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Sometimes it is destiny. I am not a huge believer in destiny, but sometimes, just sometimes, life gives me a reason to doubt those beliefs. I honestly believe that we chart our own paths, we invest in ourselves and reap the rewards of that work. Luck plays a role as well. But luck is fickle; she’ll favour you sometimes and turn away other times.
But Subhadeep Mondal makes me question those beliefs. Just for him, I’ll suspend my beliefs. I think it was destiny that brought Subhadeep into AIBoomi (formerly SaaSBoomi). I’ll explain.
In 2014, Signeasy hosted an iSPIRT roundtable on GTM sales. The discussion was geared towards founders trying to build products for the world. Subhadeep was running logistics for this event. Before the event began, he sent me a colour-coded spreadsheet with various tabs and notes. It was exhaustive. And it was meticulous.
We bumped into each other a few years later. Subhadeep had evolved from a product manager to a founder. He was running a company that would be one of the most interesting communities for pregnant women. The community was sorted by language, trimester and age. His insights into building empathy into his community were invaluable. I remember thinking, I wish I had made notes.
Seven months ago, Shruti texted me. “Avi, have you met Subhadeep? I think he would be good for our community.” I had met Subhadeep.
It felt like destiny.
I was looking for a place where he could use his talents, and the awards team had a spot. I expected him to take it slow, observe and learn the ropes. I was wrong. He took over! And in my inbox landed another trademark Subhadeep spreadsheet: colour-coded, with interlinked tabs and notes. More destiny magic.
As we worked with him, we realised his commitment to the cause. When I was at Nasscom, before inbox zero became a popular social media trend, it drove me. I did not want to leave a single email unanswered or a loop left hanging. Subhadeep is exactly the same. Just much, much smarter.
He’s also very German in his timekeeping etiquette. I remember meeting him for lunch once. The idea was to catch up at a fancy Indiranagar restaurant at 2pm, Subhadeep was at his table at 1:50 pm, he knew what he wanted and was ready to order. The idea was to maximise my time and not waste a single minute.
His role grew, from growing the community in Bangalore to organising events. His enthusiasm was contagious, and our community embraced him. His dedication to the task is ferocious. I remember involving him in social media strategy for an event. Subhadeep threw himself in and was across everything. He even wrote the copy to be posted on our handles. I think one of the reasons our community immediately embraced him was his humility. He is relentless in his follow-ups (both on emails and in person), and his “gentle reminders” are now popular, but you can see his love for giving.
But the reason he is truly loved is that he always has time for founders. Being one in the past, he relates to them, and if a young founder approaches him for help, he will find a way to help or connect the founder to someone who can. This is the essence of AIBoomi.
And when the work is done, he relaxes. He laughs easy and he laughs loud. He acknowledges everyone, and forgets no one.
I’ve often seen him nodding or fist-bumping volunteers and founders. It’s a subtle act of affection. A punch and fist bump are very similar. The action is the same but the intention is different. One hurts, the other encourages.
Thank you Subhadeep for being a constant source of encouragement.
// Tagged with Pay it FWD
