An Entrepreneur’s Update

Its more than 2 years since I came here. It has been an exciting, hectic and a very satisfying journey so far. There is a good sense of achievement, and assurance that we are on track, on a right business with potential.

For me, it is an experience of lifetime doing everything a new.  Learning everyday on all aspects of running a business. Coding productivity has peaked, to the extent of adding features to the product on the fly during implementations!. We are becoming better at sales, negotiations, fighting a hard bargain with a misery customer, or putting pressure on a non-paying customer.

There are other learnings as well, more closer to life – how to deal with taxi drivers in Mumbai, how not to get cheated by auto guys (everywhere). Unlike our earlier life, we do not have drivers with placards waiting for us at airports. We have to fend for ourselves in the most cost effective way. We have learnt how to use train toilets during a long journeys such as mangalore to delhi that takes 2 days.

Best part is we have a great product.  Our customers love it, and I think other than our hard work, our product is the single factor which has made us this successful. 40 installations in 18 months wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

We have also learnt that continuous innovation and improvements are essential in a product based business model.  May be that’s why Apple releases a new iPod or iPhone every 3-6 months, even if it means incremental improvements. We are also clear that our product will go through continuous improvements on all aspects – be it usability, cosmetic or features. We will keep it getting better. Feedback from customers have been very instrumental here.

We are hopeful and eager to enter international markets this year.  It would be a different league of operations, different market challenges and approaches. We are confident we will tide over.

A great team, ambitious colleagues, happy customers and a high potential market. What else can  an entrepreneur wish for!

Quitting the Tree

as of Dec 31, 2007 i left my job in a premier IT company of India to start a company of my own. it was a very difficult decision to leave this company – may be because i had no earlier experience of leaving jobs. and it was my first job, right out of college. it was paying very well, and i had a good position. but i was internally going through a growing fight. a turmoil of sort trying to create something instead of going on and on in a dead job.

after 5 months, i am happy. very happy that i left. i keep telling my friends – professionally two great things happened to me. One is joining this company and the other is leaving this company. no doubt, i gained a lot being in this company. whatever i am is a product of this great firm.

on the day of my leaving one of my senior colleagues and mentors gave a parting speech. he said, this organization is like a huge tree, with hundreds of branches growing on all sides. there are some branches which feel choked being with the tree. they want to get out and grow on their own. he said, i am trying to do just that. felt apt for that moment. i would agree if i really succeed in whatever i am trying to do with my new venture.

No Kidding

It was a usual evening; I was on my way home from office. I stopped at a shop to buy something. I crossed the road, bought what I wanted and was just about to leave the shop; a guy approached me asking if I knew Marathi. I said “no, but I can speak Hindi or Kannada”. I saw a lady, who I presumed to be his wife, carrying a small child who was squatting down, get up. They both started explaining their situation which then sounded like a possibility to me. Apparently they were from Kolhapur and had come down to Dharmasthala to visit the temple. Someone stole their money and clothes and they had no money to go back home. They wanted me to buy them tickets to Kolhapur. It was late in the evening with a slight drizzle adding to the apprehension. Besides, the baby also looked very tired and hungry. The lady had a sullen look on her face.

I thought let me help these guys get home and gave him 100 rupees. He gratefully took it and I left them to walk to my vehicle. Well, he came behind me asking for 50 rupees more saying each ticket cost some 75 bucks. Well, I was taken aback a bit, may be because I didn’t want to bear his entire ticket cost all by myself. There were others too in the world. Actually there were many others around there itself, boarding and alighting from buses, buying cigarettes and bananas from the same shop. Then why should I be solely responsible for fixing his problems. Well, that was my thought but as it always happens with me, logic did not work and I slipped another 50 Rs in his hand. There you go 150 bucks in 150 seconds. I had a feeling people around were all staring at me in disbelief, and with a sarcastic smile on their faces as if I had been thoroughly fooled. I didn’t think so. I was happy that now the poor family can get home asap.

I went home. I had promised my family to take them out for dinner. We decided to go to a restaurant in Mangalore called Royal Durbar. I drove, reached the place, parked the vehicle, got off and started walking to the restaurant. I heard someone calling me and asking if I knew Marathi. I couldn’t believe my ears. It was a Déjà vu feeling. I looked around and now I couldn’t believe my eyes too. I saw a man, a woman and a small child in her arms. He was asking me if I knew Marathi. Similar setup, similar methods, different faces, same purpose. I just froze for a while before laughing at my own naiveté. Standing there for a while, in front of Royal Durbar, I realized, I had been royally conned.

This incident still haunts me. I am sure a lot of people have similar experiences that make it difficult for us to differentiate between genuine and sham. The line between being naïve and being right is very thin.