New Media, Marketing and Entrepreneurship

The title of this post would have suggested by now, that this is not about social media or marketing. Yes, its not. This one is under the life experiences and learning’s which I share.

A confession – for the first time in public!

This is probably for the first time in public, that I am sharing this. There is this strange presence of a floating figure inside me, which makes me be in a situation, be present to everything which is happening around me and still see myself standing at a distance and seeing the entire action unfolding in front of me, as if I am an audience and never a part of the situation.

A confusion!

Over the last many years I have lived, just like everyone else, I have taken decisions, calls, many of which worked out for the great, some for the good and the others, well, I learnt great deals from them (people call them failures). But still the confusion remains, is this the right thing I am doing?

Though overtime I have also realized there is nothing called ‘right OR ‘wrong’. Its all actually a perceptive notion made by the human mind. Interestingly, the human mind makes itself suffer by making things wrong OR right. It just somehow makes its own meanings to things and then creates a ghost called ego, which makes the human take drastic steps to keep the meaning up-right.

Who am I?

I am thankful to the clear vast sky above, yes, I am sane still. I have learnt from the vast, endless sky along with the Bhagvad Gita (a Hindu scripture), the answer to the question, who am I?

The reality is, I am nothing but an ‘awareness’ which is a complex combination of biological processes. There are many things that form ‘me’. I am actually existing, only till the time, I am conscious about it.

To make things simpler: when we fall un-conscious, there is nothing that we feel/ experience. The human hence is the exact opposite of this state. The conscious. The human actually is the ‘conscious’.

The reality of life – But I get hurt!

Yes, as a human I get hurt. I do have emotions, I do feel pain, I do smile, I eat, I fight, I love.

An Activity for everyone reading this post, for the next minute: replace the ‘I’ in the above line, with your conscious. You feel the pain when you make yourself conscious about it. You love, when you are conscious about it.

The moment you realize that its NOT ‘you’ but your ‘Conscious’ which you are dealing with ultimately, you get the powerful insight, which makes you realize, no-one can actually hurt you. No-one can actually harm you. You can powerfully change the play of ‘existence’ of that ‘conscious’ by making your ‘conscious’ stronger than the one, which might hurt you in any manner. Here the expression ‘stronger’ means, you can make the other person (conscious) cease to exist for yourself (conscious), by just being present to the thought always, that all that you are dealing with is another ‘Conscious’.

So what is the human then  - if its the conscious?

The body is another form given to conscious. Its like the car body which conceals the engine. There are deep descriptions of the soul OR the aatman in Hinduism. A powerful extension to the aatman is ‘Aadhyatma’. Aadhyatma is the understanding of the inner self, the soul.

Once you learn to keep the ‘Aadhyatma’ growing, while keeping yourself ‘aware’ always of the fact that you are nothing but a conscious, you will learn one of the most powerful expressions of human life: ‘detachment’. You will be able to clearly establish a distinction between the ‘aatman’ and the ‘body’.

This distinction is the understanding of: Nothing

Nothingness is the ultimate state to be in. You can be with millions of dollars in your bank and still be in the state of nothingness. Once you are clearly able to create this distinction, you start experiencing some interesting things, which I am experiencing now-adays:

• There is no-one out there to hurt me/ harm me and I strongly believe it
• My body can be taken, but not my conscious
• I still need to do everything I am to do in my lifetime, take birth, study, get married, have a family, die, but my conscious remains and that is what I need to build in my lifetime, because everything else I do/ have, will finish/ cease to exist for me, the moment I end.
• I am limitless, there is no definition that can define me, I am a ‘conscious’.

But where is Nothing?

That’s the entire point. Life ends with nothing. There is only the conscious which remains.

Lessons learnt?

There is so much more to life than doing the usual things we do. For a start, I would like to mention two expressions, hatred and forgiveness. Both the emotions have been talked about greatly in the Bhagvad Gita and the Mahabharata. I am trying in my personal life, to move my ‘living’ conscious towards forgiveness. At times the confusions cloud the mind, but when you close your eyes and tell yourself, that you are only ‘your conscious’, well, then you go the extra mile to make your conscious rise higher than anything else around.

Can you implement this in business?

Well yes! Treat your business as a life, which remains for you till your very existence and ceases to exist for you the moment you do. Now if you treat your business as your ‘conscious’ then you will constantly move towards improving it. For your employees, your customers, stakeholders and the ecosystem around.

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A life well worth living is the one, when the world stands up and remembers you when you are not really around in your physical essence. I dedicate this post to Steve Jobs, as we all knew him. The greatest innovator, who saw the iPhone, before the world cold say multi touch. Who knew his customers, he knew the nerve and he did create a dent in the universe.

I have always been a services guy in my career, but my fascination for products, to be precise, productized services, really began with Steve’s presentations. You are a hero Steve and you will always be. May God Bless you with all happiness, rest and peace and more innovations in heaven’s above

Glad to have lived my lifetime knowing you Steve.

