Unemployment 2.0 and the Chennai Startup Community!

                                                   

I was a Strategy Consultant at Accenture, Delhi. In February 2013, I called up my mother and told her that I wanted to quit my job. Her response was, "okay". I told her that I had no idea what I was going to do after that. She said that we would figure it out. To be honest, I was a little surprised by her confidence in me; but I think you need that kind of support from your family right from day one. I quit my job and came home in March, spent a couple of months preparing for and writing my CFA exam, and hoping that I will find an answer soon. For someone who spent 10 years away from home, for his education and work, staying at home doing nothing substantial was not such a happy time. I would spend the entire day at home sitting infront of the computer, trying to figure out 'things' and encountering (it was not easy) my parents in the evening who would hope that I would have something figured out – First mistake. You do not figure things out overnight. It is a long process and requires taking baby steps in the right direction. 

I had set up a brick and mortar business in the past and thoroughly enjoyed the pleasure of creating something, but was not comfortable with the orthodox way how Marwari businesses operate. So I knew I wanted to build again, but did not know, what or how. I decided to go and rent an office, and reached out to some friends – First right step. Getting out of the house for work every morning gave me a reason to look forward to something and having friends over in the office ensured there were people to brainstorm with.

I had no technology experience and spent days reading to get myself up to date and also checking out the profiles of people I wanted to talk to for advice. But I did not approach anyone as I thought they were not approachable – Second mistake. Don't get ideas into your head based on random assumptions.

Calcutta is a dead metro in the Indian startup scene and clearly, we were not doing much except we had narrowed down on an idea and had sort of a team ready. We attended one of the Idea to prototype events in Pune, In50hours, and found another team member, a 17 year old full stack developer, who had come all the way from Ahmedabad to participate in the event. We built our prototype, got a positive response and a new member – Second Right Step. Look further if you don’t have the resources around you.

Now we were back to where we started from - Calcutta, but this time with some learnings.

1. We realized we needed help (mentoring)

2.  We required an environment bustling with startups. It helps to constantly get feedback, assistance and being around with people who are in the same boat.

Post our interactions with Vijay Anand at In50hrs, we applied for his pre-accelerator program at The Startup Centre. We got through and moved to Chennai – Third right step. Realizing the weaknesses and acting upon it.

Fortunately, we ended up finding one of the best mentors ever - Vijay Anand. I had talked to some of the teams before and after coming to TSC and one common statement was - "Vijay will go out of his way to help you" and our experience so far has only bolstered that belief. Both personally and professionally we have grown to build a better company- Pracly. Another thing, which has been the highlight of our 5 month journey in Chennai is the startup community here, which is immensely helpful, humble and driven. Five months at The Startup Centre means one would have had a chance to meet all kinds of entrepreneurs and all of them have been really supportive and unlike my initial belief, definitely approachable. I have certainly not experienced being part of such a tight knit community of diverse and talented people, who are struggling to make the world a better place. And this struggle has only made them better humans, and eventually better entrepreneurs. Inspite of being outsiders, we have received more than we could have asked for from the people of this community. Thank you.