A random blog

One marble at a time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:42:00 +0000

The story below is one of those junk e-mails that one is asked to pass forward. I have often talked of quality of life isues on this blog and I thought this story would be relevant here... especially if you are an MBA who doesn't see her/his familyfor weeks on end.

"The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast" "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

"Hard work is about risk"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 03:36:00 +0000

I was cleaning my mailbox and found this article I had mailed to friends:

"The meaning of hard work in a manual economy is clear. Without the leverage of machines and organizations, working hard meant producing more.
Those days are long gone. Most of us don't use our bodies as a replacement for a machine - unless we're paying for the privilege and getting a workout at the gym...
Even if you're a workaholic, you're not working very hard at all.
Sure, you're working long, but "long" and "hard" are now two different things. In the old days, ... hard work meant more work...
The future is not about time at all. The future is about work that's really and truly hard, not time-consuming.
Hard work is about risk. It begins when you deal with the things that you'd rather not deal with: fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of rejection. Hard work is about training yourself to leap over this barrier, tunnel under that barrier, drive through the other barrier. And, after you've done that, to do it again the next day."

The Shy Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 11:45:00 +0000

Some people like dogs, some cats, others fish. But perhaps the least troublesome is the introvert. "Caring for Your Introvert" seems to suggest so. Actually it is a pretty accurate description of what goes on in an introvert's head and life. I should know, I am one.

I've had questions about an MBA being suitable for the introvert. I think the question confuses your job with your life. I've done some extremely uncomfortable stuff at my various jobs - cold calling and going to conferences to network. But that's part of the job. Like the article says, after a long day (or night) of 'extroversion', I just need some quiet time.

Asking if an MBA is suitable for introverts is like asking if an MBA is suitable for an optimist. Don't confuse your personality with your work or your life.

Battling the Bulge

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 02:27:00 +0000

The Institutional Investor has a nice one on the growth of M&A boutiques and their race against the bulge bracket firms.

A few snippets:

Joseph Perella has a classical philosophy of what makes a great investment banker.

"It is one of the few remaining industries that follow the renaissance model," says the veteran merger adviser. "You don't pick up a book to learn how to do it. You learn on the job under an experienced hand, like going to the studio of Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo to chisel marble."

But this da Vinci code may be in peril, suggests the 64-year-old Perella, who has tutored generations of merger bankers during more than three decades on Wall Street. "The renaissance model requires that the mentors be around to teach the people coming in," he explains. "Whenever there is an exodus of senior people, that model is going to get tested."

Now is one of those times.

...the strong showing by boutiques [is not] a one-off event. As recently as 1999, independent firms were involved in fewer than 10 percent of global public-company mergers... By last year [2005] their market share exceeded 25 percent.

...Many observers, at both small and large firms, now see the independents not as a fly-by-night phenomenon but as a permanent and significant fixture of the M&A landscape -- for a host of reasons.

...Today's M&A boom ensures that there's more than enough business to go around: Rainmakers at the top four M&A firms -- Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan -- generated an astronomical $5.9 billion in advisory fees last year, up from $4.8 billion in 2004, according to their financial statements. Global M&A volume reached $2.2 trillion last year, twice 2002's level and the highest since the bubble-inflated record of $3.4 trillion in 2000.

New look

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 07:13:00 +0000

I was getting bored of the old look. So I decided to waste the weekend getting the new look up. But things did not go smoothly.

For the 3 guys who use the RSS feed: in changing the blog template, I screwed up the feed. You should be able to receive the old feed for about 20-30 days before it finally dies. Please re-subscribe. Sorry about the mess.

On risk

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 12:20:00 +0000

For those unwilling to risk their heart, career or money

"To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk to failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free."

- William Arthur Ward

Thanks to Michael Covel for the pointer

If the losses don't get you...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 07:12:00 +0000

If you've been on a turbulent flight, you know how I feel.

I've been dribbling (think leaky faucet, not Beckham) the hard-earned into stocks since August 2004 and my portfolio average investment date is September 2005. At the peak, I was up 50% (per annum, not absolute). Despite the fall, things haven't been too bad. I was up 20% even till a few days back. But yesterday, I would have been better off in a bank fixed deposit... treading water and about to go under.

Today, as I write, the market's up. If my (notional) losses don't get me, the volatility will. Nevertheless, we intend to stay the course and dribble away.

