Web Addiction Alert: Sudoku

Instead of building businesses, instead of making money, instead of writing blog posts, instead of following up with people . . . .

 

I am instead addicted to Web Sudoku.  At least it keeps my mind alert (according to my 89 year old grandmother)!

Vodafone, Google, Facebook - I HATE YOU

While I was in the U.S. I had my Vodafone India Blackberry turned on.  I did not make or receive any significant amount of phone calls but kept the phone on so I could receive email.  I have been using Vodafone for three years and I understand that the bulk of the roaming charges that I incur when I travel are usually from voice calls, not data usage. . . . I mean how much data does it take to send and receive an email.  Well, in reality, not much!

 

So why am I angry?  Because the Google Maps and Facebook applications on my BB ended up using INSANE amounts of data while I was roaming without me even knowing it!  Google Maps has a "current location" option that constantly updates your locations and in the process uses a lot of data.  Facebook updates photos of your friends into your contact book which, again, uses a lot of data.  I had no idea these features were even turned on! 

 

That brings me to Vodafone.  I have been a very high spending post-paid customer for three years - i.e. a high margin customer!  When I saw my bill I called Vodafone explaining the situation to see if there was something we could do . . . i.e. reducing the bill.  I assumed that being such a high paying customer would give me some leeway. I was completely wrong, there was nothing they were willing to do, even after I spoke to a few layers of "managers." I finally told them that I would just not pay the bill and instead get a new number with a different provider. They still didn't budge!

 

One of my friends told me that i should have just reported the phone as stolen and they would send a new sim and redact the charges.  Damn! I should have tried that first. I tried this method only after I had given them the prior explanation so it obviously didn't work.

 

So I'm torn . . . should I pay the bill or should I just leave it and go . . . . FYI the bill was >40,000!

The Daily Struggle – an Emotional Rollercoaster

In a “corporate” job where you always answer to somebody more senior then you (and, more importantly, where responsibility can be passed off).  As a struggling entrepreneur, I am always, and only, answerable to myself.  This makes for a very bipolar emotional rollercoaster because all of my successes and failures are magnified . . . .

 

In the morning I may “sit around” and answer a few emails, but I will still feel unproductive because no “progress” is being made, no money is coming in, or no milestone is being reached.  Furthermore, some new risk or potential barrier usually emerges.  I’ll feel lazy, apathetic, and generally horrendous.  Then, BAM!, all of a sudden a new tangent, a new opportunity, or an improvement to an idea – generally progress – emerges.  Over the course of the last couple weeks this “BAM” comes during a “networking” meeting where one of my ideas is disected and some solution or new approach is suggested.  The excitement of new opportunity or a light at the end of the tunnel is heavenly! 

 

Is there prozac for entrepreneurs?  Well, at least I have Yoga!

Dr. Strange(looking)Jew or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Indian Entrepreneur

Although I have just "Left the Corporate” so to speak, it is interesting to speak with friends of mine who are still in the business of investing.  I can already see a difference in perspectives on how to approach "investing” (both in terms of time and money) . . . . Financial hilarity ensues (for those of you who do not get it, don’t worry, you are probably not financially savvy!):

 

Azeem: So here are the 8 ideas I have, 3 of them I am more serious about; think service businesses focusing on a transfer of knowledge . . . you know, consulting.  I need cash dude!

 

Joe: Ummm, none of those ideas are scalable . . . i would never invest

 

Azeem: I need cash!  I don’t care if they are scalable, I can figure out how to expand the business model later.  Baby steps!

 

Joe: Look, just build me a scalable idea and then spend all your savings and max out your credit card debt for the next two years until you hit it big . . . that’s how the Americans do it!

 

Azeem: Worst advice ever. I don’t want to gamble away my ENTIRE savings (which, incidentally is small anyways)

 

Joe: You’re so Indian

 

And finally . . . . do you get the title now?  The title is a parody of Dr. Strangelove??? Come on people!

Scared, Frustrated, Lazy – Focus on the SMALL Picture

I am scared, frustrated, lazy. I have no job, no cash flow, and no confidence in my ability to build my own business. While I have no dearth of ideas, achieving / building my own company to the place where it would match my idea / conception would take years!

 

What I need to do, I think, is focus on the SMALL picture, i.e. the first step, the first cashflow, the first client / customer. I have never built a business completely on my own and I need the confidence of some cash in the door before I can scale up and build the big businesses I want to.

Don’t worry though, just because I feel like *$%@ it doesn’t mean I’ll go back to the corporate!

5 Weeks Later – Summer Camp was a Success!

As a quick refresher, after I left NSR I spent a month in Mumbai doing my own version of a summer camp and then spent 5 weeks running around the US visiting everyone I know and attending some important life-events (weddings, reunions, etc) . . . . . you can catch up here and here

 

During my five week – and I hesitate to say this – vacation, I made pretty good use of 3 out of the 5 “lessons” from my Summer Camp.  To clarify, “using” a lesson means not only practicing or playing, but also talking about – is in cocktail party faire.  Leaving India directly after Summer Camp made it tough to actually execute on all the lessons.

 

Yoga was by far the skill that I used the most – both by practicing and in discussion.  I used Yoga routines in the place of a regular aerobic / weight lifting gym routine.  Since you can do Yoga almost anywhere, it is much easier to workout “on the road.”  It also makes a great topic of conversation! 

 

I unfortunately did not have a chance to go sailing or play a game of bridge during my travels but knowledge of both were great conversation topics and helped make a connection with some great people.

As for cooking and Hindi, both were utterly unused during my foray.  I had no opportunity (nor did I want to) cook a meal and obviously it would be tough to speak Hindi with people who do not understand it.

 

So it seems that I have some traction with at least 4 of the skills I tried to learn (Hindi is a given) even during a 5 week hiatus.  I would say that Summer Camp was a resounding success. 

Welcome Back (to the grind?)!

For those of you who did not know, I have been on a whirlwind tour of in the U.S. for the past five weeks visiting friends, relatives and former colleagues as well as attending a wedding and my 5th year college reunion.  I’m back in Bombay (finally!) and will post on a regular basis from now on . . . . .

