How I stopped watching p0rn and other *kinkiness*?

Akshay Surve, Wannabe p0rnStaR!@AkshaySurve / akshaysurve.com

#BCM9 - June 2012

- Don’t follow this presentation at home

- If you ignore the earlier warning; keep in mind that I have suitably had to modify the presentation when I uploaded it online. The *original* presentation only had the *p0rn* side of things; I added my speaker notes to this presentation as intermediate slides to make it meaningful for anyone who is viewing it.

Warning

- What I say, what I write and what I present are a figment of _ONLY_ my imagination and please don't hold me, my colleagues, my family or people I mention accountable.

- BUT

I have two words for you >>>

Confession

- What I say, what I write and what I present are a figment of _ONLY_ my imagination and please don't hold me, my colleagues, my family or people I mention accountable.

- BUT

I have two words for you >>>

Confession

- I'm a perverted personality; excuse me if I use words interchangeably

startup >> p0rn / sex / k1nky

funding >> d1ck

revenues >> ba11s

- Use your imagination for the rest |*|

|____|

Presentation Aid

I’m a tinkerer; and I am sometimes blamed to use words interchangeably. If I do so today, please excuse me. Before I start I would like confess this is the most explicit presentation I have given and do take this in good spirit; if possible have a heart laugh; contribute when you feel like; draw parallels when you see them and fascinate as much as you like about things you want to.

Presentation Aid (notes)

Background

- Started watching p0rn when I was around 16; books; TV; magazines; lil online. 16 - 22 was exploratory!

- First worked for a p0rn film at 22

- I have two HomeMade / Handycam films to my credit

- Worked in phoren p0rn film; character role, small crew; X-rated BOX Office HIT

- Making a 3rd one with a bigger crew & producers

Background (notes)

- I started in a very naive way; not sure of where I wanted to be. Newspapers, self-help books was all I knew about. Everything felt very glossy,... I found myself in awe entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

- Straight out of engineering college I got a job in a startup; I will tell you more about this story and how it is relevant today

- I have also worked on a couple of my own startup-sy ideas; you may not have heard of them but they were personally the most satisfying experiences

- I was also the core team member of a NYC based startup – which is the fastest growing fashion based ecommerce startup in US

- Currently, I’m working on a 3rd startup; bigger crew and with seed funding – deltax.com

- I’m here to share 3 stories which got me out of just being a watcher / follower of startups to actually being an insider

Story #1 #BCM1 - 2006 (The Opportunity)

(the new comer)

(the p0rn film-maker / producer)

Story #1 (notes)

- Mid-2006, with my final year engineering exams still to begin, and I had already secured a placement in PCS; I read about this thing called “BarCamp Mumbai” I found it very interesting to start with; add to it the path breaking thought of no-speakers; no-audience only ‘participants’. I thought to my self this would be really interesting.

- A night before the BarCamp, I thought let me share a small project that I was working on in my free time. It was called ‘TagSufer’. I won’t get into what the project was all about but let me share with you how it lead to things.

- I met Mahesh Murthy (Pinstorm / Seedfund / Business Bazigaar fame) there; He was also a fellow presenter. I didn’t know a lot about him then, but all I know 2 hours after the conference he drove me in his car to the Pinstorm office and introduced me with the whole team there. This place which he called his office felt like a coffee shop, buzzing with energy. I knew I wanted to be here; I knew I wanted to work at this place – I didn’t know what I would work on.

- And to cut the long story short; I did make it to Pinstorm and that’s how BarCamp led me to my first job.

Story #22007 - 2010 (Fcuk fests)

(2006)

(2009)

#piHackathon

(2011)

Pune Ruby/ Rails

Hackthon

Yahoo!

Open Hack Day

(2007)

CodeCamp Mumbai

Story #2 (notes)

- 2007 was when I left Pinstorm; I will tell you in brief what I did but here is what I was doing in the background – tinkering

- I must confess that I love high energy places. Ruby was the hottest chick in town; I wooed her big time. One thing led to another – and if I look back at the last 3-4 years I won and participated in some exciting events. - These events have helped me immensely; they allow me to cut the crap and do what I best do – code.

