The Monk and the Riddle: a MUST Read

I just finished reading the book 'The Monk and the Riddle : The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur' by Randy Komisar.

It is one of the best books I have read in the past few months. It is just 170 pages long, and it took me all of a day and a half to finish it. Rather, I could not stop reading it. The central theme of the book is simple: passion. The book marks a clear difference between passion and drive.

Passion pulls you towards something you cannot resist.

Drive pushes you toward something you feel compelled or obligated to do.

Looking back at my career, I realize drive often does win. Commitments made to others somehow seem more important than a commitment made to myself. This needs to change.

Another important point of the book is the Deferred life plan. Quite simply, today we often do what we must do, and postpone what we want to do for tomorrow.

For the rest, please read the book

Is this the right time to launch your startup?

Paul Graham certainly thinks so! Read this

Adversity

Whenever I face adverse situations, I cannot but think of one story my aunt told me recently.The story involves Biji (my maternal grandmother, on the left) and Bauji (my maternal grandfather).

The time - around 1947, when India gained independence, and was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Biji and Bauji lived in the Pakistan side of Punjab, with their eldest daughter (my mom), their eldest son (my uncle), and with Biji preganent with another son (my younger uncle). With the partition, they decided to move to the India side - to Delhi. Biji started gathering all her valuables and jewelry . Bauji told her to just take the kids and leave. He said, "Zinda raha to sab kuchh phirse bana doonga." Translated it means "if I stay alive, I would make everything again from scratch."

Biji moved to Delhi with the kids. Bauji eventually moved there and found Biji. It was all based on trust - there were no cellphones, no way to track where she was. Eventually they did rebuild everything they had, and a lot more. They went on to have four wonderful kids and nine grandchildren.

Whenever I think of all the adverse situations I have faced, I cannot but think of how they all are trivial as compared to what Biji and Bauji faced. I cannot but feel inspired, and feel proud of having such grandparents. I miss them.

How to be creative

Came across an excellent article


http://zenhabits.net/2009/01/the-secret-to-being-insanely-creative/

Vonage Visual Voicemail

Vonage Visual Voicemail is a cool thing - it translates the voice message to text, and emails it to you, along with a .wav file of the original voicemail. I was so surprised that I got this voicemail this morning:

"Kathy, It's Alice. And I'm just looking at this snow, I'm wondering if you're gonna be coming. So, give me the word. It looks bad to seeing. Just like give me the word anyway. I'll be happy to see you no matter what. But, just take your time. Thank you. Bye-bye."

I called back, and got a retirement home. I had the message passed back to Alice - but the operator did not know which Alice. She said that she was going to try to find the right one. I would never know if she did. The woman who left the voicemail sounded frail and weak. I really hope she gets the message, and gets to see Kathy.

Ideas for Startups

Anupendra recently forward me the link to Paul Graham's article on generating ideas for startups. Amongst the best I have read for generating ideas.

Also check out this book - it gives some basic principles for generating ideas. They include:

1. The single biggest determining factor in whether you would generate a good idea, is a belief in your ability to generate ideas. You do not need to be a pony tailed artist to generate ideas.

2. Initiate idea generation with an idea; any idea for that matter. That will get your creative juices flowing and get ideas out

3. Not acting on a good idea is equivalent to never having generated that idea at all

4. To get ideas about a topic, you need to have insider knowledge on it. Expand your knowledge. Expand your horizons

5. Forget rules. Be illogical. Be silly. Ask Ask Ask.

6. When you have problems generating ideas on a topic, switch and start working on something else

7. Have Fun

P.S. If you are now inspired to generate ideas, and end up launching a startup with that idea, a 1% share in the startup would be adequate compensation for my contribution :)

CNN: Birds Destroy Planes!

Televising the recent plane crash, CNN warned of the growing danger of birds hitting planes. Really?? How often do birds hit planes? And if they do, what are we going to do? Kill all birds? Line planes with birdi-cides to make sure birds stay away? Let's wait and watch!


Meanwhile, excellent job Mr. PiloT Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger! That was some amazing maneuvering, and the people on board, and their friends and relatives would be thankful to you forever!


Some interesting details about the plane's trajectory here

Of Conversations in Cabs

One of the interesting aspects of a lot of work related travel is the people you meet. The most interesting ones happen to be cab drivers.

One cab driver I met shortly after the Mumbai Bomb blasts. The guy saw that I was from India, and expressed his sympathy. He was an interesting fellow for sure - he had actually recovered from 2 cancers, and said that doctors had spent millions of dollars in saving him. He really understood the value of life, and could not imagine why anyone would want to take lives. I was touched, to say the least.

Another guy was upset at his girlfriend. He was in mid -50s, and his wife had passed away 2 years ago. He had been dating this woman for 8 months, and he was really frustrated that his girlfriend was not taking him to a family function despite 8 months of their relationship! He was gonna get drunk that night for sure.

Ah the joys of meeting these people is what keeps us travelers going on the road.

Apple customer service

I recently had a bittersweet experience with apple customer service.

One fine morning, I had a problem with my ipod, and went to the apple store in NYC, hoping to have it fixed. Now I expected some wait; but the guy told me that I needed an appointment, and my expected time in line was at 11 PM. That was 8 hours away! He said it was like the doctor's office! Comparing your company's customer service to America's healthcare system is not exactly flattering.

Anyhow, I went back home, and then went online to see if I could find an apple store where I was (NJ) and make an appointment. The service was amazing - it was a snap to find a store, schedule an appointment online, and I was served 5 minutes after my appointment time!

So is apple service great, or does it sucks? I would vote for great, only hope that they spend more effort educating people about how to use their service. I hope they do, so that their shares go up :)

Mobile Blogging from here.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

NPR: Wait Wait don't tell me

I have become a huge fan of the NPR News Quiz Show, Wait Wait, don't tell me. I have never heard a funnier Radio show, and now subscribe to the podcast. One think though - it is not good work out music. Last week, as I was preparing to lift a 25 pound dumbell (yep, I'm down to that!) I heard a joke about Sarah Palin. And Started Laughing. And almost dropped the weight. Also people on the T seem to look at funny at you if you are laughing while listening to your ipod ....