Being Thick Skinned

And I tell this to you first-hand, there is no other way. The minute you have decided, not contemplating but have already declared your decision to the world, by either a public online presence, or “talks” with likely partners and your personal stake-holders, family, spouse & friends, everything changes here on.

There will not be a single-day, when doubt in the name of “concern” will not come your way. A lot of people will tell you how concerned they are for you and your future. I have had a long-haul with the concern. And there are a few categories of this concern:

1) Parents & immediate family : They really are concerned. You are quitting a job, which pays very well, is only 8-9 hours a day, gives you 10 public holidays and you also have your Sundays. Besides, it is listed on the stock market, everybody knows the name of this public gem of a company, and you are a very reputed employee at this wonderful company. So you’re giving this up for ? Come-again? Ooohh! You don’t know.

And no matter, how many times I have tried explaining what it is that I intend to achieve in my glorious future, or how many Big names I drop, like well, facebook (even though, I know that’s a one-off), they still don’t have a clue what I am talking about.

In such scenarios, it helps to be Jeff Bezoz. He recounted, when he started Amazon.com and he asked his parents for their money, he explained to them what “internet” was. They didn’t understand, after all the explaining, what Internet was. But they still gave him the money, because they trusted him (or let’s say, they were willing to take a risk, for his sake) .

In most our cases, that’s not happening! Do you have to ask why? Anyway, like my parents put it, in my third year of employment, they finally started to see me, as a regular, sane person, who had it stable in life. Until then, it was one crazy idea after the other (according to them) and so, when another crazy idea hit, in their words, “just when I was beginning to settle down”, of course they were upset.

The thing here is, they really are concerned. They mean well. And no matter how much we try, we cannot convince them of why and how exactly we are going to make them proud. Our only chance is giving them specifics in terms of timelines, and seeking their permission on this thing they don’t understand. If we ask politely, and given an upper limit of time, they usually say oh-kaay….

2) Friends who will never start-up: Ok, even as I say it, you know what they are going to do. They are usually not concerned for you, but actually a bit curious, along with some jealousy, and they will ask you questions like, “but i thought, you were going to buy a house, this year. Are you gonna be able to afford it?” Or something like, “is your wife ok with it?” Yes! Actually, they are not ok with it, and since they have already bought a house, and paying EMIs through their nose, they wanted you to have done the same thing, so that over beer, you both could console each other. But you just went on their own path, and now they are wondering, was that even possible! So they mirror some of their doubts on you, in the form of fake re-assurance and phony concern over your well-being. Thankfully, when I think of such friends, no names come to my mind, maybe in the long-haul I have already forgotten people who tried to pull me down.

3) Experts who will tell you every reason, why your idea / business will not work: So here’s the thing about experts. They are self-appointed. Nobody asked for their opinion, but they will corner you and badger you with their advice whenever they can. I’m being a little harsh here I guess. But the thing is, the experts are experts in one field, let’s say e-commerce, and they will take it as a certificate to guide anyone in any field they feel like. I have heard some experienced experts at some events. And these people, have got their hands dirty on the ground, they actually used to code, or they have built that kind of a company, sold it, or folded it, but they have first hand experience about it. They give you sane advice, please listen to them. As it goes, they usually have so little time to spare for every new entrepreneur that meets them, that even they want to make it worth their while, when they give advice. Yet. There are experts, who have never built a product in their life, or have absolutely no clue about your product/market/company, and their advice will usually start and end with, why your product will not work, why it is such a bad idea to pursue it, or why the market is over-saturated etc. Listen to them, save what they said, hang it (their advice) on your wall if you will but don’t believe a single-word they say, unless, they have put their money or time in your company.

If there’s one thing you learn, pitching and defending your idea & business to different kinds of people , day in and day out, it is, greater resolve, going on, despite the doubts, it is well, being thick skinned for the long-haul.

Should I add you on linkedin?

And many other question, no one answered for you. There’s a brand of arrogance, only successful people can afford. And it’s not even arrogance, it’s just, that they don’t have the time, and that their name suffices.

The other day, I landed on the tumbler page for Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. The introduction said: “I am Amitabh Bachchan.”

That’s it. Done. No other word required.

But when you ping a stranger, on linkedin, and ask them to “connect to your professional network”, maybe, it will help to put a context. A story, a reason or even a favor that you are asking but something, some effort beyond clicking the default message on linked in “connect”. Cos’ by the time your name is enough, as an introduction, you would probably be on the other side of linkedin invitations.

