78mm Adventures

A couple of days ago, I spotted this guy wearing a Kshitij 2007 (IIT Kharagpur fest) t-shirt. What instantly caught my attention was the tag line: “Nothing else exists except atoms and empty space. Everything else is opinion.”

And it is our opinions which decide how we choose to look at things. More often than not, our environment conditions us into believing certain things and we start looking and thinking along a pre-defined path.

There are some, however, who are different.

I have been fortunate to have met people who have a refreshingly different opinion about matters. To most of us, job security is a worry and perhaps only the most desperate of circumstances would encourage us to forego this blanket of security. Yet, there are some who know that they were meant to do something different and every thing else in life is just a compromise. Some people choose to take the highway to their dreams.

Jeet, Jagrit and Rathore are three such friends from my MBA days at Nirma. Having decided that a different world and a different destiny were calling out to them, they’ve now hung up their corporate suits only to put on their t-shirts and ragged jeans which allow them to be their own self. And in this self, they found that they were adventurers first, hot-shots later.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m proud to introduce to you 78mm Adventures.

Follow your heart, click the link.

You don't need to be a Dhirubhai...

....to be an entrepreneur. You just need to be a passionate believer. Here's something I came across earlier today.

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Detroit School Of Rock Success Story

http://www.detroitschoolofrock.com/

(FORTUNE Small Business) -- If you think you can't launch a business in these tough times, think again. I recently met an entrepreneur who confirmed my belief that anything is possible if you have the right idea and sufficient passion.

A few weeks back, I listed some office furniture on Craigslist. A friendly guy named Jason Gittinger responded moments later. He was on the prowl for a good deal. Gittinger described himself as "just a drummer" but also mentioned that he was starting a business.

He stopped by the next day, and I found myself completely taken with him. Of course, it helped that he'd used StartupNation.com as a key resource to write his business plan, but what interested me most was his incredible, contagious passion.

Based in Royal Oak, Mich., The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music is Gittinger's dream business come true. The newfangled music school launches this week and promises to eliminate much of the drudgery of learning to play an instrument.

Instead of traditional music lessons, Gittinger's for-profit school immerses students in an actual five-member band of similarly skilled wannabes who jam together regularly, supplemented by practice sessions with a "music mentor."

Yes, the music usually sounds a little off, but the rising rock stars have a blast, which is critical to keeping them enthusiastic and engaged.

While the secret ingredient to Gittinger's business plan is this fun factor, the secret to getting the business off the ground - even in spite of the tough economic time - has been his passion.

Unlike so many who write business plans but never put them into action, Gittinger successfully scrounged all the key ingredients he needed to hang the "Open" sign on his door.

At every turn, his passion - verging on obsession - was pivotal.

For example, Gittinger needed to finance the build-out of the space. The drummer-turned-entrepreneur succeeded in getting an SBA-backed bank loan, which is no easy task. How did he do it? Gittinger not only wrote a business plan, but also created a 500-page training manual for the teachers whom he planned to hire. When he tossed that manual on the banker's desk, it became obvious that Gittinger wasn't your average drummer.

When he found his dream location, he got the owner excited about his concept for the school and put that "warm fuzzy" to work. He was able to negotiate the monthly rent down from $3,800 to $2,900. And because the owner took a shine to his vision, Gittinger was able to arrange for a portion of those monthly payments to be allocated to a future purchase of the property. Smart.

Next, how to furnish the place? It needed the "cool factor" musicians crave and insulated spaces where they could jam. Gittinger heard that the dilapidated Michigan State Fairgrounds was being demolished.

He got in touch with a foreman and offered to remove the wooden basketball court floor before the building was destroyed. Another sweet deal. Now his school would have gorgeous wooden floors, suffused with local nostalgia.

And on the way back to the school, he found two brand-new warehouse windows at a garbage dump, and threw those in the truck as well.

But now, how to pay for the labor to lay the floor, hang windows, build walls and paint everything - not to mention wiring, plumbing and making sure everything was up to code?

Again, Gittinger's passion played an unexpected but instrumental role. One day while he was screwing in the emergency exit lights, a 20-something guy walked through the front door. He was an aspiring guitarist who had heard about Gittinger's school.

