It was 8 am and, mercury was at its peak, Delhi summer. I had last night’s hangover. I had met Matt during my Portland visit a couple of years back. Infrequently we were exchanging notes over email. He was in India for his Ph.D. thesis and wanted to meet me today. In 2008-2009, Gurgaon was …
Author Archives: Atul
hate
How can we hate someone or something so passionately that we end up hurting ourselves? I know few people who can go at any length to see few others failing. They will go at any length for the same, even if it affects them: personally, professionally, physically, or mentally. Our life on this planet is …
past
We call it past for the reason it has gone. We were part of it at some moment in our life. It can be good, bad, or mixed. There could be many reasons for it, our relationships, learning, or how we lived it. Our past gives us an experience. The enlightened ones learn from it …
accept
How long do we have to dwell in the past? How long we have to live in delusion? People move on, the relationship falters. A lot of us live in false hope. Like some supernatural ways, everything will come back to normal, like the past. As a result, they don’t move. They suck in the …
The Presidential Years, Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee wrote his memoir in a book title: The Presidential Years. I would say it is his diary entry during his presidential years. He has written on all aspects during his tenure. I was surprised knowing that the note-ban announced by Modi was not known to him. Also, the fact that note ban, GST …
competitors
Every customer meeting or product demo, we are reminded who all we are competing. I mostly listen patiently. As a founder, it is easy to get lost in the competition. It results in creating a tunnel vision and copying their features. In the end no differentiation. Working for others for over a decade has altered …
mirage
I have been part of multiple funded startups. As a stakeholder, we are chasing a mirage: An investor bets on growth for the future. A founder sells his equity at a premium showing the total addressable market and disruption. On most occasions, this does not work out and, the company shuts its doors. An investor …
loneliness
I was listening to the knowledge project podcast and, the recent one has Noreena Hertz: The Crisis of Loneliness. It made me realize how lonely we are even after being so connected with the world. We are buying robots or dependent on Alexa for curing our loneliness. In the hyper-connected world, we are so disconnected. …
accept
Once we accept who we are, authenticity comes by default. I know we are living in a world where life hacking is a new hobby. We are going into the details of every daily activity. But in quest of achieving it, we are giving away our authenticity. I see people on keto, intermittent fasting and, …
noise
We are living in noise. Everyone around us has something to say; everyone needs our attention. Each one has different expertise and experience. As a builder or any rational human, it is necessary to keep a filter. It keeps us focussed and aligned to the long-term vision. Falling into the noise will lose our focus …