My Trip to the Valley!

I had a very short but interesting trip to the valley! This time it was not about the vacation or the holiday, it was about business!

As soon as I landed, I rented out a car and drove to Los Gatos, where I had my first meeting. After the meeting, I drove to Cupertino and you know what that means - Yes, I went to the APPLE HQ. Sadly, didnt have a meeting there but was just visiting a friend who works there. Later that evening, a couple of my friends and I went to dinner at Mountain View. This place was full of Googlers everywhere!

The next day, I started my day brainstorming with my team on a new content-based product idea where we conceptualized what we intended to build. Later in the afternoon, I felt the taste of a hungry, smart and business focussed person from the valley. Meeting him was great experience not because he was influential in the valley but also because the picture he painted through his conversations was just astounding. I adapted myself to the situation and as an entrepreneur started talking (or at least tried talking) in the same tone and language as what I assumed is the type of tone used in the valley. Post that meeting, I went to meet an Entrepreneur from Mumbai. After knowing about our startup, he immediately connected us to another startup where he thought synergies could be discussed. This I think is the best part about Entreprenership - there is always a lot of sharingof either connections, knowledge orlearnings. He & I spoke more from a grassroot level which made me want to think about a lot of other things in the process. I think the thing that stuck the most with me is the conversation about surviving. He asked me to think about a situation where we would have a ZERO bank balance, and asked me to further think of what we would do to ensure that we dont have a ZERO bank balance. He hinted SALES! Excellent discussion! There is always a lot to learn from other Entrepreneurs.

The final day in the valley, my friends took me to Santa Cruz - a beach area where we chilled out a bit before we headed back. Before I went to the airport, I had this one last meeting. This meeting, I was able to demo one of our products in MVP stage and the good news was they really liked it and wanted to talk further!

Well, the perfect way to end the trip in the valley. Like I said, it was a short trip but a great learning experience and also progress from a business perspective too.

I didn’t take pics but I have the memories in my mind. I now wish I had Google Glass! :-)

- Rajeev Chhajer
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Working from 'The Center for Agile Thinking' HQ!

The new year started with a big bang at both the Last-Bench! office in Mumbai and The Center for Agile Thinking office in US. The boys in Mumbai have been on a roll and continuously producing learning content. I'd like to share my experience working out of The Center for Agile Thinking HQ in Princeton, New Jersey.

Work as usual started from the 1st day of January. That I'd like to call #LifeOfAnEntrepreneur. Prof. Anne, Charlie and I started work with getting an agenda down first of what we wanted to accomplish over the next 4 days. We came up with a list of 9 items and we achieved 8 out of them, which was very exciting!

The day started out with coffee, went into discussions, ideations and brainstorming. We also got down to some real work which included content and technology. I got to meet a very interesting management consultant while I was there with whom we validated our product, idea and value proposition.

Charlie and I got our hands wet with some server issues, discussed wireframes, design and user-interface. Prof. Anne and I reviewed content for some of our offerings. We had our first virtual team meeting with Sajid and Venkat in India and I was here in the US. It felt a bit different but the feeling was good.

Our days started at around 8am and went on until 8-10pm but it never felt tiring or stressful. Intermittently, our conversations ranged from culture to experiences, which maintained the balance and equilibrium in our minds!:-) I learned Charlie is an awesome musician who also learnt from Pt. Ravi Shankar back during his college days. He played the Piano on one of the evenings as we all were relaxing and it was perfect! The music was relaxing and it got us energized. He played Jazz to Classic Rock. I didn't know a whole lot of Jazz but he played Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Billy Joel. What an experience to see him play the Piano!

Even on the last day, usually one would feel relaxed but we were on a roll and got a lot of work done on the final day too. With al the work, I was balancing calls and work back in India and tried in whatever little way I could to support the team in every possible manner which included communicating all our discussions here with Sajid and Venkat too.

Prof. Anne and Charlie were great hosts. For me, it felt like home and working from the office was the best start to the New Year!

Here are some pics:

Leader in focus: Warren Buffet

What really separates average leaders from the great ones? To get to a leadership position and, more importantly, to stay in one you not only require determination, courage and vision but also some very important skills to help you accomplish the work you are entrusted to complete. In business, it is equally important that you must be flexible and adaptive to constantly changing climates and demands. So is it possible to zero in on what is common between all great leaders? Can we learn from the way they plan, execute and achieve?

What makes a great leader?

"Leadership" is a topic that is talked about so much nowadays, it would be safe to say that it's 'in vogue!' Everything you try to do or are doing, you either question yourself or get questioned about whether you're a leader in the particular activity or not. But what really makes a great leader? What separates the 'also rans' from the 'inspiring greats'? What traits or behaviors do great leaders have in common? Can YOU 'learn' how to be a great leader? 

Today, I'm not going to define or explain what  leadership is because there are so many great gurus who have already done so and so many of them who have shown the world by exercising it. Instead, I'll share an experience from my previous job who I thought was a great leader amongst the common folks.

How to Improve Your Presentation Skills

“There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.”

-       Dale Carnegie

Corporate Training Video (demo): 'Giving Effective Feedback'

Check out our brand new corporate training video - 'Giving Effective Feedback'. 

(This video is a demo and we appreciate your feedback and comments. Look out for more such videos. Soon!)

Session at SNDT college

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

― Benjamin Franklin

We're Hiring! : SPIT-MCA interviews...

As we begin to ramp up activities at our young but effervescent start-up, we realized we'll need a few more hands (and brains) to help us achieve our targets. So, we reached out to the MCA students at Sardar Patel Institute of Technology with the opportunity to intern with Last-Bench! and get a taste of the start-up environment. We were thrilled with the response and the talent on display left us quite impressed. Here's a gist of the entire experience...

E-Cell talk @ SPIT: The Entrepreneurial Experience via Last-Bench!

E-cell invited Last-Bench! to talk to students, faculty, alumni and budding entrepreneurs of SPIT about the initiative, the entrepreneurial experience and our solution to the 'education conundrum'. 

THOUGHTLESS NO MORE!

     

'The current business environment is extraordinarily challenging, competitive and dynamic. You must be over qualified, have multiple degrees, have years of experience and seize opportunities!'

At Last-Bench! we like to call this the 'Parrot line'. Why? Because everyone picks it up from someone else, will talk about it at length but won't do anything about it. In fact people don't know what the solution to the problem is and constantly worry about how success can become a guarantee? The solution is getting lucky at the right time and till then churn on, persist and hope for that special break. Right?  Wrong! Here at Last-Bench! we like to say- 'Today's world is highly competitive, YOU must carve a niche for yourself!' See how we played around with words? See how the emphasis is suddenly on YOU to make that next big leap? Whether at home, at college or at your workplace, people will constantly give you advice (c'mon we've all given and received it!) but in reality advice is just food for thought and action is what makes the difference!