A bit about my background – I am a second year MBA student. I have started a venture called Sandwedges some nine months back and want to do it full time after MBA. Its placement time at our B-school.
I have no interest in placements. I never had. I have been having this entrepreneurial dream since second year of engineering. I am prepared now to have a different life. I am prepared mentally to have low income initially so that I can have bigger gains later in this life. When I started thinking about startups it was not even one word. Startups were for IITians, that too crazy ones. I remember explaining the word startup to my colleagues that it’s a company in initial stages led by people with entrepreneurial mindset. It was from that time I am trying to learn everything that will be required in my entrepreneurial journey. Times had changed since. It’s the buzz word today. Both the quantity and the quality of entrepreneurs have gone up. We have several success stories to talk about. Flipkart and redbus had started at that time. Now they are live examples of guts shown by entrepreneurs. Its not that we have only success stories to talk about. Several ecommerce has shut store (goodlife, letsbuy, chhotu.in). A lot has changed and it seems for better. But not all.
I am a self confessed entrepreneur. In last one year I have started two ventures. One couldn’t take any shape and we were not able to launch the product. Another is the one I am happy about but a lot needs to be done to take it to the desirable level. The point I want to bring to everyone’s notice is that I am still facing archaic problems that I thought don’t exist now. The problem lies around mindset, expectations, status quo , parents, family responsibilities, education loan etc. I come from a middle class background. I have always been a dreamer. My reason for choosing the startup way is to do something big but not compromising on fun and life. The satisfaction you get doing your own startup is unmatched. You live life each day. You are proud of what you create. Some may feel that it is risky. But I like to clarify that startups do fail but entrepreneurs don’t.
I also believe that one should start as soon as possible. Because in reality it takes time. Why not have time on your side. According to Malcolm Gladwell, the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours. So I wanted to start-up as soon as possible. But all my logic of living life each day and starting up early goes in vain when I am talking to my parents and listening to their expectations. However they may try to understand me and my thinking, in the end they want me to take job. And the situation is that if I don’t take a job they’ll consider me someone who is unfit for securing a job and is misguided on his path. They will also think that all their efforts to bring me up with utmost care has been fruit less. They’ll be hurt. It was the case with me in summers when I decided to intern in my own company. They thought I was not capable enough to get a summer internship.
As If this is not enough. To add glitter to gold I am dating a girl with whom I’ll like to settle. All would have been ok if she would have been of same caste. Life would have been much easier say if ‘Sharma’ would have been ‘Varma’. But life has different plans. My parents will never approve me of getting married to someone in different caste. Now consider both the problems together. If I go against my parents wish i.e. start-up and marry my girl, I’ll be branded outlier for my life. And outliers are not considered good in society. My parents will be dejected. What all does any parents want from their child? A secured job for their child and a marriage they think is ok.
What I believe is that if you have a dream you should protect it. I have been dreaming about starting up all my life. Now when I have started up and want to do it as full time venture after college, my parents want me to take a job. Seeing my energy about my startup, they have not told me blatantly to shut down my venture and would not mind if I do both at the same time. But tell me, can anyone be a part of both Mckinsey and Goldman Sachs at the same time. My startup is Mckinsey for me. I am serious about it and I am ready to put in as much as anyone would put in Mckinsey. Should I shut down my venture for a while till I get a job just to show them I am competent enough. I don’t have answers.
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UPDATE ON SANDEWEDGES (added by asha) DEC 15, 2014: SandWedges featured in The Hindu Business Line
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Recommended reads on this topic:
Startup? Middle Class?? Oh boy!
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asha chaudhry
hi chaman,
this post of yours will resonate well with lots of our youngsters around! i’ll leave the commenting to them – in the meanwhile i’m leaving you with some interesting reads that will tell you that you are not alone!! so hang in there.
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/disown-family-or-startup
https://www.therodinhoods.com/profiles/blogs/flat-marriage-and-family-3-reasons-why-young-indians-don-t-turn
sumit v nawathe
Hi Chaman Raj,
May be this is not one of the best suits of mine to consult someone but regarding to your situation i would say first follow the conventional path prove yourself in front of your parents which may help you to get your girl. then after some time when thing will settle down pursuit your dream. you can wait for venture but not for parents and girl.
Sumit
Aneja Raj
I have a different view than Sumit, but in a nice way. If I were you, I would chase my passion right off the bat. I spend a lot of time trying to impress my family, friends and the society, and in the process lost a lot of valuable time… If you truly know what you want to do, go for it.
I like this quote from Dr. Seuss “‘Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Don’t lose yourself trying to impress others.. Follow your dreams.. we have very little time to enjoy what we truly believe in..
Nice post and all the best!
Sushrut Munje
Hey Chaman,
I spoke to one of your co-founders recently. Amazing stuff you got there but shit happens. The more we analyse, the more complicated it gets. We simply need to lay down our options on the table, weigh the consequences and jump. You’re awesome to have a startup mindset and though placements are uber cool, you wont be able to do justice to them if your mind is elsewhere. No matter what you do, you need to do it for yourself. The moment you start doing it for someone else, you find that happiness eludes you.
