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The thing about Wild Bets
Here is the deal about wild bets.
They are wild for a reason.
If one knew what were to happen, they wouldn’t be wild anymore. They wouldn’t even be a bet.
So stop attaching a probability of success to them. Don’t try to tame them.
By the same measure, lack of conviction instantly kills any possibility of success.
Wild bets thrive on irrational belief. Don’t doubt them. Keep them wild.
Choices you make
March 2014
I missed my connecting flight from Amsterdam to Delhi because the Seattle Amsterdam flight was delayed.
The next one was after 16 hours
I was given meal coupons and a fake apology.
I chose not to accept it. Asked for a 24hr visa instead to step out.
It was 7pm when I got the visa. My flight was at 6am.
I was dead tired. My mind told me to crash at a hotel. I chose to walk the streets of Amsterdam, clicking.
Went straight to the airport. My camera some 350 photos heavy.
June 2016
Jet Airways morning flight to Mumbai. Sleep was the easy option. I chose to read the inflight magazine instead.
Came across a photo contest that asked for pictures of Amsterdam. I have never reacted to these. But the images from that Amsterdam night had remained in my head. I chose to take a camera shot of the contest page.
July 2016
Was clearing my phone images. Came across the contest page image. Chose not to ignore it any further and submitted 2 of my favorite pics from that night.
October 2016
Jet Airways wrote in. I had won first prize.
I won.
And understood life yet again
Your choices are not driven by the result you want
Rather, you are the result of the choices you make
Cool or boring?
In the past 4 months, nearbuy has built merchant tech that has never been built before in India, and I would argue perhaps the world.
And I have spent the last month on the road showcasing this tech and gathering feedback. Investors, customers, merchants.
The response is usually that of astonishment and amazement.
“This is so cool”
“Is this even possible”
“When is this launching”
“Why are you giving it away for free. I will pay for it”
I also know, this tech is so bold and audacious, it might never work!
But it’s cool.
And people get it intuitively.
In the past 4 months we have also built out a notification tool (called Sonar, which I think is a great name).
Sonar is intelligent to know what notification to send to whom and when. And smart to know when it shouldn’t.
In less than 2 months, it accounts for 30% of our mobile app business.
But it’s boring. It’s detailed. It’s unsexy. It’s lines of code and hours of work. It isn’t visual.
But it works!
Being cool will always draw the crowds
Being boring will get the work done
You have to be both
At the same time
All the time!
Procrastination
What leads to procrastination?
Most social responses will center around laziness. The inertia to not move. The need to remain status quo.
Most internal reflections will discover that it’s the world’s judgement of the output that scares people.
If I do this now, it won’t change my image, as against doing it later.
I have to do this now, else my image will change. No choice.
Fear has led to more procrastination than laziness ever will
Yeah, but you also…
You didn’t call me
Yeah, but you also didn’t call me
You scored less
Yeah, but you also scored less
You hurt me
Yeah, but you also hurt me
You didn’t work to your full potential
Yeah, but you also didn’t
You don’t seem to be grateful
Yeah, but you also think the same way
You don’t think twice about the things you do
Yeah, but you also are quite reckless
Tell you what, this isn’t a competition.
Each time you counter your flaws by pointing to someone else, worse still the person opposite, who has the same flaw
Is each time you say no to accepting who you truly are.
Is each time you stop yourself from doing the right thing because someone in your opinion has legitimized the wrong thing.
Doing the right thing is not relative. It’s an absolute.
Who is your customer?
Everyone of us entrepreneurs is trying to solve a problem.
A live problem.
Something worth solving.
Something hopefully worth a lot, once solved.
But here is the deal about problems. Everyone has them.
If you are about saving money, even the richest guys likes to. The extent varies.
If you are about convenience, even the poorest guy wants it. The extent varies.
If you are about speed, even the guy with most time appreciates it. The extent varies.
The immediate question to ask, once you have identified the problem, is “who am I solving it for?”
“Who is my customer”
Everyone is almost always the wrong answer.
Good products do not speak to everyone. They know who they speak to. Ironically, that is mostly the reason why the products starts speaking to everyone eventually.
The way you do the small things
Each time I interview people, we have the office boy come in and ask for tea or coffee.
When it is served, I look for the response
No thank you?
Thank you?
Thank you Bhaiya (or equivalent)?
Tells me something about the person.
—-
I play a sadist game on the office floor. Drop a piece of paper or tissue and then wait for who picks it up.
Tells me something about the person.
—-
During a presentation if I point out an error on the formatting, I observe how they react. Do they clear the error right away or note it down as a todo.
Tells me something about the person.
—-
I am a firm believer in the power of the subconscious. Our intrinsic thoughts are always governing our external actions. Mostly unknowingly.
It’s the small reactions, the perpetual thoughts, reactions to everyday things that drives the individual.
The way you do small things determines the way you do everything
How to react when someone apologizes
It’s an absolute pleasure to work with you
Whenever I have made this statement, I realize the irony of it.
I haven’t worked with these individuals. Because they have worked on their own. Every single time.
No instructions were ever needed.
No prescriptions were ever shared.
No reviews were ever conducted.
No follow up was ever needed.
I technically didn’t work with them.
I simply observed.
And was left amazed.
They placed judgement and initiative at a higher order than obedience
The people you enjoy working with the most are those who create art on their own. Art that moves.
I am cheating on my wife
The world has a very convenient definition of cheating, based on a highly misplaced sense of morality.
If you are physically or emotionally involved with a person outside of your current relationship – that’s cheating.
Strangely enough, the necessary condition is not the physical or emotional attachment, rather the existence of another person in the equation.
What if it isn’t a person?
I have told this to Ruchi several times. I am cheating on her with my work.
I am in love with my work.
I dream of work.
Every waking second, I think of it.
Every second I can gather my basic instinct is to go back to my work.
Work that doesn’t just comprise managing and shaping nearbuy’s present and future. It also includes meeting people, reading about them, introspecting on my own inadequacy and more.
And all of this is no different to me from cheating on her.
But here is something I have realized.
If I am away from work, I will not be happy. And anything else I will do, will have me participate as a reluctant participant.
I am equally certain that someday I will be cheating on my work. And that too will make me happy.
Don’t compromise on the things that make you happy
Don’t let it affect you if what makes you happy is work
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