I have to say that while I was looking forward to a relaxing vacation, I came back far more exhausted then when I left.  Spending three days per city over the course of five weeks is tiring!  In each city I had scheduled up to five meetings a day to catch up with friends.  Additionally, I was able to meet some new friends along the way – people who have done interesting things with their lives (both inside and outside “the corporate”). 

So I’m back!  Look forward to more posts from me soon . . . .

Adios for Now - I'll Be Back in a Month

To all of my loyal readers (maybe 3??). I'm off to the U.S. for 5 grueling and fun weeks of visiting friends, attending weddings and my 5th year college reunion . . . .

What does this mean? It means that I probably won't be posting for the next month or so. I'm sure i'll have some delicious stories when I get back so stay tuned . . . . .

“What do you do?”

Whether I am at a business networking event or just hanging out with my friends at a bar, somebody (or everybody) will always ask me a scary and sometimes boring question - “What do you do?” 

 

This kind of question generally comes at the beginning of a conversation with a new person or at a lull in an ongoing conversation.  It is both a way for somebody to get some context as well as find something familiar to talk about so the conversation can continue.  Personally, I like to ask ridiculous questions like - “What is your SECOND-most passion in life?” 

 

Now if somebody asks me “what do you do?”  I tell them exactly what I am currently doing – “I’m retired” or “I’m searching for my soul” (those of you that know me understand why I can’t put my most favorite and third answer on this blog!).  Generally the shock value of these statements is completely worth quitting my job over.  What I am trying to do is create an answer that engages people in conversation and makes me the center of attention (which I really like).  Most people I talk to think I’m lucky or want to know how/why. 

 

The bottom line is – when you are having a conversation with somebody and are trying to keep them engaged.  Don’t follow the standard patterns of conversation (“what do you do?”) but try to talk about something you are passionate about!

Honesty IS the Best Policy (except . . . . . )

Here is a great article that everyone should read.  John Loeb is spot on.  I want to dive a little bit further into his “rule no. 9:” “A reputation for fair and honest dealing will be your greatest asset.”  While I might not always follow “rule no. 9,” I am generally very honest with people in my personal and professional relationships.  BUT, I find that this honesty gets me into trouble sometimes . . . .

 

The reason I get into trouble is that I have a tendency to be bluntly honest.  I say the EXACT truth instead of using strategies to mitigate the harshness of my honesty.  Like any good Management Consultant, my father has tried to teach me two ways to avoid getting myself into trouble when speaking the truth:

1. Change the tone of the discussion (i.e. say “that isn’t quite right” vs. “YOU are wrong”)
2. Wait a day before making the comment – you will generally think over the statement or situation and be able to approach it in a more constructive way vs. an accusatory way

 

I have noticed that in my personal life, being bluntly honest should be mitigated with the above two techniques because individuals tend to be more sensitive to their friend’s opinions (especially women – please please I know I'm generalizing so don’t get mad!).  On the professional side, though, I have gained a lot of long-term good will from telling the precise truth, no matter how much it hurts.  People will trust that I am giving them my full opinion instead of skirting around an issue or flat-out lying.  Over the course of my career at NSR I definitely raised a lot of hell about certain issues I didn’t agree with but my relationship with my former colleagues actually grew rather then suffer.  In fact, even if there was some sort of professional issue, my personal relationship with my colleague’s did not suffer – i.e. no awkwardness in grabbing some drinks even if we were in the middle of a professional spat.  I think my father still finds this astounding because he knows how blunt I can be!  My advice is to develop a reputation for blunt honestly so that people expect it. 

Follow Up on Information Sharing and Networking in India

I have received some interesting comments in response to my take on networking and information sharing in India . . . .

 

Nitin Sacheti, a former Uchicago classmate of mine, says:

there’s definitely a smaller circle in India amongst which people more freely share ideas but I think the difference in comfort levels in sharing ideas is solely a function of the number of capital allocators in the financial world of a particular country. I think that if you look at it on a size basis---IE look at the total number of people in india that are in the 2-3 degree base and compare that to the same number of people in the US that are at the top of the financial stratosphere, you’ll see that information is just as easily disseminated, but the difference is in the US, it’s a lot harder to break into that small group of people bc it’s so much wealthier and older. I also think that because of the stricter government regulations and easier monitoring of the financial markets in the US, it makes people more guarded with information. I find that when many people who work for large public cos, find that I work for a hedge fund, they are much more guarded about work stories bc there’s a more concrete risk/consequence to sharing information so openly—ala Sarbanes oxley.

 

I fully agree with Nitin – SarbOx and the culture of litigation makes American business-types more likely to restrict information sharing.  Furthermore, it is much easier to break into the financial / business community in India.  I should say, though, that my aggressive personality does help – i.e. I have no qualms in repeatedly sending people emails until I get a meeting.  At NSR and even with my parents sometimes, I send emails with “PLEASE READ AND RESPOND” tagged on to the end of the subject line. 

 

Ravi Gurnani, a good friend and winetrepreneur, says:

try sharing or getting some information out of the any govt departments.. extracting info from the authorities is like drawing water out of a stone.. thats when you realise its the extreme opposite to this scenario

 

With my minimal amount of experience at dealing with the Indian government, I would have to agree.  If you have a personal relationship (or are able to build a personal relationship) with these officials, though, I would imagine that extracting information would be easier. 

