gajabhuja funda

BarCamp Bangalore 2.0

Since i was pretty busy over the weekend (read the previous posts duffers), i was not able to attend any of the talks that happened in BarCamp Bangalore. However, i did rop in on both the days during the evenings to hang out with the guys.

First of the interesting people i met was Mr.Sukumar. As he said, he was one of the first 100 people to get internet access in Madras. Oh well, he is a leather exporter. What amazes me is his keenness to get a grip of what happens in this internet world and how to leverage it for his business. In fact, as he was telling me, just by putting up on Google ad-words, he is getting enough orders. As a software professional, this is the time i feel really happy when i meet people whose lives are being touched directly/indirectly by the software i write.

The second guy i met was Jonathan Boutelle. A cool guy who has a company which has created a kick-ass product. Check it out Here. Over dinner i still remember him telling us "Send across your cv's if you are interested in working with us (and in Delhi)". But that was not what amazed me. I am totally agnostic to what happens in the Internet 2.0 space. I am more of a low level programmer worrying about bits and bytes and that kind of stuff. Jon simply said "i care a damn". "You just need to be a good programmer that's all". Everything else can be learn't. I liked this attitude of hiring. Hire someone just based on what he can do and not what he has already done !

The third guy i met was one of those guys whom i bumped into during the first barcamp bangalore Rajiv Poddar. We had a pretty interesting conversation over dinner. He has turned entrepreneur with This. A gut feel tells me his is on the right direction. However, the discussion we had was on something else. He was trying to persuade me to turn an entrepreneur too. In fact, what impressed me the most was that unlike most entrepreneurs that i know of, he is moving into products space and not into services space. That is indeed something credible as services is something every Tom, Dick and Harry may be able to do, but having a vision for doing products is something difficult and hard to get funding too. Here's to wishing Rajiv the best and my full support whenever i can.
Now my reason for not going the entrepreneur path is simple. I look upon my steady job as a cash cow. It gives me the money i need to do all the other things i do in my life. Marathons, cycling, traveling, biking all don't come easy dude !! In short, i have a roaring personal life which i am enjoying. As Rajiv was telling me i should try to make a difference to someone by going the entrepreneur way. My argument i simple. I can also make a difference to someone just by inspiring them to start running !! So there in ended our discussion with him.
In case you are a developer with fire in your belly to create something and not worried too much about money in the initial days (trust me, it will come later) send across a mail to him. He will only be too glad to hear from you.
K. Shyam
Tags: Barcamp Bangalore, Entrepreneur, SlideShare, Uzanto

Posted by Unknown at 10:09 AM