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This blog post is not about marketing, its not even about New Media, which I write on, but this is about life. I have been lucky enough to see the evolution of a trend which is great, but has many in-built flaws.

If you really give it a minute of your time and think, then you will see a particular trend in everything in this world. The things we go through, what we do, its all a trend. Everything in this world has its own good and attached with it its own bad (or not so good) however you want to put it.

Lets talk about Independence

I am proud to be the citizen of one of world’s largest and strongest democracies, where people sacrificed their lives many years back to give us freedom. I can see dreams and do what I want to today because I have been bestowed with the freedom to do this. But over  a period of time, I have strongly felt that whatever comes to us easily in life, we start taking its presence in our life by default. The appreciable value of the same thing goes down!

Women and Independence

Before I write this, I must confess there is a lot I have learnt from the leading ladies in my life, my Mother, Sister, Wife and Many of my female friends. There’s a certain way of life for them. Anyway, now let me share a picture and this is not a myopic view of things, so hold before you react.

My Mother (just like you’rs) went through much in life, she saw phases when she lived her life and raised us up with almost no means. Obviously my Sister and I were brought up well. My Sister belongs to the generation which has values from her Mother but is changing and evolving with the times. My Wife pretty much belongs to my Sister’s times.

What’s common though in all the three ladies?

Well, they have all been raised up and been ‘looking for’ a certain kind of a feeling called ‘Independence’. For my Mother, Independence lets say is about having enough means to build a strong happy family. For my Sister, lets say to ensure while she is a working woman, she is project managing her home. For my Wife its pretty much the same perspective.

My Mother raised my Sister, telling her stories about what all she has faced and hence made her daughter strong enough to face the world. My Wife’s mother did the same. But what is changing now is, these stories along with the times we are living in are becoming inspiration for the birth of a small ‘Rebel’ inside the heart of the otherwise sane human.

I earn my own money, I am Independent!

I have heard so many women today speak of this and I am sure many of you would agree, that I want to earn my own. A girl in college says I don’t want to be dependent on my parents and a Girl getting married says, I don’t want to be dependent on my Husband.

Hold for a second and think, its the same girl who is growing up and one day will have her own family and will tech her daughter/ son one day that I had to go through so much in my times, I will make you guys strong enough to ensure you don’t.

Does money really makes you independent in life? Well, yes it might buy you many things, but Independence, well, probably not. And mind you, it also does not buys you confidence. It only buys you things.

I have my own life, my own decisions: I am the 21st Century Woman!

Agreed. And everyone has the right to live a good happy life. But in this whole ‘want’ of living your ‘own’ life and taking your ‘own’ decisions, you are being ‘reduced to only you’. I take many workshops for college students and corporate(s), I have seen the shift in the thought process. Education must have made us go getters and more enlightened, somehow I feel its making us more like rats in a race.

Especially in India, where we are all ‘bechara’s’. Somehow I feel we have been fighters (not in the literal sense), but we have many fights in our lives. The whole thing is, we are trying to ‘prove ourselves right’ all the time, by getting over the whole scene of ‘boss life mei bahut fight hai’. From a railway station to a college form line, there’s fight in every sense of the word.

http://www.ambuuncle.com/images/indian_women.jpg

And one day we get married!

While we are growing up through all these fights of life, one day we get married and the whole thing of raising up a successful family dawns upon us. Now lets re-visit, what I said in the starting of this post. When a girl gets married, the same mother will give her lessons of life, her friends will give her some. But what’s happening in India, as I see it, today is, what a professor of mine at college told me: “Paritosh, chances are that the woman you will marry tomorrow might have multiple relationships in her life before and she must have learnt from all of them, for you life is not the same as what I had”.

And I agreed to him and accepted the fact with just a line from my side, I said whether a woman OR a man, I don’t see much differences other than physical. What I would really want is to see women in this world really creating a beautiful world (because I strongly believe, men are a little lacking in this). The only rider I have for women is, have fun ladies, but do take care of the future, which is changing for all of us.

I hear so many people talking of how the world is changing and I instantly get reminded of a line I heard from a gentleman many years back who said, in Bhagwad Gita, Bhagwan Shri Krishna has predicted that generations will go down because the raisers (women) are changing.

Do I have issues with women leading the game?

NO! Ask my current boss/ colleague Geetika, she is a wonderful person to work with (not because she is my boss). Entrepreneurs don’t have this thing of buttering and all, we are straight talkers and so am I. I love the fact that women lead the game, infact I would love to see women creating a whole compassionate environment in the corporate jungle. But not at the cost of creating a future in the name of a feeling called Independence. Remember Money in the short term is NOT independence.

But I do have issues seeing the future!

What we do will come back to us within this lifetime, I strongly believe in this as well. And hence the next generations. More sharp, more intelligent (great), but into drugs, cigarette buts in schools, liquor is a fashion statement. And I am not saying this is all due to women, it is NOT. Men are as much responsible. But Ladies, you always say it and its true, you guys can create a far better world and a great happy future.

