{"id":2079,"date":"2025-06-13T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/?p=2079"},"modified":"2025-06-12T10:21:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T10:21:49","slug":"010-hustle-memo-he-built-me-i-built-the-dream-and-then-we-built-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/010-hustle-memo-he-built-me-i-built-the-dream-and-then-we-built-together\/","title":{"rendered":"#010 HUSTLE MEMO – He built me. I built the dream. And then\u2014we built together."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From Training Me to Trusting Me: The Full Circle of Leadership.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I jumped into the ocean of the unknown, my entrepreneur journey, I worked for a multinational company as a Network Administrator, Managing Singapore and a few other countries under the leadership of Sohail Hanif (the best boss\/manager I ever had). I still remember the day I walked into Suntec City Tower 2 for the interview for one of the tech companies, which was about to go public, for one of the platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sohail Hanif took my interview. This was in 2000, the millennium year, and that was my last interview. I am going to celebrate 25 years without an interview. The sound of that seems nice. I must have done well for myself, haha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I was impressed by Hanif\u2019s personality on that day of the interview; he made me feel comfortable, was straight to the point, and, based on his gut, offered me a job. I must have impressed him, or, if it was a dire situation of getting a network engineer, I’ll take it. I must have impressed him (it feels better that way, after all, that was supposed to be my last interview ever).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Over the course of my job under him, I started getting fond of him for his nature and the way he managed the whole team. Everyone loved him. I learnt so many management lessons from him without ever noticing, as he was a very hardworking individual, way more than anyone around. While still being available for us. What I learnt from Sohail Hanif<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Absorb Leadership Silently<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need permission to learn. Observe your boss. How they handle failure. How they fight for you. How they distribute credit and absorb blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Become That Person When No One’s Watching<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leadership isn\u2019t a title. It\u2019s your instinct when chaos hits. During the early days of my company, I asked: What would Sohail do?<\/em> That question guided me more than any manual ever did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when I left to start my company (Story in Hustle Memo #001 and #002), I left that leadership behind. For years, I missed it\u2014the clarity, the protection, the fire\u2014until<\/strong> one day, years later, he visited my home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We talked about everything: my time under him, the wild ride of entrepreneurship, and the small wins that kept me going. That dinner, I think I impressed him again\u2014this time with my journey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

This went into few discussion over the next few months and before we knew Sohail Hanif joined us as a partner for one of our companies. His experience and connections were a catalyst. We became a Microsoft Gold Partner, landed overseas investment, and started playing in a bigger league. His trust unlocked doors I couldn\u2019t open alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s what I learned from the experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Prove It Without Expecting a Return<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Years later, when Sohail came over for dinner, I wasn’t pitching him. I was sharing my journey\u2014the raw ups and downs. There was no mask, no selling, but authenticity sold itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    • Let the Circle Complete Itself<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      When he joined us as a partner, magic happened. His trust unlocked opportunities we couldn\u2019t dream of alone. We became Microsoft Gold Partners, closed overseas investments, and started playing at a different level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      • \ud83d\udd01 Real Stories. Real Hope.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        When we onboard leaders who once mentored us, we don\u2019t just hire talent\u2014we bring in legacy<\/em>. Multiple founders grew faster when they reconnected with people who believed in them earlier. You build faster with people who\u2019ve already seen your roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        • \ud83d\udcda The Research<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Harvard Business Review cites \u201ctransformational mentorship\u201d as one of the leading accelerators for second-stage entrepreneurs. The difference? These mentors know<\/em> your foundation. They don\u2019t need a pitch deck to believe in your next move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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          \ud83d\udcac Final Words<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          We spend years chasing investors, co-founders, and growth. But sometimes, the person who believed in you before you believed in yourself<\/em> is already the best partner you’ll ever find.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          DON\u2019T JUST NETWORK – RECONNECT.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          From Training Me to Trusting Me: The Full Circle of Leadership. Before I jumped into the ocean of the unknown, my entrepreneur journey, I worked for a multinational company as a Network Administrator, Managing Singapore and a few other countries under the leadership of Sohail Hanif (the best boss\/manager I ever had). I still remember […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-hustle-memo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2079"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2129,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079\/revisions\/2129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}