Lonavala with the Roach Mafia was so good. The best money I spent this year. Second to the nasal strips and mouth tape of course. This is what I have been telling every one I met for the last two days. And through these conversations recapping the weekend, I’ve been marinating this piece too, but in the spirit of shipping and inspired by Ayush Garg’s LinkedIn post, I will stop trying to categorise my thoughts.
So here is what I returned with after actively engaging with 42 new people in a span of 3 nights and 4 days. They came from everywhere in India, they built all sorts of products, and they made all levels of money.
- GenZ schooled me in focus and sincerity: Epaphra and Agnel John, two wildly successful Tamil content creators, were part of the meetup. At the end of the second day, I asked Epaphra if he would help me shoot a reel I had been planning for Purple Pencil Project. He agreed with the kind of sincerity I have seen lacking in Mumbai. The next morning at breakfast, his first question was, “Did you write the script and shot breakdown?”
I had not, I had slept and told myself that it was late and I needed the rest. “Good job,” came his reply. Straight faced. No bullshitting. No polite sugar coating. His approach to content has rewired my entire brain around creation; not only does he treat it as work, but he does not think about anything else. He made sure to plan set content goals for the trip, took time out from lunch and sessions to accomplish them, and freely sought help to complete them. More than his storytelling (which is super), I learnt how crazy focused you have to be, and how you should block out everything that does not serve the goals you set. - If you know me, you know that the roles individuals play in a group is my biggest human curiosity. Who is the glue? Which is the cool table? Who is the most respected? What are the parameters on which you are judged by others? Who is able to wield the greatest influence? Who do people want to click pictures with?To notice these among 42 people was a writer and observers’ delight.
- For example; I noticed how Gaurav did not shy away from taking space. He was addressing a tiny group almost every time I entered a room. If I yap for more than 4 sentences I worry if I need to shut up and let someone else speak. He balanced it by pausing for questions at the right time too; and his leadership skills showed more in those moments than in the catchphrases he was dropping.
- Arvindh, Parth, Sathya, Pradeep, Vikash left a remarkable impression on most folks. At the end of the day, two things matter in human groups – respect and popularity, and they were able to earn both. Sometimes, when you are exceptionally respected, you can be popular without being so present, like Bhanu and Dheeraj for instance, like Epaphra, John, Shyam, Prasanna, Vikra. I don’t count Ayush because he was the host and the host holds a different seat than the guests. The rest of us are what I like to call the mid-listers – present, and friendly with each other, but certainly not the ones who would be top of the mind when someone thought of a problem to solve.
- Following from the previous point, I think niches are the best way to be most remembered in professional circles. If you can stand for just one thing, your recall value will be very high, like with Saurabh Jain. Inherently, I hate it because my work itself is the intersection of so many personalities of mine, but as I told Saranyaa early in the year, it is not important to bring all of your self to all the groups you hang out with. People can just love your work, they don’t always have to love you. Like Karan Johar also said, “Apni baat bolne se log apne nahin hote, baat parayi ho jaati hain.”
- I am better at articulating when I am questioned, than when I am thinking for myself. Ayush Garg asked me so many good questions about internal brand journalism. while I was talking, I felt like the world’s biggest imposter voicing these lofty ideas, worried that I was not making sense. but as our conversation continued, and as I said the same thing to more people, i realised that everyone resonated with the problem. now, a former me would have been satisfied with that validation, but inspired by the roach mafia folks, I want to ship and sell it too. this makes me very nervous. it means getting in to the details of things, and I am not good with that either. Sathya asked me why in a LinkedIn chat. I don’t have an articulated answer yet.
- Tech and entrepreneurship is still a boys club. Why did more women not show up and apply? are only men building? this question has been on my mind since I saw the group list. it’s wild to me that the products for tomorrow are ALL being built by men, discussed among their circles, and invariably their gaze and bias will seep into it. Is Gen AI doing to women engineers today what mechanised calculators did to women in math? And what does that mean for the lens with which our applications are being created? There were at least 3-4 AI girlfriends in the picture, so cultural thoughts about what that means for the future of man-woman equations are swirling in my mind. That aside, this was one of the safest environments I was in, the conversations were never mansplained, but the simple ratio of existence is a story to tell. As Aditi Chaturvedi and I discussed, it was a testament to the group’s general vibe that the girls did not have to band together to feel belonged.
