Idea that can change the world - Loon Project
5:57 AM Posted by Unknown
Google has unveil what it's calling its "latest moonshot" out of the Google X labs. It's called "Project Loon," and as reported last month, it involved sending up a huge number of giant balloons to beam down internet access to remote regions around the globe. Google says that balloons make sense for this purpose — they're cheap to deploy and can provide wireless coverage in areas that would otherwise be difficult to serve due to geography.
Like Google's driverless cars, Project Loon is very much an experiment that's in "very early days." Google says that it has already built the system, however, carrying balloon at 60,000 feet, providing internet speeds "similar to today's 3G networks or faster." Balloons drift, of course, so Google says it's using "complex algorithms and lots of computing power" to ensure that the balloons can move where they're needed using a combination of wind and solar power — potentially floating around the entire globe at stratospheric heights. Google says that the balloons communicate with "specialized antennas," that only work with Project Loon — so it's not using traditional cellular or Wi-Fi tech. On the ground, internet providers can take the signal and move it to the last mile to users.
At Wired, Steven Levy reports that the project started "a little under two years ago." Each balloon starts as an "envelope" that contains the polyethylene balloons and a 22-pound "payload" that contains all the computers and electronics.
There's already a pilot program in New Zealand with 50 testers — Google launched 30 balloons just this week. Google hopes to set up more experiments "over time."
Source: The Verge
A Start-up Founder Cheat-sheet.
8:18 AM Posted by Unknown
How Large Is Your Network? The Power of 2nd and 3rd Degree Connections
7:57 AM Posted by Unknown
The following articled is reblogged from Reid Hoffman. I found it well articulated and well thought out article about the social connections we have in this digital age. ~ Source: link.
Imagine you receive a digital camera with a built-in memory card for your birthday. You bring it on a six-month trip to Africa where you won’t have access to a computer—so all the photos you want to keep must fit on that one memory card. When you first arrive you snap photos freely, and maybe even record some short videos. But after a month or so, the memory card starts filling up. Now you’re forced to be more judicious in deciding how to use that storage. You might take fewer pictures. You might decide to reduce the quality/resolution of the photos you do take in order to fit more. You’ll probably cut back on videos. Still, inevitably, you’ll hit capacity, at which point if you wish to take new photos you’ll have to delete old ones.
Just as a digital camera cannot store an infinite number of photos and videos, you cannot maintain an infinite number of relationships. Which is why, even if you are judicious about your choices, at some point you hit a limit, and any new relationship means sacrificing an old one.
The maximum number of relationships we can realistically manage—the number that can fit on the memory card, as it were—is described as Dunbar’s Number, after evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar. But maybe it shouldn’t be. In the early nineties, Dunbar studied the social connections within groups of monkeys and apes. He theorized that the maximum size of their overall social group was limited by the small size of their neocortex. It requires brainpower to socialize with other animals, so it follows that the smaller the primate’s brain, the less efficient it is at socializing, and the fewer other primates it can befriend. He then extrapolated that humans have an especially large neocortex and so should be able to more efficiently socialize with a great number of humans. Based on our neocortex size, Dunbar calculated that humans should be able to maintain relationships with no more than roughly 150 people at a time. To cross-check the theory, he studied anthropological field reports and other clues from villages and tribes in the hunter-gatherer era. Sure enough, he found the size of surviving tribes tended to be about 150. And when he observed modern human societies, he found that many businesses and military groups organize their people into cliques of about 150. To wit: Dunbar’s Number of 150.
But Dunbar’s research is not exactly about the total number of people that any one person can know. The research focused on how many nonhuman primates (and humans, but only by extrapolation) can survive together in a tribe. Of course, group limits and the number of people you can know are closely related concepts, especially if you consider everyone in your life to be part of your social group. Yet most of us define our total social group more broadly than Dunbar did in his research. Survival in the modern world doesn’t depend on having direct, face-to-face contact with everyone in our social network/group, as it did for the tribes he studied.
