What people see and don’t see
Author: Nirmal Thapa
Beautiful travel quotes
Travel makes one modest, you see what a small place you occupy in the world.
Travel opens your heart, broadens your mind and fills your life with stories to tell.
Let’s wander where the wi-fi is weak.
Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before.
Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.
Travelling-it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.
In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.
Visit Nepal 2020
To make Visit Nepal 2020 a definite success, all the stakeholders should consider how to attract, engage, and wow the tourists in their Nepal trip.
The easy part is for the government to announce Visit Nepal 2020. The real work happens before the flock of tourists start coming in for 2020. I believe first we have to really understand why tourists come to Nepal. Is it the mountains, the lakes, the culture, the food, or the people? Or it could be something else? Understanding why most tourists come to Nepal, then working to highlight those experiences will take Nepal to the next level. Second, we need to make the travel experience much better for the tourists. From the time the tourists land at Tribhuvan International airport to the time they head back to their native country, we have to deliver a WOW experience throughout their time here. Third, the Visit Nepal 2020 is a great opportunity for the government, private sector, and the public to work together to show the best that Nepal has. Let’s all do our part to make Visit Nepal 2020 a grand success.
Think long-term
I’ve come to realize that thinking, planning, and working on a long-term basis is the best way to go. Making decisions that are best just for the short term won’t be much fruitful. Anything great that has been achieved takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
How many hours do you think Stephen Curry spent in the gym practicing those 3 pointers?
How many years did it take Kevin Hart to make it in the movies?
How many decades did it take Warren Buffet to be great at what he does?
My philosophy for a happy life by Sam Berns
A purposeful company
Companies exist to make money. They also should be responsible contributors to the community. Besides creating jobs and contributing to the economy, companies should have a social component to their existence. Some ways for companies to start contributing to the local community/city are to ask themselves a few questions first:
What local problems can the company help solve?
What areas do the employees want to contribute in?
What are some current challenges in the community where the company can provide their expertise in?
If the company could focus on solving one issue, how much of a difference can they make in the short term or long term?
What are the expectations of the company from the community, local leaders, and other stakeholders?
Some valuable wisdom…
I love this paragraph from Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog. It’s about the time when he wrote about the long-term prospects of Blue Ribbon and how he saw the future.
“This last line was wholly truthful. It was worth shooting for. If Blue Ribbon went bust, I’d have no money, and I’d be crushed. But I’d also have some valuable wisdom, which I could apply to the next business. Wisdom seemed an intangible asset, but an asset all the same, one that justified the risk.”
Industry ready college graduates
There is a lot of talk at colleges, meetups, conferences, and other venues that college graduates in Nepal are not job ready. Although there seems to be an effort to bridge the gap between academia and industry, a lot of work still needs to be done. In the meantime, I want to share my thoughts on how college graduates should/must be ready for the job market in Nepal.
College graduates should really develop or hone these skills/attitude:
- Proactive-Students with a proactive attitude will get more opportunities because they are taking more chances and will be noticed. Potential employers can easily spot if you are proactive or not. Show your proactive attitude by highlighting the activities you did in college/outside of college/in the community etc.
- Creative-Be creative in your job search process. Don’t just rely on easy methods like applying online. Use a mix of job search approaches-apply online, email the company, visit the company, talk to friends/alumni etc. Get noticed.
- Prepare-Be prepared for each opportunity that comes your way. There are too many graduates waiting for an opportunity. No matter how good you were in college, being prepared for job interviews requires plenty of practice.
- Hungry-Stay hungry. Sometimes it can feel like forever when you apply for jobs but never hear back from the companies. Don’t be discouraged and keep following up. All you need is one YES and then you’re good.
- Start early– Don’t wait till your 8th semester to apply for internships/jobs. Start as early as possible.
Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Challenges in Nepal
The upcoming Venture Talk will feature Saurabh Jyoti, Director of Jyoti Group and the Chairman of Syakar Trading Company and Syakar Investment Pvt. Ltd. He will talk on the topic of “Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Challenges in Nepal.”
Awareness
The dictionary definition of awareness is the quality or state of being aware: knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists.
As I got older (I’m not that old!), I’ve come to realize that awareness is the starting point to becoming better. If we are not aware of where we need to improve, how will be become better? If we want to become a better manager, a better parent, or a better person, we have got to start out with awareness of our strengths and weaknesses. The first major part of the improvement process is self awareness and then its execution of the action plans towards getting better.
There is no lack of information out there. Anyone who is aware of where he/she needs to get better at can google it. Where to find the information is secondary to self realization of which areas to improve or where to focus our time and energy. At various phases of our lives, we’ll be working on different personal and professional areas. Becoming self aware and taking the steps necessary can lead to your own satisfaction and happiness.
