Dream big, The earth’s the limit : Live your Dreams : Part 3

Murthy at the 140conf

Dream big. The earth’s the limit! That’s what Mahesh Murthy, CEO Pinstorm has to say.

Coincidentally the third person to feature in our series of Live your Dreams is also a person who has never completed formal education. The last two being Sachin Tendulkar, who never completed school and Steve Jobs, who dropped out of college.

Mahesh also features in the top 20 list of Most Successful Dropouts from College in History.

Mahesh, got into engineering but 3 semesters (18 months) into the course, he chose to drop out. So why did he drop out ? As is the case with most of us, coming from middle class families, having studied maths and science, we are told that there is no other choice than become an engineer. That’s what happenend with him as well.  And like all of us do, somewhere down the line loose interest in the subjects we are being taught and can’t figure out why we are doing it. But there was one thing different in Mahesh from the rest of us and that was, yes you got it right,  Guts!

All or probably 99% of us cannot do what he did, drop out of college and start selling vacuum cleaners that too door-to-door. In the process he also got discarded from his family, quite natural to happen. But that did not stop him, he was destined for bigger things. He moved into a hotel paying Rs.50 a night, the money he had earned from his NTSE scholarship. He sold vacuum cleaners, then starting a cleaning company Vaclean, but after failing in both he finally joined an advertising company. Since then there’s been no lookingback. Mahesh’s traveled placed, done the UI’s for Yahoo and Amazon, worked for Ogilvy and and a few other firms before finally settling in Mumbai with Pinstorm.

Pinstorm is a unque pay click advertising company which has worldwide operations and consists of offices in India, Malaysia, Singapore, China and US. That’s not the end he also owns a VC funding company called Seedfund through which he has mentored and funded 10 Indian startups and 3 US based ones. Some of his funded companies include Geodesic, Webdunia, EasyBuy, CareerLauncher, Tulleeho, Redbus etc.

His advertising company, Pinstorm, has been selected by Red Herring (magazine) to their list of Asia’s 100 Hottest companies for 2008. Mahesh has become a guru in this field and is often been invited to conferences and summits around the world. He also is a strong believer that only those who wish to become academicians or go in research should go for studying hard. The rest, should just scramble through the exam and in the meantime “Follow your Heart“.

We’ll end with words from the man himself :

No one knows anything, least of all any supposed management guru or consultant or expert. You can discover your own rules and create your own playing field. And dream big. The earth’s the limit.

Sources : Crazyengineers, Wikipedia, Rediff

Have a “Dream to Reality” real life story, why not share with us. Drop in the comments section, we’ll contact you and who knows you may win yourswlf a gift!

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Deccan Herald covers iReboot

Deccan Herald Covers iReboot

Deccan Herald Coverage :

By Jaunet G

The frustration of being stuck at the wrong job, while your heart yearns to pursue something else, matches no other. But yet, many find it difficult to make that decision to quit and follow their dreams. The reasons for the hesitation could range from financial constraints to doubts over whether their ‘dream job’ is indeed the right one for them. A new venture started by two former techies aims at addressing just this.

iReboot, the brain child of Arun Mathew and Mukta Darera, ‘is a life orientation company that is involved with trying to give wings to others’ dreams.’ Says Mukta, “The company I was a part of was a dream company for me with a great work culture. But at some level I felt that it was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life – it was not fulfilling enough. I wanted togive my dreams a chance, so I just took the plunge.”

She adds that through the course of her job, she came across people who had dormant dreams and were frustrated that they were not getting a chance to pursue their passion. “I constantly heard lines like ‘I want to be an RJ’, etc and these individuals never had an idea of what it takes. Since many were working professionals with financial commitments,
they could not experiment. At some level, this reflected on their workplace performance as well.”

This led to the birth of iReboot with the intention of giving people an opportunity to learn and pursue their passion and at the same time hold on to their jobs – the one which pays for their lifestyle and loans. So it serves a dual purpose and also becomes a risk free opportunity.

