Build your dream a piece at a time

In the 1970s, Mumbai (then Bombay) was a whirl of motion, noise and colour. A million kirana stores lined the streets, with honking ambassador cars, trolley buses and auto jockeying with cycles for space on the narrow roads. There was music, art, literature, people with big ideas and hopes for the future....

…Then, as now, the city was a crucible for a young entrepreneur with a dream writes Ronnie Screwvala and captures your heart and imagination. The author states he was keen to observe adults who traded goods on the street every day, shouting offers back and forth. Ideas washed over him like the July monsoons (beautiful phrase).

He describes himself as the long haired adolescent with too much energy and no fear, bursting with the ‘leap first, look later’ mentality and that remains a part of his persona even today.

Ronnie writes like a man possessed, writes likes he speaks, his thoughts often wander but woven in threads of sparkling undisguised emotions. He talks about his early days where he lived in an old Parsi building on Grant Road; his balcony overlooked a lane full of cinema halls which on special Fridays dazzled with film stars attending premier shows.

Ronnie realised that early that there was a market for his home balcony seats and sold tickets to people who wanted to gawk and point at their favorite stars and snap pictures they’d proudly show their family and friends. The book comprises several such adventures backed with fascinating insights.

He says for instance that risk isn’t about going headlong into situations where the outcome can’t be predicted, it is about pushing the envelope when others want to take a safe route. In his long flourishing career Ronnie Screwvala has taken many risks and always pushed the envelope. He has sold toothbrushes, engaged in cable television, media, the list is endless but the beauty is that Ronnie does not recap his memories as an accomplishment. He shares his mistakes, his conflicts and provides solutions.

He shares personal details when you least expect him to for instance you learn that his brother (MBA and a PHD) is in human resources but supportive of Ronnie reaching for his dream, he talks about his wife Zarine in happy and sad moments and also of his parents and what they bring to his personality.

‘Dream with Your Eyes Open’ is a must for all new entrepreneurs dodged by self doubts. Ronnie explains that the possibility of failure must never faze you because the sun will rise in the morning whether your idea Pans out or not. He objects to putting a time limit on the project though because he disagrees that one can make a deal with oneself or family. That kind of mindset is a complete recipe for failure!

He sounds upbeat, never bogged down and admits that one must never take anything for granted because all glory is fleeting. Ronnie Screwvala is a dreamer, writes, “The higher your antenna, the keener your observation skills and your alertness; the more open and curious you are, the more likely you are to find an idea worth pursuing. That’s when opportunity strikes like lightning!”

In all his adventures Ronnie trusts his intuition – the single trait every entrepreneur he insists must possess – to seize the opportunity. He warns his readers to dissuade manufactured fears to get in the way of their dream and his tips to new bosses are to treat their team members like colleagues and not employees. He adds that attentive and courteous communication breeds a healthy corporate culture and that without mutual respect and trust, all alliances eventually crumble!

Ronnie recaps in minute details his decision to sell toothbrush, his brain wave to get into cable business; the struggle of making India’s first daily soap Shanti and the passion to pursue No one killed Jessica. He says, “Ideas and businesses, like people, need to breathe and mature. Once you’ve built your business, you need to figure out what moves the needle. Finding scale isn’t easy; if it were, every entrepreneur would pursue it.”

Ronnie’s friends describe him as a cat with twenty and lives which is the reason he has been able to accomplish his every endeavor. Ronnie believes that success is never an accident and seldom occurs overnight. He believes life and business are messy and exits aren’t about giving up, they are about seizing opportunities.

In a master stroke he concludes that nothing is closed… till it’s closed. We all invest so many hours in documentation to ensure smooth and timely closure but, if either side is comfortable with even the smallest detail, they can, and will, walk away.

As a reader you walk away with enriching insights and the faith that you can build your dreams with your eyes open…

Bhawana Somaaya