Regardless of how you parse Dunbar’s research, what is definitely the case is that there is a limit to the number of relationships you can maintain, if for no other reason than the fact that we have only twenty-four hours in each day. But, contrary to popular understanding of Dunbar’s Number, there is not one blunt limit. There are different limits for each type of relationship. Think back to the digital camera. You can either take low-resolution photographs and store one hundred photos in total, or you can take high-resolution photographs and store forty. With relationships, while you can only have a few close buddies you see every day, you can stay in touch with many distant friends if you only email them once or twice a year.
But there’s a twist. While the number of close allies and weak ties you can keep up is limited, those aren’t your only connections. You can actually maintain a much broader social network that exceeds the size of the memory card. It’s by smartly leveraging this extended network that you fully experience the power of I-to-the-We.
Your Extended Social Network: Second- and Third-Degree Connections
Your allies, weak ties, and the other people you know right now are your first-degree connections. A la Dunbar, there are limits to the number of first-degree connections you can have at any one time. But your friends know people you don’t know. These friends of friends are your second-degree connections. And those friends of friends have friends of their own—those friends of friends of friends are your third-degree connections.
Social network theorists use degree-of-separation terminology to refer to individuals who sit within your social network. A network is a system of interconnected things, like the world’s airports or the Internet (a network of computers and servers). A social network is a set of people and the connections that link them. Everyone you interact with in a professional context comprises your professional social network.
Your Network Is Bigger and More Powerful Than You Think
Think of the times you’ve met someone and discovered you know people in common. The clerk at the local hardware store once hiked through Yosemite with your brother-in-law. Your new girlfriend is in the same bowling league as your boss. “It’s a small world,” we say after such realizations. It’s fun to make these unexpected connections. A busy city street can seem awash with strangers, so when we encounter a familiar face, we notice it.
But is the world actually that small? Psychologist Stanley Milgram and his student Jeffrey Travers found that it is. In fact, it’s smaller and more interconnected than the occasional surprising mutual acquaintance might suggest. In 1967 they conducted a famous study in which they asked a couple hundred people in Nebraska to mail a letter to someone they knew personally who might in turn know a target stockbroker in Massachusetts. Travers and Milgram tracked how long it took for the letter to pass hands and reach its destination. On average, it took six different stops before it showed up at the stockbroker’s home or office in Massachusetts. In other words, the original sender in Nebraska sat six degrees apart from the recipient in Massachusetts. It was this study that birthed the Six Degrees of Separation theory, and the credible idea that you share mutual acquaintances with complete strangers on the other side of the world.
In 2001, sociologist Duncan Watts, inspired by Milgram’s findings, led a more ambitious, rigorous study on a global scale. He recruited eighteen targets in thirteen countries. From an archival inspector in Estonia to a policeman in Western Australia to a professor in upstate New York, the targets were selected to be as diverse as possible. Then he signed up more than sixty thousand people from across the United States to participate in the test. They were to forward an email message to one of the eighteen targets, or to a friend who might know one of the targets. Amazingly, factoring in the emails that never made it to their destination, Watts found that Milgram had been right all along: the median distance that separated a participant from a target was between five and seven degrees.
It is a small world, after all. Small because it is so interconnected.
Milgram’s and Watts’s research shows planet Earth as one massive social network, with every human being connected to every other via no more than about six intermediary people. It’s neat to ponder being connected to billions of people through your friends, and the practical implications for the start-up of you are significant as well. Suppose you want to become a doctor and would like to meet a premier M.D. in your specific field of interest. You’ve heard that getting an introduction is the only way you’ll be able to meet her. The good news is that you know that you are at most only six degrees away from her. The bad news is that following Milgram’s or Watts’s procedure—asking one good friend to forward an email and hope that six or seven email forwards later the email will arrive at the target’s computer—is neither efficient nor reliable. Even if it does arrive, the introduction would be highly diluted. Saying you’re a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend doesn’t quite carry enough heft to open doors.
