Entrepreneurship

I was trying to put some thoughts together.But they just didnt appear to fall into the right place, until I had read "The Mind of the Market" by Michael Shermer. There is a chapter on "Don't think evil", the difference between Google and Enron. It talks about the secret of Google success-"work atmosphere" and the reason for Enron's collapse "corruption and internal degradation due to points system".

A business survives strategizes on (i)a share of a huge market (ii) unique selling proposition. We always went after the second one. We believed that we are unique and are doing something to shatter the earth. Our biggest resource was the team, people who wanted to do something different. People driven by passion coming together towards the mission with a well defined vision. Sometimes the goals were a little too abstract and people were not quite content with the output.

Ideas emerge in two ways-revolution and evolution. I had always believed in revolutions. Works get finished smoothly and rather quickly in that mode. However, the aftermath of revolutions is quite nasty. People somehow got into it looking for something and if they don't get what they wanted, it goes horribly wrong. This is because revolutions are always absorbing and people hate that. Hardwork for nothing is definitely painful. Revolutions create great leaders when succesful, but they also defame the guy.


They say "team is beyond the people". We get carried away by this thought, we go in rather too deeply. I would also like to point out that "team emerges from the people". Contingencies shape outcomes in life and people influence the organization. Real success of an organization comes when several brains work on the task in sync, when you empower people. These thoughts made me stop following Indian test team, they day VVS Laxman had got insulted. That's how I value individuals now. Steve Jobs said "Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it."

I remember telling this to few of my friends. The reason we chose you in my team is that you have the skills. I don't buy the idea of rat-race and competition. If someone tells me that I can get a better person. I would tell him that you are our "aadmi" and hence better than the best. Every body is unique and the output is an emergent property and not by individual skills. We want a team of friends not a list of stars. Paper strength is just an illusion.

A Leader is one who reinvents himself from time to time. In these few weeks, I invested my time in studying "people" and "money". They are the pillars of any organization. People, movies,books,ideas reinforced the need to be "nice" to people.

I believe I always had the sincerity and it was only the attitude which created issues. I just wanted to convey my thoughts with you to regain your trust. I would like to be a leader and not a manager. I am interested in innovation and not in business. I am interested in something beyond money and power, in seeing my vision come true. My only aim in life is to follow my heart, learn on the way and do some "good" things along. The confidence and the attitude is what gave me all I have, but it also strains relationships and I believe talking will help amend that.