Archives for posts with tag: Advice

Comic Book writer Alan Moore on Life, Focus, Identity and Hardwork.

February 7, 10 //

Anyone who has held a comic book of the DC universe has come across Alan Moore. A writer extraordinaire and an artist too, he has worked with titles such as Swamp Thing, Batman, Superman and many many others. His comic works like V for Vendetta, Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been converted to movies and blockbusters at that.

Alan Moore brings a profound realism to his writing and he is one of the writers responsible for taking the comics we know to a different level – Adult Graphic Novels. A lot of the dark imagery and moods set have often been an industry first initiated by Alan Moore.

But that’s not what this post is about, this post is about his advice to people who are starting out on writing and reading. In this gem of a youtube video he shares his thoughts. Now he’s british so it made it quite hard to understand him but for anyone not able to understand what he says, I have taken the trouble of transcripting the interview for you here. I think it’s a fantastic read. Let me know what you think in the comments section.

Importance of Focus.
The first thing you really want to focus on is why you want to do this. If you want to be famous or you want to be rich, then it ain’t going to work. The only thing you can do is if you want to become a success focus upon the thing that you do purely for its own sake. If you like drawing comics, writing comics, making music or whatever and you are not doing it to become famous or get money and you are focusing on it because you love it and you only want to get better and better and better. Then you probably will do it right.

Focus on the right things.
Do not focus on the fame and wealth, that’s what everyone wants. You can become famous and get money purely by going on Big Brother. What does that prove? Those things can be got easily. Focus purely on what it is you like to do. If you got a talent you got a talent even if its not that much.

On Talent and continual improvement.

That’s how we all start out. I couldn’t write when I started out I couldn’t draw either. But I liked writing. I liked writing compositions at that phase in school as a phase in school. And I liked reading. And I liked thinking, ok how good am i as a writer compared to these guys I liked reading. And you think, actually I am rubbish. So you try to make yourself a little better and if you are honest with yourself. Not over critical, theres no point in looking at everything and and saying it’s rubbish and tearing it up. If you can atleast be honest and say ya this has got some bits in it that are good, I could have done better with these bits. This is not good as so and so, who I admire would have done it. Next time this is going to be better. And you try and make each thing you do a little bit smarter, a little bit more sophisticated than the thing you did before. Eventually people will notice.

Importance of Identity.
Eventually, you’ll start to move beyond what everybody else is doing. And with out ever having a master plan to it but you’ll find suddenly without having to compromise anything, without having to sell out your vision and it’s important that you do that, because that’s the only thing you have really got that seperates you from everybody else. There are probably loads of people that can sing or do music or write or draw the way that you can. The only thing that makes you unique, is that you are you. You have your experience, you have had your life. You have got sort of your knowledge. So put all of that into what you do, make it individual, make it unique and make it your selling point. You have had this experience, so put it to use and I don’t think you’ll go far wrong.

It’s not easy.
There’s a lot more to it than that of course and there’s a lot of boredom, grind and anxiety where there’s this ”Am I good as I think I am?”. “Am I ever going to really make it?”. But don’t worry about that, if you are doing what you love, even if you aren’t making any money out of it, you are still better off than 99 percent of the people in this world who are not doing what they love. They are doing something that gets their day by. Maybe they are entertaining dreams that one day they could be this and one day they could do that but often those deams just die in the cradle. Stay true to yourself. There is nothing you can’t be if you try hard enough.

The Youtube video is here if you want to watch it.

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Your playing it small doesn’t serve the world.

February 7, 10 //

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

– Marianne Williamson

from the Nelson Mandela inaugural speech

Advice from one of Seth’s MBA school graduates.

February 2, 10 //

Quite some time back, the famous Seth Godin (whose blog title reads as Seth on Marketing, Respect and the way ideas spread), had posted a note on how he’s planning to offer a course on an Alternative MBA for 6 months. Over 4000 people applied (I did too but couldn’t clear the time for the customs and getting a Visa for the interview) out of which 27 finalists were picked. He then chose 9 of those people who worked for him for quite some time.

This was like the modern day Gurukul. Gurukul, in ancient India, was a type of school wherein the students stayed with the Guru (teacher) and learned from him. Derived from the words Guru (teacher) and Kulam (place/area/extended family).

