Entrepreneur, Intterupted and then Resurrected

 

So all of you already know that I am out of ZhaapNow now, terminated without reason in the worst possible way from a company you built with blood and sweat. But life is about moving on so here is my attempt.

It changed my life, all of a sudden and in lot of ways. Some expected and some not.

The first change was just in terms of dressing up. I have been known for lack of it, not dress, but sense of dressing. I get gaalis from my sisters and lot of friends for it. But for me the default option was company t-shirt and now I have to decide. Infact this is one of the biggest reason why I want to start another company. Tough to learn all these fundas at this age.

The second thing is that every morning my son asks me what time I will go to office. I guess kids do get used to the fact that father has to go to office everyday and when it changes they are wondering what happened.

Let me skip 3-10 and get started with the resurrection plan.

So here goes my six-pack….

 

Gig 1

So the first thing on agenda is to figure out what we can do to reduce suicides in colleges. In my student life I have seen few of my friends fall prey to suicide and it is tough to do last rites of your friends in early twenties when you might as well be partying somewhere with them. We have been working on this issue for sometime with Umesh and Anita but I was not able to pursue it due to lack of time.

The plan is to write inspirational stories of people who have attempted suicide and rebuilt their life from that point. I am looking for people who have been through this and are ready to discuss. I am also looking for publishers. If anyone of you have connections here, do let me know. Read more about this here.

 

Gig 2

BBG has been doing great and we will continue to spread happiness via music. I will continue to travel around the country and do non commercial programs for various causes. Our next show in Mumbai is for cancer patients in Tata Hospital. We will focus on being happiness providers not money raisers. We will have innovative formats and lot more talent will get associated with us all over the world.

 

Gig 3

Myself and Shammas have been working on making a music album called Kaash. He has beautifully composed and sung some of the poems I have written over the years. The album will also feature a song I composed as a kid. The overall theme of the album will be a little bit melancholy songs set in the music of 40s and 50s. We might shoot videos also but current focus is on getting the audio right.

 

Gig 4

I have been RJing with Radiowalla for sometime and my show Nagme Hain Kisse Hain will continue. I am loving this experience of connecting people via music and will try to to expand on this in future. From a Social RJ to real one, the experience has been enriching.

 

Gig 5

Over the years, I have realized that there are lot of companies need senior talent to guide them in various areas and it is not possible for them to always get that as it costs lot of money. So here goes my venture RentACXO to precisely solve that problem. Talk to people who know and who have been there done that. No crap, real stuff. I am already working with a great product company SenseForth and few more things are in the pipeline.

And just a clarification on this, I am not open to pick any paid consultancy in online grocery space as this will be ethically incorrect. If you want to chat up and discuss without asking any inside details of ZhaapNow, you are most welcome.

 

Gig 6

And last but not the least, my next startup is also brewing up. As they say, khaali dimag is shaitan ka ghar. The monsters are playing ping pong in my mind and something interesting will come up soon. And besides that I am fed up of choosing a t-shirt every morning. When you run a company, it is so easy to decide.

 

Few contours of my startup which are sure

1. This will be a global startup. Have done lot of stuff in Indian space, time to expand horizons.

2. This will be more techie in nature. Have setup offline infra few times in life but will try to mostly avoid it this time. This also enables more global approach.

 

And to sum it up in Sahir Ludhiyanwi’s famous words from movie Pyasa.

“UbhreNge ek baar abhi dil ke walwale,

Maana ki dab gaye haiN gham-e-zindagii se ham”

And all is well that ends in music