- Even though the gathering was a welcoming boys’ club, the after party was certainly not. I think this is where all kinds of templates break. On the second night, some members of the group were drinking and having what looked like good fun. The moment I walked up with my diet coke to just generally say hello, there was a pin-drop silence. It was the only moment I felt unwelcome, unnecessarily taking up space in an environment. But then I understood, that they were simply following the rules of polite society. I was not their buddy, I was a lady, and they had to behave themselves in my presence – no foul words, no crass jokes. I agree with them. At the same time, as among the few women in such environments, I cannot help but wish that the equation was not gender-driven. That there was a language of bonding that subverted both brotherhood and sisterhood.
Will need to start a commune, won’t I? - I told Bhav what Pink told me about men and marriage. “I could not have married the man he was yesterday, and perhaps not the man he will be tomorrow.” A lesson in timing worded only the way Pink can. I think the Roach Mafia meetup was also a lesson in personal timing. At any other point in the history of my life, I would not have come back empowered from being a weaker member of the group – and by weaker I mean, did not have product to show, did not have the clarity or the tech chops that most did, and was certainly not stuck to one niche. Yet, I was not anxious, not trying to fit in, be part of any cool cliques. I was being who I wanted to be, and as my heart is my witness, that would have been impossible before Gurshawn’s chat, and finding a sense of security in the moment.
- Communication continues to remain India’s challenge. Some of the smartest folks spoke the least. When Pradeep asked me at the end of the three days what session I would take next time, i could not help but think of communication, not just speaking English well, but being world-wise enough to be liked and trusted by customers from across the world, and able to articulate non-work sentiments with flair, awareness, and lightness. I continue to feel we are doing a grave injustice to our students, by encouraging them to focus on one thing over another, on IQ over EQ, on creating for others while ignoring their own voice and stories.
- Vikra’s session on Taste left a lasting impact, and even though I don’t think it captured the journey of taste-making itself, it was a great way to introduce this to a group of people who had so far (it seemed) relied on only hard data for most of their solutions. I will write more about taste, and even how individuals need to look deep within for it reflect it outside. But i had to mention him and his session; without him I would never have ended up here. It was also nice to meet an internet friend in real life. Also, it reminded me to be more mindful on my work at P3, and make sure that my taste reflects there too.
- As Ayush wrote in his blog post: Picasso had this great quote: When art critics meet, they talk about form, and structure, and style, and the theories of art. But when great artists meet, they just talk about where to get cheap turpentine.
This makes me think about the Mumbai gaze.
If I had known about some of the folks’ jobs and products before Lonavala, I might have judged. I might have tagged them cringe. I might have dismissed that as easy, or “not original enough.” Mumbai folks inherently seek a bit of glamour, and this stops us from doing the boring things. We try to shake off the struggle of our journeys until it’s something we can be proud about, and this certainly holds us back.
From my echo chambers, the paradox is clear – you are in the city of money, but you cannot try too hard or reveal your hustle too much. You will be judged for that. It’s uncool. The sweat of effort will cloud your aura as much as body. Sitting in Soho House looking at women and men be driven for a simple coffee, in their scented selves, untouched by the filth of public transport, you cannot help but wonder how important it is to LOOK effortless in Mumbai. In Lonavala, there was only one lens, the problem of the customer, and the money you would make. None of the folks had any qualms about all this. They were there, doing their thing. Knowing their stories, and the complexity of the products they were building, I would not dare to think of judging them (except to give them the highest grades), but I cannot help that vest of elitism i continued to wear underneath until Thursday.
I think Mumbai is full of art critics type of people, and the real artists are outside this zone. We are all shadow artists in that sense; too scared to call ourselves artists, too attached to the glamour of pretence to be associated with the stink of turpentine. - The one thing I found in everyone was how clear and precise most folks were. No frills. No what ifs. Only the golden triangle of customer, problem, and the solution you propose. Once you have that, the path to it does not matter. And they all came from different backgrounds. They did not focus on the tools, or be overwhelmed by how many there were. If you can have that kind of clarity through the noise of AI, only then will you succeed. A quick snapshot of what I learnt?
