 Hey has geek happy 10. Wow you're 10 years old. It's hard to believe Well, I think that's what it is right time flies we grow up and Yeah, we are 10 years old. So how did I first come across has geek? I think it was I Don't exactly remember the day or the month, but I remember sitting in the office and I got an email That talked about something called has geek and then I think it was Just around the time when Kiran and Xenom had started this and then there was a mail going out Or there was this buzz in the ecosystem somehow I picked it up because back in the days I was working for the Indus entrepreneurs in the Bangalore chapter And I was very privileged to have a lot of this information coming my way because You know people were talking and I would pick up on things like that And then I said, oh, what is this has geek? Let me now go and see this and I and I opened the you know The has geek website and then I was like wow I mean it was love at first sight. It was an instant fan moment, right? So It was it was bold. The branding was awesome. It was It was speaking the right language. It was You know, it was inspiring the right kind of culture And it was a radical statement so to say compared to a lot of other things that was going on in At that time and it was really refreshing and You know, it was an instant fan moment for me. I just really fell in love instantly about everything that they were doing There was there was something in it, right? There was something so Simple quirky sexy. I mean that's just a combination of all of these things That that's how sort of has he came to me and I I fell in love with has he come and it's just amazing You know to have found something like that at that time where I was In my life in the entrepreneurial and ecosystem development journey that I was going through Oh man has geeks impact. That's uh, that's a tough one to quantify. Trust me Uh, I don't think even has geek is you know, sort of knows or is in a position to quantify that So from my point of view a personal story is that From, you know, a professionally to begin with first. I think You know has geek Gave me a lot of inspiration, right? He collaborated on a few projects You know, especially at a time when one of my startups was really going through a bad patch Has he incubated us and sort of sourced through for a year? You know even sort of gave us a job and kept us in the system and then paid us money to pay our bills and it was a really tough time back in the day syndrome has geek sort of Helped us through and that's sort of a personal story to it, but professionally speaking. I think Has geek has inspired me personally in so many different ways Of looking at how to build a brand how to build a community How to collaborate with people and how to do things and keep things open So has geek has a lot of these things that it has done and inspired so many of us in the journey and it's just I can't imagine a Bangalore's ecosystem looking back in the last 10 years Kuala Lumpur's Indian ecosystem looking back in the last 10 years without having Has geek in it It's just impossible. Think about it, right? I mean, I don't see You know It has it has done so much. It has done so much culturally and for the community and for the clan and for the For the you know the geek community in general the startup community overall It's done a lot of Work to impact and create what we have today in India and to specifically in Bangalore Kiran, you know Zainab personally speaking are like family to us But then has geek, you know the way we look at has geek is Kiran Zainab has geek all together as one My personal association with has geek really comes from the point of view of the brand My love for has geek and the impact that it has had on me personally speaking is more of the brand because I'm not a technologist So I have not the first You know benefactor so to say of the impact the technology what they're doing But for me, it was how they were doing it. It was the brand and we're going about how they built the brand I think that uh was the impact that I had and You know, it was uh, it was okay to sort of be minimalistic It was okay to not confirm to the regular ways of doing things In India, right? I mean this you got to understand in India 10 to 12 years back things were very different From what it is today in the startup scene people were very conservative people You know did not take bold steps Let me just simply put it that way and has geek did take a bold step in a community development space for In India and I think it was the first company out in anywhere in India to have started something like this and then And in most in Bangalore, which created a lot of impact a lot of impact so yeah, so, you know The the personal story of the of the has geek people behind has geek which Is something that I'm pretty, you know inspired by as well as so how the husband and wife team Have been it happens to be husband and wife team, but you know, they're very professional I'm sure you know that They you know, you're doing a great job at it Bringing up a child in between all of these things building a startup and going through tough times I'm sure you're going through a challenging times even now It's not easy and I think it's a great inspiration To a lot of people out there So hats off to you guys for doing what you do You guys have you know, co-founders in each other who are sort of you know, a balancing A setup which is very refreshing to see and I only hope more and more Great work comes out of you guys I know it's not about you. It's about has geek but still there is no has geek without you guys so far So it's important to mention it Oh, okay What do I want to talk about? What do I want to tell has geek on its 10th birthday? Look has geek You're not a child anymore, right? You're growing up. You're not at your 10th I think Stay open right stay open and inclusive because you know, that's the most sexiest thing about you You know the fact that that the culture that you stand for and you know the office space that you have The way you open, you know those are for people to walk in and talk to you about everything I know it's tough. I know it's not easy but figure out Figure out how you can continue to be sexy quirky bohemian sort of a thing that you are For the community and stay open stay inclusive. That's the most important thing for you. Don't forget that don't ever forget that You know, you have a responsibility has geek because you know, the last 10 years of your life has not been an easy ride There's a lot of the struggles that you have gone through I think that needs to come out tell your story more often tell us Tell us your brains tell us your difficult times let the community know because it's One it's you know, that's that's your culture. That's even a dna but I think the other thing is You owe it to the community because The struggle that you go through sometimes Are the struggles of the community too so You need to tell more about your story. We want to hear more about your pains. We want to hear more about your wins Importantly the the the impact that you have created in the ecosystem, right? It's just it's just sort of not documented well. I think we don't know enough about all the greatest things that you have created in the in the system today And I hope this video is one of those beginnings and you know, we get to hear more about all the great things that you have done I know you don't like to talk a lot about yourself But I think it's time because uh, not only are you going to be telling us about your story but I think it's also about inspiring more and more people in the country To come together to say hey, I'm a community builder. This is the challenges. These are the wins. These are the greatest highs This is the playbook. This is what things Work, these are things work. These are things don't work that story. I think Uh, has to come out. Uh, you need to tell us your story Tell us more of your story enough of uh, serious stuff. Have a lot of fun enjoy May you sort of you know, uh You know celebrate your 50th and hopefully we're going to be alive to tell this story and I want to come and tell this story Every time you hit a milestone because I think uh, I have sort of sat on the sidelines and looked at your Your grow in the last 10 years And I'm I'm still in love. I'm still in love with you and you're still very dear to my heart and Uh, uh Yeah, what can I say? Happy birthday. Have fun. Keep doing the great thing that you do and live Live happily