So these students went and stayed at his office for 6 months. One of the students, Ishita Gupta, has posted some of the learnings (not for all 6 months but some pithy take aways) in the style that Seth always excels in. Here are my favourites. I think she has to be informed of Permalink URLs on her blog, but here is the original post.

Time is an illusion. Don’t measure it by the amount of hours/effort you put in, measure it by goals you accomplish

Doing things quickly and repetitively helps you get over anxiety about failure.

Making a decision is more important than doing things perfectly.

Doing things quickly and repetitively helps you get over anxiety about failure.

Making a decision is more important than doing things perfectly.

You just might waste your life away in idleness and bullshit if you’re not careful.

Taking initiative matters.

Being who you want to be and who you think you really are is largely a decision.

Learn the language of the people you wish to speak to and communicate with (French or analytics.)

Have you ever thought yourself not to be creative?

January 31, 10 //

I know I have. 100’s of times there has been self doubt. I still don’t think I’m creative. I do, however, think that I have an eye for things. Some people call it taste, some people call it creativity. In the end it doesnt matter, it means there is something. That has to be nurtured. 2 powerful posts today , all from the same fantastic blog - Lateral Action – really hit home. I’m going to write down some notes here and the most powerful messages that I got from it. I encourage you to read the blog as well, it serves for that late night inspiration most of us need. Whatever’s in italics are my thoughts.

The I’m not Creative problem.

A creative person is a person who creates things.

You either create something or you don’t. Period.

No doubt there are plenty of factors that influence things along the way, but it’s hard to say definitively that any of them are the reason why creativity happens. So worrying about them – and whether you have them or not – is a red herring. And the great thing about this definition is that there’s nothing stopping anyone having a go for themselves, to see if they too can create something extraordinary. Including you. Forget about who you are (or think you are) and what qualities you may or may not have. Forget nouns (’creativity’, ‘creation’, ‘creator’) and adjectives (’creative’), and focus on verbs (’create’, ‘creating’). In other words, stop worrying about theories, and start taking action. And whatever you do, consign the thought “I’m not creative” to the dustbin.

The 4 step process is encouraged here. GOAR.

G- Goals (what are my goals?)
O- Options (what can I do to get to my goals)
A- Action (Do that next step)
R- Review (Have I achieved my goal?)

The Lack of time to be creative problem.

It sounds like you’re confronting the fact that you can’t do everything in life. Whatever you choose to do, there’s “always something else to do”. This is why the stories of great creators often involve hard decisions and sacrifices – at least at the beginning.

Like the Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope. His day job in the Post Office meant he had very little spare time in which to realise his literary ambitions. His solution was to get up at 5.30 every morning and write several hundred words before breakfast. He also wrote on trains while traveling for work. Eventually, he earned enough from his novels to give up his job – but most of his 37 novels were written while he was a full-time employee.

Do you see that ? 37 novels, day time clerk but never gave up on the dream. Little by little he strived to do it. This ties in to what Julien Smith writes as well. Stop believing your own bullshit. The bullshit is the internal dialogue that says “I’ll do this tomorrow” or “I’m too busy.” So let’s make it really simple for ourselves, ok? There is only one thing that isn’t a round-about, convoluted way to say “no.”

How’s this for Motivation?

January 21, 10 //

You know I wrote about Goal setting. One of my goals this year is to read 52 books, that’s one book a week. I am on week 3 now and I have read 3 books and on to the 4th, so that’s going good.

Another goal I have is weight loss. For far too long there has been this blubbiness that has become part of my daily attire, except one that I couldn’t remove. The only way to remove that involved a lot of hardwork and staying off foods that have become staple diets.

That ends this week. Starting tomorrow (and about 1 week back) I hit the gym come rain or sunshine. I’m stating this in public so that I can get things done. I know that’s not going to help, but another reason is to share my findings in general health running and motivation. Maybe post a before and after shot (that would come only june half way through the goal).

Here’s a quote that inspires me daily whenever it’s 10 pm and I haven’t hit the workout yet.

”Somewhere along the line people have been fooled into believing that life is supposed to be easy. I often work 12+ hour days, and there are weeks when I work 7 days. I perform my own workout at the crack of dawn. Do I enjoy waking up at 4AM? Not really, but I get it done. I have a wife and son, with another on the way next month. I also have dogs, house work, work in the yard, etc. I’m beyond busy. Oh well, that’s life. I won’t cry about it and feel bad for myself. I won’t rush to the local fast food restaurant. I cook much of my food ahead of time.