Impossible is Nothing? and other Irrelevant Questions that Add Absolutely No Value

The last portion of this Seth Godin blog post talks about the two types of questions encountered at a meeting:

1. Questions designed to honestly elicit more information
2. Questions designed to demonstrate how much you know or your position on an issue and to put the answerer on the defensive

 

I think that Investment Bankers are bred to ask the second question and furthermore, the “CYA” (cover your ass) mentality is drilled into you from the moment you start as an analyst or associate at any investment bank.  That was the state I was in before I quit banking and ultimately ended up in Private Equity – I didn’t even know that being curious could add value!  I very quickly learned from the NSR founding partners that “question number 2” and the general CYA mentality would not take me very far.  Ironically, it really was our former Mckinsey senior associates who helped me fully understand how to add-value with questions rather then demonstrate knowledge.  I say ironically because I found myself doing a bit of “CYA” towards the end of my tenure at NSR – obviously because once I decided to leave, my motivation level wasn’t all there (see!  that is typical CYA).  Truth be told, if you are generally interested in a subject or a project you will likely find yourself naturally more curious and willing to “dive deeper” to gain more knowledge.  I’m just going to have to find something that I truly love doing to completely get rid of this banker mentality!

How to Get Information in India (or Why India is Better than the U.S.)

Getting important and relevant information that I require (both personally and professionally) in India is much easier then getting it in the U.S.  A lot of information can be found from a Google search but to make it contextually relevant you generally require someone’s opinion – and one that you trust.  I have found that getting in touch with these “experts” and getting information from them is very very easy in India.

 

Let me preface this post by making two comments.  When I refer to professional and social networks I am referring those in a specific strata of society – people who generally make what a NYC professional would make (no, not a banker) or live that lifestyle due to family wealth.  There just aren’t that many people making / having that much money in India.  Secondly, I am making generalizations to make a point but there are a lot of exceptions to the rule (not enough that I can’t make the generalization). 

 

So this group of people who don’t have any problem with money are a small group that tend to socialize and do business with each other.  This makes for a very small very interconnected network.  The law of “six degrees of separation” becomes three at a maximum!  It also creates an environment where it is very easy to reach people who have the knowledge that you are seeking – all it takes is a few phone calls.   

 

The small network of people who are very interconnected is a large part of why information is disseminated so fast and effectively in India but is by no means the only one.  I have found that the concept of “networking” – who you know and who you can connect to each other – commands a high amount of value in relationships in India.  You can win a lot of business by knowing the right people vs. having the best product (I know, this is a BIG generalization).  Furthermore, Indians in this strata of society are less guarded with their opinions and much more open to talking about themselves and their businesses – as compared to Americans.  I have found that as soon as you demonstrate some small piece of knowledge on a relevant topic, the person you are trying to get information from will find your knowledge gratifying and really “open up.”

 

From learning about some random scoring system in Bridge to the number of telecom towers a small independent tower company has, I can get the information more quickly and with a lot more accuracy than I was able to in the U.S.  The real dent in my argument is that I have been out of the U.S. for three years and have also grown personally and professionally.  Well, I'm going back next month for a one month trip . . . Let’s see what I think when I get back . . . . .

Summer Camp has Begun – Maintaining the schedule without committing to another person is tough!

Instead of diving right into a new venture (although I am thinking about what to do constantly) I have set up a “summer camp” of sorts for myself for the next month.  The PLAN (and i stress plan for reasons I will explain below) is as follows:

- Conversational Hindi classes – three times a week for one hour

- Yoga classes – twice a week in the morning for one hour

- Cooking classes – 2-3 times a week for 1-1.5 hours

- Sailing classes – 2 times a week for 2-3 hours

- Bridge classes – 3 times a week for 1 hour

 

Only the Hindi and Yoga classes are actually paid for, fully scheduled classes.  Cooking “class” is with our home cook, sailing classes is regular sailing with a “tindel” on-board who does not speak a work of English and bridge classes are, as of now, non-existent (though I am spending time reading and learning online).  It has not been for a lack of trying though!

 

I am afraid that without having a set, committed, schedule with a teacher that i have paid for, it will be tough to maintain my motivation.  Having that monetary pressure plus feeling of responsibility to another person makes it more likely that I will learn.  Take bridge, for example – I started by scheduling an hour of time for myself at home.  First lesson was easy but with all the distractions I have on my computer it is easy to slip. 

 

If any of you have any other ideas of how to keep myself motivated please do let me know!

End of an Era: My Last Day at NSR – It has been a pleasure!

Forgive me, I have been trying to send out an email to everyone outside of NSR informing them of my new contact info but unfortunately the NSR server won’t let me send out so many emails at once.  More importantly (for me) stupid Facebook won’t let me export the email addresses or at least send a mass fb message to all my friends.  What a pain.  Regardless below is the email I sent to NSR – I believe it has the right touch of humor and good will to maintain my bridges with them going forward.  Look for an email from me with my new contacts as soon as I figure out a solution.

 

Dear All,

As my tenure at NSR comes to an end I have had the chance to reflect on the my past 2 years here; I am proud of the firm and how much progress we have made.  I remember my initial few months with the firm in early 2007 when we had offices in the Hilton towers and were doing everything from looking for deals to designing offices (and in my case, buying the coffee machine – thank you very much!).  Since then we have made significant progress in becoming a world-class private equity firm and have some of the smartest investing professionals in India.  We have also established some great investment screening and monitoring processes (which we always strive to improve).  Most importantly, we have developed great personal and professional relationships with all of our colleagues (from Mumbai to NYC to Dubai; from founding partners to Assistants). 

 

I think I am a better person for having worked with you all both because I grew my professional skill set and because I have made some great friends.  I will really miss this place and I hope that I get the chance to work together again with some of you in the future (I envision a future where I can boss Harsha and Nithin around!). 

It is unclear what my plans are for the future but I intend to do a little bit of “soul searching” and obviously have some fun (re: bridge classes!) before I figure out what the next step is.  Importantly, I plan to remain in India where I feel the maximum amount of opportunity lies.

 

I plan to keep in touch with all of you and insist that you be nice when I call you to ask for advice, introductions or most importantly cash! 

Crayon Physics Deluxe and the Art of NOT Being Embarrassed by Childish Things

I know this is going to sound very nerdy . . . . . over the last two weeks as I have finished transitioning my projects on to other colleagues I have found myself with some free-time.  I was thinking about how much fun Lego and those Meccano / Erector sets were when I was a kid so I started searching for similar games / toys I could play on my computer.  I quickly found a piece of software that Lego released but unfortunately it isn’t as fun online as it is in real life. 