Maintain your relationships, whatever it takes

Ensure that whatever it takes, build strong relationships, because a broken relationship in your early days is an experience which you will at some stage  share it with your kids, your daughters who will be raising a world of their own tomorrow!

I just wanted to share this on this Saturday, because this is one thought which disturb me personally, this is one thing I am seeing building around me and I will be the happiest to see folks roaming around happily with each other, creating a future of this country, which is truly BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL

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Though I personally don’t freak out in shopping malls daily, but obviously things change after marriage you know (kidding). In the recent times I have been going through this strange phenomena which is written large on many faces, which is, do you have a deal? Almost every market that you visit in Delhi, you can find every other person negotiating with the shopkeeper and asking for a discount. Now that’s obvious human nature.

Hmmm, great so we are talking discounts here!

Yes we are. But I have a thought to share, while I am sure you all must be seeing these deal sites pop-up from every nook and corner of the globe citing great exciting deals from your city, there is not much value. Tell me how many people would really be looking at a great value from getting a tattoo on some part of their precious body at a discount. Interestingly I know the statistic, there are many. The super excited youth of India.

But can’t we put in some real value driven sense in discounts?

When I say value driven, let me put my case forward. I represent the emerging youth of India who have a newly found buying power with them. I am someone who works hard and harder to achieve an aspirational level for me and my family. Obviously the aspirations keep touching new levels with time. Now for me, I really am not wanting a deal for a tattoo OR a 5% discount on a coffee mug. Neither am I looking at a dine out extra happy hours or a beer free!

What I want is to make my life happy and easy!

I am married and hence have a family to take care of and I am a consumer who is a target audience for many brands out there. So why don’t these deal sites understand that I need to see value in their deals and that just by 2 SMS’s each day on my cell phone, I won’t make a buy decision?!

The Game Changer is here: What I’v experienced in the last week!

The Game Changer is here. Last week I went for a fun night of bowling at The Great India Place Mall at Noida with couple of pals. Interestingly what I saw was a register where people were writing something down with a Golden color card in their hands and they straight away got very interesting discount on their games.

The Magic of Discount: the Revelation!

What was revealed about the card was that it came from the stable of one of India’s largest business clans. Its the Amity Synergy Card. Dwelling further, I was amazed to see what was present online! The Synergy card (which I was not really much aware about initially) has more than 61 cities Pan India covered. Go to their website and you will see what I mean and why I just got eexcited enough to mention the brand on this blog!

Did I Order a Card for Myself?

Yes I did. And yes I did not take it just like that. I went ahead and used the card and wallah. In the past 7 purchases that I have done, I have already gotten my value of the card for which I bought it for back. Hence my ROI in terms of getting back the investment I made has been received.

Has the Team Been Good at After Sales?

Obviously before writing this blog, I did my diligence and tried contacting the Synergy Discounts and Coupons team through their site and wallah they did respond back in time.

What’s So Unique, Why Did I Not Write About GroupOn India’s Office?

Why I did not write about GroupOn or any other discount scheme is because the discounts which Synergy offers me is logical. I know the places I generally go to in India and they are all there. The biggest USP being, that Synergy is the only card which has discounts on rooms in almost every major hospital in India. Not happy about it, but lately I have had to roam around Delhi hospitals for a close relative, and I know how quickly cash gets burnt when you step into an Apollo Hospital. A 10- 15% discount on rooms spells a saving of close to about INR 2500 for 2 days!!

How do I Get this Card?

Since I like sharing on this blog, only what I really feel excited about what I experience in my life, I think the Synergy card makes much sense with the value driven deals. I got it online simply through this link: http://synergydiscounts.com/GetSynergyCard.aspx

Have fun getting deals and saving more and for all those married men, guys here’s your thing, to keep your woman happy!!

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Last night I went to South Ex, a upscale shopping destination in South Delhi. Though I am not a shopping enthusiast by even the farthest of the accounts, but being married changes the game as they say

For all those who have ever been to this market, there are two ways to cross that busy road, either risk your life (like many people do) and dodge the traffic as if you are NEO from The Matrix OR be a little sound in your brains and use the underpass. I respect life a little more than being a daredevil and hence took the underpass.

A blind man hit me from the back

Not that it was his purpose, but a young man might be in his late twenties hit me from the back and the moment I turned around I noticed his white stick. What struck me at that time was life in the purest of its essence. Not that I have not seen blind people before, I have had close encounters in life with such amazingly gifted people (I will soon share how they are amazingly gifted).

He was talking on the mobile phone when I held him and merely told him that he has stairs in front of him and the other obstructions and this chap showed me a skill which was something that I expected but was not prepared for. He walked around as fast as I did (along with me) and when it came to climbing the steps, he used hit white stick in a manner which struck me. He let it loose in his right hand and started bumping it against the steps, which made a sound and let him know what’s next!

source: http://fightclublife.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/blind-cartoon.jpg

We came out of the subway and I asked him where he wanted to go and I guided him to that street along the road side.

