I got the CNN Alert on my iPad when the news broke out yesterday. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, dies at 56. This is a news that I wasn’t prepared for. And then my iPhone rang and I had family and friends sharing their shock on his passing away. Working on my MacBook Pro, I felt surrounded with Steve Jobs in every way and the impact was far greater since I live and work almost in the backyard of Cupertino. I was in so much shock as if I had lost someone I had known personally. And even right now, it feels like I knew him and I am confident most of the people have the same experience.

Steve Jobs was an underdog who taught us that if we believed in our gut, intuition or anything that matters to us, it made life worth living AND dying for. At 56, he achieved success that exceeded perhaps his own expectations of success. He prepared hard for what he achieved in the last ten years of his life. If Apple surpassed Exxon Mobil just briefly as the most valuable company, it was a tribute to the team behind Apple and Steve Jobs.

A Legend: A legend today may be someone of noted celebrity, with larger-than-life accomplishments, whose fame is well-known. And Steve was one.

A Leader : A leader is someone who leads and Steve led not only his team but the world into a new realm of possibility with his products.

A Legacy : His gifts of his ideas and designs changed how we live and will always shape the future.

Lessons Learned:

It is never too late. He came back to Apple and in last ten years left a mark in the world.
Do what you love: Though we share a common destination in death, life is all about searching for what you love and doing what you love and loving what you do.
Make it count: Everyday we have an opportunity to do something that we believe in, be unreasonable about it and make EVERYDAY count.

I am sad, very sad today. And my best wishes go to his family. I don’t think Silicon Valley is the same today as it mourns its best pioneer. I don’ think the world is the same today as Steve lived up to his word “He made a dent in the Universe“. And this dent is irreparable. Forever.

Miss you and love you, Steve. Rest in peace.

Sachin Tendulkar is a name to reckon with in the world of Cricket. The entire Indian sub-continent is proud of his accomplishments and is awe of the little master. Personally, I am most impressed with his humility in light of the heights he has reached. It might take a long time for someone in the field of cricket to scale the heights he has reached. But this remarkable cricketer has no airs about it. Even his competitors speak nicely of him.

The most moving incident in my life was to watch the Indian Cricket Team winning the World Cup in 2011 and the entire team was committed to “WIN” the cup for him. How does one person bring this kind of team spirit to the entire team?

So, on his Birthday (April 24th) this year, Cricket On Air team, decided to look into what was the story behind making of the champion of champs and for some “GOD” of cricket. We observed many interesting things – his commitment to the sport from early childhood, the influence of his teachers and family and his strong ethics.

When we interviewed Aakash Chopra, a few episodes ago. He shared with us how Sachin met his parent and him at an event. He was very respectful to his parents and greeted them. He found was the quality that was most inspiring about Sachin.

Check out the STORY of SACHIN Tendulkar on America’s premier cricket show “Cricket on Air” and for the readers of this blog…Click below.

Telecom has been a passion of mine. And as a Electronics and Communication engineer, I have been part of many ground breaking events in the industry. I was part of the advent of wireless in India and worked on the roll out of the GSM technology. And then worked with the giants in Telecom, like Alcatel, AT&T North America and Bell Labs on early adoption of features like Call waiting, call forwarding (Value Added Services) etc in United States which are now very common.

And later, I was at the helm of social gaming and now mobile gaming and apps…and we know how it disrupted the traditional gaming business.

iPhone was the major disruption for a feature phone. For all those who love cellular phones, I know you remember dial phones when phone was only to make and take calls. iPhone made it a mini personal computer and tapped into the biggest need for humans “touch devices”. Psychologists have long understood that the sensation of “touch” helps people to relate better. Taking this to a device – “Brilliant”. “Outstanding”.

But the juice on which a smart phone runs is the network since large amounts of data need to be transferred and speed is vital. So, 3G networks are high-speed data networks. Pair them with 3G devices, bandwidth and location information available to 3G devices gives rise to applications not previously available to mobile phone users, mobile TV, video on demand, location based services and video conferencing.

In US, some carriers have already deployed 4G. And needless to say, some people call it MAGIC. But India has delayed the launch of 3G but the wait is over. It is here now….

