There are techies and then are Techies. As a techie myself, I have always looked up to inspirational people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg and marvelled at how all of them have built programs that changed the world. Their impact has been so profound that each one of them is a world leader. What they do or say matters in this world. To be like them, to have that “one idea†that makes you big therefore, is a dream. It’s what we all chase after.
People say that entrepreneurs are born, and not made. That no one can teach “entrepreneurship.†When I look at these Techies, it’s amazing how they found their spirit of entrepreneurship amongst all odds. It was thrilling therefore, when Drishti offered us the opportunity to make it on our own.
Last year, at the first /tmp event in office, I came to know what it meant to be in the shoes of these entrepreneurs. After all, /tmp is not your average, ordinary challenge. It’s a seven-day test of skill and strength. As the team’s “catalyst,†I was responsible for the product delivery. Our vision was to reach the destination each entrepreneur dreams of. It did not matter to us how unattainable it seemed at first.
/tmp took all of us through the lifecycle of a product. We got the whole experience, starting from conceptualising a product, to designing it, and I had to lead a team of five people—all of whom were quite new to the industry. To succeed as a team, we had to understand each teammate’s capabilities. Work was distributed according to our abilities. We all took dynamic decisions to allocate work strategically within the time we had.
There were lots of surprises at every turn. (Of course!) The technologies that we were asked to use (GWT, Play, Scala, neo4j, and graph api) were all new to me. The challenge then was to lead the team to operate on the same while I had no clue how to! Each day threw up new challenges. It proved to be a true test of my leadership.
All through the challenge the team spirit was unwavering. We made sure everyone participated and contributed. The team went through all the challenges together and everyone helped each other out. We knew we were going down paths none of us had ever ventured. So we all walked together!
Each day was a race to the finish. Though we learned about key saleable features to include, there were time constraints to adhere to. It was a thrilling experience to go through the complete product lifecycle in such a short time.
Looking back at last year, we may have failed at some challenges at first, and that was hard on the team. But I was proud of the fact that the team kept on trying till we succeeded. As a fresher, venturing into the industry gives one limited chances of exploring the potential so early on, but /tmp changed that.
My “spirit of entrepreneurship†got a crash course thanks to /tmp. The exercise changed us and made us aware of the different perspectives of entrepreneurship. The seven days were like a roller coaster ride. But in the end it was worth every drop of sweat and tear!