Story ends: and a new begins

While we were going from one shop to another to see clothes and what not, the one thought which was constantly playing on my mind was, how swift was the man who was using nothing but sound to reach to where he wanted to. But let me give one more perspective to it which I felt strongly for later, its not just about the sound, its also about faith which he was keeping in that moment on me and my judgement. Not for a moment did he show any signs of nervousness, neither did his confidence shook for a second. Infact when I asked bhaiyya kahan jaana hai aapko (brother, where do you want to go), he answered, mujhe agle waale cut se mudna hai aur bahur aage tak chalna hai (I need to turn on the next cut and there’s a long way to go).

The game changer

In life there are so many moments when we feel so dejected, so disheartened, when life feels as if there is nothing more to it. When for the smallest of the issues which can be solved quickly we act our own way, thinking that we are RIGHT and create deadlocks.

These are the times I feel, the ‘we’ who are so blessed in life, take many things for granted. We are not grateful for life, for many things in life. And all of this results into something which eventually makes us go down the drain. We lose our ownership.

We lose our ownership

While we go through life, we lose our ownership. In the jobs we do, do we really own our work (exceptions are always around the corner), do we really thank the employer for everything they are giving to us. And not just that, slowly in our process of keeping ourselves and what we think of, always right, we start making it: my way or the highway, which sounds good in a song, but when it comes to life, there are many more songs which get affected with your tune.

Eg: the organization you work in, if you don’t perform well, though you might be at a very small position, some way or the other, the organization is affected. There are negative ripple effects. And hence your under/Non-performance affects those around you. This way you are not respecting other’s lives, while taking your’s for granted anyway.

Learn from the blind

I learnt many lessons of life last night in just those 5 minutes of my time with the blind man. And hence I share with you, there are people who cannot see the beauty of what this world beholds. If you are someone who respects this, rise up and create new opportunities for many others and you will by default be raised to a whole new level in life, far ahead and faster of many of your pack.

I need to hear to be alive

That’s the blind man. Coz if he does not trains himself to hear the sound of the click of his white stick, while hearing all the other sounds of the world, he will not be able to live through life. When he can train his brain to do this, can we not train ours to achieve much more? I honestly believe, each one of us is an amazing potential powerhouse, just that a few realize it and work towards it.

While I am writing these lines, I have a hard feeling in my own heart, but a strong promise as well, which I have been keeping with myself since I did my start-up, that I will rise up to create many opportunities for folks around, they might be family, friends, No-one at all or everyone.

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Note: after writing this post, somehow there was an error in my WordPress installation due to which I had to revert my blog to a past date, which compromised on the latest blogs I had written. I am happy to be back though

This might be one of the important most posts I have ever done. I have always written from experience, things that I keep learning from life, from people. Life is everything and nothing at the same time. I have heard many philosophers saying this, but there are many moments when you experience it.

The deadlocks in life

I have seen many people, fight over and over again on trivial issues and most of the times the one thing common in both parties is that each tries his/ her level best to keep his. her ego upright. How could I be wrong? OR How could you wrong me? Let me tell you who I am!

Well, let me tell you this. I personally in my life, feel such people are utter foolish who live their life, trying to save themselves from being wronged and who keep fighting hard trying to save their ego from taking a hit.

The meanings we give

In most of my workshops and lectures that I take, I ensure that I share with my audience, the meaning of everything in life. Its really simple. A dark room, a pitch dark room, if you are made to stand in such a room and someone shuts the door from outside, in all general sense the first reaction in your heart would probably be that of fear, you might even want to scream and might try everything in the book to get out of there!

But lets rewind a bit, all that I said was: that you were in a dark room. A dark room is a dark room or a room without any light. Where does fear/ screams come from? That happens when you give a meaning inside your mind to the dark room with something weird and fearful. You have made your mind to believe that since its dark, now you gottu be cautious.

Relationships in life: the biggest deadlocks!

I have seen so many people and many a times have experienced it myself, how the best of relationships go kaput, while we all are in the space of standing upright for what we believe is right. The reality being everyone involved in that situation is doing the same thing. Everyone is thinking the same. Everyone is making the same move.

This simply is a deadlock. And it happens to the closest of the relationships. That with parents, with your life partners, with your Co-founders (in your business venture) and so on.

Someone at such times has to just simply understand that there is no meaning to anything in life and move on himself, while ensuring that everyone moves on and moves along. Now this is what I call a real winner. The one who just knows its all about moving on and never let situations which are meaningless, become meaningful in many weird ways for many different people.

But it hurts!

And yes, before you say it, I know it hurts. Iv been hurt many a times in life like this, but Iv learnt the art of keeping my relationships, because they are my life, they are why I live, I smile and I love life.

Love: that’s what I know and I do

Let me now give you something, which will never again let any deadlock ever appear in anything in life. The strongest human emotion without a doubt is Love. To be honest, I still say that Love again has no meaning to it. Its just another expression. And it is. Love but is something which you DO. Whatever it is, you still DO. And in life to move on all you need to do is DO.

