of its time. After a series of interviews with Dan and his team, the company’s board grilled me for three hours after offering me just a glass of water and before agreeing to my expectation of a quarter-million-dollar package.
The executive team at News Corp was not pleased to see my resignation. They tried to hold me back with more money and argued that I had numerous options at News. But what they didn't have for me was the enormous challenge that IWN's product had. Apart from the product they were working on, I was really attracted to Dan’s vision and entrepreneurial traits. Here was a young CEO, in his early thirties, running his own show. I could learn much from him, I thought.
Within the first three days at IWN, I had studied their systems documentation, examined the software architecture and the systems design, glanced over the coding and identified the gaps. I came to a disturbing realization: the vision was great but the product wasn't as complicated or complex as they had made it out to be. There was no way it could absorb eight to ten hours of my time daily; an hour each day would do the job. I could not justify receiving such high salary.
I shared my findings with Dan and said, 'I don't think you need me full-time, Dan.'
'How you mean?'
'Well, I can guide the team and steer the product development by giving it just one hour daily. There's nothing for me for the remaining seven hours.'
He seemed intrigued by my statement and shook his head slightly. Perhaps he thought I was going to resign. A few moments passed in that uncomfortable silence.
'What do you suggest?' he asked finally.
'I can build a consulting division for you. Let me bring in revenues so I may pay for my own salary.’
He nodded in appreciation. A few days after our conversation, he scheduled a meeting with the world’s biggest shopping mall company, Westfield. It was perfect timing. They were running a multimillion-dollar e-commerce project but were struggling with the delivery and integration. They gave us a seven-figure contract on the condition that I was going to be available to them full-time. I juggled between the two roles, leading the project at Westfield and handling the product team at IWN as their CTO. My employer continued to be IWN. I was pleased to generate revenue many times more than my salary.
This was 2000. I had landed in Australia in 1998 and had struggled to find a job that would pay me anything at all. Two years later, at twenty, I was sitting on an executive technology-management role with a more than decent salary package. Was this just due to my hard work? It would be foolish to think so. A transcendental element of grace was always there. Otherwise, there was no dearth of people who worked harder than I did and who were smarter than I was, but didn’t find such success.
In July that year, Rajan and my mother decided to visit me. They hadn’t seen me in two years. I wanted to take my mother around, and thought of buying a car. One weekend, David and I stopped by the Saab showroom. We stood around for fifteen minutes, which felt like an eternity, hoping someone would come around to attend to us. Finally, a young man came over.
'Hi guys,' the salesman said. ‘How can I help?’
When I asked for a test drive, he said there were no cars available.
I was taken aback at his indifferent attitude. Was he not interested in making a sale? I handed out my business card. His body language changed instantly. He said brightly, 'Should I see if there’s a car for a test drive?'
'Tell you what,’ I said, 'come and see me in my office, instead. Bring a demo car and the paperwork.'
'What time would suit you, Mr Sharma?' He shifted his gaze from the business card to me.
'11 a.m. Monday.'
'I’ll be there.'
On Monday, when I was test-driving, he told me that he was the youngest in the dealership and the seniors had sent him to attend to us because they didn’t think we were
The executive team at News Corp was not pleased to see my resignation. They tried to hold me back with more money and argued that I had numerous options at News. But what they didn't have for me was the enormous challenge that IWN's product had. Apart from the product they were working on, I was really attracted to Dan’s vision and entrepreneurial traits. Here was a young CEO, in his early thirties, running his own show. I could learn much from him, I thought.
Within the first three days at IWN, I had studied their systems documentation, examined the software architecture and the systems design, glanced over the coding and identified the gaps. I came to a disturbing realization: the vision was great but the product wasn't as complicated or complex as they had made it out to be. There was no way it could absorb eight to ten hours of my time daily; an hour each day would do the job. I could not justify receiving such high salary.
I shared my findings with Dan and said, 'I don't think you need me full-time, Dan.'
'How you mean?'
'Well, I can guide the team and steer the product development by giving it just one hour daily. There's nothing for me for the remaining seven hours.'
He seemed intrigued by my statement and shook his head slightly. Perhaps he thought I was going to resign. A few moments passed in that uncomfortable silence.
'What do you suggest?' he asked finally.
'I can build a consulting division for you. Let me bring in revenues so I may pay for my own salary.’
He nodded in appreciation. A few days after our conversation, he scheduled a meeting with the world’s biggest shopping mall company, Westfield. It was perfect timing. They were running a multimillion-dollar e-commerce project but were struggling with the delivery and integration. They gave us a seven-figure contract on the condition that I was going to be available to them full-time. I juggled between the two roles, leading the project at Westfield and handling the product team at IWN as their CTO. My employer continued to be IWN. I was pleased to generate revenue many times more than my salary.
This was 2000. I had landed in Australia in 1998 and had struggled to find a job that would pay me anything at all. Two years later, at twenty, I was sitting on an executive technology-management role with a more than decent salary package. Was this just due to my hard work? It would be foolish to think so. A transcendental element of grace was always there. Otherwise, there was no dearth of people who worked harder than I did and who were smarter than I was, but didn’t find such success.
In July that year, Rajan and my mother decided to visit me. They hadn’t seen me in two years. I wanted to take my mother around, and thought of buying a car. One weekend, David and I stopped by the Saab showroom. We stood around for fifteen minutes, which felt like an eternity, hoping someone would come around to attend to us. Finally, a young man came over.
'Hi guys,' the salesman said. ‘How can I help?’
When I asked for a test drive, he said there were no cars available.
I was taken aback at his indifferent attitude. Was he not interested in making a sale? I handed out my business card. His body language changed instantly. He said brightly, 'Should I see if there’s a car for a test drive?'
'Tell you what,’ I said, 'come and see me in my office, instead. Bring a demo car and the paperwork.'
'What time would suit you, Mr Sharma?' He shifted his gaze from the business card to me.
'11 a.m. Monday.'
'I’ll be there.'
On Monday, when I was test-driving, he told me that he was the youngest in the dealership and the seniors had sent him to attend to us because they didn’t think we were
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