When I was in my 6th grade I was fascinated to learn about a computer and playing games on a computer was something I always enjoyed back then. Each new thing I used to learn during my childhood days had a great impact on things I wanted to pursue in the future. If I look back now I realize that I always used to find ways to push my limits, challenge and compete with myself constantly to be the best in what I did.
The habit of wanting to do more than the regular academia always made me to participate and win competitions at state and national levels. I grew up with a sense of acquiring knowledge not just by books but the things, events, people surrounding me who pushed and challenged my limits all the time. The fear of failure was never a reason for not pursuing something I wanted in my life as I saw each failure as a valuable lesson to learn from.
I was someone who always found interest in finding solutions to problems around me and that lead me towards science, engineering. I had very limited knowledge of courses, curriculum and options available for me during my Pre-University Course. I was curious about how robots work and wanted to know the dynamics of their operation. In the process I learnt how to program and build software applications. The extra-curricular activities, be it sports or events or competitions, they always kept me motivated.
A background in Electronics & Communications combined with a good percentage score helped me to land interviews and job offers at various IT companies in Bangalore. I wasn't prepared to get into a 40 or 50 hour work week routine. I felt the need to pursue higher studies abroad during my 7th semester and applied to universities in US offering Master degree programs. I got an admit from University of Florida for their MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering program. I decided to join the university.
When I accepted the admit and fought hard to convince my family regarding my choice I didn't knew that this would end up being the best decision I had taken in my life. When I started my higher studies at University of Florida it was not just a different way of learning but a whole lot of things I got to experience. The different perspective to things you see and perceive around you. The factors leading to make your own independent choices, decisions will make you more responsible as a person.
The regular notion is that most of them pursue higher studies in India to get a high paying job and settle abroad. My focus was different, I always wanted to start something on my own. I made use of each opportunity to step out of my comfort zone, attend events, meet people, join start-up/entrepreneurship clubs on campus to fuel my passion for entrepreneurship. My goal was to work with organizations of different sizes to know how they function and operate on daily basis before starting my own company.
I interned at couple of start-ups before my first full time gig. My first full-time job was with a start-up of 12 employees size. I was the only IT full-stack developer handling the development work for the company. It gave me more autonomy and learning opportunities to grow. After a while I joined another start-up company with better benefits and pay-structure. The company was around 200 employees size.
I got to work in a team environment. The learning's were different and equally valuable to understand how a company transitions from start-up phase into a growth phase. After working with the company for a while I decided to move to west coast from florida.
I worked for a start-up briefly in California before landing my 6 figure salary job at Bellevue Washington. This big company employed about 200,000+ around the globe.
As they say, when you believe in something truly, the whole universe conspires to get you that. I never aimed at getting a 6 figure salary job but it happened in the quest for my learning and working for organizations of different sizes. As I progressed in my career personally and professionally I had also met my objectives of working with various companies before starting my own company. This meant that letting go off my steady pay-checks and 6 figure income for what I actually wanted to do.
It was only a point of 'when' rather than 'why' for me. I dreamt of being an entrepreneur not a person sitting behind a laptop within the comfort of steady pay-checks. There will always be times in your life where you would want to be in that safe comfort zone but your answers, happiness lies outside of those things. The moment you realize and take action, the results you will see or experience will be worth all your efforts and pain.
It has been a year since I quit my job and completed a full-year as an entrepreneur. I have started my first company in India and the second company overall. The happiness, satisfaction you feel when you are serving each client of yours and the gratitude, appreciation you get is priceless. It is just one of those many things which makes me and fellow entrepreneurs like me around the world keep going and growing.
This is Guru Sharan B S, Founder and CEO of PathfinderNRI - A Study Abroad, Start-Up, Career Coaching & Consulting firm and this is my story!
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