I make time. I find a way.

Most people aren’t trying to make time. They aren’t making an effort.

We need to stop making excuses for others. People need to stop feeling bad for themselves. Life is tough. That’s a fact. There are good times and bad times. There are action takers and action fakers. There are ultra busy professionals who make time for fitness, while others don’t. We all have options, and we all make our own decisions. If someone has made poor decisions, I won’t sugarcoat it and console them with more excuses.”

- Ross Enamai

And often pictures speak a thousand words. Here’s an actor that trained at Gym Jones for 6 months and you can just see the overall glow and radiance in the after pose as opposed to the before. Here’s to you and your motivation.

Networking 101: Notes from a professional networker.

January 19, 10 //

What is Networking? A good definition is Networking – the acquisition and cultivation of influential connections. Notice how there’s no “handing over business cards” or “sending cheesy emails” there? True networking is pressing the flesh and doing it often.

I have, and I’m sure you have too, noticed some people who are just so well connected. They know big names and most important they get work done and know who to get in touch with. This is something that I love doing too. But I do it because people interest me. I like connecting with different types of people. Some do it for business.

There is no talent in this per se. You have to practice and want it, just as is the formula for wanting to be good at anything in life at all. However there are some guidelines. These are notes I have composed over a period of time. Here you go. A lot of them is inspired by one of the most famous networkers in the world, Keith Ferrazzi. Some of them are directly his advice too.

1. You never walk in to meet the CEO in your bedroom clothes.
Remember the old saying, “Clothes maketh the man”? The message is simple. Dress Well appear well groomed. Scruffy beards and heavy mascara is good in a club, not in a meeting room. Unless, of course, you work in a new age company that’s like a startup, in which case you can wear anything you want. In start ups I wore jeans. I pretty much wore it in a corp environment too and I would love to wear it everywhere but sometimes you don the suit.

2. Appear Important. Look confident. Walk tall.
In article in Wired magazine about Keith, this line resonated well, “The way he walks and looks, all tanned and fit, with the styled hair and custom suit and black Prada shoes. The deals that are hanging in the air, the favors being extended or secured, the sideshows, the laughter, the juggling. That irresistible balloon of energy”. The lesson here is exburating confidence in whatever you do and truly enjoying living in the moment. He had deliberate, delicate movements, his listening as assertive as his banter. Good advice.

3. Have something to start with besides your sales pitch.
When Ferrazzi observes that his friend hasn’t spoken much. He leans in and whispers, “You’re a fucking loser if you don’t walk out of here with some reason for getting in touch with her again.” Sound advice. How many times have we seen people who are fake and have nothing to say except made up corny cliched bullshit? “Oh I heard about you so lovely that is, I totally agree with everything you are saying it is so nice.” It is not. Be genuine cut the fake.

4. Business is a game, play it to win.
Keith Ferrazi believes that business, like life, is a game, and that the people who play it best will win. And the rule in the game that trumps all others, Ferrazzi became convinced, is that he who knows the most people, and knows them well, becomes a member of the club, not a caddy.

5. Basic things you don’t do.
When you speak don’t stutter, unless that’s a challenge you are facing in which case, take it slow and explain your point. All stuttering is only due to fear (mostly) so let go of it. Don’t ask the question for the sake of asking the question. This whole CAT debate thing is the dumbest way to introduce a person to the group.Some people, when I attended, just HAD to ask because they were being seen. Often their desire overrode their brain impulses. The end result wasn’t pretty.

6. Important: what you know. More important: who you know. Most important: who knows you.
Don’t network to just network. Know what you want. If you want to be the president you can’t get there by knowing a lot of middle level people. You need to know the right people for the right reason. The more focused your goals the more outrageous your networking can become!

7. Build it before you need it.
If you talk to someone on the day you need a favour, you are not going to get it done. You have to talk them far before hand. It’s important. Learn how to.

8. Never Eat alone.
Always find someone to talk to, someone to share stories with and someone to listen to. I’m not talking about marriage that’s a whole different thing, this is about meeting new and interesting people.

