Funding

Our CyberSecurity platform for SMB's is gaining very good and significantly much more than expected traction. And hence we believe that this would be a perfect opportunity to attract funding in order to take the platform to the next level. You can check it out at:
https://cyberguard360.com/

Not knowing any VC's or not ever having raised funding earlier, I decided to see what a Tweet would do. And so I tweeted.

 

The response was encouraging. And while we haven't got any signed checks, at least not yet, Freia's retweet and comment made the tweet totally worthwhile.

 

While chatting with Freia after having tweeted, she made an extremely interesting and insightful comment.

"... Raising money would be 100x easier if you had just graduated vs having 30 years experience."

 

While reviewing funding options, I cam across an extremely interesting concept and methodology. Who knows ? We may decide to try it.

The Phone Call Isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving

When Freia was evaluating joining a startup "TTYL", I was a little anxious. Mainly because I couldn't understand why an app that allows a phone to be used to talk made sense. Wouldn't people just use their phone. However after several years and times of being wrong, I knew that she got what I didn't.

Yesterday it seems like others are beginning to get it too. And TTYL was featured in a "The Wall Street Journal" article. And the summary said it all.

"Here’s a crazy idea: What if people started using their smartphones to actually speak to each other again?"

It was an interesting article and you can read the same at:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-phone-call-isnt-dead-its-evolving-11571457605

The excerpt of TTYL appears below:
...
“Calling is fundamentally broken,” says Alex Ma, 26, co-founder and CEO of the company behind audio-chat app TTYL. “We went from landlines to the iPhone X but we haven’t changed the way we call people.”

After Mr. Ma graduated from college, he found it hard to keep in touch with friends; texting didn’t make him feel connected enough so he started calling them weekly. But the calls felt like they had to be scheduled events.

The app he launched last summer is like a voice-only version of Houseparty, the popular video hangout app recently acquired by Epic Games, the maker of “Fortnite.”

With TTYL (as in “talk to you later”), you put your earbuds in and open the app, then your friends get notified you’re free to talk. People can either keep a “room” open for others to join, or lock it for privacy. The app is designed for small, close groups: You wouldn’t have as many friends on TTYL as on Facebook or Instagram—only people you’d actually want to hear from.

“What our app allows you to do is in a single tap, jump into someone’s ears and start a conversation,” says Mr. Ma.
"
And since the image of the app published in the article has Freia in it, she'll probably start claiming that she's appeared in the WSJ. And she's probably technically right.

 

Philly - The City of Brotherly Love

Last week Reia moved to Philly to start on her new and first real job. And since I was nearby, we drove down with her to the "City of Brotherly Love".
http://www.ushistory.org/us/4c.asp

The first time I heard of Philly almost 20 years ago, was when along with my brothers Don and Frank, we visited our cousin Vanitha who lived nearby. Don who was a foodie even then, and wanted to have an authentic "Philly Cheese Steak". Vanitha said she knew the perfect place and off we went. After driving round in circles, for over an hour, we landed up in a mall. And the rest is history. Suffice to say, Don wasn't happy. For years. Make that decades.

So my first advice to Reia was that when Don visits, tell him you have no idea of the local places and can he please choose.

I subsequently also visited Philly with my sister Mabel so she wouldn't feel left out and this time we once again had "Philly Cheese Steak". This time too the expert on the subject Vanitha was consulted and she engaged a local to give a recommendation. And while it wasn't Awesome, it was a notch above the mall.

While exploring where to go in Philly, I found a recommendation video, which showcases the city and its amazing places. While I've been to many of them, I plan to go with Reia to each of these over the next few years, since I expect to be visiting the city not infrequently.

And finally, how can a blog on Philly not reference "Philadelphia", a path-breaking and possibly the first mainstream Hollywood movie to "... acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_(film)

And the iconic "Streets of Philadelphia" song in the movie by Bruce Springsteen.

Reia finds a job !

Reia has been job hunting for 4 months now. And had not met with much success. She tried everything she knew. Applied to over a 100 companies. And while most did not respond, several responded. A few interviewed her. And a couple were kind enough to let her know that while they liked her, unfortunately they liked someone just a little bit better.

It was therefore an amazing day for her when she got an offer from a very large company. The offer had everything she could wish for. Except the job profile. It was a great job profile, just not what she wanted to pursue.

As luck would have it, it was during the same time that 2 other companies also scheduled interviews. One was exactly what she wanted. The other was in between, yet closer to what she wanted than the current offer.

Reia was stuck in a dilemma. In her opinion, the probability of her getting either of the jobs was very low. Under 10%. And after 4 months of trying, could she afford to turn down an offer she had. It was the Classic a Bird-in-hand is worth Two-in-the-Bush conundrum. And she turned to us. Ivy and me. What do I do ?

The obvious thing was to be honest with the company that Ade the offer and see if they could extend the acceptance deadline. They politely declined. Ask the other company if they would propane their interview and decision. They agreed. But the decision would still be after the acceptance deadline.

I remembered a philosophy I had followed. And had worked for me. It was to never do anything that would allow you to ask yourself a "What if ?" Ivy too though similarly. And we both advised her to respectfully decline the offer. And Pray. Reia being Reia negotiated a deal with me, whereby we would give her another 4 months to find a job she liked since she had managed to get one that we got her to decline. I quickly agreed.

One year ago, during a project that she had to create a portfolio for the company she dreamed of working for, she did one for what she considered her "Dream Company". Earlier this week, she was offered a design job. Her dream job. At her "Dream Company".

She starts tomorrow. And we couldn't have been prouder. She had a dream. And we wish her all the best as she sets off at the very beginning of fulfilling that dream.