Why this is a paradigm shift?

1. Penetration of smartphones in Asia. EE times reports, In 2009 Asia was responsible for 60.2 million smartphone shipments, 33 percent of the global figure of 182.4 million. In 2015 IMS expects Asia to see 277.2 million smartphone shipments or 39 percent of a global market size of 710.8 million shipments. I believe this is potentially conservative….

2. Gaming and Apps: “In India, usage of Apps seem focused on games, music and social networking,” says Hemant Joshi, partner at Deloitte Haskins and Sells. Add to it, Education apps for kids, finance apps and some other utility apps and this community is ready to adapt. I can only imagine a “cricketing app” that will make the experience of this game very profound to the user…my mind is full of ideas. Potentially, a $2B marketplace, I believe true or not – it has the potential. The apps and content will be the NEXT GOLD RUSH.

The excitement is brewing….

Last two months, I was involved with a project which was radically different. It had nothing to do with technology, marketing and diversity – my 3 BIG passions. I got the idea and I decided to run with it. So, I drafted a business plan, raised some angel money and even found other relevant partners. This was a strenuous and time consuming project. I worked very hard on it since this was a project out of my domain of expertise.

And during this period, I found a lot of things that I had no clue of…some restrictive state laws, some hiring challenges and even the margins in the business plan started to look difficult to justify. It is then my inner voice started to talk to me. It became my own adversary. It started to tell me, “Don’t do it”, “This is not for you” and “It does not make sense”.

Like every normal person, I was compelled to dismiss these fears thinking these were starting hiccups. We all have read those books which motivate us to “Fight our fears”, “Take a leap of faith” and “Never give up”. Well! it is true you need passion to make a thing happen.

But it is important to remember that certain things get obsolete and if you are following a business that is outdated or even a practice that is not relevant in the current situation – you need to pay attention to that. During my work, I have developed a habit of meeting a lot of people, mentors and advisors and this habit has always come to my rescue. They challenge me and make me justify my assumptions…Finally, I encountered a nay sayer. This person was an industry expert and he looked at the business plan and within two minutes asked me to walk away without any further delay.

So, I did. I knew instantly that he had been super kind to share his insights and was looking out for me.

While sharing this with some entrepreneurs at 500startups recently, some of them came up with really interesting observations:

1. Writing a business plan is like dating period. If everything goes well, you get into a relationship, if not you decide to move on.

2. The Due diligence period is the time for internal reflection. If you find out that this idea is NOT YOU, you need to give it up. To succeed you will need a lot of passion and even if this is a great idea and NOT YOU, you will eventually set yourself up for failure.

3. Success is not only in accomplishing things; success is also in listening to yourself and not to your ego that drives you to do things without any consciousness. Success is also in getting to a point, trying a new thing and learning a lot in that process.

Finally this morning, reading Robin Sharma’s blog, he had an article PICK FIGHTS FAST – very catchy title he emphasizes not to fall in love with your idea blindly. He says maybe it is better to surround yourself with “NO PEOPLE” than “YES SIR” people. They will challenge your assumptions and probably act as an adversary and save you a lot of trouble. Develop a habit to listen to yourself and to nay sayers before making a decision.

So, Don’t fall in love with your idea and that will liberate you to look for fresher approach or create a new one… – you kiss your idea GOOD BYE.

Have a super weekend!

For the readers of this blog, I have to inform you that along with my team, I recently launched a Cricket Show called Cricket On Air. The vision of the show is to become the premier radio show on Cricket in US and to entertain and reach every Cricket enthusiast here in America with quality content.

We worked very hard prior to launch. All of us are new to producing content for radio and it was a fantastic experience. And like every new idea when it takes life, the team is ecstatic and so were we.

Here is a video of the team celebrating as the first Radio show aired…

Yes, we were thrilled and it is apparent…Thanks for all your support as we are now in our second month and growing exponentially.

I want to share with you a show which was the genesis of this journey – story of one and only CAPTAIN cool – Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Here is a link to the show: Enjoy the cricketainment…

His story speaks to pursuing your dreams – coming from a modest beginning, Dhoni was unstoppable. He worked hard and has now become an icon of the masses – a small town boy makes is REALLY big. An example to the world of true sportsmanship. A sportsman is like an entrepreneur, he takes his chances and risks taking shots that can go go either way. In his case, it WORKED….listen to it for more details on his story.

