By Chandran Iyer
When I was a kid, a friend presented me a small photo on my birthday. I was fascinated by the photograph as I felt it had magical properties. If you see from one angle, you will see a beautiful girl, and if you tilt the photo on the other side, you could see an old woman. It was an image with an Optical Illusion of duality.
What was the real image? A young girl or an old woman? Both the images were right, it all depended upon from which angle you see it. I realized this optical illusion of duality when I tried to switch from being an employee to become an entrepreneur. I have been a journalist for nearly three decades. I was the chief reporter of India’s premier news agency Press Trust of India, then Associate Editor of Mid-Day newspaper in Pune and finally I started my own publication Corporate Tycoons, a monthly business and travel magazine in March 2013. The magazine was launched at the hands of spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bengaluru.
When I wanted to leave a well paying job and start a publication of my own, several of my senior colleagues, advised me against what they considered as a “foolish “step. Don’t be a fool, dont leave a well paying job and venture into the risky territory of entrepreneurship. You will end up blowing all your hard earned money in smoke, they advised me.
Then when I discussed my overall plans to start a magazine to a friend who is also a successful entrepreneur, his response was cautious optimism. He asked me questions such as what was the vision, mission and target audience of the magazine, how much I intend to invest and what would be the return on investment. I then explained to him that this magazine Corporate Tycoons will be the only magazine of its kind which will combine business and travel segmentand that the cover story in each issue will be of a tycoon. The entrepreneur friend then congratulated on the idea and asked me to go ahead. Encouraged by the entrepreneur friends words, I launched the magazine and now it is nearly eight year old.
My senior journalist friends who were my well-wishers advised me against leaving a well paying job and become an entrepreneur, while the entrepreneur friend asked me to go full steam ahead in the entrepreneurial venture. Who were right and who were wrong in giving me their advise? Both were right from their own perspective. It was just a case of optical illusion of duality.
Lesson Number two that I learnt: If you are an employee and want to become an entrepreneur, do not ask advise from another employee even if he is highest paid. The angle from which he will look will be starkly different from that of an entrepreneur.
