month, you ever plan to or even think about trying out any of the above mentioned forsaken acts, then I am sorry to tell you, it’s high time you reiterate your wants. Why wait for that last month, why not try it out now? What is the harm?
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I asked a few of my friends who do not smoke, drink or any of the above. I, without any intro, casually asked them the same question. As expected, each one of them naively replied, “I would want to know what smoking feels like and what beer, whiskey, champagne taste like. I do not want to drink it, just taste it.” And the inevitable answer of all, “I also wanna get laid.”  <<<*chuckles*>>> Little did they know, they were in fact contradicting their own principles. If you have principles, they should be made from the heart and taken to your grave, WILLINGLY. Not because your parents told you or your ancestors did so or your girlfriend told you so or your society told you so.

There might be a lot of problems that you might face initially, when you are under your parents’ wings. But once you independent you have all the freedom. Do not misuse it. Use it wisely. Make sure your parents or the ones who love you do not get hurt. But do not hang onto stupid arse principles to look like Ms. Goody2shoes in front of everyone. It is not worth it.

Life is very short, trust me. Very few lucky ones make it to a happy old age. Before you know, it could be the Swine Flu (something that has freaked the crap out of me for no reason), or an ebola virus outbreak, a mere flu, or cholera or whatever. You could slip and knock your head on the floor and take off for all you know….

There is one rule I always follow. “Love yourself, pamper yourself and always keep yourself happy.” If you feel the inner you craving for something, go for it. If it is harmful beyond a certain extent, control it. If you are weak hearted and do not have the will power, do not. You will just have to live that sorry life.

I am not saying you should indulge in the vices… Not saying, you are not cool if you do not..Just saying, do not do something just because you are asked to. LIVE FOR YOURSELF

to be continued………..

Cheers!!!

image reference: http://www.healthjockey.com/2007/07/31/study-finds-link-between-drinking-alcohol-and-colon-cancer/, http://www.ci.sweeny.tx.us/images/no_smoking.gif, http://su2.info/gallery/photos/stills/lie.jpg,

This is something I have never come to grips with. And if any one of my readers can enlighten me on this matter, I would be deeply obliged.

There are several genres of music namely, pop, reggae, rock, rap, hip-hop, blues, jazz, lounge, trance, techno, house and the list just keeps going on and on….

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Why do we listen to music?

I think, it is to emote. You listen to music to give your emotions a companion, to match a feeling. You actually feel like the artist I trying to tell you something through a song. Some songs literally feel like they go right through your soul. This feeling is accentuated when you are listening to a song that is actually describing a feeling you are currently subjected to or undergoing for example relaxed, angry, sad, heart broken, happy, betrayed, lucky, left out etc.
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But the dodgy question is, why is a certain kind of music frowned upon?

One thing that Ive noticed over the years and still do is, Pop is frowned up on as gay music by some. You know, the Backsktreet Boys, Boyzone, Westlife and the sorts.

On the other hand, RAP, Rock, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, Trance, Techno and all are cool. Music with the “punch & X-factor” in it. I admit, even I have, at one point of time, frowned up on certain music just to fit into a group of friends and secretly listen to the rest. But that actually made me love a whole new genre of music. So it has its pros and cons. Those were school days. As I moved on in life, I realized the true value of music and that I loved listening to all kinds of music. If anyone wants to judge me by the music I listen to, go ahead, my comment box is right below.

I had the great opportunity of meeting the lead singer of one of the leading rock bands in India. As we chatted, he asked me, “Mithun…..so what kind of music do you listen to?”. I honestly told him, “I listen to all kinds of music. Though I love Rap and Hip Hop, I wouldn’t mind any of the girl or boy bands either as long as I love the music.” I expected him to just nod and chuckle later with his friends, but he was way too mature for that. He nodded slowly, leaned forward and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet a blessed listener. I too feel the same.” Oh by the way, if you think I am shitting you, then go ahead. This actually happened.

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I was shocked at such a remark and glad that this guy who goes on stage and head bangs and throats lyrics actually listens to other genres as well. Later when I got talking with him, he told me that he listens to all kinds of music and draws inspiration from their emotions, lyrics and culture. I was thrilled and humbled at the same time.

I do believe, after a certain age, artists much alter the way they showcase their music. Now a bunch of young guys or gals might attract the crowd initially. But if you are 40 plus and still want your “botoxed” cheeks and saggy chests to be termed under heart throbs, I would pass……….thats a big NO NO!!!
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All I ask is, why is the music being blamed?

