
On February 1st I moved to Hyderabad, India to officially start GreenMango’s operations. That first day, a lot went wrong.
After a 29-hour journey, I arrived at the Hyderabad airport with my entire life in suitcases and the driver wasn’t there to meet me. Apparently there was a little mix up on the whole a.m./p.m. thing.
When he did finally arrive, he informed me that the guest house my business partner Nandini Narula and I had booked for the month (and secured with a deposit) was no longer available. I found another guesthouse to stay in for the night, and finally had a chance to rest, until someone else walked into my room — they had double booked the place.
I had a very low moment where I thought: “Oh my god, what have I just done?” Two weeks prior I had graduated with my MBA (as part of the EMBA-Global program) and watched my classmates take phenomenal jobs in the world’s business capitals as prestigious bankers, consultants, etc. And here I was moving to a new country, to a city I didn’t know and trying to start a company — what was I thinking?!
As my jetlag faded, my excitement about GreenMango returned, and since then our experience has been absolutely amazing. In our first week here we found a place to stay, set up the office, brought our first staff on board and signed up our first nine customers — it was exhilarating. All the months of planning and preparation were over and we were on our way!
I now stay in a lovely flat, where the rich sounds of life in India waft into my window every morning. We have a small but growing team, who are invaluable with their hard work and belief in GreenMango. And best of all, the customers are excited and signing up for our product.
Every day greets me with an unending list of problems waiting to be solved (e.g., how to get work done when the cricket match is on) and opportunities waiting to be grabbed (e.g., how to structure partnerships with Goliath when you are David).
But I couldn’t be happier and am truly enjoying every minute of this adventure.
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