365 Degrees & A wish

365 Degrees.
Many would say that it’s an organisation. Some would say that it’s a company.
Some others would say that it is a brand and quite a few would say that it’s a bunch of crazy people.
For me, it’s a name that brings people together and nurtures them to grow.
What is 365 Degrees?
I have asked myself this question more than a million times and every time I came up with a different answer and followed that answer until I came up with a better one.
I wasn’t alone in all this. I had a number of friends and co-workers who went around and did all sorts of crazy stuff.
We didn’t even realize when it went from being an idea to a common dream we all shared. All of us felt attached to it and loved it with all our hearts. We wanted to make a difference to the people around us and a the same time develop ourselves as much as possible. We wanted to make it a place where people felt special and learnt new things both at a personal and professional level.
But things start to change when money comes into play and you should be smart enough not to deviate from your original aim.
Along the way, we lost track of what 365 Degrees was supposed to become and started thinking how we could earn money from whatever we were doing. This is when things started going South. Instead of being innovative and new and different, we started aiming at being profitable. Now, many would say that it’s a smart decision, but the day we started focusing on profits our projects and ideas took a setback. The love we had towards innovation started being clouded by the idea of reaping profits out of everything. It started to feel like the fun was over and all that was left was corporate work. It’s not that 365 Degrees did not grow during this period, it had an amazing journey and the people involved learnt and mastered skills they never knew existed.
It’s been a year now since 365 Degrees pivoted to make money and it has done fairly well but now I feel directionless. This was not what I had aimed for. ‘This’ even though brings in a constant flow of cash into our bank account doesn’t bring the experience 365 Degrees is supposed to give.
The last year made me realize that 365 Degrees was never meant to join the mad money making race. It is not supposed to measure success by the bank balance it maintains but by the number of people it can impact in a positive way. Not by the number of products we sold but by the number of creative people we gave a platform to. It’s supposed to be a place one can learn, grow and develop. It is supposed to be one hell of a life experience and not a billion dollar idea.
365 Degrees will be hollow if there are no friends, no fights, no unconventional crazy ideas to bring to life, no life changing experiences to share and no long meetings!
For me personally, it is not 365 Degrees if it doesn’t have a certain few ‘characters’ and of course loads of other crazy people who wish to make a difference to themselves and those around them.
It’s not the idea that is different, it’s the people that make all the difference. 365 Degrees was one brilliant idea three years ago which brought together people who saw the world differently.
If you ask me to wish for something right now then, I would wish for us all come together and do something crazy. Provide one hell of an experience to people. Not to make money out of it, but because, we want to, and more importantly because we can.
“You know the best part about wishes? They come true.”
We were just a bunch of crazy kids when we started. We have come quite far now. It’s time we learn something from those kids.

 

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