Love makes you DO things by default. Many a times it hurts, but that’s something which comes along the package.

And Love has no reasons, no point, no start, no end. I am sure you must have heard of all this before in books, pages, videos, movies, but that’s the difference.

I have experienced it

Iv been lucky enough in my life that I have actually experienced Love. Something that I cannot share in words, but somehow the following words from a Punjabi Song, I heard sometime back:

Eh satinder jo gonda e gon de, e tan ho gaya shudai rolla paun de

bus pyar waali chhattri tu taan de, baaki rabb jo karenda kari jaan de

Translated in English: Satinder is the name of the singer who says, let Satinder sing whatever he has to, he has gone insane, let him scream n shout. Just put over him the cover of love and let God then do whatever he has to

The emotion has been captured perfectly in this song, which simply says when you fall in love in life, its about you falling in love and nothing else. It has no meanings to it. Move on, coz you fell in love, make the other do it

All said and done, was this a lesson on Love?

Hah! If that’s what you got out of it, then it was! It simply was about the fact that once you love something in life, whether your partner, your parents, your car, your venture, whatever, well, its your love, its your expression. Yes the other person/ thing might have become a part of your Loving happiness, but its always been your love!

So why fight and create deadlocks, when its always been your story! Be strong and come up to being 100% of what you fell in love with and don’t expect the other thing to give even a per cent of it. Be that love and you will never face deadlocks in life.

*the post is dedicated to my mom and wife, who have made me be in love and be powerful forever

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This post is by far one of the difficult most that Iv written. Never really that I have had a heavy heart before conjuring up my thoughts on what really to write and how to put it across.

And why am I giving it such a lot of thought?

Because this post is not about any thought leadership or any thoughts that I am sharing. This is certainly not about any gyaan and definitely not about what to do and how to do it?

I am sure by so many ‘Not’s’ you must have understood that the author must have gone through an experience in life, where he has surely learnt ‘what not to do’.

Bang on! That’s the learning. Today as I sit with myself remembering of the days when I was sitting with a friend in a small lone room in Delhi’s cold winters, with the window of the room still half broken, on a small desk. We were discussing start-ups and ventures. She was running a start-up while I was thinking about doing mine and we were discussing all of this over a cuppa tea!

That was the day when I told her what I want to do, what my strengths are and we sat about thinking of names, so many of them came by. It was like naming your own child. There was so much love, passion, thought around the name.

Finally the name came!

Until ROI!! Yes! That’s the company, I said. I had nothing in hand, nothing at all and armed with only a name and zillions of dreams which powered my guts at that time, I said this is a company I launch today and that company will be called: Until ROI. And that was the starting of a venture.

The first thing many of my seniors told me was dude, 98% of the start-ups don’t make it over 6 months in India and making it over 1 year for you will be almost impossible, as you don’t even have a penny to start with. You are cash-less in every sense of the word. And yes they were not wrong. I was cash-less in every sense of the word.

I anyway said, if this be it, let it be, I will anyway start. And I borrowed a laptop from one of my friends for a few days, sat in another friends’ office who was also running a start-up and I said, let me announce to the world that Until ROI has arrived!

And I created a website

To build a website you need cash! But well, I said, I can build a website with my dreams and so I did. Even till date, the official Until ROI website remains the same of what I did. Using the free wordpress platform, I learnt a bit of php myself and coded the site, thanks to WP

Thanks to Google, the official Email was set-up in a jiffy and did not cost anything at all. Well, this is what kicked in life into the dream called Until ROI.

But now we needed to do the real thing, business!

And it was time to contact customers and sales calls began

Well, yes it was now time to do business. Just having a website won’t suffice you as an entrepreneur. Leaving your job is one part of it, running a successful enterprise is another. I must thank, Rahul, Pooja, Aashita who lent me their support during the initial stages, coupled with my own brand that I had created in my previous role as a Social Media Evangelist in the market, Until ROI got its first break and we were in business. The first cheque we ever got was for INR 40,000.

And I was on top of the world! 40k was like wow!! It was a feeling which I celebrated by paying off for the laptop I had bought on an EMI for myself.

Scaling up: well, we invested into an Airtel Boardband connection for ourselves

The company had its second asset in the form of a broadband connection. Armed with a laptop, broadband, a chair and a table inside a store room, Until ROI started operations formally.

I never had the time to go ahead and register the company. Hence I went ahead with business while keeping it as a proprietary business. Yes it was difficult to make our first set of clients understand, why we are proprietary, but the clients kept faith in this one man and they said okay we will go ahead with you.

Did they test me, well yes they did. Why?

Social Media is something which is very new for the world even today, so thinking about doing it with a proprietary company 1.5 years back was sure a big thing.

And more clients started coming

We started getting more clients through referrals and I must thank many people here. Digbijoy, Avinash, Chandan, Rahul, Pooja, Aashita and others.