 

So that got me thinking . . . what is it about these “engineering” and “construction” toys that I like.  So, as a natural electrical or mechanical engineer (which I'm not which is why this is so nerdy), I started doing searches for PC games with good “physics engines.”  As expected, Line Rider, a game we have all seen at one point (I hope!) came up fairly high on the search rankings.  Two great games, though, also came up.  The World of Goo and Crayon Physics Deluxe.  They are absolutely stunning games and are even more phenomenal when played on a tablet PC.

 

The World of Goo is like a Meccano set where you have to build structures made of “goo” across bridges and fire-pits, etc to get them to the other side, as it were.  There are a lot of twists and turns a long the way that change the properties of the “goo balls” which make it fun, also the graphics are quite good.  If you play this game at work and nobody knows what it is, people will definitely think you are doing something NSFW just due to the name. 

 

Crayon physics deluxe basically makes you draw structures (lines, levers, pulleys, etc) that help in moving one crayon drawn ball towards a crayon drawn star.  You win each level by hitting the star with the ball.  The items you draw follow the laws of gravity and that is what makes the game fun.  The word “crayon” in the name of the name of the game should serve as a warning that the game looks like a piece of construction paper with crayon drawings on it.  It is basic, it looks childish, but it is amazing.

 

Waiting in the Mumbai airport waiting to go to Dubai for an NSR offsite, I whipped out my tablet laptop and told my colleagues to check out CPD (what I call Crayon Physics Deluxe – I know, don’t say it).  Now at first they were extremely skeptical  and chided me on my childishness and nerdiness (when I explained how I found the game).  Since they couldn’t go anywhere I had them watch me play a level.  They were a bit skeptical but still saw how I could find it fun.  When I put the tablet pen in their hands and told them to play they were absolutely addicted!  It was so funny to see three grown men fighting and whining over who got to play the next level.  I’ve beaten the entire game and the entire Analyst / Associate pool is not far behind me. 

 

So that brings me to the moral of this story.  Childishness is good?  Well, I'm not sure what the moral is but hey, once you figure it out, tell me!

Reflecting on Two Years at New Silk Route

I was the first Junior hire my NSR made and, as such, have seen the firm grow from a startup where hierarchy structures and decision making processes weren’t defined to an institution with defined processes and what I would call a “loose hierarchy.”  Over the past weekend, I went to Dubai with NSR for one of our bi-yearly off-sites where we, as a firm, reflected on our development as a firm, discussed and debated our portfolio companies, and made decisions on how to move forward as a firm and with our portfolio companies.  The time also gave me a chance to reflect over my own development over the past two years. 

 

Interestingly, I realized that I enjoyed my first year at NSR a bit more then my second year.  Being the only junior team member among five India partners (now four) and four “founding” partners put me in a very important position where my time and decisions were very valuable.  My initial decisions helped to create our current processes and team; my visibility to the senior team was very high.  This, I think, made me feel very important and valuable – that feeling decreased somewhat my second year. 

 

Don’t get me wrong, my second year at NSR was great and I truly enjoyed it – just not as much as my first year.  As our processes became more defined and our team grew bigger, my visibility decreased and thus I felt less important to the firm.  This is natural since we hired some phenomenal senior associates who have much more experience at running processes, doing analyses and managing teams.  I have learned a lot from them but the trust and interaction with the senior team increasingly flowed through the senior associates because they were smarter and more responsible!

 

The lesson,I think, is to convince them to elect me as a Partner!  For now, I’ll just keep exploring what types of jobs / industries I could enjoy.  My sense is that I am more suited for that “startup” type of environment.

Going all “John Galt” on Obama

Robert Tracinski (a fellow University of Chicago Graduate) the editor of The Intellectual Activist, an Objectivist web publication, points out that the mainstream media in the U.S. has started using some of Ayn Rand’s “Objectivist” language to describe the heavy increase in government scope since Obama came into power in the U.S.  John Galt is one of the main characters in Atlas Shrugged (see my earlier post) who leaves the system and goes on strike – against a centrally planned government, of course.  I bet if Ayn Rand were still around she would see an easy path from Obama’s “Big Government” to Stalin’s centrally planned economy.  And we all know what happened to Stalin’s regime! 

 

One of my good friends hates Ayn Rand and the philosophy of Objectivism.  He hilariously points out that Ayn Rand is “the sort of person who a smarmy Florida patent attorney quotes to justify his obscene living.”  That aside, Obama has re-energized a large portion of the American population (and global population too) who did not believe, or were just tired of, the political system.  His youth and ability to speak have persuaded people that there is an actual vision for the future; something which is tangible.  The die has been cast as to whether the future will turn out the way he wants!

Transitioning out of the Corporate – My last Month with New Silk Route

This is my last month as a full-time employee at New Silk Route (“NSR”).  I am very excited and scared to leave the firm – I was the first junior guy they hired and really feel like I have had a significant impact in how the firm has grown.  I am sad to leave this small team of people that I respect and continue to learn from on a daily basis but I understand that I need the “threat” of zero-income to motivate me to make money in some other way! 

 

Leaving a small, tight-knit, firm like NSR is tough.  There are no formalized transition processes as I am the first non-Partner to leave the firm.  As I transition my portfolio company responsibilities to my colleagues, I have learned the value of my knowledge-base and contact-base within the firm, with our portfolio companies and with the universe of service companies we work with on a daily basis (auditors, bankers, consultants, etc).  I wish I had done this type of exercise before – it has helped me to understand how valuable I am to my peers and bosses.  Don’t get me wrong, my colleagues will be able to manage easily without me but there will be at least a few months of a learning curve to get up to speed.  Additionally, my motivation to work and quality of work since I decided to leave has waned a bit so the threshold to meet will be lower.

