Page 68 - #letter to son

EVENING REFLECTIONS
Dear son,

There were at least four times when we thought our media venture,
Hindi Khabar, would fail.

Whenever I think back on those times, I’m reminded of Atul Agarwal,
a long-time acquaintance and now a co-owner in our media business.
I’m reminded of his grit, his raw determination to succeed in media
that is long considered to be the backyard of the rich and the mighty.
With experience spanning over two decades, Atul was, as I see it now,
facing a mid-life crisis when he lost his job in a media outfit in Delhi.
Resourceful as he is, he had a plan of what he wanted to do and had even
created a detailed business plan for starting out on his own.

I got in touch with him sometime in mid-2015 and egged him on,
encouraging him to take up entrepreneurship. He cited lack of funds as
his principal pullback and I said I saw that. Later, I fixed him up with
who I thought would be an early investor in the venture. This gentleman
insisted that Atul bring in his team and that too within two days to an
event he had organised in the capital. Clearly, he was testing Atul’s man-
management capabilities.

To everyone’s surprise, Atul turned up with a 40-strong army – all
media professionals. To our bigger surprise however, the gentleman
developed cold feet and was not warm in his reception. It was evident
he was backing-out and that too at such a preliminary stage where the
finer details of the business were not even discussed.

While the gentleman could not look at the potential of the venture
beyond the gates of his event, I thought I could see much ahead. While
he offered a premature resignation, I wanted to sign-up in what I saw as
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Having observed Atul’s team closely, just the way I had observed the officers
and workers at the creaky public sector behemoth for my audit task years
ago in the country’s capital, I was convinced that Atul meant business.
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