The Wikipedia is impossible, but here it is. It is one of those things impossible in theory, but possible in practice. Once you confront the fact that it works, you have to shift your expectation of what else that is impossible in theory might work in practice… We have to get good at believing in the Impossible.
- Kevin Kelly

A bunch (5-6) of us back in college called ourselves as cockroaches. Because our objective was not to excel at studies but to hang in there and survive and graduate and get placed. When you look at things from a survival perspective, life becomes quite easy. The pressure is off your shoulders. This approach/way of life has remained with me. As long as I can just about manage to survive as a startup, I am happy. I have no immediate expectations of huge traffic and huge money. Right now it’s just a matter of survival and I think am good at it. Will change gears, when the time feels right.

This blog was created with the objective of sharing my startup adventure and to collect my thoughts on the way I’d want to do business. For once, I’d like to deviate from this objective and talk about the recent terror attacks in Mumbai.

As one would expect, these terror attacks have caused a lot of angst amongst the public at large. And there’s been a lot of loud thinking by the intelligentsia in the media. Everyone who has spoken has condemned these attacks. Everyone has said that terrorism has no religion or nationality. Everyone has dubbed the young agents of terror as the face of evil. Everyone believes that we must unite and act as one against terror. There are calls for a firm response to the terrorists. An eye for an eye. Jingoism is in the air. Anti-Pakistan slogans were being shouted out on the streets after the army men finished the operations.

The entire issue has been painted black and white. But I’d like everyone to take a minute and think again. Don’t we know that religious extremism is what is being used as a weapon to convert intelligent young men into terrorists? Don’t we know that these young fidayeen attackers were not born evil and would have had dreams like you and me but lost their way? Don’t we know that this terrorism is a by-product of activities that were state-sponsored at one point in time? Don’t we know that picking up the weapon and going to war can only result in more terrorism rather than end it?

Whether we accept it or not, there are a lot of grey areas and this subject must be looked into objectively. Not for a moment am I trying to suggest anything. I just wish for everyone to think again before joining the popular voice. As shown by our democratic system, the popular voice does not always lead to the right action.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

This article talks about lessons from Robert Scoble to be Internet famous. All the points in there hold true for any content business.

1. Attack where there is no king.
2. Follow the 15 Reader Rule i.e. focus on a subject that you’re passionate enough about to keep pursuing, even when you only have 15 readers.
3. Get with REAL celebrities.
4.  Start the avalanche i.e. dominate one small niche first, then another and another until you start an avalanche.
5. Keep producing content.

Then there’s this one from Seth Godin. He identifies the common thread amongst all popular blogs.

Workosaur.com strives to get higher-paying jobs for its smart audience. So, in line with our objective, we decided to set up a Cause on Facebook – In Support of Higher Paying Jobs. This cause has been initiated to get together the smartest people across the world to endorse our core beliefs:

1. There is always a job that could pay you more.
2. You deserve to work with smarter people and a smarter boss.
3. You can be a millionaire sooner than you think.

So my fellow workosaurs, go ahead and support the cause and invite your friends too.

The 4 best Freemium Models as detailed on this post by Chris Anderson on The Long Tail Blog. He has detailed these with Pros and Cons.

1. Time limited (30 days free, then pay. e.g. Salesforce)
2. Feature limited (basic version free, more sophisticated version paid. e.g. WordPress)
3. Seat limited (can be used by up to some number of people for free, but more than that is paid. e.g. QuickBooks)
4. Customer type limited (small and young companies get it free, bigger and older companies pay. e.g. Microsoft’s BizSpark)

Vijay Anand writes on his blog that Indian entrepreneurs really don’t dream big enough. And that got me thinking. How big is big? Does an entrepreneur necessarily have to dream of building a disruptive technology or a billion dollar corporation? Do all entrepreneurs share the same motivations? What about people who start to fulfill a small dream and are not necessarily motivated by making it big? The point I am trying to make is that it is not always about a huge dream, rather it is about what one wants to do. You don’t become a lesser entrepreneur if your dream isn’t bigger than your neighbour.

• Infibeam – Well on it’s way to being India’s Amazon.
• Cleartrip – Definitely the best Indian travel site.
• Burrp – Lifestyle/Locals portal.
• Phulki – Music search engine

I’d appreciate your opinions too.