Look forward to your feedback to make it better….

Most Recently, I was interviewed by Teresa Morrow about my eBook PINK and grow Rich. Just sharing it here on my blog….

Please share with us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Deepika Bajaj – Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker, Blogger. Most of all, I am a dreamer who likes to follow her dreams and enjoy every moment of the journey. My journey began the day I came to this earth. Growing up in India, I had the unique opportunity to grow up in a small town, close to New Delhi, where I met my first teacher, who gave me the confidence to believe in myself. I moved on to get my Engineering in Electronics and Communication from Bangalore, India. And worked with some premier Technology companies like AT&T, Alcatel, Bell Labs etc. In my journey, I even got an MBA in Marketing from New York. Working in corporate America, I got many skills.

And then my life took a sharp turn, I started on my entrepreneurial journey.

With my first company Invincibelle, I aim to bring content and share information with women to be able to empower and inspire them. In this journey, I have met some amazing people who share the similar passion. In Oct, 2009, I published my first book: DiversityTweet, Embracing the growing Diversity in our world. This started my author’s journey. I knew I had an author in me but to be able to get a book published was a dream come true. My second adventure is called, ActiveGarage. It is a resource for people to learn from experts who write on different business concerns. I myself write a column on Social Media on it. ActiveGarage is also the company behind 99tribes which is Twitter discovery engine for people to find and discover others who share similar interests.

I recently launched my first eBook “PINK and Grow RICH” . This e-book can make one promise that if you had one reason for NOT living your DREAM – you will find that with the UNREASONABLE Rule Book – 11 UNREASONABLE RULES of success that will help you OWN your dreams.

One of the most humbling moments was when I won the 2010 IWE Entrepreneurial Achievement Award. I was honored to receive this award. It motivated me to keep moving on my entrepreneurial path.
The little known fact about me is that I love dancing, DJing and mixing music, and traveling. Sometimes, I travel to really ancient spots since I am fascinated by history and by discoveries I make. I love to spend time with my friends and family. My favorite rock bands are Metallica, ACDC, Def Leppard. My favorite pop singers include Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Beyonce. I enjoy hiking, cardio kickboxing and swimming.

How long did it take you to write your book(s)?

The first book, DiversityTweet, Embracing the growing Diversity in our world, was written in two months between projects. The reason this book to be complete so quickly was that is has a very unique format. The book has 140 tweets of 140 words. the objective of this book was to write thought provoking tweets on Diversity, a subject that is very close to my heart. The tweets are based on my work in this field and my travels that constantly reinforce that though we all are diverse we are one and part of nature. This book intends to create a bridge between this medium of expression (Tweets) used by hyperactive Gen Y and the Baby boomers who prefer a quick read book on the topic of diversity. I believe there are certain advantages to adapt the communication channel that is growing exponentially within the Gen Y and to learn from experiences of the Baby boomers. This book helps companies managing the generational divide, employee retention and engagement.

The second eBook, PINK and Grow Rich, was a work in progress for three years. I was meeting some really exceptional women in my journey to build Invincibelle. And in talking to them I felt that something was shifting within me. I felt more empowered, inspired and built great relationships that I did not have before. I wanted to take this experience and insights to people who did not have access to these leaders. So, that they can feel the same energy and enthusiasm to live your dreams as I experienced being in their vicinity. This book is compilation of conversations with these women and was in making for a while.

Please share with us more about your latest book.

There are two main themes for my eBook
#1. UNREASONABLE Rule Book

This e-book can make one promise that if you had one reason for NOT living your DREAM – you will find that with the UNREASONABLE Rule Book – 11 UNREASONABLE RULES of success that will help you OWN your dreams. You will know how to live your life, use your own mind, go toward your dreams that you want to make REAL and SOLID.

#2. The 6C Framework

I went deeper with what I call “The 6C framework” – 6 common characteristics of leaders. I share these characteristics that give them the energy and vitality to get the work that needs to be done (to achieve their dreams). You will find excerpts of my conversations with these women and what they stood for.

