Calvin, coyote and startups

By Brijesh Bharadwaj on April 13, 2013 12 Comments / 3259 views

So I was having one of those typical late night conversations with a really good friend last night and the conversation drifted towards a personality trait that both of us shared, we love the chase more than the catch.

Let me explain, all through my life, I have ended up doing things that keeps me entertained (I am very easily bored), things that bring in some drama, and that usually means chasing something that most people deem too hard to get, but the catch is, it’s not the end result that I enjoy the most, it’s the chase that excites me, the moment I hit the target, there is massive euphoria and then I slowly lose interest.

And last night, in hindsight, I could see how that has influenced so many of my decisions, but a significant and recent one is my decision to startup.

I have wondered many times about why I am doing a startup (Tune Patrol – Listen. Share. Discover), I mean being 22 and from BITS Pilani, there are so many easier things I could have done that mathematically have a better chance of success, and hence in some sense have a better chance of making me happy, but I realized last night that for a lot of people who share my personality trait, happy is not good enough, we crave for euphoria, we are addicted to the chase of the seemingly impossible and that moment of glory, we would any day trade long periods of happiness to chase that short burst of euphoria.

And I realized that there are some very lovable characters that share this trait, my favourite being this guy below.

And, him.

And him.

And, him.

And possibly every character in our cartoons that gave the good ol’ chase.

I have always believed, Wile E Coyote, Tom, Sylvester and a truck load of other such characters would be quite depressed post their success, yes they would have their moment of euphoria, but after that, their lives would lose meaning, I mean WTF will Wile E do after he eats the Road Runner??

This also kinda explains why there are so many serial entrepreneurs, yes they made that gazillion dollar exit, but why are they doing it all over again? Because it’s not the prize that keeps them going, that’s just the euphoria that lasts only so long, after that, they just have to get back to chasing, that’s what they love.

But the downside to this trait is the fact that you might (and probably will) “fail” a lot more than the average person, I mean we all know how many times this has happened..

..but somehow, that seems okay, it’s not that we like to fail, it’s just that it is a possibility that we can come to peace with, it’s a trade off that we are ready to make to chase that moment of unbound positive energy.

Thoughts?

Comments

Brijesh Bharadwaj

12 Comments

asha chaudhry April 13, 2013, 5:39 pm

i loved every bit of this post brijesh…

am looking fwd to the responses on your post!

p.s: the calvin & hobbes strip is priceless!
Karan Pandhi April 13, 2013, 6:00 pm

Hi Brijesh,

IT’S JUST AAAWWWEEESSSOOOMMMMEEEE . crazy thinking bro. I was amazed, post reading it, I liked that we guys don’t give up ever on what we dream of, say if one’s over the next one is just making it’s way. Awesome one once again.
Aman Jha April 13, 2013, 6:03 pm

Hi Brijesh,

I hv mentioned this point many a times in my tweets and fb updates that people think Entrepreneurs run aftr money, fame, power, etc. But truth is Entrepreneurs love ‘The Chase’. They chase ‘The CHASE’.

You hv articulated this very well. This post will also answer to many new entrepreneurs that y they r getting so attached to Entrepreneurship.
Shrinivas April 14, 2013, 7:42 am

thanks Brijesh, loved every bit of it!

It goes with the saying – “Happiness is not a destination it’s a Journey”. And entrepreneurs love their journey!
Brijesh Bharadwaj April 14, 2013, 2:19 pm

Thanks Asha 🙂
Brijesh Bharadwaj April 14, 2013, 2:20 pm

Glad you liked it Karan.
Brijesh Bharadwaj April 14, 2013, 2:20 pm

Hopefully yes.
Brijesh Bharadwaj April 14, 2013, 2:20 pm

Haha I know
Kamal Kalra April 15, 2013, 8:52 am

Thanks Brijesh for the post… I guess, it gave words to my thoughts… I did not know what I am running for , I guess, now I know .. it’s THE CHASE that I love 🙂
Brijesh Bharadwaj April 15, 2013, 2:55 pm

🙂
Sagar Yadav May 2, 2013, 3:18 am

what words… you won my heart.

full of life
Ratnakar Gokarn May 2, 2013, 3:51 am

I was smiling as I read this. You sure do make a great point.

You should try trading in the Markets, my friend. It has enough and more of all that you seek for a life time. Ok, I take that back, the markets are not for any of the reasons you mentioned.

Jokes aside, I think what you love is the process of creating something. That’s what serial entrepreneurs do isn’t it?