iPhone : It's funny side...

Just caught a glimpse of the iPhone Launch on CNBC and would be eagerly waiting for it to be launched in India.The great Steve Jobs is truly an Innovator and someone who has to be saluted for this great innovation !!!

iPhone is a cool gadget and you can check all it's features here I think everyone must have started saving money(including myself) to get their hands on the iPhone But apart from the capabilities of the iPhone, there are some more features of the iPhone, which are listed in the FUNNY video below(relax and watch) :

Word of Honor to Steve Jobs:
Steve Jobs's motivating speech at Stanford University

5 Reasons to start a business NOW

Have started reading Startup Nation by Rich Sloan and Jeff Sloan.One of the lines which grabbed my attention is:

NOW IS ALWAYS THE BEST TIME TO START YOUR BUSINESS

Some of us are passionate about startups(for eg. like reading about them and want to start some day), some already have a startup but there are many reasons for each one of us to startup.Below are some of the basic 5 reasons "Why you should start your business now!!!"

1. Technology levels the playing field between you and big business
2. Today,the phrase "corporate job security" is an oxymoron
3. The internet provides an unprecedented opportunity to start an online business at a minimal cost
4. Like never before,business can be done from home
5. Corporate outsourcing to smaller business creates an abundance of opportunities

Bonus Reason :
The only person who can boss you around is ONLY YOU !!!

Un-Managing Innovation !!!

Many times when we think/speak about Innovation, we only think of a great idea(which would be the solution to an existing problem) and the thought process that goes behind in implementing the innovation.

But you can be innovative or think innovatively, only when the atmosphere is innovative or people promote innovation.The other factors that could foster innovation are : Good team work, management that itself thinks laterally and innovatively, office that in itself is innovative......

This reminds me of the Thoughtworks office in Bangalore which was the venue for the BarCamp Bangalore 2.0 and the open office environment(ie no cubicles) itself suggested "Innovation"

In fact while googling for the same,I came across an excellent presentation which touches each and every corner of Innovation !!!

My personal favourites from the presentation are :

1. Myths of innovation : Slides 13-19
2. Composition of an innovative team : Creator , Catalyst and Champion (Slide 25)
3. Killers of Innovation : Slide 28 (Best and highly realistic)
4. Creative work environments : We need more of these!!! (Slides 43 - 48)
5. Myths of motivation : Slides 54 - 56
6. Promoting Instrinsic motivation : Refer the following and Slide 60
   

Web 1.0/2.0 + Blogging = What Uh?

For the last few days have been very busy for me and I would like to unravel a short story.I had put a post on my blog "Asking people,why do they blog?" and I had mentioned some of the reasons,why I blog.Blog could definitely land you in your dream job or help you in a pre-management degree or building contacts or earn few $ .... but I found a different reason to have a Blog

Blogging would not have been possible without Web 1.0 or 2.0 and blogging has changed a lot since the arrival of Web 2.0 Most of us who want to startup or have a startup know the importance of an understanding life-partner in their life. Now you guessed it right :) My search for a perfect partner ended on a Web 1.0 site and later my blog contributed around 30% to a new relation which started with an engagement on 20th June,2007. I never knew,a blog could create wonders in my personal life as well. Just as we know that it takes hardly sometime for launch a startup in the Silicon Valley,it harldy took few hours for us to decide on starting up our new relation

Janukin and Himanshu

The Cake of the year

So,what is Web 1.0/2.0 + Blogging ====> Engagement I hope that this Engineer + Teacher combination creates another NRNM + Sudha Murthy phenomenon.

A BLOG IN NEED IS A BLOG INDEED !!!

IIM(ers) reinventing plans !!!

During the visit to IIT Kanpur, we(myself and Ashwin) had an opportunity to speak to IIM-A grad Vineeta Singh about her startup TenADay.An article on Economic Times highlights on some of the Web 2.0 startups started by IIM grads, who are now working on innovative Business Models !!!

Some of the startups like CricStock were betting big on World Cup and were highly affected by the WC debacle.A small mention about Vineeta Singh's startup indicates that they are also trying to scale their startup with new services

A team of four students who started a CAT website and a lingerie business, are now diversifying their business model. To ensure more hits, the students are adding new services like online coaching for medical and engineering exams

Read the complete article here

Microsoft - The (not so) innovative story...

This one is for all the guys who HATE Microsoft to the core There is an article - "Why I hate Microsoft", the complete story of (not so innovative) Microsoft !!!

From the pages that I have read so far in the (lengthy) story, I liked the following:

Gates: don't develop, copy

By the time PC-DOS took hold, Gates had already shown that Microsoft's future would hold very little innovation indeed. Gates' views on development are probably best illustrated by the following:

From: 'Programmers at work', Microsoft Press, Redmond, WA [c1986]:
Interviewer: "Is studying computer science the best way to prepare to be a programmer?"
Gates: "No, the best way to prepare is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. In my case, I went to the garbage cans at the Computer Science Center and I fished out listings of their operating system."

