It’s been long overdue. At one point of time, I was lauded for my courage in having opted out of campus placements and pursue something of my own. I didn’t see the risk as too big at that point of time – didn’t understand why it was made into a big deal.
Life’s moved in a fast forward, amidst the immature confidence I had at that time – a bit of mature rationality has crept in. I may not be able to take the same decision today. There was a recklessness to it – which the deliberation of today won’t allow.
Just like it’s difficult to come to terms with the first heartbreak, it takes time to accept an endeavor as a failure. You can move on – but you have to get the closure to be able to talk about the experience and not be affected by it. At times, the mirror asks you questions and you fumble for an answer and what ensues, is a conversation with yourself – as you stare into space – you know it’s time to get candid.
So was it a good idea to opt out of campus placements and build a web 2.0 startup of your own?
Two and a half years hence, I don’t think I can conclusively say that it was a good idea or bad.
Perhaps if you’re the kinds who can learn and understand by listen to advice – it would be wiser to learn at someone else’s expense. But if you’re like me – you really need to experience things yourself for the lessons to stick – first hand learning. So there wasn’t much wrong with the decision to start.
How’s LiL doing?
It’s up and live, I use it occasionally. I don’t see it as a business as of now, and am not doing anything about it professionally.
Why?
Not being a techie myself had come in the way – wasn’t happy with the non achievement of the milestones I’d set – and couldn’t see a way forward.
So what did go wrong?
A whole lot of things actually, if I were to point out the top few,
Not having a techie as a co-founder.
Not enough clarity in vision and thoughts
No idea about product life-cycle management / usability
No focus on revenue generation / sustainability
Not having an adequately hands-on approach
To be Continued!
I really admire your decision to opt out of placements and start a venture of your own. Although in hindsight you may choose to call it amateurish, i feel convinced that the feeling of starting up would have overwhelmed you to the extent that this starting up would have looked completely plausible.
Post was still an interesting read