E for Energy, E for Entrepreneurship
Till this time, entrepreneurship to me was only restricted to lessons from economics. Back in school, I could only understand that an entrepreneur is one of the ‘variables’ that contributes to an economy.
Back here in the newsroom, I can fathom a small chunk of out of the gigantic piece. Often in the articles that I had penned about them (entrepreneurs), I mentioned about how very serious they are about their projects. And mostly they are always trying a hand at innovation and continuously busy in doing something or the other. One would always find them on their toes and mostly travelling, if not overseas; within the country undoubtedly…
Over the days with my writing on entrepreneurs and startups, I could find identify the letter ‘E’ of entrepreneurship with something more relevant, and that is energy. All the entrepreneurs I met in person, or conversed via email or a telephone call, had this added quality. Their qualities were diverse, and if there was one common idea, rather adjective that I could possibly attach, it would undoubtedly be ‘energy’. And I feel this is the be-all and end-all of entrepreneurship.
Let me give a few anecdotes.
Mr. Harish Aneja — Founder/CEO of Glassified
It was a sultry day back in Mumbai, as I arrived at this gentleman’s office, for an interview. I remember having waited at his office for more than an hour, just when I decided to check with his secretary, I saw him leaving for the day. Perplexed, I was about to stand up when he walked up and apologized for making me wait so long. As I was about to ask him if he was leaving, he said something like this, “Ma’am, since the morning I had back to back meetings — nine to be precise. I am headed to the town now; do you mind If we do the interview in my car?” I couldn’t agree more.
On a serious note, a man whose had conducted nine meetings already, and is on his way for the 10th one, really had the patience and tolerance to engage in an another interview! Kudos!
Ms. Vijayantha Thomas, CEO, Grunter
Her bio seemed interesting to me, a woman in her mid-twenties working with Google, leaves her job and wants to start her own venture. When asked her for an interview, she said she was sorry that she couldn’t give me time, and promised that she would get back. As a professional gesture, I had mailed her the set of questions I was about to ask for my column. To my utter surprise, I found the questionnaire filled within two hours! At the end, there was an apology from her, stating that she wasn’t satisfied with the content shared. The reason being, she typed it on the flight in her way back from Vietnam…
‘Dumb-founded’ was the word actually, if I were to correctly mention my state of mind then. This was majorly because of all the times that I traveled, the best I would do is peep into a travel magazine at the most. And this lady must be dead tired on her way back all the way from Vietnam! She opted to spend her leisure by writing for me…
I chose to narrate these incidents because they are afresh in my memory, and perhaps because of the attitude these folks had.
Psychology says that no two humans are alike, and that all of us have diverse qualities. However, my experience says that all entrepreneurs have this unique quality —an undying love for their product and following their passion, and they will leave no stone unturned to keep up to the same.