Azim Premjis speech highlights – IIT Delhi Convocation

January 8, 10 //

Azim Premji. Wipro Founder. Billionaire. Great guy. Wise man. A little old. Very conservative. Very sharp. Often Brilliant.

As chairman of Wipro he has served for a long time in leading and establishing the IT revolution. His name is served in the same respect Narayana Murthys is. Recently at IIT Delhi he was there to address the students and give them advice on graduation. It’s a tough world out there. Ratan Tata had given the speech at my brothers convocation. 2 great men with very similar messages. I’m posting what Azim Premjis speech contained. Thanks to Rachana for the email!

Azim Premjis speech to IIT Delhi students.

The funny thing about life is that you realise the value of something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realise the enthusiasm and excitement of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. As you embark on your careers, I would like to share them with you. I am hoping that you will find them as useful as I have.

The world you are entering is in many ways very different now from what it was when I began my career. It was the late sixties and India still depended on other countries for something as basic as food. We aroused sympathy, not admiration whenever we went overseas. Recently, someone told me, that when visitors came to India then, they came to see what they could do for India. Now, they come to see what India can do for them. As a hopeful Indian, I look at our country as one which is rich in ethnic and cultural diversity and one that has an effective, secular democracy which will help us build an enduring society.

Lesson 1: Take charge

This was the first thought that came to me, when over four decades ago, I stepped into Wipro factory at Amalner. I was 21 and had spent the last few years in Stanford University Engineering School at California. Many people advised me to take up a nice, cushy job rather than face the challenges of running a hydrogenated oil business. Looking back, I am glad I decided to take charge instead. Essentially, leadership begins from within. It is a small voice that tells you where to go when you feel lost. If you believe in that voice, you believe in yourself. When it comes to choosing your careers, you have to take charge of your own destiny.

Lesson 2: Earn your happiness

The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than five found. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if we have struggled to earn it.

Lesson 3: Nothing succeeds like failure

The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. The important thing is, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.

Lesson 4: Nothing fails like success

The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. There is a thin line of difference between confidence and arrogance. Confident people are always open to learn. A recent survey of executives in Europe showed that the single most important quality needed for leadership success was the willingness to learn from any situation. Arrogance on the other hand stops learning. It comes with a feeling that one knows all that needs to be known and has done all that needs to be done.

Lesson 5: There has to be a better way

Partly as a corollary to what I have just said, we must remember that no matter how well we do something there has to be a better way! Excellence is not a destination but a journey. Creativity and innovation sometimes need inspiration from other disciplines. It is probably not a chance that Einstein’s interest in music was as much as his interest in Physics. Bertrand Russell was as much a mathematician as a philosopher. Excellence and creativity go hand in hand.

Lesson 6: Respond, not react

There is a world of difference between the two and in terms of success and failure. The difference is that the mind comes in between responding and reacting. When we respond, we evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate. We are in control of our actions. When we react, we are still doing what the other person wants us to do.

Lesson 7: Remain physically active

It is easy to take health for granted when you are young. I have found that exercise not only improves the quality of time but also reduces the time you need for sleep. The truth is that stress will only increase in a global world. You must have your own mechanism to deal with it.

Lesson 8: Never compromise on your core values

Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. One must define what you stand for. This is not difficult. But values lie, not in the words used to describe them, as much as in the simple acts. And that is the hard part. Like someone said, “I could not hear what you said because what you did was coming out far too loud”.

Lesson 9: Play to win

Playing to win brings out the best in us and in our teams. It brings out the desire to stretch, to achieve that which seems beyond our grasp. However, it is not about winning at any cost. It is not about winning every time. It is not about winning at the expense of others. It is about innovating all the time. It is a continuous endeavour to do better than last time.

Lesson 10: Give back to society

All of us have a collective social responsibility towards doing our bit to address them. Of all the challenges, the key to me is education. We have a paradoxical situation, where on the one hand we have jobs chasing scarce talent and on the other, rampant unemployment and poverty. The only way to bridge these two ends of the pole is by providing quality education that is accessible by all.

52 books a year.

January 7, 10 //

Every year there is a goal we set out to do. There is a way to go about achieving such goals and sometimes you just need a kick in the back to guide you right.

That way begins with a first step. That first step is laying out the plan. Then the next step is actually following the plan.

So here’s one of my plans.

