Monthly Archives: January 2009

experience, setbacks

Setbacks are like Power Petrol

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My week is getting better and better – like the saying when it rains it pours – one challenge after another is coming my way. 

When you are living through one of these setbacks it sucks big time. You really wish it passes off fast and the proverbial bend around the corner comes so things suddenly become alright. From my personal experience I have started appreciating these setbacks. When I look back at all the setbacks I ever had – each one of them has helped me add an important skill/value.
I once lost a job interview, and I became good in Performance tuning. We goofed up in a UAT drop and that lead to a foolproof automated deployment system. I lost a lead but now I know why and I am working on filling the gap. Each setback teaches something new.  
How do we deal with setbacks?

1. Try to get to the bottom of a setback – I recently read about 5 Whys technique used in Amazon’s fulfillment center. An employee cut his finger and they asked 5 Whys to go to the bottom of the truth. Its not easy to find out the final why  – but it is a start.

“1.Why did the associate damage his thumb?

Because his thumb got caught in the conveyor.

2.Why did his thumb get caught in the conveyor?

Because he was chasing his bag, which was on a running conveyor.

3.Why did he chase his bag?

Because he placed his bag on the conveyor, but it then turned-on by surprise

4.Why was his bag on the conveyor?

Because he used the conveyor as a table

So, the root cause of the associate’s damaged thumb is that he simply needed a table, there wasn’t one around, so he used a conveyor as a table.  To eliminate further safety incidences, we need to provide tables at the appropriate stations and update safety training.  Also, look into preventative maintenance standard work.”

2. Try not to get depressed – I know it is not an easy thing. Even recently I went into bouts of depression but try to get out of it quickly. Try to do something fun – eat that 3 scoop Banana split of Baskin Robbins and brood why. You will be enlightened in the end ( and a little fat 🙂 ) 
3. Identifies the gaps in you – No one is perfect. Even the almighty iPod has some design failures ( when you use coverflow it stutters, videos take a long time to start) – but each revision removes these gaps. You might be an expert java developer but perhaps you do not know much about deployment and linux – It is a gap. Once you know it and you do something about it – you inch closer to perfection.
4. Negative feedback is extremely valuable – In Control Systems, positive feedback leads to an unstable system. Only negative feedback ensures system stability. There is mathematic proof for this ! If  you keep getting one success after the other, and everyone keeps praising you – start suspecting. There is going to be a mighty fall ( eg. golden peacock award year after year for one Mr.Ramalinga Raju of Satyam ). Start appreciating the negative feedback that setbacks give you.
So now do you agree with me that setbacks are like power petrol. They fuel you to great heights. 
introspection, music

Shahul Hameed still lives…

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Today I was listening to Thiruda Thiruda – A.R.Rahman’s 3rd movie which whenever I listen transforms me to the slogging days of 12th Standard. However, I was listening to Raasaathi en usuru ennuthilla and remembered the voice – Shahul Hameed – the unfortunate singer who died so young in a car crash near Chennai in 1998 or around that time. I was appreciating the intense song the way Shahul Hameed had song with so much passion and life – I felt sad. How unfortunate – he could have been a great singer with his high pitch and powerful voice.

However, he still lives on. 10 years down the line, a soul thought about him. Isn’t that wonderful. Very few can leave a mark on the world they lived – it is easy for artists – musicians, painters, singers, dancers, actors,writers. What will people like me leave behind?
Anyway, Shahul Hameed – your voice is immortal. Thanks for the great song. 
entrepreneur

The journey..

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It has been 5 months since I started my life as an entrepreneur. Things I miss – in no particular order !!

1. Salary! 
2. Coffee machine gossip
3. 335E rides with a book in hand
4. Hearing aahaa moments from other developers
5. Architecture and design discussions/fights
6. Code Pairing, learning new techniques, stand ups, IPMs, Showcases!
7. Routine 
What I experienced new
1. Feeling real exhaustion after 4-6 days of serious development. I thought I was the only one but another entrepreneur friend of mine confirmed the same feeling. At the end of it I am forced to take a break for a day because my brain switches off.
2. Learnt to think of things outside an IDE ( IntelliJ in this case ! )- branding, opening page text, vision, mission, goals – the art of written communication.
3. Getting into the zone more often.  I start working slowly, and at one point I feel time stops and the air around me becomes still. Things flow smoothly and earlier unseen features,potential bugs automatically show up. It energizes me further, gives a positive gumption which nothing in the world can ever give me. In Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, the main character Levin – goes to cut corn with his peasants and experiences it. In Zen and the art of motorcycle, Robert Pirsig describes this feeling well. 
4. Watching my son grow, getting him ready for the day, playing with him whenever I take a break to sterilizing his bottles late in the night…I am really lucky !! 
Now I have to rush out. There is more. Will be writing when I am taking an exhaustion break. 

