Entrepreneurship, anyone?

Let’s get straight to the point. If you are an engineer, what are the options available to you? 1) a software job, 2) further studies (MBA, M.Tech, MS), or if you get lucky 3) a technical job in your field of engineering.
But wait, here’s a fourth option, entrepreneurship. Sure there are many of us engineers who want to be entrepreneurs later in our lives (after 5-10 years or so), but on second thought, why that timeframe? It is hard to figure out what kind of a job will teach you the nuances of entrepreneurship (in 5-10 years that is). Also, money is a factor, but thinking that you will be able to save up enough money in your pre-entrepreneurship job also makes little sense.
So, if you do want to be an entrepreneur, what is the harm in starting off as soon as you complete your education? Also, out of many people who decide they will become entrepreneurs later in their lives, might never end up realizing their dream of doing so (various factors involved). Having said all that, I am myself taking up a job when I wish to become an entrepreneur, so I am being a hypocrite in this case…but…you get the point, right?

and yes..Wishing everyone a very happy 2006

Cricket @ Taljai (Pune)

“How in the world did you find such a ground?” was a friend’s remark when he caught a glimpse of the beautiful ground on top of the hill. And to make matters better, a lot of us had turned up to play. My opposite number won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat first (why are people so scared of chasing targets? Isn’t it a lot easier to chase?). Anyways, they put up 51 in 12 overs, which we chased it down in just 9 overs. No real funny incident to recount, but a few lessons learnt viz,
- Burger King does not open until 11.30 AM
- Marz-O-Rin burgers suck

The one slippered traveler

Just out of the blue, a funny incident comes to mind. Here it goes, a group of us were on a visit to chennai to attend IIT-Madras’s annual event. After a day full of giving presentations and having listened to some given by others (unfortunately), we decided to chill out by visiting the nearest beach. Now, all of us belonged to a beachless city and hence the sight of the sea made us want to jump into it asap. One of us (we will call him TB) was so enthu that he forgot to take of his slippers before jumping into the sea, but soon realized that he had forgotten to do so and hastily removed it. The next wave carries his pair with it into the sea. TB frantically tries to get it back but manages to salvage only one of it. He roams around chennai with just one slipper on, turning a few heads and spreading a lot of joy around (even a waiter at the local restaurant joined us in our laughter). Somebody had the presence of mind to get a picture of that Kodak moment.
I will paste that picture as soon as I lay my hands on it (TB has a copy of it). I hope TB does not read this before I procure the photo from him.

Autobiographies - just too good

They are among the best books you can get your hands on. Not only do they make for interesting reading but also give you a good insight into the lives of successful people. Here’s my take on some of the autobiographies I have read,

‘Losing my Virginity’ - Richard Branson
Branson interleaves his business and adventures so beautifully that at times this book almost seems like fiction. An un-putdownable book.

‘Sunny Days’ - Sunil Gavaskar
You will enjoy this book even if you are not interested in cricket at all, because this book majorly deals with people (and funny people at that). Though at times Gavaskar brings in too many numbers, overall it is a well written and surprisingly humorous book.

‘Straight from the gut’ – Jack Welch
A good book. Welch’s graphical techniques of representing business plans are awesome.

‘Made in Japan’ - Akio Morita
I suggest reading this book in parallel with ‘SONY-the inside life’ by John Nathan. The two books in parallel make for a great combination.

‘Odyssey’ - John Sculley
A corporate drama on how Sculley first kicked his job at Pepsi Co. to join Apple Computers and then kicked Steve Jobs himself. This book depicts Jobs as the villain. Maybe, Steve Jobs’ autobiography will invert that.

Lee Iacocca’s autobiography
Depicts the shrewdness and internal politics employed by Henry Ford Jr. to kick Iacocca out of Ford and Iacocca’s comeback after his humiliation .

‘The IBM way’- Buck Rodgers
He was an IBM Vice President for many years. In this book he explains why IBM is (or was) that good. And believe it or not, this fellow used to run 5 miles a day despite his busy schedule owing to a high profile job.

Currently reading Mahatma Gandhi’s and Paramahansa Yogananada’s autobiography. More on autobiographies as I go on reading more of them.

What this MBA thing is all about

Today MBA (the degree) is sacrosanct. No wonder nearly 2 lakh Indians took the CAT this year. To most it is the passport to a higher management job & of course, an amazing salary. But what is this MBA thing all about? What exactly can they teach you in 2 years that transforms you from a 2 lakh junior management guy (read programmer) to a 8 lakh senior management wizard. Not that I am against the whole MBA idea. In fact, I have myself taken the CAT this year and hope to get into a good management institute. But somehow I find it hard to digest how 2 years of studying management can so easily bypass years of experience and hard work. Also, how in the world can a manager, who has never written a piece of code in his life, be part of a senior management team of an IT company (IT firms do pick up a lot of MBAs from premiere institutes).
Today, a majority of people giving the CAT happen to be working as programmers in top Indian IT firms. I think the reason for this is that they see very little future in their present jobs or they are just too bored with their jobs. I do not think they want to do an MBA just because they had a brainwave that they would make good managers. It is almost as if they cannot think of anything better to do, so why not do an MBA. After all, it is the ‘in thing’ right now.
But is the MBA bubble like the IT bubble of the 90’s? With the way things are going, a few years from now, India will have only two kinds of white collared professionals- the MBAs and the programmers (oh, I forgot the call center people).
But is this the India we want? It is high time we focus on creating other jobs. What do you think?

Welcome to my blog

Hello All,
Welcome to my blog. First things first. This blog has got nothing to do with Charles Babbage or computers. Then why have I named it "The Analytical Engine" ? Well you will find out as you read more of my posts.
On this blog you are likely to come across issues from the mundane to the obscure. Loss of words is forcing me to put an end to my first post. Hoping for replies/comments from your side. Hope you will enjoy my blog.

"Life is like an ice cream, enjoy it before it melts"