So what does iReboot exactly do? The concept is simple. It gets a person to relate what profession they would like to opt for and then allow them to actually experience what it is like by linking them up with a mentor in that particular field. Two or three-day workshops are also organised that would give the enrollee a feel of the job. The founders believe that this will help them make an informed decision about whether they would really want to pursue the career.

The road so far

Mukta says that the progress has been very good and the response has been phenomenal. They have been  approached by several students, who are pretty clueless about what to do, and several working professionals, who feel trapped and bored in their work.

“With the outsourcing industry booming, many people haven’t made active choices about their professions. The lure of fast and quick money soon dies out. You can’t do what you don’t like for five days a week and then compensate for it over the weekend. In fact, most seem to have adjusted to the frustrations of their jobs to such an extent that they barely recognise themselves,” she remarks.

Post iReboot, the founders say, there have been many who have taken their passion to the next level, and there have also
been those who said: “This is really not my cup of tea” and gone back to their workplace feeling really happy for having tried.

Interestingly, people from varied walks of life and age groups have enrolled with iReboot. Mukta says that their youngest enrollee has been a 8-year-old and the oldest, a 56-year-old. “Working professionals, housewives, entrepreneurs, students, people on a sabbatical – I have had them all,” Mukta says.

Among their forthcoming workshops are: ‘Learn all about stock markets and trading’, ‘Wildlife photography boot camp’, ‘Discover the travel writer in you’, ‘Learn to be a voiceover artist/RJ/MC’, ‘Start a cafe/restaurant’, ‘Learn event management’. All these are
weekend workshops for both students and working professionals who get time off only on weekends.

For other updates, log on to www.ireboot.in or call 9663857828.

Deccan Herald : Edition : July 16, 2009. Education Section : Page 2

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What does it take to play with money !

Unpredictability attached with stock markets make it very difficult for a common man to invest his hard earned money and that should not come as surprise. A newbie, unskilled and an illiterate of stock market  can never be at par with a skilled and experienced analysts. But a bit of acquired knowledge and proper implementation can set a path from where they excel in right direction.

Investing in stock market needs more than just skills. One should have temperament and patience with an ability to play around with numbers. Investing is not a way to become an overnight millionaire but a planned strategy to get return on your analysis.

Its important for oneself to be updated about the company in which he is invested and also about economy as a whole.Investing should be seen as being a part of that company. Profit and loss of that company would effect your  profit and loss too.Investing  gives best result when seen as a business than a  part time arrangement of money.

Risk taking ability of a person is also an important factor. Risk can never be eliminated from stock market but there are ways in which we can lower our risk considerably. During time of slump there may be very less opportunity to earn but an intelligent investor uses this opportunity to make his fortune out of doom.

The worlds most successful Investor in History

Investing is not only about making money but a test of your ability to analyse a situation, find a conclusion based on analysis, setting your acts right and then having faith in yourself to stick with your decision at adverse times. Most people fail on last part. Ability to look deep into the root cause makes you stand apart from others on Dalal Street. One should do lot of analysis and stick to his results and should never get carried away with circumstances or with ideologies of other investors.

According to a survey 80% of small investors are always at loss in stock market. It is very clear that small investors are at loss because of lack to proper knowledge. For a small investor stock market is a gamble but with little knowledge this gamble can be changed into fruitful investment strategy where investor would be aware of basic tactics through which he can keep his investment in safer zone.

Nobody can ever be accurate on wall street(or Dalal street) but right approach with right knowledge can distinguish you from others. Even Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffet failed to anticipate the price to stocks many times but focused and strategic approach made them best investors in history.

—

Hitesh Anand

Author :

Hitesh Anand – An electronics engineer, worked for Infosys for some time before deciding to reboot himself and is now following his dream, pursuing a course in advanced Economics. He has calls from the likes of Oxford University and The University of Edinburgh apart from a few others. He’ll soon be finalizing and moving to UK in the next month. Occasionally Hitesh also blogs at www.wealthson.com.