The alphabet vs. the letter

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 04:12:00 +0000

I have seen this too often to let this rant fester any longer. The two sets of people who have no business getting this wrong are teachers and journalists and yet somehow I only seem to see them make this mistake.

The alphabet is a set of letters. Each element of the alphabet is a letter. "A" or "B" or..."Z" are not "alphabets", they are letters.

The only correct use of "alphabets", is when referring to the letters of two or more languages.

Phew!! Am already feeling better getting that off my chest.

Investment banking: A positive post... almost

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 09:14:00 +0000

For those sick of my usual anti-investment banking rants, here is a positive post.

My friend just joined an international investment bank in Mumbai. He is in the very sexy M&A division and even though he is a lowly analyst, he says the work environment is great. After asking for my advice before taking the job, he turned the tables yesterday and suggested I consider rejoining the ranks.

In my defence, he is young and the job is new. :-p

The Entrepreneurial Gene

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 05:14:00 +0000

A study suggests that the propensity to be entrepreneurial (or self-employed, if French words are not your thing), could be genetic.

That's not very good news for me. I'm trying to be entrepreneurial (though I am self-employed, a.k.a. on the dole. Now you know the difference.) But there is little evidence from my family's employment record to suggest any entrepreneurial instinct in the gene pool.

Guess I had better look for a job.

Mutual funds getting pricier

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 03:41:00 +0000

According to a Times of India story, mutual funds will now charge 2.25% on Systematic Investment Plans instead of 1%.

Wharton has done a piece on why investors choose high-fee mutual funds despite the lower returns. The story says

format of fee information is more important than just fees information
low levels of financial literacy probably cause this problem
regulators should require fee information "that is shorter, more digestible and more informative"

In India, unlike the US where the majority of fund managers underperform the index, a larger proportion of fund managers beat the index.

I suspect this is due to the nature of the Indian stock market rather than the superior ability of our fund managers. Perhaps, the higher SIP fees are justified by the higher returns offered.

BTW, if you want to lower your mutual fund costs consider these:

Nifty BeES is a passive index fund i.e. it intends to give you the same returns as the Nifty index.
Morgan Stanley Growth Fund is a closed-end actively managed fund. The interesting thing is that the fund is trading at a significant discount to its NAV. (NAV = 41.77; Price = 36.52 on 31May06). The discount is probably because of the illiquid nature of the fund, i.e. the fund will not liquidate its holding till 2009.

You can buy and sell these funds on the NSE (and BSE for MSGF). The entry "load" is the borkerage that for me is under 0.7% (significantly less than the 2.25% that the other funds are threatening to charge).

Don't-sue-me-notice: Investing (and not investing) can be injurious to your financial health. If you don't feel financially competent, get advice from someone you trust (or pay).

Financial capability

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 May 2006 05:09:00 +0000

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) - UK's financial services regulator - conducted a survey to measure financial capability. The most interesting part was that 31% of people sometimes run out of money at the end of the week or month, and 9% of people always run out.

Difficulty in making ends meet is not restricted to people with low incomes. Similar proportions of people on higher and lower incomes complain of this problem.

People as rich as Larry Ellison (Larry Elison's spending worries his accountant) and Michael Jackson (Michael Jackson restructures finances) have had trouble making their ends meet.

If you want a good DIY guide to financial management, try Risk Is Still a Four Letter Word by George Hartmann.

Business lies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 May 2006 12:14:00 +0000

I've disagreed with The Godfather for a long time and finally I found someone who agrees with me:

Lie: "This is business, it isn't personal."
Truth: "Everything's personal."

FastCompany has a nice one on The Five Most Common Lies in Business.

...but you gotta be lucky!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 May 2006 13:37:00 +0000

If I mislead you by saying hard work will lead to success (in my last post), I apologise. You need a bit of luck as well.

In The Making of an Investment Banker: Macroeconomic Shocks, Career Choice and Lifetime Income, Paul Oyer concludes:

First, random factors play a large role in determining the industries and incomes of members of this high-skill group (graduating Stanford MBA class).

Second, there is a deep pool of potential investment bankers in any given Stanford MBA class. During the time these people are in school, factors beyond their control sort them into or out of banking upon graduation.

Some other interesting bits from the paper:

...bull markets cause GSB (Graduate School of Business) graduates to be less likely to become entrepreneurs or consultants.

...investment bankers earn a substantial premium relative to other GSB alumni. The premium varies from about 60% for a new MBA on Wall Street relative to one in management consulting to over 300% for an investment banker fifteen years after leaving Stanford relative to an average alumnus with the same amount of experience in any other industry.

