At an investors’ conference in Mumbai, I once asked a guy, “So, what do you do?”
He was so stunned that for a few seconds he was speechless. Then, he turned to others and said, “You know, once, everyone knew me. Now I am asked what I do!”
Realizing that I had inadvertently punctured his ego, I discreetly enquired and found out that he was a founder of one of India’s earliest venture capital funds.
Naturally, he was once a big-shot, used to people lining up before him for jobs, funding, and press interviews.
But that was history. He was no longer with that fund, which had itself lost its position — newer investors were now hogging the limelight.
The world had changed but he was still caught in a time-warp.
The cycle of life does not stop — what is up, will someday be down. Life is a great leveler.
Better to stay humble and start every day as a beginner. That way, at the very least, when someone asks our name we will have an answer.
– Rajan