 

So what will I miss?  I will miss working with some very smart people on a daily basis (both Partners and Non-Partners).  The junior pool of people in India are not only my colleagues but also my friends.  I will see them after work and on the weekends after I leave but I won’t have the benefit of interacting with them on an informal basis during the workday.  I have also realized that I will miss being in the “flow” of business information – seeing new companies, talking to entrepreneurs and VIPs, etc.  A few friends of mine and I are working on a way to maintain this “flow” of information but I will talk about that in a future post . . . .

 

Keep coming back for more!

What to Do With Your Life Besides Make Money and Outperform Your Peers

Since I graduated from college and began my “corporate life” I have never taken a step back to determine what my personal goals and aspirations are.  From a professional perspective it was easy to fall into the trap of comparing myself to my peers in terms of performance and pay.  Thus, the goal became to outperform my peers both operationally and in terms of the amount of money I could make.  I never gave a thought as to why I was making money – to what end?  Nor did I really think about what exactly is it that I would enjoy to do!

 

Two years ago as I was leaving my job at Merrill I began to feel that I needed to find a better “purpose” in my life, not to find the “answer” but to figure out what I wanted vs. what society told me I wanted.   Being aware of these thoughts is tough because finding an answer is REALLY tough.  I ultimately fell back into the trap of working for money and prestige precisely because the answers are tough to find; it is easier to ignore the answers then to confront them head-on.  Tim Ferriss’s book the Four Hour Work Week really helped me open my eyes and think about the “why” and “what” by giving a structured method to think about my life goals.  At the beginning of the book he asked direct questions that helped tackle my fears and define worst-case scenarios.  This exercise ultimately freed me to think about all of the positive possibilities / outcomes as well. 

 

After defining my biggest fear – to lose my entire net-worth and the respect of my friends and family (realizing of course that losing the net-worth is much easier then losing the respect of my friends and family) – I proceeded with Tim Ferriss’s dreamscape exercise.  Basically I had to think about what my ultimate life-goals would be in the next 6 months in an ideal world (where I would not have to worry about money).  Very simple for me -

1. Spend a month in Buenos Aires
2. Learn how to cook
3. Learn Hindi properly
4. Learn Bridge
5. Get my own fully furnished apartment on rent (I'm talking a really NICE place!) in Mumbai

 

Based on this initial list I had to figure potential costing and a definite way to prove that I have achieved the goal -

1. spend a month in Buenos Aires (USD 1,500 round trip –> ~USD 6,000 total spend including rent)
2. Prepare an Indian meal for my family alone (lessons free from my cook!)
3. Speak to my cook for five minutes without stuttering or pausing to translate in my head (~INR 5,000)
4. Play bridge for an hour with my dad and his friends (~INR 5,000 for a teacher)
5. Apartment on rent (~INR 50,000 per month)

 

Now with realistic actionable goals and an understanding of the end-product (for skills learned especially) it makes it easy to break down these tasks into smaller and more actionable items.  I can also see from the above list what goals are realistic and what goals I will need more money for.  More importantly, though, I realized that I can achieve my dreams for less then I thought (if I were to spread the costs over 6 months it would be INR 100,000 per month [including a 30% buffer for extra expenses]).  Going back to my obsession with GTD, this type of thinking is helpful because now I can define specific steps to achieve my goals vs. being paralyzed by larger less general objectives. 

 

Now the key is, how do I make enough money to afford an apartment and go to Buenos Aires.  I am going to start learning my new skills next week!

Knowledge by Trial and a Review of Objectivism

I read Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead many years ago but definitely did not understand the philosophy.  Now, while I read Atlas Shrugged, which is especially relevant in the current economic situation, I have a much better understanding of the Objectivist philosophy – but certainly not enough to defend it in a rigorous philosophical debate, I could probably do it at a cocktail party, though.  700 pages into the book and I am drawn to the Objectivist philosophy because I believe in the idea of “Relative Value” and “Selfishness.”  These are concepts that were hammered into me while studying Free Market Economics at University of Chicago.

 

As a good University of Chicago student, though, I am always looking for a flaw in the argument.  I keep getting the gnawing feeling during certain scenes that there are contradictions and false premises but am just not smart enough or perceptive enough to articulate them . . . yet.  “Check your premises” is what Francisco d’Anconia (one of the protagonists in Atlas Shrugged) always says. 

 

So l searched for critiques of Objectivism and was directed towards Greg Nyquist.  I have only read his introduction and a few portions of his blog and I have to say that it is really tough to find an easy simple summary of his critique.  In what I have read of his work, I keep seeing the same type of “verbal web” that he criticizes Rand for – i.e. complicated ideas with long words that I need to keep consulting a dictionary for.  There are many large terms – metaphysics, epistemology, etc. which I do not understand.  Maybe the lesson is that I cannot look for the absolute right or wrong answer, just the RELATIVE inconsistencies in both Author’s arguments – that is a pure Objectivist philosophy though!  Regardless I will finish the book and also read Nyquist’s critique in full to get a better understanding. 

 

Part of the introduction of his book is online and in a base criticism of Rand’s “verbalism” he says the following – which I agree with fully:

“Knowledge comes, not from words, but from experience. The knowledge of any complex skill, whether it is cooking, judging the motives of other people, or writing a novel, can only be learned from immersing oneself in the activity from which the knowledge springs. To learn how to cook, you go into the kitchen; to learn how to judge the motives of other people, you begin by sharply observing those around you; to learn how to write a novel, you read other novels and attempt to write some of your own. Of course, learning in this way is difficult and time-consuming. Hence the appeal of philosophers who, like Rand, declare that knowledge comes from words. It is very flattering to think that, once one masters the vocabulary of a given subject, one has mastered the subject itself. Yet it should be obvious to anyone who has given the matter serious thought that, just because you are familiar with, say, the general concepts of cooking, this does not mean that you know how to cook. Knowledge of cooking must derive, not from the terms in which cooking is described, but from cooking itself”

To gain knowledge you have to participate and experiment in the physical activity itself.  Time for me to get crackin’ . . . . 

I am finding it tough to make lots of money by doing minimal amounts of work

I really wish I knew a way to make a lot of money where I could do minimum amounts of work.  That would be ideal.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know . . . . .