Am I wrong?

So, don’t turn into human spam.

Happy Networking!

 

Reccomended Reading

I love the following blogs and books on topics of creativity, entrepreneurship, and in general life. If I missed your favourite book / blog, tip me off in the comments section below!

Blogs : 

Zenhabits

Seth Godin

Mukund Mohan

The Art of Non-Conformity

Sephi : Blog on Photography / Art & Copyright Issues

Books: 

Steal Like An Artist: Austin Kleon

The Lean Startup : Eric Ries

Podcasts: 

Ted Talks

Chase Jarvis : Creative Business & Photography

I’m sure there are many more, I’ll add them as and when I remember or discover in future.

Happy Learning

PS: This was supposed to go as a “page” on this site, but by a happy accident, it got published as a post. Anyway, we’ll push it to pages later on. Enjoy reading/exploring.

Do We Wait too Long?

Last three years, have seen the biggest rallies and controversies, in Delhi, with new victims and new heroes rising to the scene. Not too long ago, barely four years back, the biggest questions facing us were the job losses and the economy of India in the face of Global recession. And everything else, took a back seat.

Slowly, we were waking up to the temperature of the boiling water in which we sat like frogs. It got too hot. But not any sooner. We had to wait, for a CWG, for a Lokpal Bill Protest and a Delhi rape case that made headlines internationally. For the first two, I was there, in Delhi, at my parents’ house! And while it was happening, the skeptical me, which all of us become at some point in our lives ( I had become, already, about the political state in India) did not want to believe that change could happen.

After all, I grew up in those same gullies, and the things they were protesting again, have happened before. They are “part of life”. It is Business As Usual. And you get used to it. The status-quo becomes the norm. And the inertia of our mundane lives facilitates the process of numbing of our nerves and brain cells towards the same things which should (and which did at some point) bring wrath and anguish and sometimes shame.

I was, your protagonist, for the sake of this story, had submitted to the idea, that world’s problems are too big for the individuals to solve. And these things will happen when they happen, at their own will, in our lifetime or next, or we may all just die before anyone had their say, since we were also so ruthlessly exploiting mother earth, and natural calamities were just becoming a more frequent event. And so.. whatever!

When Delhi was preparing for CWG, I was recently back from a two-year break from Delhi, and when I got back, things couldn’t have been sadder. It was the year, where if you were graduating, failing was a better option, the year when Yellow Line on Delhi metro, if you are aware of Delhi Metro routes at present, didn’t go until Qutub Minar, forget Huda City Centre. The year when I took a job, precisely at a place, which was no less than a hurdle race. As the roads were dug out for the perpetual ongoing construction at that time. The “famous” Ladies coach in Delhi Metro, wasn’t made available until 02.10.2010, which Ms. Dikshit boasts off in every ladies compartment ad ever since. Seriously! And everywhere else, the roads were dug out for CWG upgrade to the extent, that it was safe to say, Delhi had no roads.

In my commute from South Delhi to Central Delhi to North Delhi, I used to cross all the major stadiums and sports facilities that were supposed to hold the Common Wealth Games in 2010. And until at least September 2010, everything was still and always under construction. And if that were not enough, Delhi Traffic / Administration had introduced a CWG “corridor”, which you weren’t allowed to enter, on each of the now remaining roads. So now you had half, or one-third, or the barely there service lane available for general public. So for the whole year preceding Common Wealth Games, everyone was always stuck in a traffic jam, for at least 2 hours no matter how far or how near you had to go.

And then the reports started coming out. Mr. Kalmadi and the govt. The super luxurious toilet seats and super luxurious booths and super luxurious sports facility which no one ever saw. I bet even if Jimmy Choo himself had hand-made each of these items at par with its $995 shoes, these would still be cheaper. But Mr. Kalmadi and let’s not mince words here, Mrs. Sheila Dikshit, made sure they were super super ultra-uber exclusively, hand-designed, limited edition, china made luxurious goods imported/sourced for the COMMON WEALTH Games.

It was, a Big shame. And we used to wonder how they were going to pull off the Common Wealth Games at all. But it seems, the Indian Jugaad never ceases to come up with a save-the-day solution when no practical viable solution is in sight. And with Jugaad, we pulled off the Common Wealth Games, and that too spectacularly. You have to give it to them, the showmanship and all. Our faces saved, we all go back to our peaceful sleep. Mr. Kalmadi sleeps in Jail.

