Photo Credit: Pictures from Hubble Telescope, NASA/ESA
It is befitting to talk about legacy on my birthday. Yes, I was born on this day. I share the birthday with a great soul, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. It is rather self indulgent to talk about myself, but given it is a blog that I created, I give myself the permission 🙂 but I assure you there is a learning. I struggle with everything that I write about so bear with me. I believe everyone of us has a mission, some of us are lucky to recognize it. A lot of us go through life without thinking about why we do what we do. If you are reading this blog post, I urge you and commend you that you are a fabulous being put on this earth to make a difference. What difference are you going to make? It does not have to be overwhelming, like Mother Teresa said
Not all of us can do great things, but we all can do small things with great love
The simplest of things is to smile and say you are going to have a great day and wish anyone whom you meet with a big smile. I have been watching all the videos and readings of the How to Start a Startup class offered by Sam Altman. One of the videos is an interview with Steve Jobs, the interview says it all.
The things to take away is that we will definitely improve on our present. Future belongs to those who create it. I don’t know of a better way than take on the challenge of building a future than through building a company that is passionate about solving a problem. There is a lot of noise, hyperbole and talk about the mechanics of a starting up, however the fundamental premise is to let your work speak for yourself. The most important trick is to change yourself first to ensure you are the kind of person who can build the future. Here is the talk by Paul Graham which is the 3rd lecture in the class, he answers a question related to gender and women in technology, it is in the end I encourage you to watch the whole lecture.
I think it applies to every startup founder, don’t focus on the thick of thin things, focus more on building a product/service and showing growth in adoption of what you have built. The way to get to geometric growth is to build something that everyone wants loves. This could be the greatest legacy that you can hope for. The journey is hard, but for those of us who are committed to this path it is no longer hard.
Now go and make the future!
I watched that interview with Steve some time ago .. really amazing.