Moving to Pune, joining a startup
I was planning to write this post for quite sometime but procrastination is no longer a habit or a whim for me but a disease. Doing things at the last moment, and sometimes not doing them at all, is something I have become habituated with. So, it is with great pleasure and happiness and excitement I would like to announce (to the few readers of this blog and to those who have landed here via the social networks – facebook, twitter, google plus, buzz, etc.) I am moving to Pune to join MindTickle, a startup, from 1st August 2011.
Mindtickle is in the learning / gaming / gamification space. I understand that gamification is the new buzzword in the startup industry about which a lot of people are skeptical. But you can’t have a buzz without a few bees flapping their tiny little wings hard enough to make that sound. (I know, I know. Don’t be a pedant and point out that the buzzing sound is not because of the wings but because of the bees talking to each other. The ‘flapping wings’ line is for dramatic effect). I am excited to join them because of two reasons:
a) The work that I will be doing excites me. I will be responsible for ‘Content Generation and Game Operations’. I believe it will use my skills to the fullest and I believe it is something I will be really good at. Also, it is something that I don’t mind doing or hate doing – which is the case with a very large percentage of today’s working population. It is true that I never had a job that I hated – I really liked teaching Maths that I did at IMS and Maurya Learning (this website) is my baby and I love it. I love it a lot.
b) The set of people that I will be working with are smart. At IMS, some of the people like Charanpreet Singh (my boss for sometime, my quiz team partner for few years and mentor for lot longer) were really high IQ but I cannot say the same about the rest of them. At Maurya Learning, it was just me and Avinash, who were friends first – coworkers later. At MindTickle I am going to be the first employee. The other four people in the company are co-founders who seem to be really good at what they do. I have worked with three of them very closely during the past few months on few projects and have often been amazed at their ability to release products / prototypes. The fourth guy, co-founder & CEO, must be good because he was able to get the investment required for the company. He was also smart enough to hire me as the first employee so he should be given credit for that. J I have never been a fan of degrees because of the idiots that I have seen in IITs and the morons I have seen get into IIMs, but the fact that he is alumnus of IIT Delhi, ISB and Stanford must count for something. I must add that none of them are regular drinkers / smokers which might make things a little odd for me. However, working with Avinash for around a year has trained me for the same.
Couple of other questions which the neighborhood aunties keep on asking me are:
a) Will I be able to sustain a family (for those of you who don’t know, I got married on 5th July) on the salary offered by a small company? – Startups don’t pay as low as most people think. They are often not able to match with the industry standard but that is compensated by various other means. The offer from MindTickle is generous enough for a city like Pune. You also have to keep in mind that my wife recently cleared her CA finals and hopefully will start working soon. So MOM and AUNTY – stop worrying. If I run out of cash, I will stop drinking beer.
b) What happens to Maurya Learning and / or this website: The website will exist. Avinash and I will not take it off. We believe that it helps people and it does not cost too much to maintain it. However, addition of more stuff like ebooks or videos seems unlikely in near future. We will also continue Maurya Learning Pvt. Ltd. for various individual / group assignments that might come our way and require a registered company.
I have never lived in Pune and I will need all the help / beer / chicken that you are willing to provide. Please email me your number at ravihanda[at]gmail[dot]com if you are the generous kind. For the first 20 odd days of August I will be crashing a friend’s place so the help you offer will be reciprocated with a genuine ‘Thank You’ / beer / chicken.
Cheers.