apple, dell

Dell Studio 17″ vs MacBook 13″

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I purchased a Dell Studio 17″ for 58,000Rs. I am a big fan of Apple and I am now going to say a sacriligeous thing – Mac is ****ing expensive – atleast in India. Even before I considered the Dell laptop I went over to Apple’s India store and drooled over the laptops – but the ones I wanted were all in 6 figures – over 1.2 Lakhs. The starting price of MacBook was 56,800Rs. I dropped the idea of buying an apple.
So I went over to Staples and looked around. Acer was the cheapest less than 30k. Then lenova,compaq and HPs were in the 45-55K range. Thanks to Vista having the windows performance index – I was able to quickly see how these machines perform without even checking their processor, memory information.
Only Dell had a 5.0 or higher. Dell Studio 17 registered a decent 5.0. The XPS laptops registered even higher. The rest of the pack – HPs, Acers had between 3.5 and 4.5. Also the rest had unnecessary freebies thrown in – audio system, choice to pick 2 gifts from some 10 gifts etc. Thank you very much. It was an easy decision in the end – also Dell had onsite service, whereas for the rest I had to take my laptop physically to their repair workshops.
Coming back to the decision – I feel happier in the end. I feel I got lot of bang for the buck when I compare this with the high end Apple laptop ( which is 3 times pricier ) . Here is why.
What Dell Studio 17 has :
1. 17 inch screen vs 13 inch MacBook
2. Biometric sensor ( none of the apple laptops have this yet )
3. Backlit keyboard ( available only in the 1Lakh plus MacBook Pro)
4. 3GB Ram ( macbook comes with 2GB Ram )
5. HDMI output – the day when I get a High Def TV I will pat myself for the choice I made
6. 5.1 output – dont think macs have any
7. 320GB of hard drive space vs 160GB of a MacBook
8. Memory Card reader.
9. Dell support in India.
10. Choice of colors.
What Dell Studio 17 does not have :
1. Apple OS X.
Hmm…I have vista and what a poor copy Microsoft has managed to make. I tried a freeware for expose but its not the real thing. It is jerky and ugly. I have ubuntu running on the other partition and the compiz effects are nice – but still its nowhere close to the functionality and smoothness of OS X.
2. The apple touch.
I remember the ibook I purchased in 2002 ( G3,512MB Ram,30Gig Harddrive ). When I opened it a nice fragrance greeted me – they had sprayed a perfume on the keyboard. Then they had a nice glossy book about OS X, heck even the box that came in looked beautiful. I felt I was ripped but I was happy about it 🙂 And everything is so smoothly integrated and works as one piece – iTunes,iLife,expose – even the terminal is so well behaved.
Anyway if you are trying to decide between a Dell and a Mac – if you have enough money in your bank and your job is recession proof – go ahead and buy a Mac – its worth every paise/cent of it. However if you are in my position where I have to beg/steal/coerce someone ( in this case my wife 🙂 ) to buy me a laptop – get a Dell. 17″ is lot spacious and keep comparing it with an entry level macbook ( which costs the same ) – and you will feel 3 times good about it.
And speaking of 17″ laptop reminds me of this apple commercial
In conclusion – I hope this Dell Studio 17″ helps me buy a 17″ MacBook Pro 🙂
india

India’s ENRON

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Its a sad day for us. In the last post I was exulting that the next apple or google is being cooked up somewhere in India.

And yesterday I was shocked to hear about Satyam with its hand muddied with a Rs.8000 crore fraud. We have managed to create an ENRON. I hope other Indian Companies do not get in the rat race to give bigger better balance sheets compared to the previous year – in order to have better share market results. Focussing on near short term and missing out on the long term benefits – of happy customers, happier employees and a rock solid business.
Thank you Mr.Raju – you have in one stroke made us cheaters. Don’t know how long it will take to  clean up the tarnished image in the world’s eyes.
startup

To all the Men in the Arena !!

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I was not aware of the startups in India till I had my own startup. It is the same feeling you get when you are in the market for purchasing a Maruti Swift and suddenly you spot lot of Swifts. I am spotting startups in bus loads. 

I am just bowled over by the number of ideas that are emanating out of India – not just Bangalore but from various parts of the country. Who said Indians are not creative enough? Yes we have been stifled a lot all these years because of various reasons and that could have given the impression that we are just followers and not leaders when it comes to ideas and technology. 
But now our entrepreneurs are getting more adventurous – and people on the fence are letting it go and jumping into the fray – who knows the next Apple, Google is being cooked right now somewhere in an apartment. 
Head over to this page – to see what I am talking. http://enbase.net/db/Main_Page
Wish luck to all my fellow startupians – you guys are crazy and be that way !! 
Also I am dedicating this poem to you guys – The Man in the Arena by Theodre Roosevelt. My wife pointed this to me when I was down because my idea behind my startup was questioned.
“IT IS NOT THE CRITIC WHO COUNTS;
NOT THE MAN WHO POINTS OUT
HOW THE STRONG MAN STUMBLED,
OR WHERE THE DOER OF DEEDS
COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.

THE CREDIT BELONGS TO THE MAN
WHO IS ACTUALLY IN THE ARENA;

WHOSE FACE IS MARRED
BY DUST AND SWEAT AND BLOOD;
WHO STRIVES VALIANTLY;
WHO ERRS AND COMES SHORT
AGAIN AND AGAIN;

WHO KNOWS THE GREAT ENTHUSIASMS,
THE GREAT DEVOTIONS,
AND SPENDS HIMSELF IN A WORTHY CAUSE;

WHO AT BEST KNOWS IN THE END
THE TRIUMPH OF HIGH ACHIEVEMENT;
AND WHO AT THE WORST

IF HE FAILS,
AT LEAST FAILS WHILE DARING GREATLY;
SO THAT HIS PLACE SHALL NEVER BE
WITH THOSE COLD AND TIMID SOULS
WHO KNOW NEITHER VICTORY NOR DEFEAT.“

–Theodore Roosevelt.

Keep up the good work.