2010 Overview

This is going to be a long one since I did SO MUCH this year.

2010 started off on a blast!

Fresh off of my Trip to Dallas, Texas, with my new Mac Book Pro, I was ready to kickstart my 3rd year in EE at Waterloo. I decided to live in the worst place I could find just for fun - WCRI. I lived with 2 of my very close friends who are also in EE: Skanda and Dhruv. Lots of Pingpong. I also worked with Impact on their Microcredit Campaign.

A HUGE highlight of this term was my trip to Italy during Spring Break with my good Mexican friend, Aldo. Along with us came Adam, Amulya, Maha, Laura, Alysha and Swati. This trip was legendary. Was my first real trip without family, and my first time in Europe. This introduced me to such an amazing relaxed life style. I learnt some Italian, and had the best food I have ever had in my life. Every meal was ammmazing. During my trip I went to Firenze, Pisa, Roma, Napoli and Pompeii - seeing/experiencing all the touristic places.

After 3A I had another term at Xtreme Labs for the summer term, again at my uncle's place. I loved this place even more as they got a new ping pong table and I got to work on a lot more things that I wanted to do. My cousin Ruchi came over for a month as well and we travelled a lot of Toronto. This term I decided to start reading books on the subway, I read a lot of amazing books - most related in some way to Entrepreneurship. I especially enjoyed 'Outliers' and '4-hour workweek'. I also ate a LOT of salad this term....stupid overpriced Freshii....

In the middle of this term I went to Philadelphia to meet Baby, Gudiya and Archna. Was a pretty fun trip as I had a philly chease steak in Philly and got to Run up the same steps as Rocky Balboa in his movies!

On started 3B. Got a sweet apartment with my good friends Chris, Will, Glenn and Ed. I started this insane workout called "Insanity". I did for a couple weeks and I could already tell a big difference. During this I was also eating pretty healthy as I learnt how to cook chicken finally. It's all about the Chicken/Rice/Salad ! After about a month I had to quit due to the stupid amount of work we need to do. 4 labs is way too much. To get away, one weekend I went with Andrew and Glenn to our friend, Peter's place who has a co-op job in NYC. This trip was also amazing as I've wanted to go to NYC for ages. This term I also helped out with Impact's National Conference.

After 3B I went home to Ottawa with my cousin Mukesh, and held a poker game at home just like old times with the CB crew. After this, hopped on a flight to Phoenix, AZ. Here I met up with my Cousins Puneet and Vivek. We went to the Grand Canyon, saw some Sand Dunes, and after this, along with my family, we went to San Diego to spend New Years. We also ended up taking a trip up to Hollywood as well. San Diego was/is amazing. I will be blogging about it a lot more, since I am interning here at Qualcomm.

All in all...This year was kick ass. Best Year So Far.

Let's see if you can do better, 2011.

Me, Entrepreneurship, and a shout out to the TTC

"Entrepreneurship is not just someone who owns a business venture; it is a mindset and a way of thinking" - an anonymous Impact Exec at the Impact National Conference 2009.

That was in fact the first definition of entrepreneurship I had ever heard, and I immediately took it to heart. During my work-term here in Toronto, I have had some experiences which revealed to me how much I've changed since last year - and grown into an entrepreneurial
mindset. Working with Impact, and working at Xtreme Labs (which shares its office with many upcoming business from Extreme Venture Partners), living with my uncles (who are very successful entrepreneurs themselves), I am constantly around entrepreneurs. Naturally, I started to think like them.

Anecdote #1:

About a month ago, I saw the Karate Kid movie with my friend Nick, and i thought it was ammmaazing. Smith and Chan did amazing and the entire theater was laughing and cheering on like I've never seen before. The drive I got from watching this kid train, and overcome the odds through rigorous training truly inspired me. Naturally, I HAD to see it again.

I went again with my cousins Nikesh and Navin. When we got to the counter, I realized that their coupons don't work at this particular theater and I didn't have my wallet. Luckily, I had a random 20$ bill in my pocket. Fortunately it was also a Tuesday so tickets were half-price. Unfortunately, the total came to something like $21.27! Oh no!

My Freshman self would have started panicking and would eventually have called my aunt to pick us up or to ask for money.

But this is how it happened: "That would be $21.27." Without even skipping a beat, knowing I only had $20, I had no doubt in my mind that we would somehow get away with this. With intense eye-contact I started:
"Look, I only have $20 but my cousins really want to see this movie."
"Yeah...but..."
"I forgot my wallet at home, we need to see this movie and this $20 bill is all I can give you"
"Hm okay, let me see if I have any money!"

