Turning Entrepreneur

I started a company called Invention Labs along with a few friends about three months ago. It had been on the anvil for close to a year and a half now, and we decided to take the plunge after a six-month period of intense evaluation of our individual and collective desires to start up. We also spent a good chunk of this time questioning and confirming the sanity of our ideas before quitting our current jobs and leaving behind comfortable lifestyles.

I have been asked by some of my friends to maintain a log of my experiences as a means of educating and even inspiring other like-minded people out there; and I have decided to accept their request. From time to time, when I get a chance, I shall be posting some anecdotes, insights, facts, frustrations, issues, etc that occur to me and hopefully it will be an interesting read. I will tag all such posts under entrepreneurship as I do occasionally blog about other stuff (don't judge me by my blogging history so far though :)

So it begins...........

I will dissect my reasons for turning entrepreneur to begin with; it is only fair to put things into perspective. Quite a few people were taken by surprise by my move; Some have gone to the extent of praising my guts. Well, I am sorry to disappoint these folks - my decision had nothing to do with guts or even glory for that matter.

I did leave a great job in the US to come back to India to start up, somewhat of a rarity although increasingly becoming easier. Reverse Migration is even recommended by some people !!! I am not going to do anything of that sort, just make it plain that it was not all that tough a decision for me.

First, I will start with a confession; I am a control freak. Most of my friends probably already know this, and have not said it to me too often as I apply this freakish behaviour mostly only to myself ;) If having a fiercely independent nature wasn’t enough, I need to constantly make sure, sometimes rather obstinately and foolishly, that I am in control of my life. Letting go of this so-called control is one of the hardest things for me to do; giving rise to my absolute aversion to getting drunk or dancing freely to any kind of music.

Well, one of the main reasons I have always wanted to turn entrepreneur is this need for control. Almost as soon as I stepped into the real world to work, I could sense a void forming in my life. There was a part of my life that was slipping out of control and had a mind of its own. I fell into the all too familiar whirlpool of delivering results, performance reviews and feeling 'busy'. Luckily, I got fed up of it the very first time I went through these !!!

I diagnosed this feeling to be the lack of an emotional attachment to my work; and that my sense of responsibility was making sure I did a good job at what was entrusted to me. That is when I started looking out seriously to figure out what to do in life. And I decided I will try something on my own, hoping it will be motivation enough for me to wake up each day and feel in control.

That led to a new problem; what can I do on my own? The magnitude of this problem to someone who has almost never had a real passion in life is mind-blowing. Luckily, Q came to my rescue. He had a much clearer idea (more like guideline) of what he wanted to do, and needed someone like me to help him achieve his vision. Perfect, I said and signed on instantly. There was no question in my mind ever that this was the thing to do. Of course, we did extensively plan and prepare ourselves for our move, and took the plunge only when we felt there was sufficient promise finance-wise.

Second comes my fortunate situation; I am the last child in my family with both elder brothers well settled. No financial obligations and a wonderful family which didn't question my actions even once. I am sure they have their own anxieties about me; I am also certain they will never let me know about it.

My minimal expectations for life's comforts comes third, as it had made me quite indifferent to earning money for the sake of it. I also did not harbour any qualms about the move back to India. I must say I had tons of fun in the US, but so did I when I was in India.

All of these made my decision to walk away rather simple.

But now that I am here, my life has definitely changed drastically, and I am enjoying every moment of it. I am still warming up to my new job and a few ambitious, altruistic and idealistic thoughts pass my mind from time to time.

So, my dear readers, if you do want to turn entrepreneur, my advice is to figure out exactly why you are attracted to that notion. You may be surprised to find the reasons and perhaps figure out that doing so is not as difficult as it seems !!!