In conversation with failure.

The year, 1997. A dimly lit room. Worn out chairs, outdated equipment. Clearly, this was a big budget interview. On one side sat an interviewer who couldn’t care less if he tried. And on the other side, was a nobody, a trough in this crest-loving world.

He was a failure. A man who had tried. And that was his biggest achievement. Ten people in the audience. Three of whom came to sleep.

The interviewer began his broken line of questioning.

Interviewer: So, sir… (turning to his assistant) Do we have a name?

A loud voice speaks up from across the table.

“Matsya. Matsya Khapse.”

Interviewer: Oh, yes. Mr. Matsya. The founder of First.ly. A URL shortening service and a link management platform. Interesting. Tell me, in a world where URLs are so easy to remember, why do we need to shorten them.

Matsya: Well, in the immediate future, no, we don’t need to. Today, there are about 1.1 million URLs in existence. Most of them being hyperlinks to private corporations and a few independent pages. But as the internet grows, the URLs will start to become longer and more complicated…

Interviewer: Sir, please indulge me, if I have a link created, however long it may be, why can’t I just copy-paste that link in my browser?

Matsya: Well, you certainly can. But I think as user interfaces evolve, people would find it tedious.

Interviewer: Excuse me? Tedious? Copy-pasting?

Matsya: Yes. Imagine that the number 1.1 million, becomes 1.1 billion in say 2020. Will you remember all the usernames? And how convenient would it be to use an abbreviated and linked URL...

Interviewer: Sir, this is getting absurd. There aren’t going to be 1.1 billion URLs. That would require pretty much 25% of the world having a computing device in their homes. Do you realize what scale we are talking about?

Matsya: Of course I do. Which is why I created the service…

Interviewer: Pardon me Mr. Matsya, this is a small show called ‘Anti-business: 101’. A show dedicated to educating people about what not to do as an entrepreneur…

His tone now gets condescending.

Interviewer: How many times… Every guest. Defending their idea, to the last beat. Exhausting! They say one dumb thing after another when the whole world, including me, understands that they have no value to add to humanity.

A room with a silent ten-man audience finds a way to get even quieter.

Matsya: Well, sir, all I have is the will to defend myself. My company shut down. I understand that. Maybe my service wasn’t something people needed today. Fair enough. I’ll let the world decide that. But don’t you dare tell me, that I haven’t been of service to humanity. At least I tried. What the fuck did you do?

Interviewer: Excuse me?

Matsya: You heard me. WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO? You sit here questioning me like I am a burden to society, ‘wasting venture capital money on useless inventions.’ At least I gave it a shot. And you sit there, looking at me like I’m a criminal. With that pretentious grin on your face acting like the curator of technology. FUCK OFF!

Interviewer: OK, I think we’re done here…

He removes his mics with a smirk on his face as Matsya is being escorted by security. Matsya, meanwhile yelling at the top of his lungs.

Matsya: One day, you’ll understand. One day you’ll…

And he fades into oblivion.

The year is 2018. A brightly lit room. A massive studio production. All cameras pointing at the stage. An elderly gentleman seated on one side wearing a well buttoned suit. Opposite him, a young woman wearing a polo neck shirt and trousers.

Interviewer: Hello everyone. Welcome to Beasts of Business, a show dedicated to celebrating stunning ideas and stunning entrepreneurs. Today we have with us the founder of Bit.ly. The multi-billion dollar company dedicated to shortening URLs. And her name is…

He stops. His eyes fixed on a name card in his hand. He slowly mutters the name.

Interviewer: Kalki Khapse…

She says in a pleasantly loud but familiar tone.

Kalki: Thank you for having me, sir… It’s…

She takes a long pause.

Kalki: It’s an honour.