 

One of the great parts about David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” (GTD) productivity system is that it forced me to break my tasks down into smaller manageable, and more importantly, ACTIONABLE tasks.  Over the last two years it has really help me increase my productivity at work and home and also make me feel like I am in control of my life. 

 

The system has worked well for me in a job where my objectives were reasonably well defined and thus the expectations and tasks were also well defined.  When your objective is less defined (i.e. making a lot of money by doing minimal amounts of work!) it is tough to find clearly defined tasks to accomplish your end goal.  For instance, the obvious first way is to start researching some “concepts” on the web.  Fine.  Now identifying compelling opportunities is very tough because there are a lot of qualitative as well as quantitative measures that you can use and they change on an idea to idea basis.  So, how am I supposed to choose a way to accomplish the overarching goal when I can’t rate the different ideas because they have complex ratings mechanisms that are not even comparable to one another.  The end result is complete and utter standstill . . . . zero productivity (check out the link, how hilarious is this)!

 

Let us say for a moment, that I was able to find something worth trying.  The next step presents an even  bigger problem.  You typically have to do something you have never done before AND spend money dong it.  Now without any sort of income (since I have “left the corporate” so to speak) I can’t bring myself to spend even one cent on a business where I have not already proved the return potential – that means I’m already refining my search to the “getting something for nothing” category which I anyways believe is just not workable. 

 

What I keep hearing from successful, for budding entrepreneurs is that you don’t know what will work until you have tried it – and you have to expect a bit of failure.  You need to learn from your mistakes and TRY OUT your new ideas!  I think I'm just stalling because I’m scared to try new things.  I bet that by the end of March when the prospect of zero-income fully hits me I’ll probably start trying new things in earnest.

Public Sector Incompetence and Private Sector Vitality

“The confusion and disorganization of the city’s response to an invasion by as few as ten terrorists was a sharp reminder that India’s public sector has little of the entrepreneurial vitality of the newly liberated private sector” – Jonathan Foreman, deputy editor of standpoint from his article “India’s time of reckoning” [Sorry unfortunately I could not find a free copy of the article online]

 

My parent’s generation and their elders used to view the Indian Government as a place where very smart intellectuals and high achievers would go to become powerful and successful.  The Indian Administrative Services attracted the most talented people in the country, as determined by extremely intensive exams.  I don’t know numbers but I’m sure that just like the IIT/IIM system you get a less then 1% ratio of people who take the exams to people who get a spot in the IAS. 

 

Since the “Independence” generation there has been a definite change in the perception of the Public Sector.  In fact, my generation would much rather choose a career in the Private Sector not only due to money but also because the perception of impact that you can make on the sections of the Public that could use help.  In fact, most of my friends who want to do Public Sector work in India would do it through an NGO instead of direct Government service work. 

 

My generation perceives the government as a barrier to growth, as a hindrance to progress.  It is slow, it is annoying and it is ugly.  Politicians are perceived to be sleazy.  Remember, though, that there is a difference between a politician and a bureaucrat – I think that there the perception of politicians spills over to the bureaucratic side of government.  Regardless, bureaucrats are not known for their efficiency, flexibility or forward thought.  This perception is unfortunate for obvious reasons.  In India it is tough to find smart young bureaucrats or politicians – it is just not an appealing enough sector to attract young and dynamic personalities. 

 

The idea of hierarchy and age-based promotion has been vanishing from the private sector.  The focus on merit based earnings and achievement has really helped drive the “entrepreneurial vitality” that Jonathan Foreman mentions above.  What the Indian Government needs to do is revive this spirit and renew the ranks of the bureaucracy with young, smart and motivated individuals.  How?  I have no idea but certainly it can’t be a monetary based motivation – the private sector, for the time being, will pay significant amounts more for talent. 

 

But wait – The Economist says that maybe its because “many young people prefer pleasure-seeking to politics” – well, it does make a good read . . . .

 

On a personal note – I am afraid of dealing with government officials in India because I do not understand how to deal with the bureaucracy in an efficient manner.  As I go through the process of starting a new company I will likely have to hire “agents” and use friends to navigate my way through certain regulatory hurdles, etc. 

The Birth of the Anti-Capitalist and the Hilarious Capital Consequences on Me

“But Trader Monthly did, and it limned the trader so that all might behold his glory. A trader was a sort of embodiment of the primal drama of capitalism; not just an überconsumer, but a bullying, self-maximizing, wealth-extracting he-man, a lout in full.”

 

I’m in the middle of reading Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and this sort of language reminds me exactly of the antagonists in the book.  When the going gets tough, people who make or made money are considered the enemy.  Now, in the current scenario, some of these guys did push us towards a financial crisis . . . . but hey, this makes for good reading. 

 

What is the direct effect on me?  Well, I was randomly asked to publish an article a few months ago about what you could do in Mumbai if you had only three hours on the ground.  It was published in Trader Monthly here.  Unfortunately the original is much better and can be found in this blog – here. 

 

Unfortunately – and true to the capitalist form – Trader Monthly – has gone belly-up (you have to read the rest of the article).  Guess it wasn’t efficient use of capital but luckily it will be shut down and capital can move on to more efficient places.  My article will thus be taken offline.  Luckily this blog can save the original!  It is funny to think that the death of a self-maximizing publication about self-maximizing people has gone bankrupt. 

Three Hours in South Mumbai – The Original

Below is the original draft of an article I wrote for Dealmaker Magazine in October 2008.  The published article is here but they cut out a lot of the original content which, in my opinion, makes the article flow better.  There were some space restrictions on their part so it is understandable. 

 

Just an initial note – Bombay is not a hub for any major airlines, just a destination so layovers are very rare. Even when they do happen, it is extremely tough for guests to leave the airport (those damn Bombay police, etc.). What I have laid out below will be for businessmen (or women!) who have meetings in the financial centre of Bombay.

 

So Bombay is a huge city, ~15mm people and even though it is geographically medium-sized, the traffic is absolutely horrendous. Make sure that when you do come over here, you have your Company get you a car and driver. The yellow and black taxis are charming, but only for 10 minutes. After that it gets old.

