Raju was seven years old when his father got remarried. He had lost his mother a few years back due to tuberculosis. She was the only person who took care of him. Raju was born without legs. Polio was at its peak, and children with deformed bodies were a common sight. As fate has it, …
Author Archives: Atul
done
I keep hearing what it takes to run a startup. Reading the success of oldies like Walmart, Berkshire Hathaway and, a dozen others makes me realize: there is no secret sauce. There was a problem to be solved and, the founders worked hard to solve it. They were opinionated, visionary. Nobody asked for a car …
job
In a democratic society, we have all have our roles to play. Media is considered a pillar of democracy. When it comes to startup, the same rule applies. We should public, discuss talk about all aspects of building a company. As a media, one should cheer for the success of the ecosystem and at the …
deception
We are living in a world where deception sells. It is not limited to relationships, humans. Our consumerism era thrives in disguise and deception. I was at a grocery store, and this is what happened. Another evening in the name of security, HotStar was harvesting the phone numbers of Indian users. A friend of mine …
Badi ma
Kids call her Badi maa; she is in her nineties. She had long white hair like a snow-covered mountain. She has been active, all senses in control. On top of this, she would cook daal roti for herself and consume it twice. Sometimes one of the son’s wife would get her some milk. Badi maa …
founders
It is easy to give advice to a founder or criticize them when things go south. As long as he/she takes care of stakeholders’ interests, everything acts as a utopia. As an employee, consultant, investor, or press, it is easy to get annoyed over the founder’s action. I am not saying all founders are perfect. …
control
Leadership is not about control or being right. It is about having beliefs and allowing peers to work independently. It will energize a team to go at any length and succeed. I am seeing a trend where leadership has ended up in micro-managing peers. Being always right has taken over working together. It also means …
Village
The next wave of India’s technological development is poised to happen in tier 3-4 cities. The infrastructure has gotten better and, most importantly, the connection among founders, team. People who go to IIT/IIM talks about networking. Imagine half a dozen school friends ending up building small Micro-SaaS, apps development, software testing, and turning entrepreneur eating, …
Umeed
Ek umeed laga baithe the ankho ke age, jine ko tay kar liya tha ek maksad ke saath. Socha tha abb zindgi chal padege, mann chahcha uthega aur pholo ke khusbo me san zaige mukaan hamari. Hame kya pata tha ki umeed hame bas khud se karna chahiye, auroo ke saath maksad kabhi bhi badal …
chowkidaar
Ram Singh, aka Ramu Bhaiya, was in his late 30’s. A hanuman devotee with chandan smeared on his forehead. His haircut was a signature army cut with a mustache reminded me of Ravan from the famous Ramayana serial telecasted on Doordarshan. He ran away from his family in Nepal for a job and life in …