Beginning Of Being An Intrapreneur (And Why I Decided To Publish This One Day After April 1st)
Have Something To Sell & Don’t Know Where To Go? Well, that was my first ever article published in TechStory on July 2nd, 2015. I just thought it would be worth a while to go down the memory lane to see where I stand right now a day after April 1st.
Pre-Script: The post is going to be a lot about “I, Me aur Main” stuff, my another 'Dear Diary' series on Medium.
2nd week of June, 2015 my cousin shows me the link for TechStory and the section “We’re Hiring”. I was intrigued by the site and decided to give it a shot, got on a phone call with one of the co-founders which went pretty decent until the twist in the call where I was asked to send a draft on a random topic related to the theme of TechStory.
After being infamous for being the crazy guy who does random stuffs in the name of creativity, I pulled out one more stunt this time.
Remember this was my first ever original content ever written, which was preceded by only few detail answers in examinations. You can read more about that in: The ‘will that I will write some day!’
I drafted the first original article under the title ‘My TechStory’. This hasn’t been published elsewhere before, so here’s an exclusive :p
The Why?
We are all living in this modern monetary driven world, where an average nine to five career that earns us just enough to satisfy both our fundamental and occasionally posh needs won’t suffice anymore. All these satisfiers slowly but surely became dis-satisfiers, when our luxurious wishes became essentials (peer pressure). That’s not bad at all, in fact it’s a very good phenomenon as it directly results in business and technological development.
The How?
The vision of venturing into a business horizon with a brilliant spark in mind and courage in heart coupled with a few talented and supportive friends is not a dream anymore. Every individual can become an entrepreneur when we realize that every great tale must have a beginning before it becomes a legend. The analogy here is that every thriving business was initially a “start-up”. But, how do we kick start a “start-up”? We all look up to someone for inspiration or try to plagiarize our pars with the same passion.
The What?
If you are looking for a piece of an inspirational tech giant’s story like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg (or sometimes the likes of Tony Stark a.k.a The Iron Man), then this will definitely be your arena. We may or may not be fascinated by their life, but we must certainly be intended in what we can learn from their report. First, I’m going to narrate the story of how I came across “techstory.in”, so that you can decide for yourself what you can pick up from my article. WHAT am I blattering? I’m truly not sorry for misleading you until now. This article is solely about me and techstory. But in reality, you could be one of those articles that I might write about (that scoop is for some other time).
The Obvious Interview Question
I was one of those energetic engineer, whose enthusiasm was constrained in a regular average day job, but is always with a strong passion to help people achieve their dreams (yes, I was not one of those monetarists). I have always realized that start-ups are a great platform to learn life and live.
As I was browsing the internet (which has become a part of my routine), I happened to came across this brilliant site “techstory.in”. Literally, a Uniform Resource Locator for all the beginnings of businesses; in short “a start-up for start-ups” like a dream within a dream. This was not an ordinary site to get an update on the current business news and seek inspiration from others, but a conglomeration for extra-ordinary people and prolific news makers. I adored the very concept, since you do not know, many sites that can get you in touch with potential CEOs. I understood that I could make my pipedream of acting as an interface between the future job-seekers and future job-providers (not the regular consultancy type), actually come true with this global venture. (I guess, that should be enough about me)
Then, Why Me?
On scanning the articles, I realised that while I was having this dream the founders of techstory were actually living it all this time with a similar story to tell the present passionate savvy. Now, it lies in our hands to decide if we want to be mere readers of the articles, or masters of such pieces in this never ending journey and keep moving forward.
I knew I would be a shirker, if I do not apply for an open “we’re hiring” invitation, especially when given the fact that we have been on the same page all along, but with a lean difference I was writing on a small paper while techstory was being written on a global address book. Edison had once said “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”, all I had to do was send a mail instantly. I considered this as my opportunity to contribute my part, and I am planning to grab it like all the fellow start-up founders with a common ray of hope and brimming optimism (and a few epigram too).
Little did I know then, that I would one day become Head of Ops for the same organization (more on that later!)
From Employee To Jobless
No, this is not about life in TechStory, back then I was also a part of a corporate doing a mundane job of gossiping (read: bitching) about how the company culture was pretty ugly (oxymoron).
After a little, I decided to leave the organization and chose the mainstream path of every other engineer in India, attempt to join a reputed MBA school! From October to end of February, I was running around jobless in the name of waiting for MBA (waiting list) results.
Ides Of March
By March, be it engineering students or aspiring management students it becomes very clear when to scream ‘the grapes are sour’. You know your destination, but in order to reach there you realise a little pivots are always needed!
There I was evaluating my different pivot models, a startup, an established e-commerce global giant and a potential offer from a known source. You know how when you’re evaluating three different options, there comes a fourth option which would generally be right for you?
Positions Of Responsibility
The fourth option that came in my way, was not a job, but a responsibility.
We all must’ve had a full page document pointing out all the positions of responsibilities we held during our college days. But when someone (whom you’ve never met before) actually bestows the knighthood upon you, how do you respond?
“With great power comes great responsibility”
I am not quoting Spiderman’s Uncle Ben catchphrase just to add flavour to the content, but that was my actual freaking response to the appointment letter for the post of ‘Head of Operations’ at TS.
Primarily an opportunity for me to measure the impact of your roles from a holistic growth perspective rather than materialistic benefits and most of all build the culture that you always wanted to be a part of!
The End! Or rather the beginning of becoming an Intrapreneur?
So, wait.. who’s going to answer the second half of the title ‘Why I Decided To Publish This One Day After April 1st’?
Well.. When I said ‘No’ to the other options I initially had, the date was actually April 1st. Although, my original joining date was supposed to be April 1st, I asked for one day extension for the obvious reasons :p
Post-Script: The original idea of this post was to run a joke on April 1st in Facebook by adding an end date to my current position of responsibility and see people’s right response to “left job” status :p
P.P.S: This is going to be the preface for a series of posts focusing purely on intrapreneurship (not my Dear Diary moments)! Do share your thoughts on intrapreneurship as a work culture in organizations.
