As startup founder, I believe the most important thing is having a team that loves to learn. Startups begin with a spark — an idea, a belief, a vision. They spring into existence to do something that not many other companies are doing. No matter how great your business idea may be, you won’t get very far if you don’t have the right people to turn your ideas into reality.
What is my ideal day? Like all innocuous questions, it was easy to ask and difficult to answer. I think of all the things I love doing – like travelling, eating out and hiking – all of which are not possible right now because of the Coronavirus.
Apprentice-style learn-by-doing is a trademark of Gujarati businesses. I had learnt under a master from the day I emerged from the womb. Business school felt trivial and theoretical in comparison. During my first year, I gave my lecturers a hard time by misbehaving and sleeping in class. My good grades came as a surprise to them. Who needs school when life is our best teacher?
Many startups look for funding when they begin a business and whilst having some seed capital is essential to starting any enterprise – money can only take you so far. If you’re dealing with investors who are just looking for a quick return on their cash investment – that ship is highly likely to sink fast.
Some 13,000 years ago, a young woman walked into a cave looking for water. One misstep is all it took for her to fracture her hip and drown. That’s what scientists discovered as they dived into Hoyo Negro and found her skeleton – a time capsule preserving a unique record of the Ice Age on the American continent.
I finally get up and get changed. Not that I had any interest in getting ready. I put on some casual pants and a shirt that I didn’t care much for. The thundered roared outside. I didn’t use to like rain much – but ever since my very first Chopda Pujan at Sri Mariamman Temple, I have a new found respect for rain. Mariamman – or Mother Mari – is the Rain Mother. She is a pre-Vedic Tamil folk goddess. In agricultural societies, abundance was contingent on adequate rainfall. Without rain, crops cannot grow healthy and strong.
On 21 March 2020, Saturn exited Capricorn – and entered Aquarius. Every time the slow-moving planet changes signs, it signals a huge energy shift. Since Saturn is the principal (and rule maker) of the cosmos, Saturn’s transits inform us how society and the individual deal with structures. Saturn strips away structures that are pass their due date so that society may implement new ones to replace them.