 

On that note, let’s focus on the financial centre of the city – South Bombay or Nariman Point. This is where most of the bankers/lawyers/traders and other miscellaneous finance folks sit. Another thing to remember about Bombay (and India in general) is that service, like the traffic, is always backed up and slow. Additionally, people tend to show up at least 15 minutes late for all business appointments – punctuality is not our best asset.

 

7:00pm – As you head out of your meeting, remember to give yourself time for the typically old and dilapidated elevators to pick you up and take you down. Hop into your car (you must have a car and driver of course!) and have the driver take you to the area known as Kala Ghoda where you will find multiple art galleries selling everything from Indian Paintings to Indian Music. It is a relatively small area but full of small alleyways. Drive around to get a feel of the hustle and bustle of Bombay street life and look out for the following art galleries Jahangir, Museum and Hacienda in which you will find beautiful pieces of Indian art.

 

8:00pm – After walking around a bit and buying some art, you will need a cool drink. Hop into the car and head over to the Intercontinental Hotel to the rooftop bar, Dome. Here you will find the elite of Bombay sipping on gin and tonics beginning to unwind from the hot and hectic day. Expect to see a mix of the hip and elite youth in their Gucci shoes and D&G sunglasses as well as the Uncles and Aunties in more traditional garb. The bar looks over Marine Drive and the bay past it. While the sun doesn’t set on this side of the Bay, the reflection of the sunset is brilliant.

 

8:30pm – Time to grab some grub. Back to Kala Ghoda for a phenomenal seafood meal at Trishna restaurant. Make sure you try the Garlic Butter Crab and the Hyderabadi Fish but also ask the waiters what is good that night. The Butter Crab is to die for! This is also one of the few places that has fast service so make sure you eat here if you have limited time.

 

9:30pm – The nightlife only starts at around 10:30pm or 11:00pm but if you want to catch the early crowd in a lively atmosphere, you should head to Woodside Inn in Regal Circle (in Colaba). Before you head in, though, take a drive down the Colaba Causeway and try to spot the difference between the locals and the foreigners. At Woodside, make sure you try Kingfisher beer, a staple in the sub-continent. If you are still hungry, the hot chocolate soufflé is a must.

 

Honorable Mention – if you have another night in Mumbai, make sure to eat at Flavours of the East in Kemp’s Corner. A pan-asian restaurant with a decidedly Indian influence. Make sure you ask Chef Nachiket for the Chef’s Special.

Laziness, “Un”productivity, and the “Un”fullfillment of Everything I Could Ever Want

Over the last few weeks I have been pushing myself pretty hard – figuring out how to exit the current job (mostly trying to delegate most of my tasks to everyone else!), recovering from tonsillitis, going to the gym and working out very hard . . . and most importantly following my own rules of networking to narrow down and refine my ideas for a business in the chronic disease management space.  I have really pushed myself mentally and physically to the limit. 

 

Over the last two days, though, I haven’t been very focused on either my current job and my new business ventures – I think I am just venting the frustration of slow progress on all fronts.  I would say I have probably done less then 6 hours of real work over the past two days.  So what am I doing instead?  Well, I have definitely gone against my self-imposed information diet and resorted to sorting through my entire blog roll (see the right hand column!).  More importantly I have been stumbling from website to website for the past few hours and also checking out random sites that offer free video games.  Obviously I downloaded the fake Mario and fake Civilization games and played them over the last two hours or so.

 

Two months ago this sort of aimless wandering would be everything I could have wanted and more.  Unfortunately, right now, I’m feeling very unfulfilled.  Here’s the trap – it’s not that I am unhappy about not accomplishing anything, I think that making that switch from being unproductive to productive is something that I won’t be able to do.  This reminds me of when I was a kid and had to do things that my parents would force me to do . . . I would dread them and try to procrastinate as much as possible but once I finally started doing whatever it is they had me doing, I would feel a great sense of accomplishment.  I had that “push factor” from the parents to get me over the hump, so to speak, but now I have to provide this motivation myself.  I’m worried I just won’t be able to do it!

My First Interaction with the Indian Civil Service – whoops!

In my first couple of weeks doing PE in India (back in Jan 2007) I was sent to Delhi to the Department of Telecom to attend an initial meeting on an auction by the government of rural telecom tower infrastructure sites (the USO tender).  Walking into an Indian Government building was a new experience for me – both in terms of the general quality of the building as well as the types of people that reside within them.  The meeting was interesting and was basically two Civil Servants speaking to about 50 people associated with telecom companies in India that wanted to make a bid for the USO contract.  The meeting was relatively short and conducted well but what really hit me was the “respect” that the industry guys poured over the government guys.  I signed my name on the attendance sheet and shook hands with the government guys.  My approach was a casual hello and that’s it – no formalities.  On the other hand, everyone else addressed the government guys with a “sir” or “sirji.” 

 

The funny part was that I received a call from the junior Civil Servant I met at the meeting a week later informing me that I needed to send somebody to pick up the official bid documents in Delhi within a defined two hour window the next day.  Obviously, being in Mumbai, I told the guy that I wouldn’t be able to but maybe he could just courier it to me in Mumbai, or I could just download it from the web.  WRONG!  He got a little “irritated” and demanded to know if “I knew who [I was] dealing with” and that I was being disrespectful, etc.  I had the phone on speaker and the Partners of my firm were all laughing congratulating me on my first interaction with the Civil Service.  The key, apparently, is to act subservient and call the guy “sirji” apparently.  Also, I just needed to tell the guy I would pick up the document even if I wasn’t.  

 

Obviously their is a general hierarchical culture that the older generations are used to but this culture has changed significantly in the business world where performance now matters much more then seniority.  Additionally the perception of the Civil Service has dramatically fallen (in my generation) so it reinforces this tension.   For an ABCD who is not used to hierarchy or a distinguished view of the Civil Service, I get myself into trouble!