Strategically we also found some very amazing partners in Virtue Insight, some of the best people in business I know. Both Fen and Sarika have been great help!!

And we started growing

Slowly and steadily we started growing. And as we did, we shifted to a new office (3rd floor of my house) a fantastic looking room large enough to have 5 people sitting with ease, with a 5.1 music surround system, and a whole stack of books (library) we started operations from there. I remember how I used to see the open sky through the huge glass (which also acted as the glass board for planning and strategizing) and be inspired!

This inspiration took us to the next stage where we got the 1st actual on rolls employee on board. I remember the feeling even today when I told my parents, Im paying a guy 18k in my “2″ member company and everyone still used to say, its just another few months, josh thanda ho jayega!

I am thankful to Piyush and Vikas at this stage, along with Aseem, thanks guys, you all rocked!

Business Development was the next challenge: but how?

Before I come to the next level, I woke up one of the days to find a sweet LinkedIn message sent to me by someone at the world’s largest social network facebook, asking me to join fb India. We did have a telephonic conversation, but then I dropped my plans, as the entrepreneurial bug was biting hard.

Anyway, BD was our next challenge and I said, obviously being a 2 member team with 3 clients, probably we would not be able to scale up, so lets partner with events and so we did. We started LIVE blogging some of the largest corporate events in India and I must thank Avinash, Fen and Sarika for all their support in this case!

We were rolling and then something happened

At one of the largest events in the history of corporate India in Mumbai, I met the VP of Corporate Strategy of an emerging Indian IT company and we hit it off! He invited me to his office in Delhi and we had this company as a client! And I was on top of the world. What followed it was a strong relationship which brought in capital into Until ROI in the form of HNI investment into the venture and I said, nothing better could happen, money coming in, more experienced brains on board, this venture is a sure fire hit now!

Before accepting the offer I did speak to many people, took advice but my gut said its okay to go ahead with it and you are going to make it a success and we went ahead!

And a team of 2, we raised some amount!

Things started rolling for us. I was so happy seeing my ’2′ other team members (I hate using the word employee) sitting in a plush office ‘Until ROI’s’ office. We had RFID badges given to us and I always used to chuckle to my friends, come visit my office and remember to take your badge from the guard (all in fun)!

The dreams started getting bigger and well, we sure felt lucky to have some real experienced brains from the industry backing us.

With the backing of an investor we started seeing desi and videsi dreams.

And our learning began

My first brush with writing excel sheets, numbers, create Bplans and many other things happened. We rose from being a ’2′ member to a ’3′ member team. Clients started trickling in. The guards in my building never got to know my name, but they got to know me as, ‘woh sir jo raat ko 12 baje se pehle office se nikalte nahi’, jinke karan hamie bhi jaagna padta hai’

I used to love it all, all the action, passion, there was no sense of time, food, weather, security, it was all work and that’s what I loved doing.

And we made a Pvt. Ltd. company

Thanks to Vishwa and Ashwani, the moment I saw a legal paper saying Until ROI Consulting Pvt. Ltd. I was overjoyed. There were joys all around. Infact pretty much during this time, I worked with one of my close designer friends, to re-brand Until ROI and we designed the new logo, which was well appreciated!

We had our own share of success and failures

But this time around there were the investors to both support us and be reported to. I quickly realized that this is someone else’s money I am working on and I need to be very very careful with it. This is where I really thank my parents and they have always taught the lesson of being intelligent with money. Coming from an absolute non-business background, I was always jittery about working on someone else’s money.

We added Karun, Nidhi and Abhimanyu to the team quickly. These sure are cool people to work with. They took on Until ROI.

And this is where I learnt the biggest lesson of my life!

Choose your team members, not because they have a title well worth, but because they love doing what you do and with probably the same passion. because they are in the skin because they want to be. This has been one of my top learning’s till date. Today I just know why not to recruit someone and when to just draw the line.

I must thank Nidhi, who sure did help me learn a couple of tricks here.

Somehow it all started up great, everything was well formed, but somewhere down the line, there sure was that little feeling in the heart that we need to be stronger, need to be closer, need to be in each other’s hearts. Need to feel each other’s pain and be there for each other at all times.

And finally here I am

And finally here I am, no more with Until ROI Consulting Pvt. Ltd., today remembering all those times, some of the most exciting times of my life, which have taught me immensely. There have been some really amazing relationships that I have created with many people.

The company moves forward and I always wish the entire team all the luck and the best ever in life!!

And going forward

Before I step ahead, I must thank some very crucial people in my life who have given me everything. Mom, Aditi, Sarika, Dimpy, Anurag bhai, Digbijoy, Avinash and I must mention people who I have always looked upto and have met at least once in life: Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Deep Kalra, Vijay Shekhar Sharma. They are all some of the best people Iv always looked upto and will always keep doing it!

Going forward I will be working as an enabler to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India while consulting brands into their Digital Media strategy.

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Is there something called a perfect organisation?