And then, Here Comes the Sun, Mr. Anna Hazare : 

A social media campaign started, about a man named Anna, shortly after the disastrous financial & intentional management of CWG. I received that original brief in my email. And I didn’t know who Anna was, while reading that first mail. But very soon, not just me, everyone knew, and very publicly, very socially, very internationally, who Anna Hazare was. The roads were full, the metro stations were full with people wearing white Nehru hats with these words on each one of them: “I am Anna“.

It was phenomenal. In all the years that I have seen protests anywhere in India, this was the most peaceful protest. And I didn’t see the “men” amongst the protestant misbehaving with “women” amongst the protestants either.  And that was a good thing. A briliant thing. Every single person, turning up for the protests felt that they had a greater cause, a duty, a change was coming. A change called Anna. A change called The Citizen’s Charter or The Lokpal Bill.

In an unprecedented protest in the Independent India, crowds gathered day after day at the Ramlila Maidan of New Delhi in support of Anna Hazare and the team, while Anna was on anshan, in demand for the Lokpal bill. We watched it LIVE on TV, we watched it LIVE on the streets everytime we stepped out and moved about in central Delhi. And it was as if watching the biggest movement in history, it was like watching the freedom protests we watched only in movies. It was moving. On 28th’ August 2011, when Anna ended his 9 day fast, we were at the edge of our seats and the crowds in the maidan cheered and my father, he had a tear in his eyes. We couldn’t help ourselves, being moved by an idea so strong, it was overpowering any individual agendas. And that when we didn’t have an agenda at all. We were, for most part of the protest, what you call silent by-standers.

Later, of course the government played Mr. Smartypants and rejected the Charter on a technicality. With an argument that if you want to make the change, “come to politics.”

Oh you shouldn’t have. You shouldn’t have dared the common man.

But they did. They did, and we had Aam Aadmi Party. Rest is history.

And then, last year, in December, the Delhi Rape Case had stunned the world, with its brutality and Delhi’s insensitivity towards these recurring issues for decades. When the news broke out, I avoided all channels of reading/hearing/viewing this news. For me, this was one more.

I have written multiple times about the way Delhi treats its girls, sided with any major city in favor of girls, when it was compared to Delhi in discussions, appealed the Metro Customer Care to introduce the ladies compartment & ladies coach, way before it was finally granted, and I have btw, grown up in the city, commuted in buses and Metros and have fought with men in each of these modes of transports, and you know what happens when you shout at a man in the bus/metro?

The man pretends he doesn’t know what you are talking about. If you persist, he shouts back at you. And the people around, the men smirk at you, and the women remain silent. And when all is over, the man goes back talking to his friends/strangers and scoffs at you. That is the Delhi protocol.

So I avoided, hearing/talking/writing about it, until everyone in my facebook friend list was posting messages with details of the rape-case. Artists had made illustrations, and tributes. There were rallies at the jantar-mantar and candle-lit solidarity.

It was all, very touching . But. The girl, had already, died. Nothing is changing that.

What is it about us, thick skinned, Indian free and contemporary citizen? What is it about us, that we cannot  get enough of bad things. Do we really, in our hearts, yearn to remain bound and speechless about that which bothers and angers us. Or do we really, not faze , when such incidents take place, around us, somebody, that could have been somebody we know. Or we do have feelings and we do have emotions and a great moral fiber too. We sense the injustice. We just don’t have the guts? 

Is that what it is? We don’t have guts? But can we blame them, if people get arrested for writing comments about a political party on twitter. Will I, for writing this piece get arrested too? Is that the question, we are already asking, before raising any questions? Or I am just giving myself too much of a weight here. Are we really that scared. Or we are just being conditioned, threatened, until we lose all the fear of losing, anything that is dear to us.

These are the questions, I ask, maybe we all ask, in silent contemplation of our mind. But today, I felt a ray of hope, when Delhi turned up in record numbers for voting. I sensed change. I sensed hope.

” And hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”

– From the movie The Shawshank Redemption

Disclaimer: Due to it’s heavy referencing to the political world, a disclaimer is in order, isn’t it? So here goes, “The opinion and statements expressed in this writing, are mine and mine alone, and AAP is not paying me to write this” (although it would be pretty cool, if that were so :P) . “Also, any resemblances to any person alive / dead is intentional. Though facts maybe verified from sources you see fit.”

Copyright: Copyrights to any third party content, to their respective owners.

