Startup world is an interesting place, where we meet unknown faces, who come across your road as a random possibility, later on goes onto become your long term colleague.
One such example is Satyabrata Mohanty, who's a serial entrepreneur with specialization in hardware and embedded engineering.
The following letter is written in a time, when I'm going under acute challenges in my journey.
Dear Satya Bhai,
Hey Man! I’m writing this handwritten letter to express my gratitude for certain things, which I felt like sharing. By the way, pursing old communication methods like letters has been one of my key interests even though our inboxes are overloaded with WhatsApp & Emails texts! It’s the 141st letter, since I’ve began in August 2018.
I wonder sometimes, what if I had not texted you on September 27 last year! What if, I wasn’t added to the MyStartupYatra Group & what if, you had not visited us at Innovex! I would have probably missed out the access to a large galaxy of wisdom, which I had never witnessed before!
While I was struggling with the pain of internal issues inside the company and was helpless, you appeared from nowhere! The struggle is still on, but the constant conversations with you gives me the hope to chase depth and stay in the game! This is probably the life!
All my trainings and observations in the past have been around to get into an employment, execute orders and live life around a fixed salary! I guess, our previous generation has taken care of that, then we should be encouraged to take do something else! They’ve built the airstrip, we could probably build an airport and take a flight!
Keeping the philosophies aside, I just can’t express the joy of not having someone sitting over my head 24x7! In fact, I had told this to a friend: I couldn’t stand the idea of someone approving my holidays & asking me to join meetings I am not interested in!
During my two years at my previous organization, where I began as an intern and later became a Junior Project Manager, I never saw myself as anything less than the founders in my mind.
To put things into perspective, I've written apology and gratitude messages to the founders of my previous organization, expressing that I now understand the challenges they faced, which I had previously misunderstood. It seems we gain clarity when we find ourselves in similar situations. However, our paths have since diverged.
Currently, I’m travelling in a territory where I’m in a blank state of mind, I definitely don’t wanna go back to the world of slavery, but also I don’t know, how to grow in business in true sense. I’ve found myself incompetent on the financial frontier or leading things in a direction where market exists over last 1 year.
My initial interests have been around creative expressions like writing, designing, later on I had evolved into product managements, a bit of project management and client management, though I’m not a programmer.
Somehow, for spending time around people who write codes, I could feel their psyche and still today, I get amazed to read technical blogs, podcasts of Kailash Nadh (Zerodha CTO) & many other tech stars. It excites me to know more about tech, when you explain me everytime.
Apart from this, during college, I had a tremendous interests in making people laugh in regular conversations, that comes naturally to me and be excited in the public speaking. SUIIT had given scope of that. Somehow, in the 2 years pandemic of work from home, I seem like, I’ve lost charm of that!
I’m desperate to get my skillsets back in track and I’ve a long list of things on my notion list to learn. Only thing, I’m unable to digest the failure experience so far in this new journey. I’m sort of feeling lost without any identity! That hits hard.
Like at the age of 26, I don’t wanna settle for an average life. When I refer you as mentor, it comes out of deep respect for your wisdom, I really really envy when you talk so deep about so many technologies, business and many more!
I want to learn that skillset, that magic, the way you influence people in a right manner. You teach me the importance of knowledge! Like, everyday! That’s why I say, you would win it big in financial frontier, like really big, only few focus here and there are needed. That’s it.
I understand the value of consistency. I’ve completed 1,080 KM Walk, which was started 154 Days back, just like that. Similarly, I pursue regular diary writing, letter writing and in the past I’ve completed near a 1 Year+ in daily designing etc. Though currently few things are distorted, but I understand the value of daily efforts, possibly I need a direction at this point. That’s it.
I’m sharing below a list of 5 personal weaknesses I’ve found about myself at this point while writing to you:
I see mistakes in others, but fail to recognize that in myself! It’s one of my illusions.
When others perform better, I see that as a threat to my relevance due to my insecurity and I try to cover up my incompetence with bunch of words.
I get jealousy! Like a lot. I struggle with this.
I go out of focus in my own work and put my nose into the works of others and sometimes I give them unsolicited advices too.
Due to the painful state of mind, at this point I feel my works quite shallow, lazy and lacking depth.
These are few danger signs I’ve found about myself and I’m in desperate mood to change my life. I shared these with you, as you openly share a lot about yourself including the vulnerable parts.
Hope you read my words with some empathy!
I thank you again, simply for just being around me! Even if you leave for Chennai, I’d remember you for the amazing human being you are!
With Loads of Love & Respect,
Sourav
P.S
This letter is written by a human only, NOT with any Generative AI tools including ChatGPT. I really really love writing to people one-on-one.
His Response:
I have read series of letters named Premadhara which made me pray hard to be Swami (Sathya Sai Baba) student ultimately forced me to leave PhD in IITs to join Swami Institute
Those letters were all about students expressing love for Swami very deeply feeling Swami (not as God) but as true Mother 👩
After long time, I'm reading a letter of that potential!
I have no clue to what extent I have influenced or motivated you : but whatever it is, all about my experience experimental evidence of how my life journey has been : good bad ugly I'm what I'm & I'm happy peaceful content with it.
Now coming to your analysis which is already a turning point for you. You are aware of yourself : that's greatest boon blessings you have been endowed with already by now.
You know the right thing to do already just need to slowly steadily pick yourself up and keep moving.
2 things you could do in parallel
Launch a services : as neat clean as possible utilising your own skills mentioned.
a. Story telling, public speaking, making others feel lighter : probably for kids you could start a channel which should be so impressive that kids should wait to watch your next episode & parents should feel like making their kid meet you virtually
Have scientific temperament in the story, creative context, convert educational stuff also. See Chitra Ravi company doing it (to some extent) as business, you do as soft-earning means money is secondary, impact is primary.
b. I could personally contribute a lot myself to you on any aspects (except money which neither I have nor you need for this work)
c. I'll put you in touch with some great mentors working in Vidhya Vahini projects with TCS just to get flavor of what I'm talking
d. Its not EdTech as such : it's more than that : intention is to use your own skills for betterment of something at large scale society while making some money for that so you don't have to be beggar or poor (good quality life important)
2. Develop a tool (mostly software if you wish and background you come from) : which can help kids learn computing, communication, establish connections with others, continuity as you said consistency.
This kind of platform I haven't see. You could be next child mental health specialist which is going to be officially called after 2030. Now onwards U can start working.
Tare Zameen Par 3 Idiots like situation U could really make it happen. Lots of people trying without knowing fundamental.
I can help you with fundamentals. Let's build an OS for kids. Spiritual masters make money out of kids.We don't need to be money minded, still we can do something money can follow us.
My Response:
First of all, Thanks for this detailed scheme of analysis you've shared above. I would need some time to digest them and think through them. Because, just saying agreed or good thoughts won't help. I am taking a copy of it to come up with my analysis on it.
One add on to this letter is:
I had noted 5 mistakes that day. Later on, I've found 12-15 more (in my diary) in last 3 Days. Total 20+ mistakes or weaknesses, just to understand why I'm not in an excited state of mind to go all into the game.
Basically for a while, I'm stopping being desperate to do N-no of things personally/professionally mind is pushing to do. So, work would be on frontend, on backend, I'm trying to be good internally at level of thinking, mind etc.
His Response:
Split your time as follows (indicative U could adjust %)
50% business startup revenue work
30% learning new things which would help on long run
20% executing new things as I mentioned : unless U execute on long long run, U would keep doing mundane stuff : nurturing your own wish/interest/innate skill crucial : allocating 20% of your time should be good.
My Response:
Absolutely Makes sense🙏