Ex-post AIM

Before I stepped into the Asian Institute of Management I didn't really have an idea about what I wanted to do for sure...Of course alot of options jumped, cantered, galloped, flew and random walked (ahem... someone's been reading her FM) through my head.

I remember distinctly reading a fabulous piece in BusinessWorld on the future of the Sports Industry and was totally on board. Since then the idea of getting into Sports Marketing or just about anything related to Sports has been gestating in my head and finally I'm pretty sure that's my career path.

We could start something while we're here now that Sports Marketing is being offered as an elective.

My personal preferance post AIM is working in the industry under a brand and after 4-5 years I'd love to start my own venture specializing in adventure sports. I'd like to not just provide existing sports but have a sort of think-tank which designs adventure sports...

Wow... just typing about this electrifies me... now it's about networking with like-minded people and channeling my energy and of course being observant and open to learning all the time!

My Passion Matrix

We started one of our more interesting classes this term, Development Enterprise... From the beginning itself alot of emphasis was put on us figuring out what we'd like for ourselves, thru' a venture, part-time or otherwise, to do in the long-term if not now.

I've always had more than an idea of what I want to start... but it has always been up in the air... For some reason I was loathe to pen it down...

At Baguio, I didn't really have a choice.. I had to pen things down... Strangely and fortunately... it felt alright penning it down... I think, in the past, I was worried that maybe if I wrote things down I wouldn't feel like doing it after... but when I actually did put it down, it felt more concrete and I kinda felt like I was gonna do it.

So here goes... my Passion matrix :

By 2015, I will experience and enjoy

For myself Thru myself

· A super - successful sports marketing career – all the time – 30 mins to 1 hour daily research and read on Sports Marketing
·Material goal: To own a house done up in dark wood in Mumbai (3 BHK at least)
·Learn sailing, diving, Tai chi / Capoeira, Spanish / Mandarin and to have tried out sky diving, shark swimming and a whole bunch of adventure sports
· African safari & sleep on a ‘macchan’ over-night in Dgorang-goro crater
·Visit Earth chakra centers like Macchu Picchu, Kailash Mansarovar

- To understand fully the economic and social value of sports

- Learn Perfumery

For Others Thru me

·Provide a platform for people inclined towards sports - Continual effort

For me Thru / with others

· Travel at least half the world – funding for which will obviously come from my career
· Will have gone back-packing through India and Europe
·Network with an eclectic group of people, globally
. Collect world music

For others Thru Others

· Social development through Sports through 'Barefoot' - the venture I plan to set up.

When will your enterprise succeed?

The more I sit for classes during my MBA, the more I feel that to succeed in anything, especially in your own venture it's most important to be happy, to be totally immersed and as Csikszentmihalyi avows: to be in flow. It's important to recognize the kind of person you are, play to your strenghts... not to bother fretting over your weaknesses... coz you can always find somebody to complement you... the world is beautifully organized that way... and most importantly to have patience.

In fact the magnitude of that virtue just hit me coz it's very easy to write that patience is the key to succeeding --- but actually demonstrating that... whoa...

My natural predilection is to multi-task but at the cost of sustainability. Obviously that means I personally, currently, lack patience... hopefully my flow driver will help me overcome that. What I personally need to accept is that at the beginning of any business I will not have all the resources that are required... in fact I may never have all the resources required coz usually that true determination comes in hindsight.

When I was asked what domain I would choose to be an entrepreneur in as of today... the answer popped into my head... Sports marketing! Not that I'm a hard core fanatic but I have been earlier on in life and I completely relate to the level of passion, flow and discipline that comes with it. It'd be great to use sports as a social developmental tool. In fact I'd love to be able to create a platform which can get talent recognized across all sports. I realize for that it's essential that I learn spectator engagement strategies.