“Trrrinnngggg…..”my alarm goes on at 6am, one of the busy days of Medicen Devise. With the morning coffee, I power on my macbook and there begins the day with a new challenge. Sipping the coffee while gazing out of the window is the best time to jot down the whole day’s work which later on gets translated on a white board (Yes, I bought a white board specifically for this purpose!)
Day begins with answering emails and warming up for 1st meeting of the day. Tweaking the presentation, preparing documents and charting out the strategy to carry out product development are few items on the list. Then you head off to office, still thinking about the challenges and possible solutions. Meeting with your delivery team begins with the timelines, delivery expectations and problems with product development. After an intense discussion and more items to work on being added in the list, you go back to drawing board and begin tweaking the designs, looking for possible solutions. That is the time when you step out of project manager role and enter the role of designer.
Considering it’s a one-founder company, many different hats needs to be donned within a day and sometimes within an hour. Sometimes, you take up the role of designer, immediately followed by the role of financier tweaking all the financial projections, which then is switched, into the role of project manager contacting different links in the delivery team and getting updates on progress and lead time of product delivery and sometimes you are the sales person pitching the product to potential customers and investors alike. These transitions are sometimes very smooth and sometimes very exhausting.
Being part of start-up is like riding a roller coaster ride where sometimes you enjoy and sometimes you feel sick to the stomach. Some days you are on cloud nine and some days are the rough patches where nothing goes as per plan. Your white board is a mess and you feel absolutely dejected. Those are the moments where you reflect why you are involved in this work and derive the determination to continue. The thought that my medical device can save lives is the biggest motivating factor that helps me cross challenges thrown by the day.
The day usually fly by juggling between different roles and by the wee hours of early evening you realize by deep rumbling of your stomach that you skipped lunch again. That is the signal to take a break. The work goes on till late evening. At the end of the day when you look at your white board with ticks marked against the work finished, a satisfaction takes over your fatigued out body. Despite the hectic day you feel happy and satisfied doing what you love doing, eagerly waiting for the new day and its new challenge. After all, it is your company, your identity.
