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)!

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. 

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!

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.