[Bootstrap Love] Episode 2: Why marriage is like IPO

Hello! Your alien friend E-TREP or ET (EnTREPreneur) is back!

Sorry for the absence last Friday. I heard about this concept called Diwali when the earthbound humans burn up their money to generate a lot of smoke, sound and smells. In my planet, such insane behaviour would get a stringent punishment of being denied venture capital for life! But more importantly, I was waiting for those rockets that they apparently light up during this festival. I waited eagerly to see if any of those rockets would go high enough towards mother ship and I could hitch a ride home. But no luck! Maybe next year!

Like I explained in Episode 1, you and I, from the ETrep community who are looking for mates, have absolutely no clue about how to ‘fall in love and get married’ as these humans put it. So this series of articles is meant to be the ETrep bible on this important subject. I mean, if our planet does not send us help to return there, then we must procreate on earth, for which the minimum requirement is the availability and intent of a suitable mate!

This week, I will dwell on the subject of how marriage is like IPO and explain it in a language that only we ETreps understand. Before you jump to conclusions, let me clarify that I am not referring to the ‘dowry’ system in India. Although the groom and his family get rich like in an IPO as per this system, the similarity ends there. The infographic below explains the concept succinctly.

ETrep Takeaways from this session:

ETrep Note #1: The progression to marriage seems to mirror the familiar path from Angel funding to IPO. Skills and lessons from fund raising might be transferable to the quest for a potential mate.

ETrep Note #2: Some of the rules of the earthbound humans on the involvement of external third parties seem complex, but might be essential for long term survival.