While looking back at my personal experiences over years of both working for large organisations ranging from IT to BPO to Wealth Management to running my own enterprise today into Social Media and Business Processes, with this blog post, I intend to share my learnings, which answers this deep question, which I have been asked many a times by professors/ lecturers/ thinkers during my talks and lectures, is there something called a perfect organisation?

Before we answer it, lets go back to basics: what is an organisation?

One of the strong personal attributes I have developed overtime in myself is to learn by making things simple for myself. By breaking them down into simpler, more recognizable, more achievable, more understandable pieces of information.

Let me hence break the word ‘Organisation’ down and one of the inherent parts is: ORGANIZE. Organizing is a way of being. It could be as simple as organizing things around you.

In the context of a company organizing is all about working with people, all aligned to an over-arching vision. Its about building a powerhouse of people who collaborate and work together to achieve a common purpose and create an institution. All of them may join in with a separate purpose, they all might have a different definition of achievement and may also come on-board with different set of goals to achieve, but they all align together while creating a common vision.

But Is There a Perfect Organisation?

I believe so. Though just like life, as we all learn and keep learning and grow to be better and more evolved human beings, same goes with Organisations. Every organisation evolves and lets also keep in view, every start-up may kick-start with a business plan, which may not remain the same or even be near to what the start was a few years down the line.

Then what is Perfect, you may ask?

Valid question. What is perfect is the answer to the question on what is an organisation. Its about people. Its about the fact that as an Organisation and as the CEO/ Top management of the Organisation, you be one with the reality that each one of your people are different. They all come with different values and bring onto the table a whole new set of beliefs.

But then is it not a lot of work to manage so many expectations? Well, not really. Its about keeping the freedom of expression of your employees, giving it value and creating the right ecosystem around them to build upon the very many values they bring together and creating powerful opportunities.

But this is common gyaan, what is perfect in this?

Yes it is common gyaan! Lets re-visit our mythology a little. Lord Krishna’s story has a major mention of a form of dance which he used to perform with his loving female followers (gopiyan).

If you carefully observe the image above, you will see an ORGANISATION. Yes, Krishna stands right at the center of the circle. And mind you, its a dance that is happening. Its a platform where all the gopiyan (your employees) are set free to express themselves. They do it, not because of any rules set around them. They do it of free will. They do it for pure passion. They do it for the love of Krishna (employees work).

Its also said that Raas Leela used to happen at night time (which is a time which is when your offices don’t work (if you aint a BPO), an informal environment) a time when everyone is in their own element.

So now coming back to the Perfect Organisation: what’s perfect about the Raas Leela? Look at the circle around Lord Krishna. Its a perfect circle in which the Gopi’s dance. Thwy do it not because of a set rule that it has to be a circle, but because of adhering to a common over-arching reasoning which says that we would like to be all around our Love, Our Krishna.

What am I suggesting?

While running my own company, I am powerfully intending to set up an organisational structure, where employees are free to express themselves. They are empowered with the ecosystem around them, which allows them to quickly get into the groove of the over-arching vision, such that they don’t have to forcibly work hard in aligning themselves to the expectations of the organisation or work hard to set themselves to the organisational culture.

Instead, they become the Culture.

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Well, yes yesterday was the day which comes once in everyone’s life. Its shows you growing up, maturing over  period of time, creating new possibilities in life and what not!

The Pages of Life: Something about Turning 25

There is something about turning 25 and stepping into your 26th year. There is something about life taking a new turn, its like a new page opening in life, which calls out to you saying, im again blank and then you start scribbling many new chapters of times and life on the pages. The pages of life.

A Little Kid, Growing Up

When we were kids, we never used to think twice about something. Whether it was climbing trees while playing hide n seek or just gong berserk in rains and soaking in every drop of happiness that there is. We were fearless.

And that’s what Iv always liked about being a kid. And that’s how I operate in life, makes one, fearless. Makes you do things which are not so normal according to the real world. According to the world of grown ups.

And What Did I Learn, Turning 25?

Well, I am so sure my life has been put through such a major sudden change. Now I must admit, I was looking for this change to happen since a long time and I think its finally arrived. But as they say you never know what it is like, till the time it hits you, well, Yes, it’s hit me and Im happily just going with the flow, learning.

What Change?

Even before I talk about the change, its about the fact that I learnt a lesson, which is, that being a little kid makes you fearless, but what it also does is puts you into a whole new space which is full of so many grown ups that you feel that there is something that we grown ups talk about, a communication gap.

For Me Life Changed While Answering a Question: Who am I?

Yes! Life actually did answer me a question which is one of the most crucial questions for anyone! Who am I? Just like every normal person, I am playing many different roles in life, that of a Son, of a brother, of a friend and professionally as the CEO.

And Iv always been operating from just one take in all these spheres of life, which is being just the way I am.

And How did it happen?

Interestingly, God has plans which unfold in front of us, while we don’t even realize there are things happening. Things had started to change around me and were calling for a change to be accepted by me, within me, which I was aware of, but probably was too reluctant to be accepting and being present to it.

