The Journey: Early days to How I Got Here
I did'nt scale up the ladder. I took the elevator.
The last IT position I held was as a Java Developer at Sprint in Kansas City. That was in 2002.
I joined Paradigm Group owned by Sridhar Gadhi as a CEO for Paradigm
Creatives in 2010. In between, I did many things ranging from creating
an animation studio to making a movie.
After my project with Sprint was over, I packed my bags and came back to
India for good. I started an animation studio with a friend of mine.
Both of us got our business cards printed and
mine read,
Prakash Dantuluri,
Director, Onyx Entertainment.
Thats how I became a Director from a Developer.
Decisions that Mattered:
In a way, I quit my paying job when I was at my peak performance. On the day I quit the job, I also quit IT. I self imposed a rule of not doing IT stuff.
That was a very risky decision. The reasons behind that are quite silly. One reason was, I did'nt want anyone to tell me what to wear. I hate wearing formals everyday and polishing my shoes. The second reason is, an interesting thought I had. If someone recorded my entire life in a camera and condensed it into a two hour movie, a good one hour of that
movie would be just me sitting in front of a computer and typing on the keyboard.
I wanted more locations, more travel, more fun and definitely a good element of surprise in my movie. So, I quit.
The second big decision was in 2009. That year, I decided to direct a movie. Luckily for me, it happened.
My most important career decision to date is to join Sridhar and just sticking to one venture. The last three years needed an incredible amount of self discipline, perseverance and absolute focus on Paradigm Creatives. Its interesting to note that serendipity brought me back to IT. But this time, I do travel, meet people and have more surprising
elements than in any other job.
Work and Role: Then and Now
They are very different. My previous job was writing Story, Screenplay and Directing movie. My current job is hiring and training the best possible people, driving sales, understanding customers needs, staying top on the trends and keep innovating on our product line to maintain our edge.
They are also similar. At the end of the day it is about mobilizing all your resources, work within the constraints, deliver the best possible product to delight your customer. In that aspect a CEO is no different from a movie director and a movie director is not different from a CEO.
Two Years Down the Line
That's too far off the radar for me.
Lessons Learnt
Doing is more important than learning. Nike already
summarized it. Just do it. The difference is huge. Its like
reading about Vipassana vs doing Vipassana. They are two
different things. The world favors the doers.
Failing is good. In the ten years of my
entrepreneurship I lost money in some ventures and made money
in some ventures. Looking back, I learned a lot from the
ventures where I failed. A good failure keeps you humble and
to the ground. It keeps your mind open to new information and
inputs. The biggest risk in todays world is to have a closed
mind. Success can fool you into thinking that you are right.
The moment you feel right, you start closing your mind.
There is no substitute to hard work. I learned this
from my Chairman Sridhar. Sridhar is a self made man. What he
accomplished in the last 15 years is stellar. Life had thrown
the same opportunities to the people around him. (That
includes me). We are nowhere where he is. Paradigm is into
Logistics, eGovernance, Mobile, Manufacturing and hospitality
industries today. One differentiator Sridhar has is his strong
faith in fundamentals and hard work. Which (hard work) is what
I (painfully) learned during my first year at Paradigm
Creatives.
Enjoy the journey. If you are not excited to wake up
early and go to work, well, your life sucks. Find something
that excites you to wake up early.