But if there were a master chart of the entire human social network, you could locate the shortest possible path from you to the doctor. Now, increasingly, there is. Out of an estimated one billion professionals in the world, well over 170 million of them are on LinkedIn. Now, you can search this network to find the connections and friends of connections who can introduce you to that all-star doctor with the fewest number of handoffs. You don’t need to randomly forward an email and hope it arrives at your destination after six twists and turns.
Here’s where the caveat to the Six Degrees of Separation theory comes in. Academically, the theory is correct, but when it comes to meeting people who can help you professionally, three degrees of separation is what matters. Three degrees is the magic number because when you’re introduced to a second- or third-degree connection, at least one person in an introduction chain personally knows the origin or target person. In this example: You—> Karen—> Jane—> Sarah. Karen and Jane are in the middle, and both of them know either You or Sarah—the two people who are trying to connect. That’s how trust is preserved. If one additional degree of separation is added, a person in the middle of the chain will know neither You nor Sarah, and thus have no stake in making sure the introduction goes smoothly. After all, why would a person bother to introduce a total stranger (even if that stranger is a friend of a friend of a friend) to another total stranger?
So, the extended network that’s available to you professionally doesn’t contain the roughly seven billion other humans on the planet who sit six degrees away. But it does contain all the people who sit two or three degrees away, because they are the people you can reach via an introduction. This is a large group. Suppose you have 40 friends, and assume that each friend has 35 other friends in turn, and each of those friends of friends has 45 unique friends of their own. If you do the math (40 × 35 × 45), that’s 54,000 people you can reach via an introduction.
Now you know why one of LinkedIn’s early marketing taglines was: Your Network Is Bigger Than You Think. It is!
Adapted from my book with Ben Casnocha titled The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career.
ROI of Effective Dwarfs The ROI of Creative
9:49 AM Posted by Unknown
Creativity: I've been struggling with this for a long time in my entrepreneurial life. Almost always i try to be creative(or you could say ultra-creative) But in the process i sabotage myself from moving forward and executing things ASAP because i could not quench my creative thirst on projects.
Effective: knowing what i know now "creativity is over rated" so main focus (80%) will be devoted to effectiveness. I've learned the "ROI of effective" dwarfs the "ROI of creative".
I chose the latter. I rest my case. Yours Truly.
PS. At FlyingCocoon | Social Media Agency We chose ‘effective Work’ over ‘creative work’.
Effective - When the work explains what we do.
Creative - When we have to explain the work.
P.P.S Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends. ~Jawaharlal Nehru
Internet Quotes!
8:39 AM Posted by Unknown
Epic rise and Dramatic fall of Kony2012 to Horny2012
12:40 PM Posted by Unknown
The news site RT says: Jason Russell, 33, who is responsible for the Internet’s biggest viral campaign was arrested last week by San Diego Police for allegedly fondling himself while under the influence of an unknown substance and vandalizing vehicles. According to reports, he is being held at a psychiatric ward in San Diego and is set to be released on Monday.Here, i really don't want to talk about the misfortune of an individual. If you think about it, it could be any of us. I've already blogged about what i felt whole KONY2012 movement and it's flaws. So what do i want to talk about now? The Power Of Social Media.
The Social Media made Jason Russle famouse along Joseph Kony with the Kony 2012 Campaign.
Millions of People watched the video, Shared it, tweeted it, commented on it & about it, some even donated. After few days, people start to think rationally about what they are actually getting into and huge backlash happened on the same social platforms.
I believe the viral video that was release by invisible children has robbed dignity of Ugandian people to huge extent. The PM of the country had interview with Telegraph about how the video gives a false impression.
Now the surprising thing is, same social media that they used to say whatever they wanted to say to the world, now it's saying whatever it wants against them. May God give them the power to handle it.
The team has executed one of the best social campaign ever, but they were not ready for the responses against them. These guys were a good film makes with good skill of script writing that could convince you and sell you stone as bread. But they didn't have a strategy to deal with the criticism, even the video that the CEO of IC shot was too late. Here is an immutable law of social medial that i've seen time and again.
As WIRED says it: Once you put yourself out there you lose the right to turn communications on and off, or dictate its terms -- and the bigger your community asset, the bigger your responsibility to it becomes.
