How I do things

On 12 Jan 2012, on a flight back from London, I wrote:

… it was clear in my mind. I would be an entrepreneur. I would create a small company that would probably fold. Then I’d do it again. And again, 10 times, because 1 in 10 companies survive. And finally, I’d be running a small business that’d be called successful by virtue of having survived. A modest, achievable ambition that I had the courage for.

10 years later, Gramener successively crossed 10 employees, 10 clients, 10 years, $10 mn and is on its way to 10 offices.

We just opened a new office at Hyderabad.

I have the same request as 10 years ago.

It’s scary but exciting. Wish me luck!

In 2021, I made 3 resolutions.

1. Lose 10 kgs. I lost 5 kg in 3 months. But gained it back by the year-end.
2. Fail big. I practiced confronting people – and failed. I still run from fights. Even when important.
3. Calendar integrity. I stuck to my calendar 90% of the time. But personal commitments slipped.

On learning, I discovered network clusters. My PyCon talk on movie networks is the start of a fascinating exploration of actors that I’ll write more about.

On training, I designed a Tools for Data Science Course for IITM’s Bachelor’s in Data Science. I’m now a “faculty” at my alma mater, and no longer scared of it.

On self-improvement, I completed a Landmark course and continued Pranayama. Both helped my resolutions.

I also continued 2 habits from last year.

1. Walk 10,000 steps daily. I averaged 10,200.
2. Read 50 books. I read 52. Here are my reviews. (Which did you like? What would you recommend?)

In 2022, I plan to:

1. Run 50 experiments. I’ll learn by disproving my beliefs with measurable tests.
2. Speak at 10 global forums on data stories, and spread the beauty of data.
3. Be 10X more effective. I’ll measure the impact and stop low-impact work.

I’m curious — what’s ONE thing you’d like to do in 2022?

What do you pick for someone you don’t know well enough?

I generally pick books. I know books well enough to match them to people’s personalities. Even if they’re not a book reader. (The risk is that they might have already read the book.) As for the kids, toys like the tiny tower diy playhouses for sale would bring them so much joy.

The other safe item is food. Chocolates, dry fruits, etc. Everyone likes them. (Even if they’re dieting, dry fruits and dark chocolates are fine.)

Beyond that, it’s a hard problem.

I went through some popular gift choices. There are a few good ideas there, but very few safe bets. For example:

• A Tortoiseshell Face Mask Chain. What’s that?
• A stress relief ball or perhaps other stress-relieving products from sites like CBD UK. Hmm… not a bad idea, actually.
• A notebook. Except that I stopped writing in 2001.
• A USB rechargeable lighter. But who do I know that smokes, whom I want to encourage?
• A purse. I’ve never bought one in my life. My wife never likes the ones I point to. So…
• A hot water flask. Again, not a bad idea, actually.

… and the lists go on.

But most gifts I receive for my talks are promotional.

• Plaques or certificates. Some people put these up in their cabin. I don’t have a cabin.
• Branded photo frames. I don’t have photos either.
• Company-branded USB car USB charger socket. I don’t drive much.
• Their book or brochure. I’ve either already read it or never will.

If they’re wrapped in bubble wrap, I throw away the gift and pop the bubble wrap with my daughter.

So I just added a section to my talks page.

“If you want to send gifts, I only accept dry fruits.”

I use PowerPoint instead of Adobe Illustrator or Sketch. I’m familiar with it, and it does everything I need.

One of the features I’m really excited by in PowerPoint is the ability to manipulate shapes.

Let’s say you have a rectangle and a circle. You can select both of these shapes and in the Shape Format > Merge Shapes dropdown, you can:

• merge them with a union
• combine them (like an XOR operation in Boolean algebra)
• fragment them, which breaks them up into pieces
• intersect them
• subtract them

This is so powerful that you can create any kind of shape. Let’s take an icon from Font Awesome at random — say an address card — and create it.

Here’s the video of the process. I’ll explain it step-by-step below.

First, let’s take a screenshot of this and copy it into PowerPoint.

Now let’s draw over this. So we’ll start with a rounded rectangular box with the same color as the address card. We can use the eyedropper to pick the right color. Remove the outline. Then match the edges as closely as you can. (Add a bit of transparency so you can see through it — that helps match edges closely.)

Move this card boundary to a new page.

Now, on top of the original image we copy-pasted from Font Awesome, trace 3 rounded rectangles for the address lines. Trace a circle over the head. Fill them white. Remove the outline. It should look like these.

Next, let’s create the body. We’ll create a rounded rectangle that matches the bottom half of the body, another that matches the top half of the body, and intersect them, like this:

Then, draw a large circle around the head and subtract it from the body, like this:

Finally, copy all these shapes over the card boundary on the next page. Select the card boundary first. Then select these copied shapes (3 address lines, head, and bust). Select Shape Format > Merge Shapes > Subtract.

With that, we have a single shape that contains the entire address card. The white areas are transparent.

You can download the Merge-Shapes.pptx file below with each of the steps.

Like I said, I don’t bother with Adobe Illustrator or Sketch. PowerPoint does it all for me 😊.