ABOUT ME

I have an insatiable desire to solve human problems with software - as a die-hard entrepreneur & an activist at heart, a software engineer & a product manager in my soul, and a technology consumer & an informed citizen in mind.

I care as much about the journey as the destination. At Agile Entrepreneurs - a social network for entrepreneurs - I coach "under-privileged" bootstrapping entrepreneurs working on hi-tech product startups. As an Agile Coach, I work with both large organizations and small startups - cross-pollinating lessons in Agility.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love people.
I love travel.
I love sharing, helping - and learning, exploring.
I can't learn without teaching - that's how I learn best.
And there's no better way to learn than to travel far and wide meeting people of diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Couchsurfing for me is a movement to encourage people to travel and share their experiences and learn from each other.

Also, it deeply reflects the philosophy I have in everything I do, including Agile Entrepreneurs, an organization I founded to help entrepreneurs help each other Learn by Osmosis through "Useful Role Models".

I don't have a place I can share right now (I'm renting someplace), but I hope to find a bigger place soon and open it up to like-minded souls world over!

Interests

I have four main passions (not in any particular order):

1. My Technology Startups;

2. Travel (meeting people, exploring countries, cultures, cuisines, history)

3. Adventure/Sports - huge range of interests on SEa, Air, and Land (SEAL), including rock climbing, biking, hiking, table tennis, sky diving, hang-gliding, surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving ...)

4. Social Justice.

• documentaries
• coach
• modeling
• partying
• technology
• traveling
• socializing
• cycling
• hiking
• kayaking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• sports
• cricket
• rock climbing
• tennis
• table tennis
• engineering
• entrepreneurship
• history
• law
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

I love fiction - but don't find much time for it so far (used to read a ton of it when younger). I am addicted to great non-fiction on all current/relevant/important topics - but again, time is a factor. So I take short-cuts via the social media (reading analysis, snippets, consuming video & audio clips, and attending talks, etc.)
Update 2023: Read in the last 2 years:
Burn to Run (again, through the important parts)
Burn to Run 2 - The Ultimate Training Guide
Born A Crime

Update 2021:
Currently Reading:
Capital (In the 21st Century) - Thomas Piketty
The Fate of Africa
How the South Won the Civil War

I've been bitten by the history and biography bug!
I have read:
Hamilton - Ron Chernow
John Adams - David McCullough
Lincoln - David Herbert Donald
Frederick Douglass - David W. Blight

Also read in the last couple of years;
Trillion Dollar Coach - Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
A Crack in Creation - Jennifer Doudna
Losing My Virginity - Richard Branson
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I'll just list a collection of books/movies/music that I like - not complete, not necessarily prioritized by how much I like them or how good I think they are - just the ones I can list in a few minutes pulling them from my thoughts:

Godfather (book & movie)
Guns of Navarone
Where Eagles Dare
Inception
Schindler's List
Harold Robbins: The Carpetbaggers
Jacqueline Susann: Valley of Dolls, Every Night Josephine
Perry Mason novels
Agatha Christie novels
P.G.Wodehouse
Jonathan Livinston Seagull
Sydney Sheldon: The Second Lady,
Alistair MacLean novels
Most of Michael Jackson, Madonna
Some of Phil Collins "That's All", BeeGees, Dire Straits,
Lorde "Royals"
Gotye "Now you're just somebody I used to know"
Taylor Swift "Shake it off"
Sia "Chandelier"
Tove Lo "Habits (Stay High)"

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have helped introduce a law (couple of its provisions) in the United States, while I was leading an organization to help legal, technology immigrants overcome the bureaucratic challenges of the system!

A documentary crew ("American Dream 2.0": https://vimeo.com/56830851) even followed me around for over a year during this time.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Documenting-an-American-Dream-San-Francisco-2903606.php
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SAN-FRANCISCO-Documentary-tracks-dot-com-boom-2758308.php

Teach, Learn, Share

www.4WeekStartup.com (4ws.co)
www.LinkedIn.com/in/AgileEntrepreneur
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I am a coach for Bootstrapping Startups and an Executive Agile Coach for larger organizations. I teach multiple courses for individuals as well as organizations/corporations (details below) - in Silicon Valley (Mountain View, California).

The 4-Week Startup: a Month to Traction & a Quarter to Major Milestone
4-Week Startup (4WS) Workshop 1 of 2: Modeling Vision/Features (Agile Entrepreneurs - Product Strategy)
4-Week Startup (4WS) Workshop 2 of 2: Modeling Milestones/Activities (Agile Entrepreneurs - Go-to-Market Strategy)

Useful Role Models for All Entrepreneurs
www.AgileEntrepreneurs.com
www.facebook.com/AgileEntrepreneurs
www.meetup.com/AgileEntrepreneurs
@aeEntrepreneurs
Agile Racecar - for Enterprise Collaboration across the Silos

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm looking to share my experiences far and wide and am happy to not only let you attend my classes/workshops for free, I will also give free personal consultation to my CouchSurfing hosts.

For qualified and interested parties, I'm also willing to discuss partnership agreements to promote my courses/workshops for bootstrapping hi-tech entrepreneurs.

I created possibly the world's first professional carpool startup in Silicon Valley in 1999.
I'm happy to share all my life and work experience.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, United States