Learning Like A Phoenix—Ashes To Flight, Rinse, Repeat

A phoenix is born, grows into a soaring bird, then spontaneously combusts into the ash from which it will be reborn. Having to relive that cycle over and over, what must a phoenix know about rebuilding? (…Hopefully enough to eventually conquer the exploding-into-ashes part.)

Before I dive into our story here at Helpshift, I wanted to take a minute to give some context to your narrator, to share a bit about where I come from and where I was before Helpshift. You should know a bit about the eyes you’ll be seeing this story through.

Similar to the phoenix, I have experienced many cycles of rebuilding in my life, and each has imparted learnings that have opened doors to bigger and better things.

For example, in 2011, I had to shutdown the startup I was building. We couldn’t get enough traction for the idea, which led to no more funding. Insult to injury, in the same year I also went through a divorce. It was a new bottom, the harshest yet. I came out of it, eventually. I got another job. But, going into the new year, I felt incomplete. I couldn’t figure out what my path was from there. And that’s when Abinash called.

“Meet me for dim sum.”

On a balmy day in July at Abinash’s favorite dim sum place in Redwood City, instead of going right in, I was sneaking peeks through the front window. I spotted him near the back, hunched over his iPhone, tapping and scrolling.

I’d met Abinash in 2011 in India. I was building my company, Stockezy, a social network for personal stock traders in India. Abinash was doing something similar and suggested we team up. “I’ve got a team. I’m a product guy. You’re a hustler. Let’s do this!” he said.

But later we realized that this wasn’t a big enough idea, not a billion dollar idea, and Abinash said, “You know what, there’s no future in this. I’ve got to think of another idea. Go back to Silicon Valley. Whatever you do, stay there. That’s where shit’s gonna happen. When I’ve got things rolling, I’ll come get you.”

Through the restaurant’s window, I watched Abinash closely. I was late, but I wanted just a glimpse, to see him before he saw me, to read anything I could. To know if what I thought was happening was really happening. A waiter delivered the Chrysanthemum tea. Abinash poured, took a sip, and went back to his phone.

Nothing! I could tell absolutely nothing!

Last we met, about four months prior, he’d been having trouble getting traction for his idea. In concept, it was something that was already being done, he just thought he could do it better. He probably could, but it was a tough sell and he ended up unable to raise enough capital to take it to market.

But this is Abinash! Abinash doesn’t give up.

Four months later, watching him sip tea and toy with his iPhone through a restaurant window… I wondered. Why else would he have called me? He said to stay in the Valley, that’s where shit happens. He promised to come get me when he’d gotten his idea off the ground. He must have raised funding. I should ask him for a job!

A bead of sweat trickled down my back. Was it the right move? I couldn’t handle much more disappointment. Stockezy had taken a lot of me. Three years of my life, a significant amount of capital, my marriage. It left me unemployed and divorced with a mortgage hanging over my head. I’d been damn near suicidal but, thanks to some good friends, I was able to climb out of that darkness and had spent the last six months working for another SaaS company as a product manager. It was a good job, but it wasn’t what I craved. I’m going to ask him for a job.

I walked inside, framing what I was going to say and as I pulled out the chair to sit, Abinash smiled a greeting, began pouring tea for me, and said, “You now work for me.”

Fireworks crackled in my stomach while a grin pinched my cheeks back to my ears. I couldn’t make it go away. I shook his hand and said, “Thank you!” It should have made him feel uncomfortable, this grin that was stuck to my face, but he just put his iPhone in front of me and pointed at it. “This is what we’re going to be doing,” he said. He explained the idea to me, and said that since we last met, he’d raised a seed round of $3 million. This was it! The billion dollar idea. My ticket back into the fast lane, back on track.

That idea was Helpshift.