Your followers will quickly become disloyal if they feel hoodwinked, or lied to. On the flip side, every time there's a negative perception an opportunity to right that wrong will only make the relationship you have with your followers stronger. It's the basics of human relations, on a super-sized scale.
“Oh my God, What? F*c# that Sh!t, you’re the devil.”
The Curious Case of Kony 2012 And Its Flaws.
4:07 AM Posted by Unknown
So many thoughts are running in my head, i don't even know where to start? Ok, Since I'm an entrepreneur and social media consultant, let me first talk about the social Media strategy part of Kony 2012 and then i will talk about my view on the behind scene-politics in the grand scheme of things. Its surprising how Kony video went viral
First, Social Media: Its a campaign that managed to steal the limelight from Apple’s iPad launch. It has achieved important mile stone in digital activism. It just showed us the glimpse of the future social media enabled activism and whats possible in hyper connected world. As a person heavily involved in social media marketing, i've appreciated the quality of the work and the style of story telling in a way that engaged the viewer instantly.
In general Kony 2012 movement across different social platforms is truly inspirational for many in a context of social activism. For years the governments has been at the top and the people at the bottom but now the tables have turned for almost a decade. After all we live in an age of wikileaks. WE have a say, and what we say matters--especially if our collective voice is loud enough. Think about what else we could do with this social power! Besides, this campaign is helping thousands and thousands of young people feel important and like they have made a difference--you can't steal that away from them.
And the clip has clear end goal: From marketing perspective i must say it's well executed piece of project. Hope to see more and more real world problem solving viral videos in near future.
In my perspective, i feel the video nailed the following points pretty well. We the social media strategists could learn from.
No1. Buy people's emoting by Appealing to their emotion.
No.2 Have a simple A-call-to-action for people to act up on.
No.3 Target Influencers to amplify the message and the cause.
No.4 Make people know the commitment has a dead line.
While runing Hyderabad Twestival's social media campaign with friends to help a charity( Aashayein) that supports underprivileged children education, i know how difficult it is create awarness and make people part of it and act. But now because of Kony 2012 for once it actually feels good for people to participate in something this big. There is nothing wrong with trying to do a little good in this rotten world, and if we can unite people in doing it.
Secondly, lets talk the politics from behind scene
The short film narrates a story in the name of antagonist Kony, who represents or creates obstacles that the protagonist US-govt must kind of overcome in order to secure their oil from Uganda in a fictional way. Where is equally bad dictator government of Uganda, and the real voice of Ugandan people in the film? There is always danger in single side of story
Its True, Probably these three guys are doing much more than what you and me could articulate while sitting on the bean bags. But there are real isuses i feel i should bring to light for the viewers while i applaud the the effort of the social media strategy team behind Kony 2012. As an online & offline activists, Doing something may not always be the best option? We should act intelligently. Meaning we must know more than what was presented in a few minute clip.
Invisible Children started a social media campaign to garner support and awareness of the LRA and Joseph Kony. The campaign focuses on the website that features a roughly 30 minute video and social sharing tools, and a plan for encouraging activism and bringing public awareness for the end goal of capturing Kony in 2012.
I'm against Joseph Kony, and also i'm against the very point that this video is trying to make (Direct Military Intervention to catch Kony). It has long term political ramification on the people of in that country. I feel Its a slap on the face of Uganda's people. Thanks to Europeans, they are the genesis of the problem when they divided southerners and the northerner. History tells us a lot about that, you could look it up. After all these hangama and social media drama what's gonna happen to KONY? You might say he'll be arrested and presented to ICC. (International Criminal Court is a joke for me, that tries only African leaders who are against the west interest) Here is my problem. Capturing Kony will achieve little...the war has been over for 6 years. Lets spend our resources rebuilding Uganda's infrastructure, and by giving the Ugandan people tools to support themselves.
So you assume that the soldiers of Uganda are going to find and capture Kony without a fight? If the US-supported Ugandan military forces go after him 30k people may die because he will use every person under his army(children) as a human shield till his last breath. We all know someone had to keep re-arming Joseph Kony since 1980s, they also have to stop selling weapons over to rebels. This is a practical start that will hurt not just Kony, but the entire LRA and other militants.