Story #32007 - 2010 (Prep-schools / HomeMade Movies)

(2007) (2009) (2010)

(socialsync.org) (ads4good.org)

Story #3 (notes)

- I still kept hustling, still trying to find my sweet spot

- Worked on two projects which were very close to my heart – SocialSync and Ads4Good; also got a close feel of incubators (UnltdIndia and GoodCompany Ventures in Philadelphia); participated and won B-Plan competition

- The best part about this phase was the exposure

3 things I discovered about the p0rn Industry

- What you see is not how it's really shot

- *Big d1cks* & *Big ba11s* (and don't forget the new found fascination for *Small d1cks* & *Big ba11s*)

- 0rgasms are over-rated; pain is TRUE.

Note: Presentation Aid; use your imagination where needed

startup >> p0rn / sex / k1nky

revenues >> ba11s

funding >> d1ck

3 things I discovered (notes)

- People cook-up stories; or let me say this that the media loves to cover rags to riches; small town to making it big; years of hardwork vs. overnight success. I don’t blame them but everything that you see and read is not the whole story

- Funding and acquisition news stories are the holy grail of the *startup times*. I would remember reading countless articles about startups raising funding, personal experiences of founders and loads of howto’s but all that true is that there is no magic formula. You be at it and you crack it or you can atleast see through things

- How much ever I say that I love working and how satisfying this job feels – there have been times when it’s been really painful. Sometime more than painful it’s been putting yourself under the bedsheet all alone away from the world.

STOP watching START doing!

- Be part of a p0rn film

- Don't shy away from going indie; star in your own HomeMade / MMS

- Keep h00king with other *perverts*; they are everywhere!

STOP watching START doing (notes)

- Work at a *good* startup; or a smart workplace. Nothing better than seeing and observing things for yourself

- There is never a right time. If you really ask me; I would advice you should have started ‘yesterday’ but at the same time you are neither late. Nothing better than learning to walk by falling numerous times and at times crawling on all your fours.

- Today companies are acquiring startups not for the business idea that they are working on but for the team that is working on the business idea. Being at the place you are, you will not be able to buy talent – you can only team with it. Where and how will you find the talent that you want to achieve your startup idea; colleges and workplace is where you get a change to form you’re A-team; don’t miss it! The co-founders for all the projects/startups I have worked on have been from either my college, the startup that I worked for or someone I met through hackathons.

5 things people will vouch for in the p0rn industry (sometimes over-repeated)

- Choose a *professional* crew not *thurkeys*

- Good forep1ay is key

- Size of your d1ck doesn't matter

- Having ba11s is important

- Search for the G-sp0t is what keeps everyone busy

startup >> p0rn / sex / k1nkyfunding >> d1ckrevenues >> ba11s

Note: Presentation Aid; use your imagination where needed

startup >> p0rn revenues >> ba11sfunding >> d1ckforeplay >> vet your idea

5 things people will vouch (notes)

- I’m not going to stress on this but for once I will let your imagination fly!

(Didn’t explain this slide during the presentation but…)

- Team is critical and sometimes fatal- Vetting the idea is important

- Funding is not everything

- Revenue will keep you going

- You can find your own sweet spot; do what you love and love what you do

- I still watch p0rn; but now as a insider;news.ycombinator.com is my *current* p0rnHub

- This event is no less than an 0rgy; you will find p0rnstars, film-makers, producers all around

P.S: H00k up with me @AkshaySurve or tweet with hash tag #bcm9 #p0rn if you want to take part in an 0rgy on twitter

Parting Confessions

Parting Confessions (notes)

- Over the years I have been able to move from being outside to an insider. I still catch-up on startup news, articles and books but now I cannot only relate better but also look through things

- This is probably the only part of my presentation when I’m going to use an expletive word during the presentation. This is the best orgy in town; if you come out of your shell there Is no reason why you would go back home without hooking up with someone.