tribe

A successful founder creates a tribe and leaves a legacy.
The real wealth benefits everybody, not just founders.
We have numerous books dedicated to building successful startups.

Very few founders talk about treating humans above the stock price.
And even less on values and radical openness.

A company is built by it’s people.

Building a successful enterprise requires a tribe of like-minded people with drive, vision, and independence.

Digital cameras existed in Kodak’s research lab. Also, a team of Blackberry software had a marketplace at work.

Hostel

Thinking about hostel days in early childhood gives me goosebumps. My parents thought this would show me life and make me more human. I think it was class 4 or 5.

I thank my parents for this. When you are thrown early on into unchartered territory, you grow up. There is no one to pamper you. You have to live every single day on your own. All the human mind, psychology, and survival instinct come into play. You have seniors ragging you, big ones bullying you, and others stealing your snacks.

The positive side is you taste freedom early on, take chances to commit more mistakes, and are more audacious to break all the rules. There is no helicopter parents or mobile app to track your path.

The virtue of the daily schedule and rituals of the early days has played a role even now. I am more flexible than my peers, thanks to the 5 a.m. yoga/gymnastics. I feel the team building and socializing also came from there.

I cried going away from my parent’s early days. But later on, I started enjoying this freedom. It has played in making me a globe trotter. I am an extrovert and experimental with life.

My sister went to KFI, Varanasi, and I went to Vikas Vidyalaya, Ranchi, and CSKM, Delhi.

India

I feel blessed and lucky to be born here. The unity in diversity makes me better every day. We are a young country and developing.

We all have our way of seeing our world. For me, I am loving my country and living here.

What is the meaning of asking not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country?

–John F. Kennedy

When we start seeing the negatives, we can fix them with our efforts. Or we can crib. I want to be the one solving whatever I can. Our life is limited, and the opportunity to breathe in a free country is one of the best gift.

I am optimistic about everything in life in general. I believe our country will be a shining example of leading the world on multiple fronts.

Meritocracy

We are living in the era of Meritocracy. If you have a dream and work hard, you will have backers to make your dreams come true. You will find the way, but all hard work needs to be done by yourself.

I know many rags-to-riches stories where people built their lives with hard work. They had no time to complain about the world or others. So why can we not take risks and make dreams come true with our hard work?

Why do we have to complain in the era of opportunity? An age where we are all on the same surface? One can build a product in Africa and have customers across the world.

No one is stopping you from changing the world and becoming famous. It requires hard work. If you have it in you, you will find it.

Superpower

We all carry certain powers deep within. It has been through us all along. We can’t see it because we get lost in daily chores and world pleasures. As a result, these powers become dormant.

We were born with a clean slate. As we grew old, society conditioned us. Our worldview became opaque with a limited lens. We are no more ourselves but the wisdom of the crowd.

We lost our superpower. We lost our art of critical thinking. The right to decide, observe, try, and fail.

Everyone wants us to forget these superpowers: Our government, capitalists, and people manipulating us for their favors.

Frugality

From Benjamin Franklin to Charlie Munger to Sam Zell.
All talk about frugality, a life where you spend as much as you need.

The current world of consumerism and frugality has become a dystopia. Buying on loans and credit cards is a norm.
We are in the era of hoarding.
Our happiness has transitioned into fast fashion and brand acquisition.

How will we live a cluttered life with infinite choices? Most of it is on debt. Is there any place for frugality left?

Practice

Many great authors wrote their stories that later became a masterpiece. It is their personal journey and life experience inside which they live constantly. It results in easy writing for the masses. Another trait that made them all write well is clarity, which comes with lots of practice.

We undermine the value of practice and let go of the art of thinking. As a result, we are not able to produce quality work.

Scar

We are all carrying a Scar within us.
It is our past.
Some of us come out of it and make a new life.
Rest others continue the baggage of the past and succumb to it.
As a result, they continue to be miserable.
They don’t want to live in now.
Their past becomes a scar and makes them vulnerable.
Every minute of their present life shadows their scar.
The loss, humiliations, and failures do not let them live now.

Pain

We humans become better with pain. The reality of life is that it is full of pain and misery. Most of us surrender to it, become slaves and sick, and continue to accept it as a part of life and die.

While pain adds patience and willingness to go against all odds for survival, it makes us more realistic. We start seeing things as they are. We start observing our thoughts and take action accordingly.

Many think surrendering is the best pain avoidance method instead of moving forward and accepting it head-on. The reason is that we are aware of the pain but scared of suffering.

bored

I keep hearing from friends about being bored now and then. Most of them are earning well and have a lifestyle that less than 1% of the rich in India can afford.

How come someone gets bored with all these luxuries in life? Is it because most humans are animals with monkey minds taking over us? Or is it our laziness that makes us feel bored?

Is getting bored a phenomenon of riches?