A lot of people have been asking me what it takes to get into a VC firm. Few pointers: At an analyst level, most firms are looking for smart people, perhaps with some background in equity analysis or business analysis. It is not unusual to have fresh MBAs with some pre-MBA work experience to be […]
Almost Alwayson!
Alwayson annual show is on in NY. The opening session was all about user generated content, blogging etc. And they had screens that were showing real time comments from users over the internet — well, the session itself outlined challenges of handling this medium. Bill Cleary of CKS went around SFO interviewing people, and in […]
ITU Digital Life report
Some of you may have seen this already — ITU has released its report “Digital Life” and its an excellent reckoner — provides a high level view on almost everything to do with the internet and telecom world, with references into more detailed work.
IMRB IAMAI Mobile VAS Report – A critique
IAMAI and IMRB have released their Mobile VAS report here. I went through the report, and the quality appalled me. I was expecting to see a more quantitative report from a research agency of IMRB’s repute. The only numbers they have outlined are top level numbers (“Mobile VAS to be a $1b industry”) and the […]
Wanted – Exemptions from Do not call registry!
As the regulators try to curb the menace of unwanted calls, telcos are appealing that their unsolicited calls should be allowed. Masking it under “service-related communications”, some of them have asked for not just upselling, but even calls to past and prospective customers — in my view, this is no different than any other party […]
Billionways – Entrepreneurship for Rural Education
Venkat, of Deccanet fame, has put an initiative in place to find a solution to lack of rural education – Billionways. It focuses on finding an entrepreneurial solution to the problem of illiteracy, and seeks to jumpstart the same through a non-profit fund. There is emphasis on sustainability, where after a while, each of these […]
Finalists of TiE Canaan Entrepreneurial Challenge
We had a great response to the Entrepreneurial Challenge — over 100 existing businesses applied, and we are very encouraged with the quality of applicants. The following make it to the finals! (yes, we had said we will have 10 finalists, but landed up choosing 11) – 6 Dee – Anyasoft – Athena Info – […]
Future of Online Jobs
Of course, this is a favourite topic of mine. Techcrunch has an article which provides a couple of directions for online jobs. Notably I want to see a company come out and eHarmony-ize the job market. Make it so candidates go through a 15- to 30-minute application process that might include various tests related to […]
IIT Bombay E Summit
IIT Bombay is having its annual entrepreneurship summit “eSummit” on Dec 10th. Canaan is a sponsor to the event. Will look forward to seeing some of you there,
1m x $100 Plans
We have discussed some of these ideas on venturewoods before, but I thought I would get more specific thoughts. We are seeing more and more businesses around the theme to offer a $100 a year service to a million users. Few ideas that have got discussed here include: 1. Online DVD rentals 2. Online photo […]
Naukri Lists
Naukri listed today — the stock has shot up almost 100% from the issue price, and the company has a market cap of $370m last I checked. Revenues for Mar ’07 are estimated to be around $30m, Absolutely rocks! Congratulations to Sanjeev and his team.
India Tomorrow? Day After?
India Today has a cover story on Wired Generation – dont know whether its humor or satire of India’s most respect editorial team to have claimed “most of India’s 200 million middle class homes now have computers”! And this is a managing editor… not once but twice in the same article! Now just wait and […]