My first experience at TheRodinhoods OH and what I learnt!

Hi Folks, 

The Mumbai OH this Saturday was my first interaction with the awesome Rodinhood community. For someone who has decided to take the leap of faith and give his ideas the rightful place in life, I was in awe of the vibe and energy at display the entire afternoon. 

I have worked in corporate setting for the last 3.5 years and learnt a lot from my peers. However the inner voice to give myself the freedom and opportunity to grow saw me leave my job in Feb 2014 and work on my idea. Being an avid reader, I happen to come across the Rodinhood community and specifically Alok’s answer on Quora. And that is where it all began. Its difficult not to get inspired from the clarity he brings to the table 🙂

Being amidst entrepreneurs, the setting on Sat was ripe for some engaging discussions. The launch of a startup (roomys.in) and the subsequent questions/ feedbacks taught me to approach business models from a different perspective. Till then, it was more of a structured knowledge (which does not aid in the chaos a start up faces in the real world). 

And then there was the 28 week, 28 job rodin hooder!! I can still remember the thunderous applause the audience gave to the guy on stage. The best line – To get the 28 jobs, I have faced numerous rejections. And the toughest job (play school teacher) was the best one after all 🙂

The investor love sequence was something that for the first time showed me the perseverance of founders in tough times. I mean yeah, putting your life savings and your belief ahead of you is not for the faint hearted. 

The 5Ws of a start up journey is what kept me glued to the seat. For somehow who is restless to watch a 3 hour movie (yeah..cant bear them), the discourse was something I relate to my current phase in life. I realised I have some tough questions to answers to myself before I am truly committed to my startup. Best Lines –

1. Focus on the WHY. Rest of the questions can follow

2. WHY NOT at times is more important than the why. It helps to get a customer or naysayer mindset to approach problems. 

I have always appreciated the virtue of being frank in all my conversations. And that is what i witnessed on Sat. Being true to ones opinion and providing honest feedback is what I seek from this community too!!

Lastly the most important lesson I learnt – SHARE. And no one exhibits this quality than the man who started this community – Alok!!! Being a Maru and being generous with ideas, suggestions and ones own time is worth admiring (cant help the stereotype. I am also a maru :P)

Looking forward to the community to learn and share in my new journey !! Thanks for reading through the lengthy post. Its difficult to stop the flow at 2 in the night 🙂