Your parents love you, and they’re afraid of you probably not being in the right mind while choosing a startup before a nice job with fixed monthly compensation. That is because they see the risks and everything that can go wrong. You see the things that might work for you, which is perfectly alright. That makes things happen. If your startup fails, your parents will be equally dejected. If your startup crosses Jupiter’s escape velocity (thank you, Rahul Gandhi), they will be one of the happiest people around you.
No one can brand you an outlier unless you want yourself to be branded as one.
I’d suggest focusing on your startup if you believe in it.
Stick with your girl if you believe in the relationship you share.
Be an awesome honey badger.
You are the best man to choose what direction to take.
Best wishes 🙂
asha chaudhry
loved your comment sush!
ps: folks do not watch the honey badger while eating anything 🙂
Chaman Raj
Hi Asha
Thanx a lot for sharing these links. Feeling better to find people with similar situation. 🙂
Abhijeet Mahajan
Hi Chaman,
I am tempted to comment even though i may not be the right person to guide on this. the only reason for this is, my story is almost similar as yours. Only difference is startup Ripples is still in process and i have already accepted to prove others.
I was told that i should take some experience before i start on my own which i accepted and opted for the job. Yes experience is needed to gauze the business processes and to learn ways to crack the bigger clients.
What i did in mean while is i have convinced my parents that in next 1 and half year how i can start earning better than the job and if i cant do that i will again join a job. For now they are convinced and i am focusing on my dream.
You can also try the same. After all over-committing parents wont be harmful 🙂
All the best!!
Abhijeet
Darshan Bhambiru
Check this post The Video is Awesome for a Tea Break 🙂
Just take a Break sometimes, and finish the Tea.
Priyesh Choudhary
This is something very similar to which I am going through and ofcourse I am sure there would be many like us on the same boat.All Ihave to suggest to you is do whatever your instict tells you.As an entrepreneur you have got to be intutuive and take some tough decisions in life.This is just the begining.At the end of the day our parents want us to see happy and I am sure you will be happy only if you pursue your own venture.So give it a shot.Don’t overthink.Let the fate do the talking.Remember the golden words “Whatever happens,happens for the best”!!Good Luck mate
Chaman Raj
Thanks you everyone. A true entrepreneur will never compromise with its venture. I am still working on my venture. It is at these times that community like rodinhood helps a lot. Thanks again.
Rishi
Sushrut! Where’s the like button? 🙂
Chaman, Will have to agree with Sushrut and don’t really have much to add, but one thing I wanted to pick upon in what you mentioned is “I also believe that one should start as soon as possible.” I hope you’re not doing it just because you feel you’re running out of time; do it only if you really believe in what you’re doing. I spent a lot of time experimenting, *trying* to startup, but the litmus test for me was if I could give up my well paying job, move back to India, and put everything at risk to work on my current startup. I don’t remember who but someone said ‘do it if you really believe you could do this thing for at least for the next 10 years’ and I think it’s very true. It takes a lot of time, patience, and hard-work to build a startup.
Good luck with everything!
kiran n. bolantkodi
Hi Chaman,
Good to read your post. First – get a job , Earn and Learn , Build some Capital for your dream venture . Be strong Moneywise and Knowledgwise before starting. You can sacrifice a bit of fun and life, ” Kuch Paane Ke Liya Kuch Khona Padtha Hai”. I did more than 70000 hours of ”GadhaMajoori” in this space.
asha chaudhry
chaman….
here’s another good read!
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/startup-middle-class-oh-boy
i’m adding them as recommended reads on your topic!!
paritoshsharma1231
Chaman, I’d give no gyaan, but share a bit of my life:
Now how has life panned:
A big learning:
My only suggestion to remember:
Inspire confidence in people all around you. As a Son, Husband, Brother, Employer, whoever… inspire confidence and everything will sort itself out!
I share this as a son, husband, brother!
Harshit
Firstly no hard feelings…
If you were to start a restaurant, then why did u do mba after graduation and put in 6-10 lacs in education being so inspired and motivated to start your own startup !, things might have been different if you have not opted for mba and launched your startup after graduation atleast from family side (thats what I feel)
Nilesh Gamit
There is no right time to start or stop. if you feel it’s right, go for it. as Alok mentioned in his post today “the pursuit of happiness is real happiness”. Just fast forward your life to 20 years from now by selecting 2 different paths and look back and see today. Are you happy or regretting your decisions? 🙂
Prukalpa Sankar
I started up after university. This is how I silenced the voices in my head.
https://inc42.com/magazine/entrepreneurship/voices-in-the-head-of-a-middle-class-aspiring-entrepreneur/
Hope this helps.
Chaman Raj
Thanks a lot Paritosh for sharing your experience. I am now more confident of my choices. 🙂
Chaman Raj
Hi Harshit,
I tried starting up right after graduation but failed as I could not form a team. I also was less confident. I also feel that some day you do get ready and everyone gets ready at different times. For me I believe that the time is now.
Chaman Raj
Nice post. 🙂
Harshit
Good luck !
asha chaudhry
hey chaman,
what’s happening at sandwedges??!!
do update us! we’d love to know…