I plan to read a book a week. There are 52 weeks in a year (one just whizzed by) and thus I hope to read 52 books at the minimum this year. The reason I don’t find this daunting is because I LOVE reading books. I spend most of my income on purchasing books and thus sharing/reading/comparing notes with other book lovers is almost always welcome. There are 2 things that I’ll do at the start and end of the week, religiously.

a) List out a book before the week starts, so you know what book I am on and if you have comments, additional views, I’ll collate them together so that we can share views about the books like a really cool guy, Derek Sivers, does right here.

b) Review the book with notes, inspirational lessons drawn and if it’s just fiction then put up interesting quotes, author approaches etc.

To me, reading a book - besides the pure enjoyment of knowledge, is also about dissecting what the book has to offer. What the style of the author who writes it is, how do they approach the “idea” offered in the book.

I used to flood my reads with self help, inspirational, passion driven books. I found them largely overrated and almost any book that has no “real experience” is something I tend to avoid. It’s easy for people to give advice and talk about an ideal world. There’s no real learning unless there’s experience talking.

How to go about this

Julien Smith, of the popular book Trust Agents, has an interesting way of doing this. He managed to read a book a week for the whole of 2009. He gives some solid advice on how you can read a book a week for 2010. I’d recommend the read. Here are the salient points.

– Average book he read was about 250-300 pages. That’s less for me, I plan to not worry about the number of pages and just concentrate on finishing the book.

– 40 pages a day. His logic is this is not as daunting as thinking to yourself that you have 52 books to read. 40 pages in 24 hours, that shouldn’t be a big deal. So is 1 hour exercise in 24 hours but..

– Reads it first thing in the day: That’s easy for him because he’s not got a 9-7 job so I’m not sure if I can implement this, but definitely crunch in time. He calls this Stacking Habits. Where you put all daily routines together, brushing your teeth, taking a shower, drinking coffee and reading 40 pages.

– Use Every moment: I commute almost 2 hours daily. That is such a collosal waste of time. I plan to rectify that or pray that the damn metro actually gets built. However in the time that I have I usually get back home around 9 pm, and sit up till about 12 to finish reading the daily quota.

There are 2 other great links that I came across to help me in this quest.

How to read 462 books a year- Los Angeles Times.
How to read 70+ books a year by Scott Young.
Speed Reading techniques that I recommend and follow.

The book I plan to read this week is Dean Karnazes‘ Ultra Marathon Man.

So you in too? What books you reading? Let me know and if you live in the NCR region perhaps we can swap books too and get more read and money saved!

Roll your sleeves up it’s time to work. Insights from pros on goal setting and accomplishing.

January 3, 10 //

You know it’s 2010. It’s that time of the year to bring in some new resolutions, hold it by the ear, successfully resolve that you won’t mess up like the last one and then go back to that cake you were eating.

Put that cake down now $#%3er.

I’m done with this slacking, whether it was weight loss, meeting that person, taking that trip whatever it might have been it’s a new decade, I’m sure you are too.

New resolve.

But I have been reading Tim Ferris’ book again and also following Leo Babuata and I realised that setting those Big-HAG (big hairy audicious goals) are good for the spirit but not necessarily for accomplishment.

And really it’s best to not announce your goals as Derek Sivers puts it. Here’s my quick notes on productive goals that I would like to share.

Setting goals.

a) Set 6 goals for this year. That’s it no big thing, 6 worthy goals. Just to clarify. Getting laid is not the goal, finding love is.

b) Set a time frame to accomplish them in. The better you frame it out with steps the more likely you are going to get them. A goal for me is 5 kilos a month for 3 months = 15 kilos (to start with).

c) Arrange those goals in priority, something needed in december is not something you do in January.

d) Go start them , take small steps. Running a marathon starts with running 1 km at a time without coughing your lung out of your nose.

Chris Brogan prefers to use 3 words instead and break it into many actions.

Accomplishing those goals.

There are a few years to realise these goals.

a) Translate Being to Doing: This is important. An example is learning French this year (being) translates to Talking with a colleague in French for 10 mins daily (doing). So list out the big goal, but write down the short steps.

b) Write down the steps necessary to get the goals done: I repeat this, you should plan the path but be open to change alongside. Nothing goes according to plan, that’s ok. Just keep a general direction in mind and not nomad it up.

b) Set in a time limit to accomplish them in: If I told you that you had 24 hours to live and you had to write that will of yours or clean that cupboard, you’ll want to do it quickly and finish it off as ap. That’s the power of the impeding deadline.