If you ask me what is that one music that you do not like, personally, it would be death metal because, I do not understand it. But I still feel, if I understood it and probably had emotions to compare it with, I might like it. Otherwise I love everything else. I do not know why. I listen and sing to Pop, Rock, breathe Rap, Hip Hop, lil bit of Blues, tolerate Jazz, love Trance, adore Techno, embrace House and I can keep going on.

All this makes me wonder, is music all about attitude or the art itself? And the most interesting part is that, it isn’t like, if you like a certain genre, you be left in peace. He/She is considered an outcast until he decides to fit in gradually or decides to live like an outlaw. In most of the cases, the former is the eventuality of the scenario.

So, finally is it that, “music” equals “religion” and “genre” equals “cult” or did I just manage to write a whole post about something only I feel exists? I wonder……………

Cheers!!!
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image reference: http://brotherpeacemaker.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/rap-artists.jpg, http://anhso.net/data/65/gon_171/580352/k-bsb46855.jpg, http://www.mydigitallife.co.za/images/JoJo/Guitar_Hero_III_Legends_of_Rock_-_Judy_Closeup.jpg, http://media.photobucket.com/image/trance/Xx_SQUEE_xX/trance.jpg, http://media.photobucket.com/image/jazz/arbycub/Music/jazz.jpg

One of the most compelling factors that keeps me going with my blog is the self confidence that I have the nuts to admit about emotions and phases I go through. And when I see others go through the same as well, but scared to admit it, gives me all the more reason to paint it.

Let me not confuse you any further and tell you what this post is directed towards…..

HAVE YOU EVER BLAMED SOMEONE ELSE FOR THE WAY YOUR LIFE TURNED OUT?

Before I am showered with rebuts, I would like to add, I mean this strictly from a non-family oriented perspective. Family is a bond you can not willingly amputate. If your life ends up in a certain way and your family is partly or majorly responsible for the scenario, you have all the rights to blame it on them or not. But I am not touching that sensitive topic one bit. I am loyally adhering to the professional life, social life, personal life etc

“Behind every successful man is a woman but behind every man’s failure is also a woman”…God damn am I bloody tired of hearing that phrase. But can’t help it, it is just one of those phrases, you know, the-more-you-refute-the-more-the-incidents-that-prove-it-true, kinda thing. The way my lady has changed my life around, given me support, mentally, emotionally, warn me, chide me, respect me and guzillion other things, are just a few aspects that make you realize what a nit-wit you can be for blaming someone who cares for nothing but your happiness.

I have found myself, almost 2 years back, blaming my relationship for the way I had to change my life for her, you know when that occasional fight arouses where all hell breaks loose. For those ladies who are reading this and going “Oh my god, this guy is such a loser. How could he put her through that?”, please save the mean comments and voodoo dolls until I am done. I was just another guy who did not know how to handle the latest plug-in in my life. When the transition from dating, to getting in the good books of her family. From just hanging out, to spending quality time. In other words, scared;

- of whether I would lose my freedom
- whether I wouldn’t be able to go out drinking with my friends late
- have to be answerable to a person when Ive never been answerable to anyone all my life
- whether I wouldn’t be cool enough in front of my friends anymore coz of the lack of freedom
- whether I would be mistaken for being henpecked or even worse, end up one

I, being a guy, could give a million other thoughts, but I very well know, you know exactly what I am referring to.

Though all the above are really stupid and foolish thoughts, I can’t help it, neither can any guy. The sooner women understand this and accept it, the better. These are thoughts that come in the installation package of a GUY when sent to earth. He is bound to be faced with such nightmarish questions when someone new comes into his life who also has a say in his decisions thereon.

I would love to meet a guy who never thought so. Please email me at get.some.balls.to.admit.it.dude@gmail.com

One day, it so happened that I was, as usual, blaming myself for getting into a relationship and turning my life around unnecessarily. She, for the first time, lashed out at me like never before and asked me a few questions back to back after which I had a sleepless night where I attained such clarity after which I haven’t questioned anything since.

“Who asked who out?”, “Who took things forward with the family?”, “Did I ask you even once to give me a commitment?”, “Haven’t I given you enough and more space?”, “Tell me one incident when I have stopped you from being who you were?”.

EVEN IF, your relationship has made you change your life around, trust me it will be for the good. Because, we do not realize it, but when a person who loves us tells us to make a few adjustments in our lifestyle, it means, what we were doing before was not right, it was wrong. Otherwise, why would someone who loves us point us in the wrong direction?

