KISS today: What do you guys think of the Idealab model? …on either side of the table
Are we communicating well to the ROW?
It is 0200 here in Berlin now, so please forgive me for a ‘non VW’ post! I cannot but help wonder how much things have changed for our country over the last year. The story of emerging India is already dated. And so is the gloating over little successes and feel good arrival. Issues are […]
The team is the clincher
The venture world always seems to be driven by transactions — here’s a little bit on the ideological plane of venture investing. Interesting read…
Dividing Ownership in a Startup
“Experience is a good school, but the fees are high.” — Heinrich Heine It is the lesson of the true cost of recruiting the wrong founding team in a startup. You fill a role out of desperation, or even worse, recruit a friend or family who will do for now but never was quite the […]
Kota Opportunity
Kota has established itself as a center of excellence for IIT coaching. Students after class X spend two years in Kota which costs them around 2.5 lacs. I met a value investor from the US , yesterday who has done very well and has set up a foundation in India so that students who do […]
Points of Inflexion
In the US the point of inflexion with the internet was probably 1998/1999 and a lot of the big money was made in the 1998 – 2002 period. Prior to 1998 there were many attempts that were slow to take off. China the inflexion point was probably later. Do not know too much about when […]
Delighting Customers
In all the businesses that I have been involved in building delighting customers has been a key priority. In India I have observed based on my experiences as a customer that with a few exceptions ( jet airways, spice jet, PVR,some 5 star hotels) customer delight does not seem important. I have a large LCD […]
Indian VC funds wait on tax bracket decision
I recall a conversation with Alok on this topic, on the day the budget was presented. The Economic Times has an article today that outlines the issue, but presents no clear resolution one way or another. Would some of the knowledgable folks here comment? The worst isn’t over for venture capital funds (VCFs). The million-dollar […]
Informal getto in Bangalore
Hi, some of us — mostly entrepreneurs — are getting together in bangalore tomorrow for a beer. Other folks who are interested are invited. No specific agenda, just some chat around beer. Time: 29th Mar (3.30 – 5.00 pm) Venue: Pecos — situated at Rest House Road, off Brigade Road, right hand side, Black board, […]
Red Herring 100 Asia awards
Hi folks The countdown for the Red Herring annual listing of 100 innovative companies from Asia has begun. Application form is in this link: http://www.herringevents.com/asia07/asiaherring100.doc Companies must be headquartered in Asia to qualify. Please pass on this information so we get a large bunch of startups to choose from. Kalpana
Mobile Payment Value Chain and Business Models
A high level analysis of Mobile Payment Services.
Selling commercial rights to work already released under a Creative Co...
My friend Cory Doctorow (one of the more interesting of the current crop of Science Fiction writers, though he may be more well-known from his work with the EFF and his role with the award-winning blog boing boing) has posted a very interesting piece about how one can commercially exploit CC-licensed content: Lots of people […]