In addition here lies the long term interest of US, geologists recently discovered oil in and around Lake Albert -- seems another reason for closer cooperation and for stabilizing the area. But even so, for obvious reasons it is unusual to publicize the movements of special forces in advance of their deployment. The US may denie interest in Uganda's oil, but who will believe to them.
What scares me is looking at the US's track record in Iraq, I think they'd be better off being left alone to a comparatively small scale tribal war. Without the need for the US to kill more than 500,000 people in the name of 'safeguarding the people' We know how well the good intentions of US intervention works out. Mass Murder, Occupation, and Corrupt tyrants protected by US power that torture and destroy the wealth and rights of the people(eg. Haiti, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan).
No offense to anyone, Nobody kills like the US war machine---And its economic sanctions create famine. Kony is a Minnow of menace compared to the Leviathan of Mass Murder and War Crime the US practices across a few continents.
What we need to do is protest and put an end to the people supplying guns to "rebels" around the world. Kony is to Uganda what the rebels in Libya were to Ghadafi. The American Military Industrial Complex is responsible. The UN and other countries such as France that sell & distribute arms are responsible.
Someone commented saying: They go into these countries, give arms to rebels like Kony, then go and sell arms to the country's government to get the rebels, and make zillions from it. It then installs a "Federal Bank" (privately owned in reality, nothing Federal about them) and then taxes its innocent citizens with an "income tax" to pay off the debt that their government accumulated from the interest of the debt for the weapons it wouldn't have needed if it weren't for the armed rebels in the first place, which it can't repay.After not being able to repay the loans for the arms, the same companies that sold them the weapons takes the country's natural resources like oil, for free.Then to further plunge the country into debt, they PRINT money, then lend it to countries like Uganda AGAIN at interest to pay for Infrastructure, with the work being carried out by the same people's companies!!!Uganda hasn't seen LRA since 2006 but KONY 2012 ignores that success, preferring to cast Ugandans as weak, defenseless, and besieged, and in need of immediate white/American/Western/privileged intervention. Seriously, what the hell?
My Fear, now this movement will give free passage the US army to the country (which they were doing it in low profile for a while) and they will twist the arm of the country for their oil that was discovered recently. Wait and see People, This is the real scam behind.
Liking on Facebook is OK; Awareness is OK; calling your congressman is OK; marching is OK; Tweeting to celebrity is OK, but OK don't mean any thing for the people of Uganda. Think it through, act as a responsible citizen, and understand the consequences of your actions both positive and negative.
I don't want to say much about the donation that is pouring at the moment.
Why donate to people making videos in America when you could donate to Ugandans working (in Uganda!!) with the victims? I surly know that Non-profits are still a business. We just hope they do some good along the way. I personally prefer donating to someone like Sam Childers. ( Those who watched Gerard Butler's The machine Gun Preacher will know what i'm talking about)
One last thing? But once the Kony posters are up, who will clean it all up? Who? You can bet it won’t be Kony. Nor Invisible Children. I foresee, we need another social media camping for that?
Sorry for such a long post. But if you made it this far. Please listen the Song "The Keeper"
Let Me Tell You Something You Already Know
10:56 PM Posted by Unknown
My Flash Mob - Parody
9:52 PM Posted by Unknown
Why so serious? Have Some fun.
Gone are the days what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Now what happens across the web stays on the web else where in some form or the other. Look at an old post of mine that i found while scrolling down the Facebook timeline. Since it already exist somewhere where i can't delete it, i thought i might as well re-make it. See if you LIKE it.
Visit: http://facebook.com/
Sachin’s 100th Century.
10:46 PM Posted by Unknown
If you don’t have few minuites, please don’t feel obligated
to read this long post
Sachin’s 100th Century.
