founders

Silicon Valley, tech crunch, and abundance of money have glorified founding a company. In the early ’90s, people built a company because they had the option to pursue their dreams. It was more about innovation. Most of them worked for many years out of their garage. The capital was limited.

Fast forward to 2020, media and press have made founders and starting a startup like some mystic ceremony. People raise money to kill their competitors by offering discounts. Second-time founders raise money as much they like on their terms showing past success. The positive side of it is we are innovating at a rapid scale. The negative side of it is the fast pace at which companies are formed and shut at a rapid pace. It has also resulted in founders looking for funding or idea which will get them funded first, profitability and exits got the least importance.

change

Change has a switching cost. It results in cognitive overload. As a result, we miss out on newer innovation or trying a new process.

I have been thinking more off-late on what all I have missed and the associated opportunity cost for the same. Be is running my company or overall trying newer things in life.

My learning has been: change is inevitable. It should be part of our mental model. We should be aware of the side effects. Most things do not work as planned in our life. We have to keep trying, moving on, and learning to adapt from the change.

risk-averse

Are we making our kids more risk-averse? Are western parents doing right by letting their kids explore the world by themselves?

I have seen only one side with it being an Indian. I am lucky that the ways that most decisions in the last 15 years have been my own and the risk/rewards. My father retired ten years ago. They are independent in financials as well as health. I think I am one of the lucky few. I keep seeing more and more friends and kids coming from tier2-3 cities sending money back home. I am not sure if it is expectations from parents or they send money under obligation.

Since families are so close-knit most of the decisions of youngsters in India are taken care of by parents. Someone said you not only marry a husband or wife but got into a relationship with entire relatives and village.

While growing up with the parents we get emotional support, financial stability. But does it adversely affect our individuality? Do we get drowned in emotions and end up taking many decisions of our life by our parents and relatives? Does it affect us from getting out of our comfort zone, doing the impossible, taking the risk?

decide

What would you do if you develop some infection on your arm? Will you cut it off? What will you do if someone close to you walks out of your life-giving all wrong reasons? Will you become bitter with them? These decisions should be taken by ourselves. We are called adults for a reason.

We have to own our life. Others and situations are secondary. The guiding principle should come from the self.

Impermanence is the only constant. Everything else is cyclic: weather, relationship, situations.

fragile

As a leader, it is necessary to understand the other side and team. Everyone looks at the leader, tries to match or clone their virtues as well as vice.

We are living in a fragile world, and we are all broken one or the other way. The complexity of personal life, finance, society pressure is enormous on us. A true leader has to understand this and treat the team with a lot of respect and care.

As a leader, if you are not in the zone of talking, giving feedback: disconnect for the time being. Come back and talk to the team, give constructive feedback. Don’t be an asshole. It harms employee morale. Nobody likes to be treated with disrespect.

Religion

Religion came into existence so that it could bring society together. It was for the oneness. As we progressed, a few men gave different colors to it for their benefit. It kept them in power and garner followers to establish their dictatorship. Some of them ended up erasing our past and infused radical ideology.

An ordinary citizen with time got brainwashed since he is afraid and scared. Religion came as bait. It did more harm to his soul rather than doing good.

Agriculture and domestication had its impact on making us less animal but, religion and the authoritarian leaders and preachers made it lethal by spreading hatred and venom against each other.

Colonial Cousins track has said it all in their 5 mins soundtrack.

dream

Is dream affiliated to wealth, caste, color, or origin? Is it not free?
Anyone and everyone can have a dream. Nothing can stop us from dreaming.

A vegetable vendor’s son can be a ballerina, a rickshaw puller daughter can become a successful doctor, or a uber driver can be an IAS officer.

Our dreams are manifest of self, so we have to believe in ourselves more, love ourselves more. We can go at any length to make our dream come true. We are not dependent on accumulated wealth for dream fulfillment: our aspiration and seeking is our guide.

grateful

Why are we not grateful and appreciate what we have? A family, friends, rooftop are what keeps us going.

The glitters and consumerism have made us hoarder and seeker for more and more. But is there an end to our desire? Is it not a goalpost we are chasing? Or some video game difference being it has more to keep up with society.

Half of the world’s population are sleeping hungry, poor-nations are malnutrition and war in the middle east, Africa has made numerous orphan. Pizza or not well-made stake we are throwing is a celebration for some.

Be grateful for what you have: a healthy mind, well-wishers, believers, and enough to take care of your end meets.

Fire

Spending some time on social media or news channels, it feels the world is coming to an end. Anything and everything catered is full of negativity and pain.

I understand the world is not a beautiful place. There is a great divide between caste, class, religion. But liming the information to gain eyeballs with all negativity is not right. I remember my mom calling me a long time back when I was in living in Mumbai to avoid going out, one of the news channels continuously showing visuals of fight/beatings. Some fight had erupted between locals and outsiders.

The thing we have to ask ourselves is: what are we doing to make this world a better place. Are we helping our environment, are we taking control of the carbon footprints, are we making people around us happy and loved?

Aging

Started reading lifespan by David A. Sinclair. The book talks about aging and argues it to be treated like any other disease. Excerpt from the book. 

These are the multiple hallmarks of aging. 

  • Genomic instability caused by DNA damage.
  • Attrition of the protective chromosomal endcaps
  • Alterations to the epigenome that controls which genes are turned on and off.
  • Loss of healthy protein maintenance.
  • Deregulated nutrient sensing caused by metabolic changes.
  • Mitochondrial dysfunction
  • Exhaustion of stem cells
  • Altered intercellular communication and the production of inflammatory molecules
  • Accumulation of senescent zombielike cells that inflate a healthy cell 

 Excerpt from the book lifespan by David A. Sinclair. 

Fun fact, I don’t know most of the terminology explained above. I am hopeful after finishing the book I will be able to, otherwise, I have some friends in this field who will help me in understanding it.