And then it happened, it started on 27th August and went on and on endlessly and effortlessly. While going out for a meeting on 27th I bumped into someone who is changing life, who is making me realize that there is not just me to myself.

I see smiles everywhere, everything is smiling around it seems and well that’s the way I am

The above line is not mine, but that’s what Iv come to realize.

What Iv come to realize and really really incorporate in my life is, the real meaning and the truth behind the word ‘stability’. Everyone talks about it. Everyone says you must have it. But there are a few in your life who actually understand you and make you realize that you know it, but you have been missing it, by just a small mark, but that small mark, you were not able to see clearly, as you were happy with what you are!

One of the biggest lessons of my life which this one person taught me over like a few days and many many hours is how to detached and still be as much attached to something. Until ROI, of which I am the Founding CEO, obviously when its your baby, you are always cautious and concerned, but what also becomes is you get so attached to your baby, that at times you overlook many a things.

What Iv Always Been Wishing for?

Iv always been wishing for someone who can help me be detached and still be as much attached. Someone who really makes me learn, how to control my excitement at times when Im just overjoyed and literally like a to little kid the excitement takes over my senses in those moments. And at these highly charged up and very excited moments, does one loses his sense of stability. At least I used to.

At many a times in life you need a strong perspective on things. A perspective so strong that it hits your own ego and shuts you up for a few minutes and makes you realize that there are other views to the same issue than your own.

I mean, this has been the biggest learning of my life. Today I am growing towards real stability coupled with patience and the right attitude. Iv learnt to how look at the same thing, which I used to just look at from my own vision, from many other views. Its about seeing something so close to yourself, from your eyes, but from a whole new perspective.

And How Has it Helped?

Well, this whole new perspective has changed my life. Changed my life, as now I am looking at all things existing and in the future from a different perspective. Its not about just me anymore. Its about learning from many new people in life. About how they see what Im seeing or trying to see.

What Do I See Now?

As I said above, well, now when I look upto the sky, what I see are smiles, clouds forming upto be smiles, the moon smiling back..

And Obviously I am Thankful to that One Person Who’s blasted my Ego and Made me Realize the Bigger Things in life. Sure this one person is going to be a part of many new wins and many more better moments in life

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Before I venture ahead into this post, I would like to extend an honest “Thank You” to everyone who has stood by me, towards raising up Until ROI. Though I may not be able to put all the names, let me try and recount all I can in the time I have:

My Mom, Kamal Sir (my graduate school professor), Avinash Raghava (the turning point of my professional life), Neha (a great support), Sarika (one who knows, I’d be too lazy to work on what she says always, till she scolds me bad ), Sonam Budhiraja (a great support to Until ROI), Akanksha Seth (a great friend), Gargi Sharma (a great support and a fantastic human), Geetu Mam (this is one lecturer whom I used to adore in college times , one lecture I never bunked)

The first turning point in life

Just a little over 3 years back I bumped online into someone who, with his insights and thoughts, actually helped me evolve as an individual. Avinash Raghava from NASSCOM. Avi has been both a mentor, guide and a friend of sorts.

I remember, when I had this super lucrative job offer from a large company, Avi called me up and actually helped me decide by saying: Paritosh, Job or Until ROI. And he said, if you utter Until ROI, well, we wont discuss the job part again. And we did not. And today Until ROI has challenges, but we are poised to create a success story, a part of India’s growth story!

Avi, as I call him, and many others too, extracted the best out of me by making me always push for raising my level of performance. And I am so thankful to him always for this.

The Second Time, Life Took a Turn

This one encounter with a gentleman called Rajiv Mittal, has been one of the steepest learning curves in my life. Rajiv Sir as I call him always, is a Mentor, not just to me but for Until ROI. He is one of the best people undoubtedly who you must work with once in your lifetime in the industry.

Rajiv Sir, has helped me evolve as an entrepreneur over the past 6 months and is now helping me transition into a well bred CEO. And Mind you, he’s not another mentor, who will come and share his insights. He actually has sat with me overnights, late at work, helping me work on various aspects of business, running a venture, raising capital and much more.

I am not sure about the others reading this blog, but how many times the mentor actually takes your work and does it?!

And well, in all honesty, its not really the fact that he’s just been a client, its a relationship on a different level. Try telling your boss/ mentor/ Chief, that I dont agree to you and go up against his views and put up a fight, well, chances are somewhere it snaps. With Rajiv Sir, its on the other level. We argue, we listen, we learn and at the end of the day Iv always actually seen that his experience wins. His insights into what may happen right/ wrong actually proves right.

For Emerging companies, having the right insights at the right time is very crucial and obviously you as an entrepreneur, must always be ready to learn and un-learn from such people in your life. Be open, and you will create magic faster!

I surely am excited to be on the path to raising up a successful enterprise and contribute to the nation’s growth thank you all again, look forward to your support always!

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