Simple. That's all it took! After many gracious "thank you"s we went to see the movie. Only until the car ride home did I realize how my natural response to situations have done a complete 180 degree turn.

Anecdote #2:

Last Friday, I lost my wallet on the TTC bus on my way to work. I only realized this as I was approaching the subway entrance.

My Freshman self would have once again started panicking and maybe in desperation would have gone to the guy sitting behind the ticket booth, who would in turn have me fill out an extensive 'lost' form...which may or may not have resulted in me retrieving my wallet again - yes, I got it back this Tuesday afternoon.

The following are the steps I took after I realized I lost my wallet.
I immediately go back to the bus station to see if the bus was still there. There were about 6 buses but none of them were the one I was on. I saw a guy with a gigantic fluorescent orange TTC pinny and a "captain's hat". I went to him, explained to him what happened, and he says "follow me." We go to this door which I had never noticed before, he tells me to wait. I wait for about 10 minutes. He comes back and tells me, "You're lucky that you caught me when you did, since I'm one of the only ones allowed back here and have access to the bus list directory and schedules for the day. I found the bus you described, called the driver and he has located your wallet, which will be at the 'Malburn Station lost and found'.

I graciously thanked him and arrived at work an hour late. What surprised me on the ride there was that even though I felt an initial panic upon the realization of the lost wallet, I overcame it in a second and took the correct necessary options so confidently that it was almost as if I did this type of thing all the time.

I went to the Malburn Station only to realize that my wallet was 'lost in the lost and found'. No worries, I called the main lost and found office at Bay Subway Station and they had it there. Shout out to the amazing TTC lost and found system! Now I have my driver's license back so I can drive to Philly this weekend!

I need a Penseive

It's been 6 months since my last post, before I forget any of the information/feelings/anecdotes/epiphanies acquired in the past half-year, I need to write it all down. Stay Tuned!

EpCon 2010

My first networking event of 2010.

I almost didn't go. I almost forgot the thrill I get from networking and being surrounded by like-minded individuals. Epcon is a tech conference where all the major tech companies came and talked about themselves and possible opportunities for students, and gave out great prizes and had fun competitions. That's the way these things should be done - the way of Fun.

I went for the 2nd day. Listened to a speaker from Google speak, participated in many fun activities such as the 'elympics'. This involves with speed texting competitions, blind-folded-touch-typing-and-foot-race competitions, and tech-trivia. Very fun.

Talked to some of the execs of EpCon and will hopefully work with them sometime in the future.

In the middle had a soccer game (remember that New Years Resolution?) so I decided to take a break from epcon, go to the game and back. Won the game, tweeted about it and then came back for the 'epic' dinner buffet. Food was amazing. Epcon was so great it reminded me of O week...

Oh yeah, who knew tweeting about Epcon would win me a t-shirt? Some dude won an Xbox for tweeting the most about Epcon...nice. Makes me want to get an iphone. Good conference, once agian, could not have been possible if not for the friends I had made earlier who helped me get in :)

Can't wait to go to another similar event.

Overview 2009

I think it is often important to reflect on what you have accomplished, and the new year is the perfect time to do so, so here it goes.

Started off 2009 working at PlantCML in Quebec as a Software Developer. Was an Okay experience; I didn't really take as much initiative as I should have, but hey, no regrets.

In the summer I started my 2B term in EE at UW - the famous "2B or not 2B term". I learned a lot about myself that term. I started being more social and attending more events going on during campus. I realized I get a real thrill meeting new people and you can't stop me once I start. Most importantly, I re-confirmed my belief that no matter how hard the obstacle, how stacked the odds are against me, if I have the will and the passion, I'll do whatever it takes to get it done. My academic term was faltering a bit, but after spending the 2nd half of the term in the DC, made a huge comeback - loved it. Couldn't have done it without a certain couple EE friends, which brings me to my next point - meeting new people is great, and it's the ones that you really get close with help define who you are. On a completely unrelated topic, I also realized that I love asian food...I mean 'Canadianized asian food'. I also realized that many of my asian friends are jealous of my ability to grow facial hair (hey, ill take it).

after 2B I started working for Xtreme Labs. Since as long as I can remember I have always wanted to live in Toronto, and what a bonus to live at my uncle and aunt's house with my cousins Nikesh and Navin. Xtreme had the best location (downtown Toronto). I have discovered that Toronto has the best multi-cultultural restaurants anywhere. I have become obsessed with other languages and cultures: throughout this term I learnt some words in German, Spanish, Italian, Cantonese and Mandarin. I love the subway (even when its crowded), 'tis way more convenient than the OC transpo of Ottawa. I discovered a new store in Toronto that changed my entire view of clothing. Nothing in Ottawa or Waterloo even compared to this store. The latest in fashion - with great prices, none other than H&M (along with a few others).

