Thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?

BusinessCard 
(Picture courtesy Shoa)

The story of how I was wrong ~ Inspirational presentation about how an MBA student found his true calling in life ~ Link (SlideShare presentation)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

What Entrepreneurship Means ~ Alicia Morga talks about her story about becoming an entrepreneur. Maybe you’ll discover you’re an entrepreneur. Maybe, you’ve been one all along. ~ Link (FastCompany video)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

Should You Be An Entrepreneur? ~ A simple test of 20 questions to determine whether you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur ~ Link (HBR Blogs)
Reality Check

Career Design: Why Three Jobs Are Better Than One ~ Three blog posts that addresses the different aspects of making the shift away from a secure job (read all the 3 posts) ~ Link (blog post)
Inspiration | Real Life Story | Reality Check

Building India’s Amazon: Flipkart ~ The story of how the young techies moved from working for tech giants to working for themselves ..successfully ~ Link (interview)
Real Life Story

Khan Academy ~ An inspiring story of an individual pursuing his beliefs & doing a whole lot of good while at it ~ Link (About page)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

Living Self-Employed Online: The Manual They Forgot to Give You ~ Experiences & lessons from someone who has been at it for 18 months ~ Link (LifeHacker blog)
Lessons | Reality Check

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Related Posts:
     ~ Thinking of starting your own business?
     ~ Tactics for Taking Risk
     ~ Leadership Capabilities

Are You Doing Your Part?

Story #1: Giri is flagged down by cops for a traffic violation & levied a formal fine of INR 300 for speeding. Giri picks out his wallet & realizes he has only INR 10 in his pocket. He shows his wallet to the cops & explains his predicament – he has only INR 10 on him. The cops, in a hurry to handle the bunch of other offenders, pocketed the 10 bucks & let him go. Back on the road, Giri smiles to himself & pats his socks into which he moved all his money just before getting out of his vehicle to face the cops. 

Story #2: Mala, the speed maniac, touches a 100 kmph on her way to office for an early morning meeting. Though she sights the police van with the speed gun, she speeds to 110 kmph – a personal best on this stretch. She is confident of her strategy – just in case the cops get interested in her speeding. On that day, they were & stopped her dutifully. In a practiced manner, Mala first finds the cop in-charge & notes down the name. Next she starts creating a scene, vowing never to pay single rupee fine & yelling about the bad quality of roads. While the cops try to get a handle of unusual feminine aggressiveness, she starts dropping a bunch of politician’s name & threats to call them. Within the next few minutes, Mala is back on the road with a satisfied smile. 

These were stories narrated (proudly if I may add) by Giri & Mala to their co-workers – all well educated & highly paid professionals. Not only were there some adulatory nods, but more than one person made a mental note of the smart strategies used by these individuals.
Street smart & quick on the feet, these citizens used conniving means to beat the system for their own benefit. Much like the CWG 2010 sports administrator who almost got away (might yet) with procuring $180 per roll toilet paper with tax payers money? What moral right do Giri & Mala have to question corrupt politicians or government officials if they themselves use their ways? What can YOU do to stop this play of double standards?

Links of Interest – 15Oct2010

  • As Nations Age, a Chance for Younger Nations: Pick any age cohort above the median age of 28 and you’ll find its share of the global population rising faster than that of any segment below the median. Will the world ever grow young again? Read the full The New York TImes article here.
  • Tata Group has given America’s prestigious Harvard Business School a $50 million donation, the largest gift the school has received from an international donor in its 102-year history. Read article here.
  • Nice advice applicable to almost all aspects of our lives: What is celebrated is repeated! Celebrate the wins! Check out some more thoughts on this here.
  • Paulo Coelho derives five life lessons for us from the characteristics of a pencil.
         #1 Never forget there is a hand guiding your steps – God
         #2 Now & then, stop writing and use a sharpener
         #3 Correcting ourselves helps keep us on the road to justice
         #4 What matters is not the wooden exterior, but the graphite inside
         #5 Always leave a mark!

Related Posts:
     ~ Links of Interest – 12Oct2010
     ~ Links of Interest – 02Jul2010

Tactics For Taking Risks

You can work your whole life to keep risk at bay, but it comes at the cost of boredom. You can elect safety, but you’ll pay for it with your life’s biggest desires.
Tyler Tervooren

Risk is a four-letter word these days and I don’t think it gets the respect it deserves. If you ever want to realize your dreams – if you want to start that business, find that true love, go on that adventure, or anything else – risk is going to become an intimate part of your life.

Tyler suggests in his article 5 things anyone an do to take on enormous risk.

  • embrace uncertainty
  • forget about the odds
  • plan, but not too much
  • take the first step
  • throw away plan b

Read the full article here.

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Related Posts:
     ~ The Next Step
     ~ Leadership Capabilities (& taking risks)