What Finance Geeks Don’t Know About Getting a New Job (and pretty much most idiot college kids)

I try to tell my little brothers all the time that the key to getting a job is to network and follow-up with people.  Most type-A college kids who go into Investment Banking and Consulting go through their campus recruiting programs and are thus completely clueless when they are [forced to / choose] to leave the profession.  Getting a job is NOT about going to online job postings (in my experience) - - it is about networking heavily and doing it in an efficient and organized manner.

 

Get your address book out and start contacting your friends and family for help.  The first thing to do is blast email / call your friends and family and let people know that you are looking for a job in the field and that any contacts they could provide would be helpful.  You can and should contact specific people who you know will be more helpful (i.e. your parents because they are obligated to).

 

Now as the contacts start rolling in, remember that the the most important aspect of the approach is that you are not contacting these people to ask for jobs.  It is always better to approach them by asking for advice or an introduction to others in the field you are interested in.  I prefer doing this initially with an email and establishing some sort of common ground.  The idea is to collect information and synthesize it to help you in later discussions. 

 

As you talk to more people your knowledge of the area you are pursuing will grow.  Not only will you then start building better repoire with your contacts by demonstrating knowledge, but you will also be able to narrow the focus on the specific area or company you want to work with as well as the specific people that your contact can help you reach out to. 

Overloading Your Information Diet

The marvels of modern technology allow me access to information in any place at any time. About two months ago I realized that I was spending almost 3 hours of my day reading through newspapers, blog posts and other internet news sites. I am an information junkie. I had never stopped to think about why I need all of this information and how any of it could really help me.

I operated under the assumption that the more information I consumed, the better - at somepoint, somewhere, that information could/would be useful.  After reading my new favorite book “The Four Hour Workweek” I very quickly realized how much time I was wasting.  Reading every word of every article that comes across my radar is not only unproductive but some of the most important pieces of information are easily forgotten in the process.

How do you re-evaluate your information diet?  Easy, read the tagline / headline and ask yourself some very important questions:

1. Is this piece of information going to tangibly help me today/tomorrow/this week
2. Is this piece of information something that I am actually interested in and care about

For example, I was reading every single article about the Satyam debacle in the ET everyday. As general purpose cocktail knowledge it is good to know what is going on in the world, but EVERY article is overkill. What I needed was the one article that gives the daily overview of what is happening (in fact, typically you can get this from the headlines themselves). Also, through the headlines you can then find specific articles that you can focus on . . . for example I have worked with a certain audit company in the past and would like to know what the public perception / regulatory fallout is of this debacle. Just by asking myself the above questions I was able to cut my “time spent on Satyam” to 1/8 of what it was before . . . . .

Well, you’ve made the PE lifestyle sound pretty rewarding, why are you leaving?

My job is a cushy job. I get paid well, I get the instant credibility, I get great administrative resources, I get to meet a lot of interesting people and I get to travel quite a bit. On the flip-side, as an Associate, even in a smaller firm, you are always answering to some higher authority, there are lots of general and philosophical disagreements on administrative and operational processes. Furthermore, I feel like the learning curve has decreased – this might be more due to my laziness than anything else. All-in-all you are not your own boss and you have not created something yourself, your way.

 

At a startup you have to do everything on your own. For me, this will be a challenge as many of the basics were taken care of by others – incorporation of a new Company, day-to-day office staff management, technology back end solutions, etc. It’s an even harder challenge considering that I am an ABCD and thus my Hindi is pretty rotten. I think that one of the toughest parts of the transition will be working alone instead of in a social environment (at least at first).

The Private Equity Scene in India - I know I said I would leave . . . .

I know what you’re thinking . . . Private Equity in a developing country. It’s what many bankers aspire to do. I was trying to leave the world of finance and I got stuck right back in the mix. Boy, are you wrong. It has been a wonderful two years. At the beginning, I was the only non-Partner which meant that I got to have a direct hand in building the firm. At some points they gave me almost too much responsibility! The environment is very very different from Investment banking. For one thing, you are not focused on getting a deal done, instead you are focused on the long term viability of a Company. I would say that now, two years later, I spend over 75% of my time on Portfolio companies. That means that we are directly, on a daily basis, involved with the Companies that we represent. My job was not to manipulate numbers, but to help the Company implement operational improvements or help them get new customers (usually by calling up a senior partner to get an introduction) or even, and unfortunately, managing crises. More importantly, I got to boss my own bosses around a bit! I have learned a lot about the Indian business environment and the challenges growing businesses face. I would imagine that this experience is very different from Private Equity in the U.S. because there are less buyouts, almost no leverage, and you are typically dealing with companies that are not used to intense financial scrutiny and governance. It is always a battle yet the rewards are much greater. So I’ve enjoyed my time, learned a lot, and met some excellent people- But it’s time to leave!

Leaving the Corporate - Part Deux; or, How to Leave Private Equity

After a two year hiatus I’m back! My initial dream of escaping the corporate didn’t happen according to plan. The “telecom services” startup actually got started but I did something unfortunately a lot more corporate at the same time. We launched iJunxion (add link) 6 months ago with an initial conference calling service for Companies in India. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite leave the corporate like I was expecting – I ventured into something quite “Corporate” – Private Equity.

 

So, I guess you’re asking what happened? Well in January 2007 I got a call from a former boss at Merrill (where I worked for all of 3 months, or was it 6, I can’t remember) as well as some other partners of a Private Equity firm that was just starting in India. In the U.S. I had worked on a bunch of deals in the Telecom Tower space and these new PE hotshots were looking at doing a deal in the space in India. They had no Associates or junior level help of any kind so they asked me to help them out for a few weeks by building a model and starting to execute a transaction in the space. Little did I know that this “project” is one I am still working on and has led to a few transactions in the space. I guess I got sucked into the buy-side and have been with the firm (to be named later when my link won’t be the only one – as we just put the web-site up).

 

Now, though, I am doing it again! I am leaving to try to start my own business, or at least figure out what is important to me (besides cash money!).

 

[UPDATE: Our website is up! I was/am working for New Silk Route Growth Capital]