"Dude, got any extra paint brushes?" he asked. "I'd be happy to help."

Many other volunteers helped out along the way. This wasn't just a business, people sensed. The launching of the school had become a cause, with Gittinger as its evangelist.

All in all, Gittinger estimates that he added about $1 million worth of improvements to the facility - but he spent only a tenth of that to get it finished. Better yet, he already has 90 applications from musicians who want to come play at the Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music. Not bad, considering that landing those first customers is the single most difficult task for any startup.

Based on his projections, Gittinger is now on the verge of leaping from the dollar-poor life of a drummer to the six-figure life of a drummer entrepreneur. Yeah, there's doom and gloom in all the major economic indicators. But does that really matter to Gittinger? Frankly, I'm not even sure he knows there's an economy out there. He's far too focused on his grand opening.

From http://uncommonbusiness.blogspot.com

The Samurai Entrepreneur

While reading my current book, "Fighting to Win: Samurai Techniques for your Work and Life" by David Rogers, I came across the following extract:

"Naoshige (1537-1619), leader of the powerful Nabeshima clan, told his army of twelve thousand samurai: "When things are done leisurely, seven out of ten turn out poorly. A warrior is one who does things fast."

It reminded me of a quote by Sam Pitroda:

"An entrepreneur is one who has a sense of urgency even when there is no emergency."

PS1: I had read Mr. Pitroda's quote in a book titled 'Business Mantras' by Gita Piramal. The book is a compilation of quotes from Indian Business greats such as Dhirubhai Ambani, Aditya Birla, Rahul Bajaj, Ratan Tata, Sumantra Ghoshal etc.

PS2: Have not been reading regularly at all. Let's hope this book (Samurai Techniques) brings me back to my old ways.

Losing My Virginity - Richard Branson

Richard Branson recounts how he went along the idea of having fun and as a by-product created the Virgin group. An extremely inspirational book, it documents how he started off with a vision of creating a national student magazine, stumbled into the music business, ventured into the music retail industry only because of a postal strike and then, one fine morning, thought of starting Virgin airways because, in his words, “it sounded like a lot of fun.”

The book gives a detailed insight into the fight that Virgin Atlantic got into with British Airways and the libel suit that Virgin ultimately won. It also shows how although Branson has this extremely colourful and playboy like image, the man has a smart business brain ticking all the time. His confession that he almost always carries a note-book with him in which he scribbles down ideas and to-do lists at a frightening pace shows how he always likes to be ‘in the game’.

All in all, a delightful read. I would give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.

LATENT 3: Sam Pitroda

Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the Knowledge Commission of India, addressed an audience of students on the 8th of March, 2006 at the Thakorbhai Desai Hall, Law Garden, Ahmedabad. That is where I found material for this post.

He narrated to us an incident about the time when he was in India and had invited a friend over for dinner. They agreed that the guest would come over at 7:30 in the evening. Sam made an entry into his diary, reminding him of his appointment.

At 7:30, however, two things happened. One, the guest did not arrive. Two, Sam forgot all about the dinner guest and settled down for his meal. At around 8, after Sam had finished his dinner, the guest arrived. Sam, being the good host that he is, settled down for a couple of drinks with the guy. When, after some time passed, the guest refused to budge, Sam inquired why he had come over. "But you invited me for dinner !!", the fellow retorted. Sam, in a fix, had to have his dinner a second time.

But this prompted Sam to think. "Why did this happen, I asked myself," says Sam. "And I realised that the problem was that although I'd made an entry into my diary, there was nothing which REMINDED ME of the fact that at 7:30, someone was due at my place. So, I did a very simple thing. I wrote a program for a circuit where it would check for a scheduled time against the current time, and if the two match, would notify the user. I filed for a patent and the world's first digital diary was born."

After a couple of years, things changed for the worse. Rajiv Gandhi, the then PM with whom Sam had a good understanding, was assassinated and Sam was without a job. In a desperate bid to get his life together, a penniless Sam had to go America, that too on a tourist visa. There, he saw various companies such as Sharp, Sony etc. selling digital diaries.