There are loads of laws that go into effect , the most deadly being Work expands to fill itself in the time allocated.

So what goals are you setting yourself this year?

6 lessons from a guy who changed Media as we know it today.

December 29, 09 //

Today I bring to you a life changing read. This is a story about a little guy with big dreams.

A guy who didn’t give up. These anecdotes are followed by key lessons this chap can teach us. I’ll give you a free book if you can guess who this guy is before you reach the end. Remember don’t cheat, fill in your name at the comments if you really did get who it was and I’ll enter your name in a draw for a free book.

The story.

Early back in the late 90s. This young youth -drop out of college because he didn’t want to get a job anywhere, decided to leave his hometown of Nebraska and move on to California. He had no education.No degree either. What he did have was tons and tons of self confident attitude.

Lesson no 1: Be confident.

He always believed himself to be entrepreneurial. Not like the idiots today branding a tag, this kid

wanted to do things, change things, make a dent in the universe (steve).

He started his career by working for HP where he learnt web development on his own and went on board for about 7 months as a consultant to work his way up. He had no idea about the trends, but picked it up quickly.

Lesson no 2: If it’s required to be learned. Learn.

Shortly thereafter, he started raking in some money and met a consultant. She had an MBA and he decided that she could help each other put together a company that made a product for project management. Something like basecamp, but very early alpha. They worked on it on their own and this lad taught himself all the necessary coding required to build it. They named this product, “Stuff”.

While Stuff was picking up and they had a good thing going on. They brought in another guy to help them build this little tool that could help them exchange notes. It was a web log of data, notes and other interesting stuff. Quickly becoming the nervous system of the company, this product started showing signs of maturing and overtaking “Stuff”. He was excited to get it rolling and so were his partners, so they split their attention in developing this web log and simultaneously working on Stuff.

Lesson no 3: If an opportunity presents itself, grab it.

They started scaling themselves pretty well, put together some funding and decided that this was what they wanted to do. This weblog, by then acquiring it’s fancy name we know of today, called Blog was rapidly picking up among geeks. This was close to the bubble burst time and this lad decided it was good enough to launch publicly. This company decided that they would halt the Stuff product and work, instead, on this Blog thing. They generated no revenue. But they wrote their business plan the day before they sought funding.

Lesson no 4: You don’t need funding or a business plan till you have something to show in hand.

While they rose, their lack of revenues and monthly churn out rate put them in great danger. This little team of 2 had grown to a family of 7 only to make ends meet a veritable task by itself. This guy went frankly to his team and told him there was no money. He told them, “You can work with me on your tomorrow or you can leave”. They decided to leave. Even the woman with the MBA who had poured 2 years into this.

It was only him and dark times. It was a scary scary thing for a guy growing up to be feeling. But he decided to stay on. He was alone. He learnt Linux and java and decoded bugs as and when they came along. He shared his story to the readers and asked for help along the way, all the while never stopping to fix what was needed. The technology kept growing and he didn’t want to quit just yet.

Lesson no 5: Believe in yourself and know if you are on to a good thing.

Lesson no 5b: Do whatever it takes to stay afloat.

His girlfriend broke up with him. His rents piled up. He was living skin to teeth. He was sued by his team mates. He wasn’t going to quit just yet though. This blog thing, now named Blogger, was growing big. He had 50,000 users, his determination and most important, vision to take this forward. It was crude, but he was on it. He was being abused, tarnished and pointed fingers at. He went underground and worked full time on Blogger.

Lesson no 6: Trust in the most important person to you. You.

He put in ads in the start. And charged people money to remove the ads on their pages for $12 a year. Slowly money trickled in. He slowly started making money to pay his hosting bills. He had given up his office and was lent a desk for free in a company. He then wrote the blogger APi, which became very important later on by hiring a programmer and redesigning it around a bit. Then they released Blogger Pro, a vision he had, and got back staff on board to take this product full time.

Then Google called. The rest is history. The rest is also to be read in this fascinating story of the guy being interviewed in a book called Founders at Work. Recognise him? Maybe a picture would help.

Posted via email from Kage’s Pages.

A creative person is a person who creates things.

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