monk

Met half a dozen monks sipping green tea and laughing at Marina. Theirs was the only table that was buzzing with laughter, banters, and frolic; something so uncommon in our stressful world.

The extrovert in me got curious and the next moment I was sitting with them and laughing over green tea. All of them were from different South Asian countries, and a few spoke in English.

Against all odds, obstacles, and detachment, they are living. All of them were happy. Letting go of the past, living moment to moment, and being grateful was key. This ego, attachment, vices, and seeking are making us all go nuts. We are getting sicker day by day. All your achievements, money, and status gloating mean nothing. Lastly, no one gives a damm. You are alone, you have to make peace with it.

relationship

What I dislike about our startup ecosystem is people trying hard to please others. Building a startup takes courage. It is painful and requires an unlimited grind. It is not for the faint-hearted or people for glitters. With all the money in the bank and your IVY league degree, you can still fuck up.

We need to be empathetic towards ourselves and the world around us. The “frog in the well” approach will make us bitter. All these founder awards or whatnot will add more burden on you. It does not matter.

Build relationships that last beyond your startups.

process

A growing organization can bring pain on many fronts. One of them being well-defined product development documents and timelines. You accept that even the 10X engineer in your team will miss things.

A well-defined process helps and takes lots of pain away from the testing team, support engineers, and customers.

The best of the best developers are known for losing focus too quickly. Not having a well-defined scope, timelines, and managerial supervision will result in a science project not shipping a saleable product.

The airline industry has a practice of SOP for the same reason. A pilot with thousands of miles flying hours is mandated to follow the same as a newbie joining a job fresh from an institute.

Thank

There are so many things to be thankful for. Like reading what I wrote means you can read, understand English, and see through. You have the internet and an electronic gadget to read this.

Now if you run some analytics, you will find you are among the top 20-30% population or less on this planet with these luxuries.

The world we are living in has made us run on a checklist, society has given us a ladder to climb. As a result, we die or head to the grave realizing our true selves.

Dubai

Walking on the streets of Dubai and chatting around gives a different meaning to life. Some made a fortune out of nothing, while many others live each day as it comes. It’s a cosmopolitan of its kind. The city welcomes everyone from super rich to super poor. Each one has its place.

The city has high and low in it. The best of everything is here: the costliest cars to restaurants. Some who are here for work would have died without food in their native countries, while many others would have gotten killed in the ongoing war.

The city is a utopia of its kind. It is like one of the wonders, with well-maintained infrastructure for governance. It’s an extended Indian arm, so many Indians with all states. I have been interacting in Hindi in most instances.

Living in Dubai is much easier than living in the US because of its vicinity to India and the availability of Indian cuisine.

I like nature and long walks. I miss the same here. Once a week, I go for a long walk to the beach.

Desire

Some of us die with our burning desire within. We never give wings to our desires. As a result, as we grow old, we turn bitter, and the success of others gives us anxiety. I know friends who once got drunk and listed things they missed achieving.

Our life is about living now, not keeping things for the future. Our life is not about predicting the future. It is about living now. Our mind should focus on taking prediction trash out and future planning checklists.

Our desire has to come out now for it to be a reality.

Priority

A B2B product development journey is different than the rest. It requires a lot of customer interviews and feedback. It takes a longer sales cycle, a custom solution. The PMF takes ages. It requires a lot of patience.

In the early days, customer segmentation on revenue takes a back seat. We focus on early users. But as the customer grows, this becomes painful. As a team, put product development feedback and priority in place. Build to be paid and used by multiple users.

Otherwise, the product will end up making many zombie modules to be used by a limited few users affecting the company’s profit.

Prospective

It’s been over over 7-8 months here in Dubai. I find this country extended an arm of India. It could be the Indian population, food, or culture. I like many things about here. I am amazed at the hard work that would have gone into planning the infrastructure, growing, and managing this country.

At the same time, I wonder why Dubai is a tourist destination for many in India. Why would one living in nature come for a vacation to the concrete jungle?

I introspect and realize that my perspective is flawed. appears. We are unique, and how we see the world. Our sense of joy differs. Someone likes clicking pictures at the marina or Burj Khalifa, but you don’t. It does not mean they are wrong.

back

There will always be a few people tarnishing your reputation when you become successful. They will go to any length to attack your integrity or harm your personal life. In most instances, they will do this anonymously. You don’t have to worry about them. You have to continue giving your best in life and relationships. You have to leave the rest for the god above.