Two Years at Zenatix : Reflections and Thoughts
Yes, it’s already been 2 wonderful years at Zenatix. Time truly flies by. It’s been an exciting, adventurous and excellent journey so far and I believe the best part of this journey is yet to come!
Initial Talk
I got in touch with Amarjeet for Research Assistant (RA) position at Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing Lab, IIIT Delhi. Back then, I was clear about few things I wanted to do and some were cloudy and unclear. I knew that I did not want to work for a well established company and was actively looking for either an RA position or some early stage startups.
Now RA position and startup job can be considered a little odd choices to compare, but as I admitted earlier, I was confused. I wanted to gain some research experience before I could apply for my MS in Computer Science and therefore the RA position.
I was bemixed between the stuff I can do, wanted to do. In retrospect, I believe it’s okay to be confused but one should consistently strive to clear their head and be decisive about their career options as early as possible.
When I did my first call with Amarjeet, he mentioned at the very outset that he was on a sabbatical from IIIT-D and working on his startup, Zenatix. Therefore, he cannot entertain my RA application. My instincts knew what he was about to talk about but I acted confused and said What ??
I said I need an RA position or else what’s the point of discussing further. Now, I had already done my homework and researched well that he was one of the co-founders of Zenatix and they’re doing basic data analytics in the energy domain. I was excited about the concept.
I say that I acted because, I had to look authoritative, that’s an impression any candidate would like to project :) Amarjeet in his call goes on to pitch to me and the problem Zenatix aims to solve at large. After a point of time, I had branched out of the conversation. In my mind, I started thinking
— Dekh bhai, Research bhi hai and Startup bhi hai.
I had that same feeling as apparently people relishing Alpenliebe seem to have — (Mann me laddo …). I said I was in( volved! ) and then began the interviewing process with referrals etc.
Learning Opportunity
I’ve learnt and matured a lot as programmer. It was not only Zenatix’ beginning but my beginning as well. I always felt that I was moving along with someone and sort of felt that others’ loss was my loss as well.
Birthdays, Parties and Fun!
We have celebrated birthdays and festivals together and this keeps us bonded together. It has become a culture to celebrate everyone’s birthday.
Thoughts Looking Back
I have had a wonderful experience starting my career here. Joining in as a second employee has it own perks and challenges. I believe I’ve enjoyed both. I was lucky to have had an opportunity to work on challenging problems so early in my career. I always feel that I could have contributed a lot more in tech than what I have already but of course there is much more to do and which I can now.
I have made my share of mistakes and have been reprimanded by my colleagues on multiple instances, but I have tried my best to learn and improve. My actions at Zenatix come from this very strong belief of Matt Kremer. He says that one should consider himself as an “EntrePloyee”. An entrepreneur is consistently thinking —
What more can I do to make my company succeed ?
Similarly, each employee should as well consider oneself as an entrepreneur. Each one needs to become a Product Champion and contribute to as many vertical as one can.
Expectations Ahead
There is much more to do. A huge race to win and larger problems to solve with Zenatix.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. — Robert Frost
Also, we’re hiring. Be a part of an exceptional team of machine learning scientists, software engineers, hardware engineers, business leaders and operations ninjas trying to solve the energy crisis problem using data!