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Learn the ABC’s of Stock Trading

The stock market is a great place for people to either make or lose money by buying a share, or part of a company. This of course is a risky business, but the pay offs could be huge if they choose correctly. There are different markets and different stocks to trade, that we will all get into later. This is just a basic rundown about what all of this stock stuff is about. If you’re confused, stick with me and lets go through this together.

First a few basics:

Stock – a share of stock means ownership in a company; how much ownership depends on how many our bought.

Broker – the agent who buys and sells stocks on behalf of others.

A stock trader or a stock investor – is an individual or firm who buys and sells stocks or bonds (and possibly other financial assets) in the financial markets.

How did it all start?

I’m sure one of the first questions you think about when thinking about the stock market is “how did it all begin”? Well that’s what this section is all about.
Back in the early times, when we were growing and needed more goods from little things like tools to larger things like boats. However companies needed to have money to make all these products, so they began to sell shares of their business to very rich people. Some of these rich people we call investors, gathered in streets (that is why it is called Wall street and Dalal Street) and began trading shares amongst themselves. The goal was to buy low and sell high.

Some of these men became brokers and started selling share for other investors.

What is the Sensex and Nifty?

What Does Sensex Mean? An abbreviation of the Bombay Exchange Sensitive Index (Sensex) – the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). It is composed of 30 of the largest and most actively-traded stocks on the BSE. Initially compiled in 1986, the Sensex is the oldest stock index in India.

What Does Nifty 50 Mean? The 50 stocks that were most favored by institutional investors in the 1960s and 1970s. Companies in this group were usually characterized by consistent earnings growth and high P/E ratios. The nifty-50 stocks got their notoriety in the bull markets of the 1960s and early 1970s. They became known as \”one-decision\” stocks because investors were told they could buy and hold forever. Examples of nifty-50 stocks included General Electric, Coca-Cola, and IBM. However, part of this list included companies that have been troubled in the last decade, such as Xerox and Polaroid.

So you’ve learned about stocks, learned about the markets, gotten some good information … so now you’re ready to pick a stock eh?

But wait, what are the things to look out for before investing in stocks?

We suggest, you do a structured class room session with us – learn from some of the best people in the industry.

The course is designed such that you learn and practice hands on- in the stock market. Of course, we will hold your hand throughout, so that you can bank of the wisdom that comes through the experience of our expert mentors.

Send an email to mail@ireboot.in or call 9663857828 for details.

Also, log on to http://ireboot.in/stocktrader/ for course details.

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Live your Dreams : Part 2

“My only Dream was to wear the India Cap“. Can you guess who said those words ?

12,773 Test Runs with a record 42  centuries, 16,884 ODI (One Day International) runs with a staggering 43 hundreds. Total amassed to 29457 international runs alongside 198 wickets and 231 catches. We are talking about the man with the most runs and the maximum tons in any form of international cricket. No prizes for guessing now that we are indeed talking about the most famous man in Indian Cricket or better said World Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar. The man who has made each and every Indian proud, irrespective whether he/she follows or not India’s most sacred game. A one man army for so many years, the only current generation cricketer who found a place in Sir Don Bradman’s (cricket’s greatest batsmen ever) Bradman’s Eleven.

Sachin Tendulkar

Street cricket is a game which any kid in India has invariably played. The first game we see on television is Cricket. We have cricket tournaments everywhere, right from our gully to our schools to colleges to offices. How do we get so many players for the game? Well that’s not the question is, the question is that if we have so many players then why don’t all of us make it to the Indian team or even for our state team for that matter ? Why do we face selection issues if even one or two of our players get injured ? On any match day we can find tips and suggestions by every other individual at our local pan shop. But if sent to play we can’t ! Why doesn’t everyone become a cricketer ? Our family doesn’t support us, we have financial problems, sports cannot earn us enough money (that can’t be said for cricket of course) and all sorts of lame excuses we can give. It’s only 1 in a 100 individuals that actually faces those issues. The rest : Don’t Dream, is the answer.