Example:

Ann Winblad: Partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

Why did you choose to write this book?

Continue Reading my interview on: Spotlight interview with Deepika Bajaj, Author of PINK and Grow RICH.

Before we get into what it means “being unreasonable in business“. I want to throw some light into what it means to be REASONABLE. From the time, we are kids we are requested to be reasonable in our requests, demands and actions. In our world, there is big PUSH for usto compromise and tolerate. Even though, we understand that it is important for us to co-exist with others, the dilemma that we have is why we need to be Reason-ABLE.

So, what does it mean to be REASONABLE?

“Reason-ABLE is not taking responsibility of who you could become – with a perfectly good justification”. For all the possibilities of who
we could be in this world, when we have a perfectly ONE valid reason of why we can’t be that person – it makes us Reason-ABLE.

As you can see, if we are REASONABLE then chances are that we are not taking responsibility to live to our maximum potential.

Now, lets talk about being UNREASONABLE in business….

As we all know that business professionals are always faced with challenging situations and sometimes it is easy to give up. So, in
business being UNREASONABLE with yourself is important…it is important to demand more out of yourself, not to give up, believe in
yourself and to be fearless.

In the ebook PINK and Grow RICH, I shared 11 UNREASONABLE rules of success and my favorite rule is Unreasonable Rule # 2: Be Fearless.

Continue Reading my article at WE magazine: Being unreasonable in Business...

A few months ago, I shared my first article for women entrepreneurs in an Indian magazine . For my next article, I decided to share some Leadership Lessons. There are so many books, blogs and experts who have given us useful insights on leadership. I am sharing what I observed and what has worked for me…Enjoy!

My motto has been “Be the change you want to see in this world”. I have to thank Mahatma Gandhi for it and share my thoughts in an article What Gandhi gave me. His words resonate with me as it invites an individual to take responsibility of what matters to her. And to leave a legacy behind where the world is better a tiny bit because of you…

In my previous article, Entrepreneurship Phase 1: Romancing the Biz, I shared how the Biz and the entrepreneur are like lovers in the early stage. They have different attitudes, mindsets and are still in the chase to get each other. The entrepreneur realizes that she has to enroll people to bring the biz home.

The phase 2, is the Responsibility – This is when the work is done and the entrepreneur has secured the biz. She is now going to work on the biz. She is excited BUT nervous. This is exactly like when you get into a long-term relationship. You are excited and happy and at the same time nervous if you will be able to adapt to this change. Lets not kid ourselves, being a bachelor-ate, you are independent and hardly have any responsibilities BUT in a long-term relationship – you grow up, take charge of your responsibilities.

I felt the same way going into a new venture recently. Like I had matured over night. I felt excited and a bit nervous. And most importantly, I felt responsible. And I knew that I needed a lot of Good Help in managing this responsibility. Good vendors, customers, partners, collaborators and employees.

But with the responsibilities comes excitement – it is the excitement of holding your baby in your hands. She sees how much the business depends on it and needs her constant care. It is the phase where the entrepreneur and the biz are just one entity. You can’t see them as separate. There is so much excitement of taking this new role and way of being. Like a new mom, she takes over her responsibility NATURALLY.

Last weekend, with my co-founders, I was working on a time sensitive project in my living room. They were sitting around the dining table with each of them having a laptop open in front of them. We had to get some work done and decided to make dinner together and make it a “work and eat” session. It was a creative session and we were working on a script for a radio show we have recently launched.

What I observed was that we all had multiple sessions of windows open and one of them was constant across every laptop on the dining table – this was THE FB window.

I was pleasantly surprised by this observation. And then started to pay attention to how each of them was using it.

To my surprise, no one was distracted by it (as per the popular belief). On the contrary it was used to take a break and check out the conversation for a bit and come back to work. And it was amazing how each one was always effectively contributing AND we were not disconnected from our world. I did observe that we went straight to the News Feed, scrolled down to see what was the current activity among our friends and came back to the task at hand… and all this sometimes happened in a matter of split seconds!

Continue Reading my post on ActiveGarage: Social Media & Tribes #29: The New Blink