Annual update: 2021

Hey there! It’s been a while (:

I made this website about a year ago as I was heading into my self-learning journey. I did not know what the future would behold, and looking back, I could’ve never guessed it would be something like this.

My journey has been challenging, exciting, and has grown me in ways I didn’t think were possible.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to keep this website updated with all that has been happening in my life. So, I am writing this article.

Here’s what has happened since you last saw me here.

30daystoabook

Month three of Praxis saw me write a book. A book on productivity, in 30 days. The goal in undertaking that project was to prove my work ethic, and my ability to multitask.

Thus, while I was co-authoring the book with my good friend Waris, I also started a documentation series on my Medium account.

Additionally, I made an Instagram page to document my project and provide inside access to my workings.

You can check out the full project here.

Special Economic Zones and Private cities

Not much later, I was hired by my first business partner and current employer, Adrianople Group. I’ve been working with them ever since. First, as a Junior Researcher; and then, as a Partnerships Manager.

As part of my work with the Adrianople Group I provide Economic zone consultancy services to investment firms and governmental agencies/NGOs.

Through my work I learned heavily about investment financing, venture capital and private equity, private governance, special economic zones, and interesting case studies of liberetarian governance throughout history.

I’ve also got the chance to talk to representatives from international organizations like the World Bank and the WTO, and meet with government representatives of certain countries.

Data, Data everywhere

Soon after I joined the company, the Adrianople group published the world’s largest and most comprehensive data set on SEZs, mapped out in a digital format.

Over two years of hard work had gone into this, and while I joined too late to actually contribute much to the project, I was just in time to witness all of the effects it would have on our company.

The Open Zone Map cemented our company’s name as a very serious player in the special economic zones consultancy industry, and got us in meetings with the biggest operators in the market.

I would be closely involved in much of the after publication contacts flowing in due to our project, and would learn a great deal about the different industries and projects that we influence with our data.

For many at our company, the Open zone map is one of our greatest creations. The crown jewel of data in an industry with far too little information available publically.

You can check out the Openzonemap here.

Kovid of all trades

Throughout these 9 months, I would then perform investment research, due diligence, content writing, copywriting, hiring, project management, and later, social media management.

To say that the work at the Adrianople Group is varied is a pretty big understatement. It is breathtakingly diverse, and it has grown me in ways I did not expect.

Storytelling

I learned the value of telling stories on my first performance evaluation when I scored very low in presentability. It gave me an incentive to learn the art of telling stories, and the reason it’s necessary in trying to sell your viewpoint to an audience.

My incentive to prove myself in being able to communicate effectively became an all-encompassing mission, and became my primary focus over the last few months for last year.

Good storytelling can do wonders for you, as I was soon to discover. It was one of the reasons I started handling some of the partnerships at Adrianople Group and later became the partnerships manager.

Handling an audience

My focus on being able to communicate well would get me more opportunities. I would speak at MIT-WPU’s, “Impulse” as a guest speaker, and interview Raj Kapoor, the founder and CEO of the India Blockchain Alliance on our company’s podcast.

I would later also be invited to talk to the new placement folk at Praxis about my career journey.

You can check out my talk about the entrepreneurial mindset here.

You can view my podcast interview with Raj Kapoor here.

Coming up

I’m hopeful about what 2022 will bring. Much like 2021, I don’t expect to know where it will land me, but I’m excited nonetheless. My focus this year is going to be on sustainable wealth building, and developing positive lifestyle habits.

I’m writing this article in a period of much change. I’m about to move houses, make some new friends, and perhaps lose some old ones. I even have a new haircut to compliment everything else that’s going on.

My apologies(mostly to myself) for not updating this website more regularly.

Thank you for reading through. I hope the new year brings us both a lot of joy and growth.

Let’s keep killing it out there