Million Dollar Baby

"If there's magic in boxing, it's the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you." Morgan Freeman "Eddie Scraps" in million dollar baby.

Great Valedictorian Speech

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path." 


Read the full valedictorian speech here: http://blog.swiftkickonline.com/2010/07/valedictorian-speaks-out-against-schooling-in-graduation-speech.html

Ultimate Entrepreneurship Quote

"Vision without action is merely a dream; Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world."

Is crashing your USERS browser a good thing?

Background:  We launched our app about a month ago and it's been picking up steam since.  We got some coverage on readwriteweb and lifehacker and there began an onslaught of new users.

http://lifehacker.com/5584834/iorad-creates-your-step+by+step-computer-instructions-for-others

http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/07/tutorials-made-easy-with-iorad.php

As exhilarating as it is to see users streaming in and refreshing the user count every 4 seconds, seeing user frustration like,  "Thanks so much, for wasting 4 hours of my day...you d*&#.  I lost all my work because your effin app crashed my browser....you f&^%"...is very tough on my soul.

After trading emails with the users and apologizing with every fiber of my being, I was drowning in a sea of desperation.  How can we fix this?  There are so many issues with this damn application, how do I prioritize?  Our team is already moving at max capacity...is there a way we can speed things up?

All these questions with no solution.  Where's the silver lining in all this???

Then my alter ego, Sunshallow, chimed in..."hey idiot...you have people using the app for 4 hours....isn't that a good thing??...doesn't this mean someone actually cares about your cr-app.....you cr-apphead!"

By all definition,  Sunshallow is a prick and I try not to listen to him all that often, he is a big picture guy that doesn't really care about the day-to-day issues and "getting things done"....but in this case I think he might be right.  Before we launched, I had some guesses who the users "might be" but we were developing this in a vacuum.  As Sunshallow rightly points out, seeing user hatemails could indicate product/market fit is around the corner.

Thanks sunshallow, I feel better now.  BACK TO WORK!!!

Side note: I guess I should be Sunshallow and my alter ego, SunDEEP...makes more sense...right?

The Founder's Love vs The Mother's Love

Being a married, father of three and a startup founder I never realized what it meant to be a mother. I never understood why mothers have this internal need to run things like an army boot camp... every minute planned, every outfit put together, every word analyzed, every action overseen.

To me, as a father, a lot…actually all…of those things seem ridiculous and a waste of time. "Why? Just relax. Does it really matter?? Calm the #*%$* down!!"- are just some of my inner thoughts that I'd never dare say out loud.

Ok... fine, you caught me… I say those things quite frequently and yes I'm a horrible husband for doing it….but a recent beat-down I got, allowed me a new perspective.

Round # 1:

My wife comes home and says, "Guess what I bought?”

My standard reply, "It better not be clothes for the kids….they have tons of crap that they don’t wear and on top of that, they grow out of it in 3 months."

Ignoring me, she walks up the stairs.

After 15 minutes (probably stashing away the receipts) she says, "Do you want to see it or not?”

Knowing WW III is imminent, I said "Sure, but you better not have spent more than a two digit number".

Her comeback, "Sorry...two digits??? You know we are not talking about your IQ…right?? "

(Damn! Upper Cut … Wife: 1 - Me: 0)

She opens the bag. "Lacoste for Ajan, Lelli Kelly for Ariya, and Baby Uggs for Anjuli…you'll never believe how much I paid.”

After 10 years of marriage she still leaves the opening for me, "Can't be more than $15. Am I right? You know your pissing money away. These kids don’t care if it’s Gucci or friggen Costco. The labels make YOU feel better not them!”

(Body Shot...I’m back in it!!! Wife: 1 - Me: 1)

Uh-oh…20 seconds pass by. She has this zen demeanor, like when Rocky realizes he can beat Drago. A clear thought that makes sense….no can’t be… can it??

She starts, "Listen when you went through 5 UI designers for your app and pissed more money away than I can imagine…did I say a single word? Do you think YOUR USERS, which by the way you DON'T have any of, care if the tab is forest green or hunter green. You want your baby to look perfect, no matter what….Right?"

(I don’t remember much after that. Winner: Wife by knockout)

The Rematch:

As soon as I walk through the door, "You better do something about this--- Ajan won't eat his vegetables, Ariya won’t shower, and Anjuli keeps putting things in her mouth."

To which I reply, "Take it down a notch babe....relax..... Its just kids being kids."

She has that zen look again. "Well how would you like it if that app of yours wasn’t behaving after you put in countless hours of programming…is it just a cr--app being a cr-app!!”

(Damn..sucka punch below the belt.. I had to throw in the towel)

After the humiliation subsided a bit, the new perspective hit me like a ton of bricks: the founder’s love and a mother's love are the same thing.

Just like a mother, my startup baby is not just my DNA but an umbilical cord extension of me. As we are nurturing our baby in the womb, we go through a rollercoaster of emotions - manic highs and depressive lows.

We carry this thing around with us 24/7, not wanting anybody to see it until its perfect. Once it’s born into the world, we don't have control anymore. It’s open for criticism and can be shaped into something we never wanted it to. Our hopes, dreams and vision can come crashing down…I guess you can call this founder's post-partum.

The other type of Founder that are en vogue right now and more courageous than I, are the ones that keep giving birth to different ideas/products/apps for the world to see and keep going until they get it right (think minimum viable product and pivot).... I wish I could be this type of Founder everyday, unfortunately I am not.

I am still trying to put the finishing touches on that SAME vision I had 3 years ago. Right now it’s easy for me to dream that IORAD will one day make its small mark and change the world for the better (OK...maybe that’s a stretch but at the very least it might alleviate some pain) because nobody is there to criticize it and rip it apart.

Well after 3 years...to hell with founder’s post-partum...tell me what you think. 

Sign up & take IORAD for a spin! It’s the easiest way to create interactive tutorials and user guides for your application. (beta & buggy)

So here’s to all the male startup founders out there….this is the closest thing we will ever feel to what it means to be a mom. If you are halfway successful in raising your baby, you will eventually have to start letting go…so enjoy the ride while you can.

Shout Outs:

To my beautiful and supportive wife and mother to my children - Dipti

To my father who always told me to reach for the stars
To my Manhar uncle (who recently passed),  showed me  a true leader is not how many followers you have but how many leaders you make

And lastly, To Team- IORAD - Susrut, Satyajit, & Subrat for without you, my vision would’ve just remained a vision.