Re-inventing The To-Do List | Scibler

The Productivity section (or the GTD)  on google play is full with apps that help you make lists, remember ideas and remind you of tasks to be done. I started this year’s upgrade to my life, with an Android phone, because I needed to catch up with the rest of the world and I had a Nokia Phone before Microsoft had acquired the maker, and well, we all know, how Nokia missed the train and Samsung was already like round the world twice on the android platform. So anyway, I felt I had to upgrade, if I had any chance of utilizing my long commuting hours and organizing all the crazy stuff I was about to do. (Only business & networking crazy, not real nuts!)

So I posted this question on facebook, “which are the best apps that help you organize”, and of course, the rave was all about Evernote, and couple of other apps, I have even forgotten the names of. One year hence, am I using Evernote? Well, sometimes. Let’s face it, productivity, “needs-to-be-done“, and humans can be pretty lazy sometimes, well most times. Evernote, is actually a great app, in case, you are the planner type. Most of us are not. I like doodling on notebooks rather than save bookmarks and voice attachments to run back later.

The BIG question is, why with all the applications out there, we still do not achieve as much of productivity, that the apps claim we would? I can think of two reasons,

1. YOU have to do it. Something, like opening the app or taking a screenshot or saving the bookmark etc. Basically, you have to take action, and let’s face it. If we could do it in the app, chances are, we would have done it otherwise just as well.

2. All these apps, have no way of tackling the biggest to-do list that is already made, THE INBOX. Almost all emails, barring the spam, have a call-to-action (in simple terms, something to be done, after you read the email). This could be, making a payment, forwarding relevant details, or simply responding with an answer to a question in the email. Anything.

“Hmm, can we do something about this? ”

That’s what the team at Scibler would have asked, I imagine. And they tackled both the problems listed above, in their application. They AUTOMATED it. Yes, you heard me, automated the to-do-list. Now you don’t have to make a to-do list. The app makes it for you. And you’d be thrilled when I tell you the second part.

They integrated your email inbox, with the to-do list. In fact, the to-do list is populated from your inbox, based on some crazy stuff they have coded in the app, which basically calculates and analyses as you would, whether something is an action item. And then, it puts the item on the to-do list, AUTOMATICALLY. Yes. I am serious. You are not dreaming. You do, now have a virtual assistant to tackle the giant called Email.

Now, why should you believe me? You shouldn’t. You should try for yourself, and let me know if it worked for you or not. The Signup link for the beta of  this app, here. The homepage should look like this.

It may take 12-24 hours for you to receive your app link/config etc. in your email, as this is the beta version, and this is FREE. Most apps are free, you say? Most good apps, are not. So, if you want to try a good app, for free, you should signup right away. After a certain no. of downloads, the app is set to be paid. Better to hurry.

Once you’ve installed the app, in your browser (chrome): it would appear as a right pane, in your gmail inbox, like this :

Apart, from the fact that it’s Automatic & integrates Email, what else is awesome?

1. You can add people/partners who you can then assign or share chores with (from your to-do list)

2. Once you have these people added, sending them a task, along with complete details, is as simple as sending the Business Card / V Card you are used to sending for contact details etc.

3. You can combine multiple emails on one Scibler account, and combine tasks from all email accounts.

When you are running late, which you usually are, and there’s something that needs attending/doing, while you are not going to be available, you can send the task to your husband (this was my favorite part) or a colleague, and they can do that instead. Well, that YOU have to ensure, the app will just send the task.

Basically, it’s Awesome. It’s made for lazy enough people who can’t manage bookmarks, notes etc. but for cool enough people, who explore new stuff on the playstore and try it out.

Yes, so go ahead, give them a try.

The Artist Manager | TommyJams

These guys opened their presentation on an unusual note. The first slide is about what we think a musician is doing most of the time, which is playing guitar and making LOTs of money! Instead, what happens is this:

A broke guitarist on the street! This looked so much better with the visuals, I will see, if I can get my hands on their original presentation, with their due permission of course, and share with you, the thrill I felt while watching these kids in action.

Yeah, you heard me, kids. They are barely out of college, the jeans and T kind, long hair, the goatee, you know the works, college kids, who parents look at and wonder whether their kid is lost! 😛 I know that how? Because I have been that kid! Remember that time, before I began testing makeup for my wedding, I went to an engineering college, with a great rock scene and all? Ok, you definitely remember the same song I have performed at fresher’s party and couple of other places too, the guitarist’s dream .. “Hotel California”. Ok now you do, you were there too! So basically, I have been that kid in college, and here I am, feeling thrilled, that these guys are doing something “productive” with their time!