Me
and my dear-friend (& Co-founder at FlyingCocoon) Joshua Chris were having
coffee at regular venue (Beyond Coffee) We get a coffee time pretty much most
of the weekdays when he isn’t in Bangalore. He loves Cricket. So i knew today’s
discussion point was somewhat important and relevant to what we’ve been going
through as partners for quite sometime. He shared an article with me that was
written few days back on yourstory.in about Sachin’s 100th century miss
and Nation’s anticipation. (Josh usually says, we don’t always get what we
want. We get only what God gives directly proportional to what we are capable
of) i’ll probably write about this another day. In general I love Joshua’s
insight on things, i don’t remember a single day i wasn’t inspired by him over
three years+ of our friendship. (though i’ve many good friends I can count on
for advice) He’s ONE person i know who connects with me in different level, may
be its because He understands technology, business and has balanced spiritual
life too. I learn a lot from him.(I hope he’ll learn few things from me too)
Coming
back to the article i mentioned he shared with me, the author talks about three
main focus points
1. You never know what’s going to happen next minute – Sachin has reached 100′s so easily till last year and since last 8 months it’s been such a struggle repeating the same thing. There are phases in your startup journey when all is going great and then the landslide starts but that doesn’t mean the commitment is low or you are doing something wrong. It’s just that you need to continue and stay put and pass the phase. I am sure Sachin will get his 100th century soon if not today some other day, and I think that’s the level of confidence and self belief that needs to be there.
2. New Day is always a new day – In last so many occasions we have seen Sachin play well and cross 50 but when he comes the next day the landmark seems to elude him. In a startup a new day is a new day. You got to start afresh, forget the good and bad of the last day and focus on what’s on hand.
3. Focus – We have seen so many startups starting wonderfully well but losing focus mid way especially when the BIG THING is nearing. Much like Sachin going just 6 runs away from what could have been a great great innings, slight loss of focus can lead to a sudden downfall in the fortunes of a startup.
For a young entrepreneur
like me who is trying to make it work
with unrealized ambition and probably with lots
of bills to pay. Josh had a bit of his
own commentary on top of the article I shared above. He said Just like sachin No matter how successful we become,
life always shows up with a surprise and mystery. Its in a times like this our faith will be
tested. Emmy when you find you self in this spot remember your faith is on
trial, but you've got a good lawyer. A person who pleads your case in heaven. He continued talking but I stopped listening
and went in to my own thoughts. Suddenly all my
previous small and big achievements & failures started to mean nothing in
the face of whats ahead of me and whats possible, its just like Sachin’s
failure at his 100th century. Previously I’ve tried and tried more to
get things back to the perfect track but i found it an uphill to get my way,
the way I want it.
“I
wanted the gold, and I sought it;
I scrabbled and mucked like a slave.
Was it famine or scurvy—I fought it;
I hurled my youth into a grave…”
I scrabbled and mucked like a slave.
Was it famine or scurvy—I fought it;
I hurled my youth into a grave…”
“Yet
it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting
So much as just finding the gold.” -Robert Service,
So much as just finding the gold.” -Robert Service,
Before my graduation i had to
work for internship for three months. At the office i worked in people loved
me, i was the youngest and nerdy and geekiest chap around so they wanted me to
say longer (i too wanted to stay because I was learning a lot in that environment)
And i ended up working there for a year. Last week I was immersed in deep five
years old nostalgia while i stumbled at the recommendation letter i received
from the CEO when i resigned. In those days I had all the energy, regularly
over-night i used to crush in the office on my desk. I ate on computers, breath
computers dust, slept on keyboard. I massaged(scratched) myself with mouse. While working in that office, though i enjoyed
every moment of it I knew from my
college days that my brains are wired differently( to work for myself). That is
why back in good old days 2004-5 I
launched a website and optimized it to earn from Adsense Ads, While my
classmates wanted to work for so and so multi-national companies. I knew that i
knew i’m never gonna work for anyone. (Though in college days i used to say i
wanna work ONLY for Google, later i outgrow that and wanted to build company
and sell it to google. I still secretly lust on that front.) Between then and now sooooo many things