Sachin tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar was given an option to choose between two schools, one with a good educational standard and other with a good sports background. At a tender age of 11 how many of us can make that decision ? Thankfully that’s the best decision he ever made, for himself and for all of India.

The current Indian Cricket Team sports many players (Dhoni, RPSingh, Pathan brothers) who are not are not either from Big cities or with great financial backgrounds, the only thing common between them is they Dreamt and they do what they love.

Without asking you to read more we’ll leave you with two statements said by arguably the greatest batsman of all time :

My only dream was to wear the Indian cap and the Indian colours. In that respect, my childhood dreams have come true.

and the better and more important one :

I still dream — without dreams, life is flat, you stagnate

In this hectic life we often forget or realize what our dreams are. Its better late than never ! Realize your DREAM.

Sources : Wikipedia, Cricinfo, Google.

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‘Better Photography’ magazine publishes iReboot + participants in July 2009 edition

One half of "Rush" by Vikram Vetrivel - participant of iReboot's photography workshop held in Jan 2009

Better Photography – India’s #1 photography magazine publishes about iReboot and photographs taken by participants of iReboot’s photography workshop.

iReboot is a life orientation company that helps people discover themselves and take their passions and hobbies to the next level. This company conducts photography workshops and represents its participants at different platforms.

Visit http://www.ireboot.in for more details.

"Netting the Sea!" by T A Joseph - participant of iReboot's photography workshop held in Jan 2009

An Untitled photograph by Sajesh P Jose - participant of iReboot's photography workshop held in Jan 2009 AND "Dancing Feet" by Vaibhav Mehta, participant of iReboot's Travel writing and Travel photography workshop held in April 2009

The finale: iReboot's photography contest 2009 gets officially announced!

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The Voice Industry is calling, where are YOU ?

We all listen to them, enjoy them, love them,  follow them and sometimes even go ga-ga over them., even though we might have never seen them! How many of us have done a Munnabhai and fallen for the voice of an RJ on our popular radio channels ? We love to hear those Harsha Bhogle’s,  John Dykes’ or the Shekhar Suman’s (Movers and Shakers).

From school to college to office, every time there’s a show on our campus we’ve dreamt of being right up there, hosting and managing the crowd, but however sometimes faltered or if been there, then always thought after the show, “We Could Have Done Better“.

Look how it feels to make an evening successful, make someone larger than life by just imparting your voice.

RJ Shabbeer from Bangalore introducing Steve Ballmer at Tech Ed India 2009!

YOU could be that voice!!

Well, the time has come to stop wondering how do all those people manage to do that. It’s the time to ReDiscover yourself, discover your voice and fill yourself with loads of self confidence as you nurture yourself to be a great entertainer. Right from “How’s and Why’s of the voice industry” to your “Voice Analysis” to “breathing techniques” to “getting into the depths” to “interpretation” to “phrasing words” to “presentation”to “handling the characters-animation movies-commercials-ads to selling yourself”, “making your promotions A/V’s Demo CD’s” and then finally “taking auditions” . And that’s not all, you can shoot as many questions as you want, the mentor will not let you go with any doubt.

And guess what, that’s not all there’s more in the Radio Jockey section plus the Emcee section.

Phew! You won’t get a better opportunity to learn so many things and that too at a single place. It’s really fun entertaining people. Jump in, discover yourself and who knows you might be the one next Shahrukh to hosting the Filmfare. Click here to be the one for whom people just die to listen.

iReboot presents a one of a kind workshop where you can learn how to use your voice in the booming voice industry.

So are you ready to be the voice on the next IVR you hear? the next radio jingle you hear? the next TV commentary you hear? Join the workshop by calling us on 9663857828 or send a mail to mail@ireboot.in

For more details on the workshop, log on to http://www.ireboot.in/voice/

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