Raghuram Vijapurapu

Hi People,

Its been a while I have ever updated my journal. I have been caught up with so much of work, that I did not even get time to look at your posts.

I am not sure how many of you have watched the movie "Swades". If you haven't then I would highly recommend you to watch it. Its one movie which has got me thinking. A movie which actually questioned what am I really doing? Is it really helpful for the general good. What am I here for? REALLY, WHAT AM I HERE FOR?

Being a "Non-Returning-Indian", and having a ball is all I want to do in Life?

I want people to watch this movie, esp, people who think they can give something back to the community. I think its time we all put our brains together.

Any volunteers for a brain storming on issues where we can help, feel free to email me: ram at fieldlinx dot com.

I am giving 15% of my time to work on this from now...

Ram.

I think the title is quite distinct and doesn't reveal everything I mean to say. But, it can mean anything possible.

I have been spending last two days at a FoodShow speaking about my favourite milk, Sunlatte. Its been a very busy day, but felt as if I am fitting the part of speaking to people very well. I think I am good at speaking to people, atleast I PUSH them towards me. I don't know whether they like it or not.

Here comes the puzzle, am I made for Marketing (read as Pushing) or technology. I think, its interesting to know that I have some capabilities which I can use. But seriously, what am I made of/for? This question is quite a complicated one for me.

This question will remain unanswered for a long time I guess. The theory remains that everyone of us has some capabilities which are yet to be discovered by ourselves. I am not sure when these questions will be answered though! But its worth a try to try everything, keep what works and dump which does not....

Ram.

I am not sure why, but I am getting this strange feeling about a lot of people who are enforcing boundaries to new budding entreprenurs. I think a true entrepreneur makes his own path. If something does not work, then that means that there is another way things wont work and try again! Yes, there are hurdles all around you but they are made so that you over come them. Why are people/mentors forcing budding entrepreneur to think that they need to follow the lead of others who have done it all.

They are forced to think that the IP they own is everything they have. They need to protect it as much as they can. Infact this is one of the reasons why I feel many companies are a disaster, they have been focusing too much on the technology around IP and very little to remain sustainable enterprise. At the end of the day, if an organisation is having a valid IP but does not find anyone to sell it to, then its just a piece of paper worth nothing. Until you have a source of regular income, there is no point in digging along the lines of others. This is a simple fact, a Company can be started off with say $100, but the Company should be able to make a profit of $50 out of it within a period to sustain.

I know most of these doubts that I am reasoning is because of the book that I am reading, namely, "Build To Last". In this book, examples of companies such as Motorola, Johnson & Johnson, WalMart and other companies which are lasting inspite of their competitors, one reason being their competitors are focussed on one product and which wins and at most of the times loses its market or gets tucked away by the competitors itself. In my learnings after the GridX disaster, I started working out ways where I can make this technology feasible to work, enter the market and remain sustainable .

A Business Model in many of the enterprises which I am studying have built an organisation not around the VC funding & not around products. I think the companies which are lasting in the industry have a larger foot-print towards the kind of products they offer, and the services they do apart from development of new products and practises. When a company holds its strength its because of other things they do, not the product alone. Probably the product is just one of these small parts of the whole Vision. I think a "BUILT TO LAST" Enterprise is made of good Common Sense portions in the Business Model than a radical Hockey Sticks.

I think every organisation which owes its strength to ONLY one product/idea will surely lose, if not now, may be in the future.

It needs to build a fort around itself to stop the Financial Squeeze from happening. I heard one of the professors say "Cash in venture is 'Blood', Cash Flow essential for 'Life'". Every entrepreneur should have enough fall-back mechanisms to hold onto something when the wind is blowing too hard and to remain sustainable. Probably every business plan should have a sustainability factor attached to be there when you are needed not losing the game and sitting on a couch.

One Big Mistake many entrepreneurs make is to try to Grow Big fast by getting the funding or merits, but this will be the kiss of death for many of them as they may lose focus on profitability.

A few thoughts from my brain, introspecting my last one year!

Ram.

Working for an Anti-Virus company, every new day is a day filled with exciting things happening all around you. And off-late its been what I call as "heaven" for any Anti-Virus Researcher. (We Anti-Virus Researchers do ^highly^ respect the potential of a REAL Virus Writers, script kiddies do tag along to make a lot of noise but a real virus writer just keeps his innovation short to the extent proof of concept.)

I am not sure how many of you have been following the latest advancements in THE VIRUS TECHNOLOGY, but interesting worms are seemingly closer than ever, and good 'ol Microsoft is helping accelarate & become a catalyst in the development of new viruses (dont ask me how? because I dont know but it still does it somehow, probably this is what we call as THE "monopoly"). Just look at these few new breed of Worms coming to a Windows Machine near you: Researchers warn of infectious Web sites By the way do you think Microsoft has got a patch for this already, I am sorry to say they haven't, "Important Customers who have deployed Windows XP Service Pack 2 RC2 are not at risk." Duh!.... Windows XP SP2 wherez that?

Did I forget to mention Symbian? Oh! How about this, the concept virus which came out sometime ago Worm.Symbian.Cabir phew... atleast for once Microsoft OS is not mentioned in the Systems Not Affected. However, what it does is pretty simple thing, but if a script kiddie comes along and writes something more *radical* then, I am sure every one of us travelling in the Metro going to work will have *BLINK* *BLINK*, Sorry to say that your Sim Card has been wiped. Oh! by the way all you people sporting that new bluetooth enabled phones, be aware that there is something going around you ;)

I really don't know why I am writing this. Infact till I reached the bottom of this blog I am starting to wonder why I have written this, is it excitement? is it really something in me which is trying to say something to everyone. Be your best judge for this and create your own theme. Probably I need some sleep.....

Ram.

This image speaks about ME!



Ram.

PS: This is not my creative work!

I begin to wonder why we sleep? and why we need sleep?

This week, I was always on high trying to get one thing sorted and starting over with another. I am so damn excited about finishing my first Freelance project here in NZ that sometimes I don't get sleep at all. Each night, I sleep at say 11ish and suddenly I find a way to do something and damn I wake up as if I am up from a nightmar. I don't get sleep again. and finally at 3ish I force myself to sleep (Frankly I dont think I need to sleep anyway) and at 8ish I wake up cursing myself for sleeping late.

The best part being, when I reach work boss catches me at the elevator and says, slept late? with a strange pun. I really dont have any answers to this one ;)

Ram.

Notes to myself: I begin to wonder why people are so afraid of using technology, something innovative? Why people are so worried about doing something different? I seem to feel that, these are the people are not ready to take a challenge and to move on further. These people will never be able to take any steps further; and they will never be able to see an opportunity apart from what they have on hand. They are going to stay in the same area as defined and never will they see growth!

Ram.