happen, i saw myself evolved through tough situations. So FlyingCocoon is one
of those things that a happened in between then and now (started early 2008 and
much didn’t happen in between Josh left to Bangalore and i was busy trying out
there things). I’m lucky! I have many people
i love and value like Josh beside me. For many
entrepreneurs finding a co-founder has been likened to getting married and like
a marriage it can be the best or the worst thing to happen to you. Now am runing
a (Lean)scrappy startup I’m pushing myself, despite all the limitations,
swearing i have to make this work, no matter what. I don’t know how many people
understand the intensity but Running a startup
without any funding is definitely a hard life. Even with funding, it is a lot
of work. I remember Conan O'Brien's quoted what Nietzsche
famously said ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ But what he
failed to stress is that IT ALMOST KILLS YOU. You know, The stresses of running a
poorly performing company or the frustrations of not closing enough deal almost
kills you. I was absorbed so much, I stopped
caring about myself and things around me much. Few trusted friends came and told
me Emmy pls take care of yourself you
are underweight & you look like a shit. I still didn’t care much. Sometimes
dreams make us insane. And those who are around us who don’t know what’s going
on inside of us looks at as commenselseless-lunatic. That part has never bothered
me ever, because to some degree i’m iconoclast. What the society think doesn’t
bother me zilch while my dream is at stake.
I sipped my coffee, Josh also
sipped his coffee and continued talking i didn’t concentrate on what all he
said new he moved on to the second point what the guy wrote about sachin’s NEW
DAY, its is pretty much similar to what paul says But one thing
I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me. Emmy In God’s
kingdom Faith is your currency, Have faith in a new day. Its By faith gentile became a Jew. I hope you remember
Abraham’s story how he birthed a new nation. Because he believed God it was
counted unto him as righteousness. He was not right but he believed God is so
good. And guess what? God said if you believe me like that I'll go ahead and
i'll credit your account. And it was counted as righteous. Its like God saying I
know you are not perfect, but i'll take your faith as a currency. I'll bless
you. give you land and everything.
I know his
FAITH also told him he'll give him a son, funnily the case got on hold till his
wife passed child bearing age, now she was barren on top of that his body aged
too. When it was completely impossible in human terms, God gave them a son.
Emmy as
long as you can see you way clear God will do absolutely nothing. Its when absolutely
there is no way for you to get it, when all of you plans & plots are failed
and the budget is blown, the checks are over drawn. When you can see no way how
you can make it. No way to run your dream startup, no way to hire the kind of
talent you want. Its then God moves on your behalf and say I'm gonna bless you.
Like Abraham. When you reach to this stage you know whom to be thankful for. Credits
only goes to God not to anyone. Not even for yourself. Because you couldn't do
it.
While
we just have to trust God, often times we try to trace him. Trust is form of
worship. If you don’t want to worship him question your purpose why here on
earth you are here for.
Am
still listening while looking at the one of the paintings on the wall at
BeyondCoffee. I looked at my green tea cup I’ve realized i finished it without
realizing it. Both of us have finished our drinks the only thing left on the
table is French fries.
Josh
took hand full of French fries and continued about the article he was talking
about. He said the third point deals with really crucial issue. (Especially for
us) I believe there
is dime a dozen opportunities now than any previous generations ever lived on
this planet had. For the little guys to create wealth and be who they want to
be barriers to entry have been mostly removed especially for Tech companies;
the playing field has been quite levelled same way for a guy in Hyderabad and
for the guy in Silicon valley. This is something "very
liberating". As you are yet to be discovered, you haven't gotten your recognition. But at
the same time, you don't have expectations. You just have to Focus, and take Action while the
opportunities are still here. He looked me in the eye and said people
like you suffer because they think they can be everything(not one thing) they
want to be and when reality bitch slaps them. They’ll go out on full spree to
prove a point.
Truly speaking I’ve done all of that, trying to prove a point and all, knowing what i
know now,
"odds are highly stacked against start-ups” i’v nothing i
want to prove. I just let God, what He lets me to do. I’ve reconciled with the
fact that i can’t fight with that, even if i fight that. That is a losing
battle already from the beginning.