- N8N: Score 8/10 for usefulness, it’s the process I am most focused on learning and implementing.
- Lyzr: 7/10 for usefulness, but 10/10 to start no-code. It’s much easier.
- Taste: Good session but the same framework is not applicable to me. It’s a conversation I have had for much longer. Good reminder to articulate my own ideas about it, with reference to the fantastic conversations with Atharva in the car ride.
- MCP Servers, crucial to understand, but may not need it immediately.
- Mind Mapping, I was already doing, but not as actively. So it’s a good reminder to bring it back
- Visual note taking or Sketch noting was a delight, and the accompanying nuggest on “education in a snapshot”. Arvindh and Gaurav were right about how much more clarity you need to condense information like that. It’s a cognitive exercise that should become part of the curriculums.
I was very invigorated, and the mild panic began to set in by day 3 though; even now, I have a lot of self doubt because I did not leave behind an authoritative impression. Everyone was doing so much; and here I was stuck in theory. I could not help but spend a little time wondering how different my place in the group would have been if I had actually followed through with the stuff from DH – all this was basically things I was supposed to learn and perfect in the DH classroom. How different if I had spent the years post-2021 spent building my voice as a DHer instead as I had planned. Not that I have regrets, but a reminder that our choices must be driven by curiosity and conviction.
(Side note: I have a bet with Arvindh. We are to pick a project to ship by August 2025. If he misses, I get personalstorylabs.com. If I miss, he gets my Stanley. I don’t know what I will be working on. I am more excited about the Rs 10K writing challenge the other folks have set. Because that’s part of my process, and I need to do more of it, this is a welcome accountability test. The other, i have a few options. The mad millennial stories podcast, the internal brand journalism framework x archiving as a company, the MVP for the Purple App which looks more doable after my conversation with Kandavel.)
I am determined to not repeat past patterns of passive learning and brain masturbation this time. I am also very nervous. I feel ‘smaller’ than the rest of the group in terms of how they approach their work, but I am now oddly okay with it. I can make the room for inspiration even in the face of that smallness. That’s a tiny personal win I will put under my name. And the fact that I was able to enjoy a little bit of slow time and local food on the morning of the third day, first the walk to the lake, then breakfast at the misal place with Rainar and Parth.
The questions I will add to my approach at work are:
“What are you selling?”
“What is your MRR?”
“What is the problem you are solving?”
“Who is your ICP?”
I come back with powerful quotes:
“Slow money is worse than no money.”
So far, I have been scared of exponential growth. After this meet-up, I don’t want to be. Quote courtesy, Magesh.
Planning is important. The plan is not.
This was memorable, simply because the last two years, I think a lot more energy has been spent in trying to plan less. But I think this reminded me to just plan faster, and leave the rest to action. Quote Courtesy, Gaurav Singh.
Some other ideas that stayed with me from formal and informal discussions:
- “Are we ready to live in a world of AI-assisted education, where the parents have a minimal say in their child’s learning paths?” This was discussed at a dinner with Vikash, Garuav, Shyam. I know there two other folks, but I cannot remember who they were.
- “When we mind map, we tend to add endless nodes. But in reality, each node eats into the same slice of time you have. Each node pulls focus from the central one.” This has redefined mind-mapping for me. Courtesy Shyam. This quote should have come way up above in this piece. We will restructure it for other platforms.
Wrapping up with a personal revelation about myself
Rainar asked me if I miss people from the weekend, and I realised that over the years, that part of my heart that had love in abundance, that fell in love (not romantic) with people, has died a little. I do not miss the people. I look forward to regrouping with them, but I have gotten successful at shutting my softer sides from most people, and giving too much of me. I don’t feel like I belong in groups anymore, and I am more on guard with any group of more than four folks. Even now when I type on the WA group-chat, or give suggestions when I was not even asked for it, makes me cringe at myself. Maybe the last few years have jaded me a bit. It’s not a nice feeling, being so focused on myself. I liked being there unconditionally for others, and making those connections. But perhaps this is the side-effect of finding your self-worth.
That final sentiment aside, I am returning to work with a renewed lens, working on building momentum and clarity, setting goals and directions. I am grateful I got the chance to do this. Until next time, #WeShipWeSell