...a new MBA that goes to Wall Street can expect between $2 million and $6 million in discounted additional lifetime income (using $1996) relative to what he would earn if he took a job elsewhere.

This premium can be interpreted in various ways, but may simply reflect the disutility associated with working in investment banking relative to other fields. (i.e. bankers are paid more because their jobs suck :->)

Oyer quotes a few of other papers:

...graduating in a recession lowers wages early in employees’ careers, though it does not have a noticeable effect on employment... wage differences fade over the first ten years or so after graduation as those who graduated in recessions move from small, low-paying firms to larger firms...

and

... workers who accept low-paying jobs are stuck with low wages for at least several years... Those who switch jobs undo some of the ill effects of starting a job at the “wrong” time, but not all.

Together, the papers lead to the conclusion that luck early in one’s career has important long-term effects

So what can you do besides praying for bul market in your graduation year? Oyer says "short the stock market upon entering school".

Success is hard work

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 May 2006 05:01:00 +0000

If you can, read this piece on Ryan Seacrest in The New York Times (free registration required).

At 31, Mr. Seacrest appears to have found his rhythm. In addition to his "Idol" duties, he now has his own daily show on KIIS-FM in Southern California from 5 to 10 a.m., is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show "American Top 40" and, if that weren't enough, in March he became the anchor of "E! News Daily" on the E! cable channel.
...
He has also invested in eight restaurants — six in Los Angeles, two in Las Vegas — started his own clothing line and is now the executive producer and host of the New Year's Eve show on ABC that Mr. Clark made famous. "Equity, ownership, production fees, license fees: those are the vocabulary words that are exciting to me," he said, flashing a perfectly aligned smile. "If you really want to be in this business for a long time, you have to be more than just one moving part."

What happened to the good old 9-to-5?

Monkey market?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 May 2006 11:01:00 +0000

Having made modest investments in the Indian stock market, I am sitting nervously on unrealised profits waiting for the inevitable(??) correction. And then I got this story (below) today.

I got in as a forward. If you or someone you know is the author, I would be glad to give credit.

Once a man appeared in a village and announced that he would buy monkeys for Rs.10.
The villagers went in the forest and started catching monkeys. The man bought thousands and as supply started to diminish he announced that he would now buy monkeys at 20 rupees.
This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching moneys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms.
The offer rate was increased to Rs.25 but one could not see a monkey let alone catch it.
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at Rs.50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on his behalf.
In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers, "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at Rs.35 and when the man comes back
you can sell it to him for Rs.50."
The villagers queued up with all their saving to buy the monkeys.
Phir na woh aadmi mila na us ka assistant.....
...... Sirf Bandar hee Bandar.....

The bears don't find this story funny. Do you get out of the only investment that seems to be beating inflation, or do you stay invested and deal with the correction when it comes?

The bulls have heavyweights like Ruchir Sharma (MD, Morgan Stanley Investment Management) with them. He thinksthe current bull run is made of sterner stuff:

Emerging markets are in the middle of a long-term uptrend. Their run will be punctuated by corrections, as was the case with the US in its 18-year mega bull-run, but these markets are likely to be surprisingly resilient..

Making it through an IIM

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 May 2006 08:48:00 +0000

AP wrote:

"Some good news....I've cleared IIM!!

Could you please write an article which would help us make the best of our 2 years at a B School. Anything from "strategic guidance" to "daily operational tips" would be very helpful....I am a little anxious about the programme....how demanding can I expect it to be? I have heard some real horror stories....I don't have a clear idea about what I want to specialise in - marketing, finance, operations, i.t., etc....what are the things I should keep in mind while taking a decision... "

I am stuck on the list idea from the earlier post. So here are 2 lists:

At the IIM

Things will be tough. To get an idea read "Snapshots from Hell".
Get to know the people in your class. There is a lot of team work and the more people you know the more team-member options you have.
Forget last-minute studying. Regular work is your best friend.
Search the web for effective studying and note taking tips.
Focus on the purpose of being there - to get a good job. Research your target employers (seniors, classmates, profs).

On choosing a specialization:

Good news: all first year courses are mandatory. All choices are left for year 2.
Look for a short internship before you hit the IIM if you have the time.
Talk to the profs, seniors and classmates with work-ex to get a sense of the specialisations
Use your summer internship - figure out if you like the work you are doing on not: elect or eliminate
Use your summer internship - even your internship is in marketing, go talk to the guys in finance, hr, ops, etc to get a feel for the work.
Use your courses to figure out what excites you and then choose your area.
Don't be too narrowly focused, you will need finance, marketing, hr, ops, etc. skills in the future when you are CEO of GE.

