Facing Failure

It was May 2016, I was super excited to leave my college and join a Startup, I flew all the way round the world from Switzerland to Kuala Lumpur, looking forward I thought yes I have done it! I got into one of the best startup in South east Asia and I am gonna ace, but then reality hit me. I was asked to leave after short 4 months.

So, what happened? Let me give you a backstory:

I was raised in New Delhi, went to Switzerland to pursue Hospitality and fell in love with technology and building products. I spent countless nights learning marketing, coding and blockchain and was determined to get a job in a thriving tech startup. After months of rejection (150 companies, telling me that I cannot join them cause of my hospitality background) I finally hacked my way to land a job at iFlix (South east asia's fastest growing startup), I was super pumped as I got to be a part of growth and Investment team.

First month went great but things started getting weirder from the next month. It's normal for a startup to shuffle teams and re-structure; and so I was moved to the growth team as they needed help. I was super excited to learn (Like every new employee) met my new team and I loved being a part of the company, but there was something that bothered me every day. Since I moved my boss wasn't really keen to let me be a part of the team, saying a fresher cannot catchup with the operations but I told him I am willing to learn and work so he agreed.

Fast forward 2 months, I wasn't getting any task or job. I felt like I was being sidelined and felt like pet rock for the team. So, what next? I started asking my colleagues for any help they needed, asking my boss I could help him out to prove that I can handle operations and literally did every odd job; getting coffee, paper, pen, fixing appointments (Felt like an office boy for a bit) but hoped that my team will notice and give me something more meaningful.

And the day finally came- while helping my colleagues, I was asked to come to attend a quick Skype call with my boss who was traveling, I thought It'll be a normal call about some updates but then he dropped the bomb- "We will not continue your contract and tomorrow is your last working day"... My jaws dropped and I asked for explanation: He said " You don't fit the culture" , The HR said " I was too cocky and egoistic" :- I felt like crying, for weird reasons I was going to be kicked out from a company for which I travelled half way around the world, leaving my family behind.

I literally wept in the room alone thinking about the future plan and action-> I had no money, I had to pay rent, couldn't tell my family about my failure, had 2000 USD in my bank account. I decided to fly to Taiwan and start something with my friend, in order to generate some income and figure out next steps.

Fast forward July 2017: We've started multiple ventures, ranging from E-commerce, chatbots, VR- AR and Next generation Hedge fund. We went from Zero to something in less than 9 months, travelled to over 10 countries for business and now starting to get some clarity.

Me and My partner in Taipei!

So what did I learn?

Company is secondary, good leadership is primary.

That was my first and last job, One crucial thing I learnt was how important is to be a good leader. It's important to believe in your team and give respect to everyone. You cannot go to far without good leadership skills.

Be Humble

Always be humble and never disrespect anyone. That's the most important factor for anyone starting a business or managing a team: BE HUMBLE. That's why we at Hooklabs value skills and intent over background.

Nothing is Hard

Everything is easy, only if you put time and effort into it. People think you need to be genius to run a fund, a company or start any venture, but they fail to understand everyone has same capacity to learn and execute. What matters is time, hard work and a bit of luck.

Believe

Keep on working, it's okay to be confused and not be clear about the future. I still am unclear about whats going to happen, but I keep on working and believe something's gonna work out. As Steve Jobs said- you join the dots looking backwards not looking forward. So keep believing in yourself.

Now I look forward to create the largest alternative investment fund in the world, Join hands with amazing entrepreneurs to create amazing products, help people to uplift themselves with skills and encourage them to create new things.

Hustle!