About

The entrepreMuse
I (Aruni) am the mother to two amazing kids, an entrepreneur, and I am currently the Director of Operations at the Austin Technology Incubator.

I began blogging back in May 2007 and am still surprised by how much I enjoy it.  Growing up (although I didn’t realize it until after I graduated college), I had a feeling that I eventually wanted to start and/or be a part of a small business (my first real job was a paper route at the age of 13) and used my two years at MBA school to make it happen.   As founding CEO of Isochron, I coordinated the raising of over $15 million in equity financing, closed the first $1 million in revenue, hired a bunch of people, and assembled the board.  Three CEOs after me later, I left in 2001 and swore I would never go through that high-tech start-up craziness again, but lo and behold two kids later I discovered that it is in my blood. 

Isochron was sold in 2002 after the dot com crash, so I’m not even close to being a millionaire.  I am rich in life and work experience but not yet rich in dollars but I’m thinking positively!  I learned a heck of a lot in the school of hard knocks and lived to tell the tale. 

I stayed home with both kids full time for the first six months of each of their lives.  When my son started very part time care in 2003, I went back to teaching an entrepreneurship class at The University of Texas at Austin.  Soon after, I started researching the feasibility of building web and mobile applications that can help new parents that eventually gave birth to Babble Soft.  My daughter was born a couple of years later so it wasn’t until 2007 that the beta version of Baby Insights Web/Windows Mobile application was available.  I recently transferred ownership of Babble Soft to my fabulous partner, Nicole Johnson, who is also the founder of a informative and great baby sleep site!

I’m also fascinated about entrepreneurship and how people define success and have co-written articles on the topic of success.  You can contact me at aruni(at)austin(dot)rr(dot)com.   I will do my best to respond, but if I’ve fallen in a trap of too much multi-tasking please know that I will make every attempt to read your email as long as it didn’t end up in my spam folder.

Why entrepreMusings?
In Greek mythology, the Muses are a sisterhood of goddesses or spirits, their number set at nine by Classical times, who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music and dance. (source Wikipedia). 

I believe that everyone has a Muse within and that entrepreneurs tend to be more aware (or shall I say less afraid) of their Muse.  I define an entrepreneur as anyone who aims to create something that did not exist before and nurtures it to a level where people are positively affected.  Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and forms from female to male, young to old, parents to business people, artists to teachers, employers to employees, etc.  There are so many factors that affect whether a person is perceived as successful or not, but the mere act of trying to make a difference is, to me, a big part of being an entrepreneur.

Our society often dismisses the entrepreneurial nature of being a parent.  I believe the most valuable thing we can contribute to our society are children who are able to positively contribute to the world.  When I talk to people about my entrepreneurial career, I say I’m on my 4th venture with two being each of my kids. 

So, here on this blog I want to start the process of shifting the stereotypical image (i.e., man of means, working 80+ hours a week, not spending time with family/friends, etc.) of a financially “successful” entrepreneur to:

a)  aims to be emotionally, spiritually, and financially rich by making the proverbial market place pie bigger
b)  works hours that are compatible with a healthy personal and family life
c)  man, woman, or child of any race, color, creed, religion, orientation, etc.
d)  not aiming just to make a quick buck but a lot of meaningful bucks that empower people along the way
e)  uncompromising ethics and standards

Having been in a venture-backed, high-tech start-up during and after the dot com bubble and crash, I know the above definition is not easy to implement.  I’m sure I’ll stumble along the way with my kids and career aspirations but as a female (muse) entrepreneur, I will keep on trying to shift the definition and reality by musing on this blog.  But I can’t do it without your help!  Let me know what you are up to and I’d love to try to incorporate your stories into blog posts for others to read, get inspired and help us all make the entrepreneurial shift!