“Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise”, said the great Haiku master and Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, “seek what they sought.”

Seek what they sought.

2019 has been a life-defining year for me. It certainly has been way better than how 2018 went by, but you won’t know that because I didn’t write a 2018: In Review. I was too busy fixing my life which had been a shambles. But it’s okay. Better is a relative term anyway.

Jumping off the cliff, yet again.

I know, I know — it has become quite cliché now. I’m guilty of using this metaphor way too much, but this is precisely what has punctuated 2019 for me. At the end of 2018, I moved on from the company that I had founded right after college to start a new one. I practically moved on from over 4 years of hard work for zilch, and started from square one again. This time, a little wiser.

Jai and I put all that we had into it, borrowed what we needed to fill the gap, and flew to San Francisco in April after we had launched DeepSource in March 2019. The next three months would determine the future of the company, and we knew that.

We hit the ground, and we did it hard. Starting with practically zero connections in San Francisco and the Valley, I reached out to anyone and everyone who could help us. Many didn’t return calls and messages, but a few did. I’m immensely grateful to everyone who extended a helping hand, lent an ear and gave advice — you know who you are.

Soon, we onboarded Uber. Bingo. Turns out, people did want what we were building and it was not just in our heads.

We also convinced some trusted advisors to get associated with the company, officially. Here’s Brad, who saw DeepSource from the time it was merely an idea, when he wrote us our first cheque.

We also traveled to Cleveland and presented DeepSource at PyCon US.

And I got to meet Guido! Talk about dreams coming true.

Heck, I even learned how to cook spaghetti!

Assembling the pack, yet again.

We came back to India in July after being almost satisfied with how the trip had been. It could have been better, sure. But I wasn’t complaining. What seemed like the hardest part now seemed relatively easy. I’ve always maintained that hiring is the most important part of building a company. A company, after all, is defined by its people — it’s success determined by how badly these people want that success. Hiring mistakes can be fatal as I had experienced first hand, and I didn’t want to make the same ones I made the last time.

Some of my ex-colleagues left their cushy jobs to work with us at DeepSource. These are some of the smartest people I’ve known. Nothing feels more humbling than having them put their faith in me yet again. This is something money can’t buy.

Some familiar faces, and some new ones. I’m so proud of the team we’ve put together.

Thankful, yet again.

It’s surreal how some people stand by you through thick and thin, all the time. These are people you can trust, and if you have someone like this, hold them dear.

I’m grateful for some people in my life who did the same this year. Thanks for all the love and support — in more ways than you would know. I’m not going to name the names, because you know who you are.

2019 has been good. It has been the year I put everything I had on the line yet again and tasted some success. But it’s just the beginning, and 2020 holds many great things. 2020 is going to be better.

But better is a relative term anyway.