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. Not everything your girl or guy says is for the good, I specifically mentioned, Someone Who Loves You. If you have a jerk-ass chic or a guy, it’s again your fault mate.
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No matter what you do, who you are with, how you end up….. its all a subconscious choice you made somewhere. There might be external factors that bring about these situations, but the majorly, am sorry to burst your bubble, it is YOU. Stop blaming others.
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- If your high school sweetheart left you -> you were just doing something wrong. Read the signs
- If your best friend from school betrays you in friendship or otherwise -> it was your mistake you gave him that opportunity. You should have seen it coming
- If you stood up for someone at one point of time and that person does not for you -> do not blame him, blame yourself

You were just a fool to have not read the signs. Before something bad happens, the universe has a way of giving you signs. The reluctant don’t see it, the foolish misread it, the overconfident condone it. No matter who you are, Reluctant, Foolish or Overconfident, you end up all messed up and in the same boat.

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Everything you do in life is of your choice. If you do not want to do something but forced to, then make sure you have a back up plan when this does not work out. Do not expect the same people who put you in the mess to pull you out. Dream on….that is the last thing you should expect. If you get that, consider yourself blessed and that person, godsend.
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Life is short and it would make much more sense if you sit and evaluate the following when life is not going right

- How you ended up in this situation
- What your options are to loosen the knot around your neck
- What the consequences are, if you take those
- Whether you have a means of tackling those hurdles
- What next?

If you are one of those people with everything worked out in life and wonder what is the use of this post, please step aside, this is for the less fortunate ones who have life all mangled up and can not figure it out.

Hope this made some sense to you.

Cheers!!!

image reference: www.savagechickens.com/2006/08/blame.html, www.poppendieck.com/blame.htm, www.citypact.com/…/joined-a-knit-together.html

I recently had the opportunity to meet up with a few entrepreneur friends of mine in Bangalore and Cochin to discuss the prospects of my upcoming project.  They all greeted me with the same question everyone was asking me, “Hey, what happened to your old company? How come this new company?”. What can I say? I shake my head and respond, “I just chose the wrong team and wrong place. Simple!!!” That itself is self explanatory.

From the little experience I have gained when I indulged myself in the facade I termed “entrepreneurship”, there are a few points that surpass the rest before you start your company or at least call yourself an entrepreneur. I am going back to basics.

1) Have a product
2) Have a product of your own
3) If you are outsourcing or reselling, you are merely a salesman, not an entrepreneur
4) Release your product
5) Make it profitable

You can have other products initially to keep the revenues trickling in while you work on your dream product. But if you do not have one, it is not entrepreneurship, its reselling.

I was a salesman till I left my old firm because we did not have a product thus we lacked a focus. A bunch of guys who did not want to work for anyone but themselves. We did manage to make money, quite a bit of it too. But what is the use when you don’t have a focus. We did not launch one product, though we had 2 fully developed platforms we could have called our own and still do infact, in our cute little server.

Every time, something bigger always came our way or rather we thought it was big and the focus shifted to that. Why did we shift focus to that, because we did not have a focus in the first place. This was the string of events and emotions we went through;

- Excited that we were doing something
- Happy as money was flowing in
- Thirsty for something new
- Frustrated that we couldn’t come up with something new
- We then found something new, developed it and the stage was set
- Something bigger came our way and the old project was shelved
- Something new came our way again
- This time we developed it and launched it
- I reserve my comments on what happened to it but it couldn’t be made profitable one bit
- We later inquire what the problem was, we just f@#$%d up!!!
- Lost faith in the whole team and business
- The firm still stands and money still trickles in
- How?What do we exactly do? Ummmmmm…………..

If you have just read the above list, you might be wondering, “What the hell were you guys doing?”
Frankly, I don’t know, but I would answer that question with, “Probably testing my level of patience”. But now I know what I was doing there. Making mistakes over mistakes over mistakes so I could learn from them once I was out. Now I am surer than ever that, I will not repeat the same mistakes, but probably make new ones.

There comes a time when money flows in to your company but you are not satisfied with it because you know you didn’t set out for this. It was to make a difference in the society, give something back to it. Not just make money. This phase, ladies and gentlemen, is known as REVELATION.

An entrepreneur does not have a debugger where he can just amend his errors. The mistakes you make at your work might cost you your project, promotion or job. Whereas for an entrepreneur, a mistake can turn his life around. For better or for worse.

Entrepreneurship is not a job, its a way of life.

I am not at all proud of the way things have turned out in my life. But this was the time to experiment. It has given me the courage and will to work with a focus. I have found my product, my focus and I am working on it. I will pursue it till its launched. Whether its a success or not is not an issue. Not to prove to anyone, but me. And trust me, it is worth every bit.

But everything in life happens for the good. As long as you are optimistic and take every event in good stride, learn from your mistakes and do not repeat them, you will climb up the ladder of success and that too gracefully, take my word for it. All the best.

Cheers!!!

image reference: www.gettyimages.com/detail/82399221/Lifesize