"'Wait a minute,' I said, 'this is my invention.' So, I wrote to the all the leading electronic firms saying that what they were selling was under patent and that they must pay me royalty. They saw the name, Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, an Indian, and said nothin' doin'. I said 'Fine', went to my lawyer and filed a suit against each one of them. That is when they realised that I meant business and paid me the due amount. And that," Sam pauses for breath, "is how I got my life back on track."

Unbelievable. All the while that we've been using digital diaries, I do not think many of us knew that it came from the mind of an inspired Indian. Wow!

And even today, the guy isn't satisfied. "What is keeping you guys from being active?" he asked us. "Today, I'm 64 years of age, and just about yesterday I've finished filing for another 20-25 patents."

Everything around you is waiting for a change, you just need to look around with a questioning attitude - Sam Pitroda

LATENT: Part 2

Those of you who might be confused by the title of this post may want to check out this previous post which contains an explanation as well as an interesting story about the beginnings of Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airlines.

One finds many ways of motivating oneself....especially after bad scores. I have found mine; reading, watching, listening to people who dreamt and pulled off the impossible.

Our library has a website on the local server of which we can watch a number of educational movies. I went back to the videos listed under "Lessons in Excellence" (remember the program which used to be aired on CNBC TV 18?). I clicked on "Episode 5: The Three Stages of Competition. Companies featured: Reliance, Canon, Xerox".

Hidden within the 20 minute video was this interesting anecdote that the late Sumantra Ghoshal tells a spellbound audience of 2; Raghav Bahl and Gita Piramal.

Sumantra Ghoshal: You know, when we were writing that case on Reliance...the ex-chairman of one of the major public sector infrastructure banks...he told me a story. That bank had financed the very beginning of Reliance starting up. So, he said, "Dhirubhai came to me one day. At that time, Dhirubhai is (just) a polyester trader sitting in Bombay and he is a small little dealer. That's all that he has, his little office. In his diary, he had this little picture. The picture said at the bottom...(indicating a box) 'Textiles', then it goes up, 'Textile Intermediaries', then it goes up, 'Bulk Intermediaries', then it goes up, 'Refining', then it goes up 'Oil Exploration'....(looks up in amazement with a glint in his eye) Remember? He was working with Shell in Aden. Shell was an integrated oil company doing all of these things. Starting a six loom little factory in Naroda, the man had in his mind this whole empire that he wanted to build.

Life And Times of ENTrepreneurs (LATENT) Part 1

It is no secret that entrepreneurs excite me and lots of other people. Why? What is it that makes their lifestyle so interesting? Why is it that books written by them ("Direct from Dell" - Michael Dell, "Losing my virginity" - Richard Branson) or dedicated to them are bestsellers?

I have always believed that there is an entrepreneur hidden in all of us; we just need to look that little bit further. The following speech by Richard Branson (at the 4th Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture) proves my point; the situation he found himself in could have been that of ANYONE of us, in fact, there were a number of people who were in the same situation. Only, he decided to look for a solution.

"In '79, when Joan, my fiancee and I were on a holiday in the British Virgin Islands, we were trying to catch a flight to Puerto Rico; but the local Puerto Rican scheduled flight was cancelled. The airport terminal was full of stranded passengers. I made a few calls to charter companies and agreed to charter a plane for $2000 to Puerto Rico. Cheekily leaving out Joan's and my name, I divided the price by the remaining number of passengers, borrowed a blackboard and wrote: VIRGIN AIRWAYS: $39 for a single flight to Puerto Rico. I walked around the airport terminal and soon filled every seat on the charter plane. As we landed at Puerto Rico, a passenger turned to me and said: "Virgin Airways isn't too bad - smarten up the services a little and you could be in business."

That, my friends, is how VIRGIN ATLANTIC began!! Can you believe it? A mad hatter's flight was cancelled, and look what he came up with.


He goes on to add: "When VA was launched in '84, not one person thought it would survive for more than a year. The bosses of these 13 big American airlines, that we competed with, said we'd fail. Now 21 years later, all 13 of them are out of business - proving the number 13 is unlucky for some."

Whew. What a guy!!