Care
If you care enough, you will make a difference in the culture. I absolutely believe so.
If you find something that needs to be done and disregard it because it’s not part of your job description or someone else will handle it, then you don’t care enough. Want to make a difference in your home, work, or in your community? Start by caring!
All talk, no action
Once upon a time, I used to follow rap and hiphop music almost religiously. I grew up in New York City and was influenced by the rap and hiphop culture. It didn’t take me long to let things get to my head and think that I knew everything about the culture. Then one day as I watched videos of young Nepali rappers/artists, I was complaining to my brother that I could do it so much better than them and “lived” the lifestyle. Then my brother responded “if you think the artists are not that good, why don’t you make a music video or put out a CD?” I had no answer for that and did not make any effort to make a music video or a CD.
For me, that moment was a lesson. Complaining from the sidelines and not working towards a solution will not yield any good result. If you really feel that things should be better, you have to do something about it at least. Actions speak louder than words.
Training at your convenience
Training at your convenience is a luxury. The market does not reward luxury; it rewards proactive and hungry go-getters. Training will prepare you for the future. It takes awareness, realization, and execution to get better. Waiting for the perfect time, scenario, environment and everything else to take training means your convenience is more important to you than your own growth.
Getting out of your comfort zone is the best thing you can do for yourself.
Beyond startup leadership
The entrepreneur starts out with an idea. He/she takes that idea, executes it, and makes things happen. There’s so much action in an startup environment. As the startup begins to grow, new challenges arise. Some of the early growth challenges include finding other “startup type” people to join the company, retaining these people, and also developing them into future leaders of the organization.
As the startup begins to grow, the same people who initially joined the company will have to acquire new skills and knowledge to take the company forward. The same approach, skills, and attitude that brought the company from startup phase to growth phase might not work at a different scale. Thus, most companies begin to hire experienced people, bring in consultants, or have their employees get training to take the company to the next level. Realizing when to switch gears and take a different approach will be key for the growth companies to remain competitive, relevant, and profitable.
3 success stories from Nepal’s IT industry
The IT industry is one of Nepal’s fast growing industry and carries a huge potential in terms of job opportunities, contribution to the nation’s economy, and possibility of putting the country on the global technology map. There are hundreds of tech companies building products/services for the domestic and international markets.
Here are 3 tech entrepreneurs who share experience from their entrepreneurial journey.
Story of the Buddha
The story I waited 14 years for
After finishing college, I wanted to work for one company: Nike.
Nike always fascinated me. It was a company that was innovative, cool, and easily recognizable. Back then, I frequently checked Nike’s careers page to see if I qualified for any of the jobs out there. I had done research and found that Nike’s European headquarters was located in Hilversum, The Netherlands and visited Hilversum during my study abroad at Amsterdam. I just wanted to get closer to the brand.
In the memoir “Shoe Dog” by the creator of Nike, Phil Knight reveals the back story of how he started the company and where it is now. Learning about how Phil came up with the shoe idea, his world tour, family dynamics, his track coach at Oregon (Bill Bowerman) among other gems is deeply insightful and humbling. I am still reading the book and anxiously waiting to finish it. This is the story that I was waiting for years to read.
Thanks, Phil for writing the memoir.
Opportunity is knocking
There are opportunities almost everywhere. I’m an optimist and see opportunities all around me. It’s upon us to decide which opportunity to move forward with and which one to let it pass. We have to keep working hard, keep moving, and the opportunity will seem like it’s right there.
Mentorship
I strongly believe in mentorship. Mentors are people who can help you grow personally or professionally. I have been extremely lucky to have some amazing mentors.
Mentorship is even more important in Nepal. A lot of young people join colleges or universities hoping to land jobs when they graduate or start their own enterprise. Many of the colleges and universities are not preparing job ready graduates. There are many reasons for that. Finding the right mentors (academic and/or professional) for students will help them tremendously. Students need to reach out to their school’s alumni, professionals in their field, or anyone who has done well in their respective field to be their mentors. Having a mentor will give the mentee a new perspective on their careers, different life choices, and just have someone they can reach out to in times of need.
Mentorship is a two way relationship. Both the mentor and mentee should benefit from the relationship. The earlier you find the right mentor, the better your personal or professional journey will be.
Travel education
Travelling is an education in itself. We learn so much by visiting a place that we could have never understood, seen, or felt until actually being there. Although technology has brought us closer than ever before and taken us to places that we never knew existed, the experience of travelling to a place can never be underestimated. Travel, learn, and repeat.