I am already proud of them. So what these guys are doing is, that they are connecting the bands/artists all over the country, and eventually world, who perform LIVE, to get gigs at venue looking for fresh talent. Simple. That’s it. That’s what they do.

When was the last time you heard one of the bands you knew, say they would be performing at Hard Rock Cafe or Blue frog or Jazz by the Bay in Mumbai or our very own Bangalore’s Kyra? You didn’t! Not because you don’t have any musician friends, but because it is so difficult for the musicians to find these people “always looking for talent”. So here we go, TommyJams.

Their cool new Website looks like this:

If you’ve landed on this page, you’re probably at the right place.

Login> Register> Promote / Hire. It’s as simple as that. Checkout their “roadshow” video here:

For those who kept a watch on the first wave of music revolution, the “paid” and downloaded music over itunes, keep watch, this is the new wave, the LIVE music wave.

Rock on. \m/

What women want | 1000lookz

On a random day, in a mall in USA, a man passes by a cosmetic brands counter and pauses. Curious, he watches a lady try out a sample of lipstick, and then a foundation on the back of her hand. He is more curious. “Why would you try it on your hand?”, he exclaims. “Clearly,” he continues, “the skin on your face and on your lips is not the same as the skin on the back of your hand!”

I, for one, even know the experience of being that lady, trying the cosmetics on the back of my hand, and feeling exactly as lost after the trial, as before it. Though I stopped trying products that way sometime back, but there are plenty of malls across world, where women are staining their hands in a rainbow of colors and textures, never really knowing for sure, if it will work (on them, the look!) And yet, the method continues, in the lack of a better way to find out, whether this color, or texture will work for me.

Though they were the last company to present, on Microsoft Demo Day, we are hooked. So here, Vasan continues on stage, “We are the first people to think of make-up in terms of RGB. Simple.” They have hard-coded, the many components of colors and textures in their products, and they have the technology enabled by face detection and contour and shape detection image processing, that now you can try a look on your own face, by uploading a picture.

Here, you can uplaod your picture and even try some pre-decided or “trendy” looks available on their website.

The cosmetic industry is a giant. The worldwide cosmetics and perfume industry generates an estimated annual turnover of US$170 billion according to an estimate in 2007. Infact, this is one of the two recession-proof industries! The other being alcohol. With their powerful products, http://1000lookz.com/ is all set to revolutionize the industry. You must have seen this ad, 

It was made possible with 1000lookz. And tomorrow, you might see it at one of the salons where you get your haircuts, to see which one will suit you best. Wouldn’t this be awesome, if we could avoid all bad haircuts, and bad hair colors before-hand.

Rightly, Vasan ended his presentation with a sweeping statement. “Right now, we are the only guys in the room, who know what women want!” You bet!

I’ll write  tomorrow about a company which is revolutionizing a whole different industry. Till then, let me go back to building my own.

Microsoft Ventures Demo Day

Less than 6 months ago, a friend of mine at Yahoo was giving me serious career counselling, and how to go about quitting my last job and go full time into my venture. I was strained, for making an opt-in and opt-out. It was an exclusive choice to be made. And travelling in both the boats was making my life like Pi. On the boat, in the water. Basically, Miserable.

I had to reach the shore. While closing the conversation, he said, why don’t you try something like Y-combinator or Microsoft Accelerator. It was more of a prompt.

I won’t hide from you, I didn’t know what either of them meant or did. I went home and did my research (googled) and I was in luck. Microsoft was holding one of it’s coffee meet-ups at it’s Lavelle Road office for those interested in applying or just getting chatty. This is where it gets interesting.

Enter Morpheus! Or as others know him, Mukund Mohan. He is our host for the day. And he will, by the end of the session, be successful in making us choose from the blue pill of startups or the red pill of your existing reality (called the corporate job). He also happens  to be an amazing orator and I was hanging onto each one of his words, as he went from one example to another of companies which have done really well in last few years, and had barely started in 2009.

[Cut to present] The companies that were at the accelerator over last 4 months, have graduated and today, in 5 minutes they will sum up their dreams, ambitions, hard-work, perseverance, traction, numbers, clients and partners. And their plans for the future. This is an exciting lineup of 13 companies, faced with a storm of media, two conference rooms full with audience, and those standing next to the wall, the atmosphere is electricity.

Starting here, I will share with you, my favorite pitches, some great moments and the companies/products I’d personally vouch for.

In the meanwhile, you can read about their coverage in Mint today here.