BTW, I had no clue what to specialise in either. I think it is a common ailment.

Work or study?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 May 2006 08:37:00 +0000

My friend wants to work after college. I have been telling her to get an MBA. Here are my reasons:

1. More education means more pay.

2. You will probably get better job offers.

3. You will be working for a long, long time... unless your rich uncle dies early. Enjoy the student life while you can.

4. It's hard to get back to studying from working. It's hard to readjust to boring lectures, assignments and having no money.

Any other reasons? (Contrary ones are welcome too).

"Some marks required" - IIMs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 May 2006 07:54:00 +0000

Jagat wrote to ask if his GPA would be acceptable. Frankly I don't know. This GPA business keeps me confused despite having gone through it at IIMB.

I know that the IIMs want a minimum 50% but what GPA does that translate into? Write in if you know.

Jagat's mail was more specific: does his high extra-academic achievements compensate for his low academic ones?

As I understand it, a good MBA class has a mix of backgrounds and expereinces. That makes for interesting class discussions. As I told Jagat, a class of IIT toppers could be fairly dull, no. :-)

Economics of a Music Video

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 May 2006 06:41:00 +0000

See this nice video by Sarah McLachlan.

It describes the cost of making a music video.

And how that money could make a difference to the poor.

The Art of Pitch

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:27:00 +0000

I went through tons of presentations at my B-school on both sides of the OHP - for the younglings, old people like me used to make do with Over Head Projectors. These were glorified light bulbs used to project slides printed on transparencies.

And that is one thing most fellow b-schoolers still cannot get away from - presentations (not OHPs).

So I thought I would mention two very sharp ones that you can see on Google Video:

1. Who Owns Culture? by Lawrence Lessig - This is a 20 minute thing that tends to drag at times. But I enjoyed the discussion on creativity and how we deal with new technologies like the Napster that threaten to eat into the artists IPR/copyright.

2. Identity 2.0 by Dick Hardt - This is a very slick corporate/business idea promotion. The idea is techy but the presentation style makes it easy to understand.

PS: Don't forget to the funny videos on Google Video.

Work-life balance?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:45:00 +0000

In October '04, Fast Company wrote Balance is Bunk!:

The truth is, balance is bunk. It is an unattainable pipe dream ... that offers mostly rhetorical solutions to problems of logistics and economics. The quest for balance between work and life... isn't just a losing proposition; it's a hurtful, destructive one.

...the balance movement is fatally flawed. For those of us trying desperately to keep up with everything that needs doing, it poses two mythical ideals. If we work hard enough at it, one goes, we can have everything. Or if we cut back, we can have just enough to be truly content. The first obliges us to accomplish too much, often at too high a price; the second doesn't let us accomplish enough. Either way, balance is a relic, a fleeting phenomenon of a closed, industrial economy that doesn't apply in a global, knowledge-based world.

There's a better way to think about all this, one that requires us to embrace imbalance. Instead of trying to balance all of our commitments and passions at any one time, let's acknowledge that anything important, and anything done well, demands our full investment. At some times, it may be a demanding child or an unhappy spouse, and the office will suffer. At others, it may be winning the McWhorter account, and child and spouse will have to fend for themselves. Only over time can we really balance a portfolio of diverse experiences.

And now they have gone and written about Sophie Vandebroek:

Ten years ago, Vandebroek's husband died suddenly, leaving her alone with three small children and no other relatives in the U.S. She responded not just by sticking to her career, but by taking on a string of increasingly challenging, high-profile roles. Her latest is chief technology officer at Xerox, a job she won in January.

How does she do it? By sticking to strict rules for travel, refusing relocations, and living simply. She hires someone to do laundry and grocery shopping, and doesn't sweat it if things don't go perfectly. "So many things we worry about," she says, "are not important." She keeps the family schedule uncluttered--only one sport or activity per kid per season--and chooses simple weekend activities and vacations, as well. She even keeps her hair short to make the morning routine quicker.

At work, she instructs her assistant not to plan any meetings before 9 am or after 5:30 pm. When traveling, she avoids scheduling meetings before 10 am, so she can fly in and out the same day.

