Varun Prabhakar's Journal

Today is when it all begins.

Today is my first day back in India.

I have quit my job at Continental USA and have decided to work on a new venture from India.

I have plenty of reasons for the move, some better thought out ones are:
• Do the work I want to and believe in
• Work for myself and be directly responsible for the risks and the rewards of the business
• Live my life on my own terms as opposed to it being directed by company policies, holiday lists etc
• Proximity to family
• India is where the opportunities for startups are better at a lower cost (as compared to the west)

I evaluated my reasons against the financial risks associated with a new venture but I am convinced that the opportunity was far more exciting and potentially rewarding than the risk of getting used to my unexciting- yet-fairly-safe job. The reason to work at a startup is a natural one once you’ve realized how unremarkably average your life is and I could not bear this burden anymore.

So ionlab is my full time love now! I am cautiously excited about our prospects but I can not think of a better word than liberated to describe my state of mind today. Liberated of
• the overtly complicated ways of the corporate world
• the burden of closing the work you didn’t chose but was thrust upon you
• the rules I don’t understand the logic behind(but still had to adhere to!)
• dess codes
• politically correct talk
• mass email
• heck even the swiping of a badge to enter the building

It was hard for me to move out of a place I had lived at for the last couple of years and made some of the most amazing friends I could have ever hoped for. The farewells were touching and I would always miss the fun times in Detroit.

“Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.” –  The Sunscreen Song

So, I hope I can remain in touch with my Detroiters while I move on the road that starts from this new beginning…

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