A Billion Dollar

Have you heard of the open source database MySQL? If yes, have you also heard that it is acquired by Sun Micro Systems? And it is a whooping one billion dollar deal (can some one help me finding out how many zeros does a billion have !!!!).
So here is a company started in 1998, made their first release in 2000 as an open source and now made one Billion dollars with the head count of just above 400 employees(most of them working remotely).

This left me wondering as to what it takes to achieve a feat as good as this. It is this curiosity that tempted me in digging more non-technical details about MySQL. Isn’t it impressive that “More than 100 million copies of MySQL's database software have been downloaded and distributed and an additional 50,000 copies are downloaded daily”? And what is more interesting is that only 1% of the users actually pay MySQL for using the product and their support.

“The world self divides into those who are ready to sped time to save money and those who are ready to spend money to save time ” says Marten Mickos, the former CEO of MySQL who is now a senior vice-president of Sun (sounds so simple and true once you hear it.. right?). It is in-fact true that there are more people who spend time to save money compared to those who spend money to save time. But those are the people who made MySQL famous and powerful, compared to the ones who spend money to save time.



Doesn’t it look simple? Start a company, make it an open source, increase the popularity and sell it for a Billion dollar in 5-10 years. Or may be it looks simple only to see others doing it. May be spending those 5-10 years in wild goose chase isn’t that easy after all. But the fact is ‘you'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you when you look back in life. The message, therefore, is clear. Do it!’

Nostalgia

“Seasons change, friends move away, and life goes on from day to day. Flowers fade and streams go dry and many times we wonder why. Yet we can always be assured because God tells us in His World, that unlike changes in the weather, friendship goes on and lasts”

All good. But why am I thinking all this when I am supposed to watch the "Enchanted”? Is it all because my team lead is leaving the company today? Or is it because my buddy here in US office has resigned? Or because Anil pined me out of the blues and for some time transported me to the BITSian days, just to make me realize that I miss them the most. Its not the first time that I am sitting here all alone feeling nostalgic, with thoughts flowing, but the only difference is that this time I decided to tap them into my blog.

Many of us at some time or the other would have felt empty about leaving our friends or family, may it be parting or you going to a new place or it may be them, going away from you. When it is you going to a different place, this can in-fact be covered up with you trying to be busy stumbling with the change, and we call it getting settled or say adjusting to the new …(whatever) ☺. But if it is they moving away from you, you have no option but to feel helpless about the fact that you can never be the same person that you were.
The first time this happened to me was when my brother was going to his boarding school for his +2. It is not that I will not get a chance to meet him again, but my route would be completely disturbed with out him in it.
And then, you will start realizing that the life, which you thought, was all yours is not in fact being built by you alone.

And again it is completely personal as to how we react to this fact. But what I choose to pull out of it is that… We may part our friends or family temporarily or permanently, but the friendship and their love will remain, not just as our memories but also as our selves.

Screw the snooze

Blogging has always been one of my fantasies, yet didn't dare writing one myself. Has always been convincing myself that I am too busy to write one, and will start doing it once I get free time. Some thing that is as impulsive as snoozing the alarm when it starts. May be its true with all the other aspects of life, may be its true with many of us.

For sure, I feel good when i hear Srk saying 'two letters D O ' or captions like 'now or never', 'one life to live' etc etc, none of which will effect the things after that. Dunno if I alone am as hopeless as this, or its the pretty normal to be this way.

This is just an attempt to break the paradigm and start blogging, something I love doing. For all those who share something similar, keep watching.. You may find some way to screw the snooze (a simple belief that "Breaking the inertia will make a difference") or some example that will make you feel good about the fact that you are not doing what you love doing, even if it is watching the sun rise/set or going to jog everyday.