And she always has accepted new jobs, no matter what crisis was unfolding at home. "The more senior jobs you get, the easier it is," she says. "You get less control over how busy you are, but you get more over decisions about when you're busy and how you're going to do things."

I guess Superwoman is alive and well at Xerox.

Don't confuse work for life

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 11:17:00 +0000

A friend sent around an old piece from the FT that can still be found here and here. Here are some excerpts:

"Today's generation ... maintain that their personal fulfilment comes from their jobs and the hours they work."

"The idea has grown ... that work should not be just a means to an end, a way to make money, support a family, or gain social prestige but should provide a rich and fulfilling experience in and of itself. Jobs are no longer just jobs; they are lifestyle options."

"Because fulfilling and engrossing work ... often requires long hours ... it is easy to slip into the idea that the converse is also true: that just by working long hours, one is also engaging in fulfilling and engrossing work. This leads to the popular fallacy that you can measure the value of your job ... by the amount of time you spend on it."

"Jane, a 29-year-old corporate lawyer who works in the City of London, tells a story about working on a deal with another lawyer, a young man in his early 30s. At about 3am, he leant over the boardroom desk and said: "Isn't this great? This is when I really love my job." What most struck her about the remark was that the work was irrelevant (she says it was actually rather boring); her colleague simply liked the idea of working late. "It's as though he was validated, or making his life important by this," she says."

"Unfortunately, when people can convince themselves that all they need do in order to lead fulfilled and happy lives is to work long hours ... (and) to think of their employment as a lifestyle, fulfilling and rewarding of itself - and in which the reward is proportional to hours worked - people rapidly begin to substitute work for other aspects of their lives."

"(Jane) remains ... concerned ... about finding fulfillment at work. "I am constantly questioning whether I am doing the right thing here ... There's an eternal search for a more challenging and satisfying option, a better lifestyle. ..." she says."

"The notion that one can do anything is clearly liberating. But life without constraints has also proved a recipe for endless searching, endless questioning of aspirations. It has made this generation obsessed with self-development and determined, for as long as possible, to minimise personal commitments in order to maximise the options open to them. One might see this as a sign of extended adolescence.
Eventually, they will be forced to realise that living is as much about closing possibilities as it is about creating them."

Finally, Stephen Pollan says:

"Stop looking to be fulfilled at work. We’re taught to follow our passions, and the money will come but fulfillment should come from your personal life, not your job. A job should be seen as something that supplies income and security and hopefully is something you do well — not as a substitute for experiencing life."

The entrepreneurial life

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 05:10:00 +0000

If you are keen on "doing your own thing", here are a few cautionary words.

Slate, ran an excellent piece on starting a food business:

"I opened a charming neighbourhood coffee shop. Then it destroyed my life."

It is a first person account of starting and closing a cafe.

"I never realized how ubiquitous the dream of opening a small coffeehouse was until I fell under its spell myself. Friends' eyes misted over when my wife and I would excitedly recite our concept...

The dream of running a small cafe has nothing to do with the excitement of entrepreneurship... The small cafe connects to the fantasy of throwing a perpetual dinner party...
The failure of a small cafe is not a question of competence. It is a sad given."

There are some good rule-of-thumb numbers for the cafe business:

"There is a golden rule, long cherished by restaurateurs, for determining whether a business is viable. Rent should take up no more than 25 percent of your revenue, another 25 percent should go toward payroll, and 35 percent should go toward the product. The remaining 15 percent is what you take home."

Now what should I do with my life?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 03:29:00 +0000

If you think this post is about Bronson's book with a similar title, it's not. This one is about success.

I feel envious of the ones who succeeded early - the mathematicians and the business whiz-kids who made their mark in their 20s and 30s. I am already done with my 20s and the 30s seem to be going darn fast too.

But here is the interesting thing: I look at the ones who succeeded early and then they start thinking "How do I top that?"

Sabeer Bhatia seems to be a case in point. While he must have pots left over from Hotmail, the lack of new peaks must be frustrating... I know it would be for me.

When Fast Company profiled Kamran Elahian, I felt that answering the question in the title of this post must be tough:

"Startup star Kamram Elahian has enjoyed big wins, suffered expensive flops, and launched a bold initiative to wire the world's schools. In the process, he has become a master at making a fresh start."

The fresh start intrigues me. Is it that easy? Probably not if you look at the list of one-hit wonders. And I don't think the money makes it easier either. Perhaps struggling for the first peak is better than to stand in Alexander's sandals:

"When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer."

Or perhaps I am rationalising.