Alright back to Xtreme Labs - Great experience, excellent mentors, a lot of inspiration all around - especially with having Extreme Ventures next door. Being surrounded by all these incredibly smart and successful people really got me into the entrepreneurial spirit. I couldn't help but be overcome with the feeling that I can do just as well as these guys. Thanks to 'stand-up' I got into the habit of checking the latest tech news and to be up to date. Got a Twitter account , got a Linked In account, got a BlogSpot account - all for the sake of networking. Oh yes...I have fallen in love with networking...it seems I always get the most inspiration to write down what I'm thinking (since I'm feeling amazing) right after networking events. Just went to EpCon today (yes, it was epic).

On the topic of Entrepreneurship, I went to the Impact National Conference. There I really discovered my inner-entrepreneur and I discovered that I wasn't as shy as I thought I was. Here again, I was surrounded by exceptionally brilliant people, and the exciting part of it was that they're all aiming for the same goals as mine - there was this thrill in the air at all times - it was awesome.

I turned 20 this year. Two decades gone, the start of a third one. I decided that the 2nd decade was dedicated to learning and trying different things out. Now, that Im 20, it is time to take action. I created a website called nileshpandey.com (still under construction). I booked tickets to Rome with a couple close friends for Reading week of next year after getting a great deal. I also booked tickets to Dallas for Christmas - which was amazing. Bought a MBP so I can develop iPhone apps to go back to Xtreme as a developer. Why did I buy these tickets to these places? It's because I simply want to travel. I have seen and heard people going abroad and they mention how priceless these trips are. They say these trips will change your life forever (for the better). You get greater insight on different cultures and it helps you grow. I want this feeling.

In Dallas, finally after a very tiring but exciting year, I relaxed. They have some of the greatest food I have ever tasted. The people there are really nice, and turn nicer after you mention that you're from Canada. The music there is different, and people dress differently. To my disappointment I realized there were no Desserts near Dallas (guess I'll have to go Arizona for that). Chilling with my cousins, sneaking into the golf course in our backyard, making friends with people with Texan accents - very fun indeed.

I have no doubt that 2010 is going to be even greater. This is the first time I'm making a New Year's resolution about my health. I have a few other which I will keep to myself for now. I know I'm going to follow through even though many people make this resolution and then bail - just watch.

Impact Conference 2009

Wow, this conference is going to change my life.

Sooo many amazing like-minded people in a high-spirited event promoting/celebrating/teaching entrepreneurship, you can't help but to be swept away by the wave.

The Conference took place in Toronto, ON at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel. All who arrived were given a very nice looking complimentary package including our name-tag, business card (Yes! My FIRST Business Card! With MY name on it)

The events started off with the founder of Just For Laughs on stage and then leading on to a guy who initiated the 'Social Networking' aspect of the conference. This part was awesome and really helped me throughout the rest of the conference in going up to people I don't know and just say 'hi'. Let me explain. We are all asked to get up, walk around, form groups of 4-5 people and talk about your favourite movie of the summer! This really helped in breaking the ice. After this we were asked various other activities, getting more professional every time to help us ease in to the networking professionally. After this, because of this, I was able to talk to people left and right without any hesitation, leaving with a satisfied smile :) Needless to say, all my business cards were given out very early, gaining an equally large pile of other cards in return.

Many many other great speakers spoke, all of which can be found on www.impact.org. Very inspirational. My boss Farhan Thawar was also one of the many, as well as my childhood friend Kunal Gupta, who was also the founder of Impact.

It was neat how there were so opportunities and job prospects looking for people like us (entrepreneurs). Didn't really pounce on any at the time, though after I did meet with the President of Impact 2010, Alex, a week later for a position at Impact.

My friend Nick Hiotis came with me to the conference, and he got many calls for graphic designing, even from one of the people speaking at the Conference!

The conference inspired me in ways I never could have imagined. I'm now meeting with a lot of people who have potential business plans who think I can help them. Really quite amazing. I gotta get started on these!!

Soo Inspired...

What an amazing weekend at the 2009 Impact National Conference literally full of talented and awe-inspiring people from all over Canada.

I will write more on this as soon as my xtremely late nights at Xtreme Labs start to recline and I finish PDENG.

PS: PDENG is the devil. If I or whoever else is reading this in the future think they're going through a rough patch, stop and just remember - atleast you're not doing PDENG. Whatever you're going through is better than going through PDENG.