As
I mentioned earlier Me and Josh understand technology & business (local
business) that is what clicked between us and helped us to build this incredible
friendship over the years. We’ve been advising our friends on how to use the
social web to generate leads for their small business in a very casual way for
the last two year (very casually not for revenue). And For the past few months I’ve
been working on SocialCRM called “OppTube” and i never knew FlyingCocoon which
we started in 2008 will become serious and we’ll help more business to adopt
social Media to expand their reach.
The
plan is very simple for now. We do Social Media Consultation for local business
for free or for extremely nominal cost. Help them with execution. We nurture a
long term working relationship with them. At later stage when my SocialCRM gets
ready for beta testing they’ll be signed up. After their initial trial &
feedback period It will be priced rightly based on the value it provide. I’ll
talk about on that development on another post
As conclusion he said: It’s really scary to forsake everything and focus
on one thing. It’s ok, accept the fear: It is natural to be
frightened by unknown. Naturally you want to diversify. You might being a
situation making less money and working more because company you are working in decides suddenly
freeze salaries and increase working hours This has happened for several
friends in Indian IT companies. But
still focus is the only way-in only way-out
In a serious voice he
asked me: Em what’s the worst it could
happen to you? Quickly i said I’ll be completely bankrupt and start sleeping in
my car till I bounce back. He said think for a second Are you really afraid of
that. I mean really? After thinking for a second I replied: Actually not that
much. If you look at any successful Startup, many encountered situations where
most would throw in the towel, but they didn’t, they pushed through and
achieved their dreams.
Tweet
PS. I know my writing style is as terrible as it gets. Something tells me with practice i can write better in the future. This is written as a practice. When i become a better writer i’ll look back and laugh at this post the awful grammar and punctuation..
PS. I know my writing style is as terrible as it gets. Something tells me with practice i can write better in the future. This is written as a practice. When i become a better writer i’ll look back and laugh at this post the awful grammar and punctuation..
P.S.S On the flip
side i feel really happy, coz this is a testament of overcoming my two fears,
Fear of long post and showing off my insecurities as man. Sometimes opening up
ourselves to vulnerability helps us to reclaim our humanness and remind us we are not God.
Labels:
Breakthrough,
Butterfly Effect,
Change,
Development,
Dream,
God,
Hyderabad,
Prayer,
Social Media,
Startup
10:36 AM Posted by Unknown
Please watch this conversation between John Battelle and Brian Solis on SOCIAL MEDIA.
If A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings In Brazil, Guess What Happens?
12:04 PM Posted by Unknown
 |
| FlyingCocoon's Logo |
As @HannoL puts it, Today more than ever before do we realize that we are part of a vast network, both digitally and naturally, where technology matters but networks far exceed the virtual world. It seems there might be truth in the saying that when a butterfly flaps it’s wings in America, it creates a tropical storm in the Orient, a truly networked society.
The Butterfly Effect theory states that You can create lasting change when you begin small, act where you are, and stay faithful over the long haul. At FlyingCocoon we believe its time to apply The butterfly effect in vast universe of Social Media. Stay Hungry, Stay tuned.
Dreams Evolve - Conan O’Brien’s 2011 Dartmouth College
1:06 AM Posted by Unknown
Tweet
Presenting to you the social media guy who started tweeting his comedies.
There's lots comedy in the 23-minute speech; Also there's profound message about the freedom that comes from failure. The embedded player will play the last 7 min speeches when you press play. That is the part i want my blog readers to listen.
Whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change and that's OK.
I quote "There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized. It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.
But if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound reinvention. Whether you fear it or not, true disappointment will come but with disappointment comes clarity, conviction and true originality."
Again i quote "Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42. One's dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course. At the age of 47, after 25 years of obsessively pursuing my dream, that dream changed, he said. I thought achieving that goal would define me as successful. But that is not true. No specific job or career goal defines me, and it should not define you."
Conan O’Brien’s 2011 Dartmouth College Commencement Address
Support underprivileged kids education with Social Media.
12:18 AM Posted by Unknown
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