Seldom have both Microsoft's lack of innovation and their kludgey, ad-hoc approach to software design been explained so concisely. It's also interesting to note that while many people have called Microsoft products copycat, trash or garbage, most of them probably had no idea how close to the truth they really were

Read the complete chapters of the original MS story here

Thanks Mahesh for sharing this wonderful link with us !!!

IT outsourcing growth (would) dip !!!

Few months back,there was a article - "Other side of outsourcing", where the main focus was India..India and only India.Startups coming to India,global players in IT, ITES, Manufacturing .... watching and investing in India but recent study shows a future decline by 30 percent

As reported by Yahoo News:

The annual growth of India's IT and BPO industries may fall to 30 percent for the next four years, after expanding by 35 percent in the past two years, says a study.

However,the Videocon Man Venugopal N. Dhoot is positive in adding:

Over the years most of the Indian IT services and BPO players have been moving up the value chain and in most cases are integral to the business of the client,' chamber president Venugopal N. Dhoot said.

'Considering the positive outlook toward Indian IT/BPO service industry, private equity and venture capital investors are looking at investing in these companies to be part of India growth story,' he added.

However,IMHO with the recent positive and upward trend of M&A in India,India would still remain one of the most preferred outsourcing hubs

Read the complete story here

(Note: The same story(word by word) was also seen on Silicon India , so now after bloggers copying content(without giving credit to the parent source of information) , we have magazines who have entered in the plagiarising case )

Bangalore - Roof Top Film Festival

After season of unconferences, now comes the season of movies or should I say "Roof Top Movies" After the success of RTFF in Chennai,the filmi fever would be in Bangalore.

In very simple words,RTFF means "Underground Movies Outdoors" and more is described below:

Roof-Top film Fest (RTFF) is a film festival born out of the desire to provide a platform for people to enjoy movies and share their criticism in an open environment. An intense atmosphere will be created for the screening of the films and the discussions that follow. The Roof-Top Film Fest will focus on independent films, short films, cult movies and films that changed the way we looked at cinema.

"Roof Top Film Festivals" are typically where people get together on somebody's rooftop with a projector and a screen and watch movies which are not very popular in India or not released in multiplexes. These screenings are interspersed by independent film maker's movies and discussions on the movies screened.

The Bangalore chapter of RTFF is led by Hrish Thota and is scheduled for the month of July,2007.You can register for the RTFF here and do feel free to add the movies , you would like to watch in the movies section.See you all at the Bangalore RTFF...Did this sound,as if I am inviting you for the Oscars or the IIFA Film Festival...huh...

Startup Nation : From Life to Business...

Currently holidaying for a week in Mumbai, the days are very busy here and hence,this has affected the frequency of the no of articles on my blog However,visited Crossword in Mumbai and purchased a new book "Startup Nation:Open for Business" by Sloan Brothers(Jeff and Rich Sloan) and after reading first few pages,I was very much impressed and Rs 665 is worth for the book The initial part of the introduction is very interesting and worth mentioning on my blog:

You're a dreamer right? That's why you've picked this book.Maybe you had a great idea knocking around inside your head for years.Maybe you've roughed it out on the back of a napkin and tucked it away somewhere.But you don't know what the next step is or what the first step is.Or,just maybe,you're sitting in your cubicle, next to a hundred other cubicles,thinking, "How do I stop working for the man?".If any of these descriptions fit you,you are an entrepreneur-in-waiting.And you're not alone.You are one of us-one of the two-thirds of Americans(oops,we are Indians) who dream about owning their own business.

The book also covers "Life Planning" which is very much important for people who want to startup(part time or full time).Life Plan helps you to know your current status,your likes,dislikes,your family responsibilities,dreams..... This makes me remind of Mr. Narayana Murthy who quoted "Infosys would not have been possible without Sudha Murthy's support"and this is where support comes into picture.

An interesting article on the same can be found here and an example life-plan can be downloaded from hereThis Life Plan would definitely help us in striking a balance between personal and business life There are lots of other facts that are covered in the book and would be covering the interesting articles(from the book) on my blog...

Worth Reading:
StartupNation Blog
Ten steps to open for business

Nine point someone...

To start with , I have missed blogging for two days due to various reasons and hence,getting into the groove again Getting back to some serious stuff, how many times have you felt unsatisfied with your job or work but could not speak to your Manager or if you are a Manager,how many times have you tried to address the concerns of the employee? Having this two-way communication would help build a better team relationship between you and your peers...

Just saw a link on Inc,which talks about "9 Questions to ask an Unhappy employee".... Some of the fundamental questions which are interesting and are listed below:

1. One thing that you would like to change in the company?
2. What do you think about the performance of the team and the company?
3. Your views on my Managerial and Leadership skills?
4. Do you receive periodic feedback about your performance?
5. What is most satisfying about your job?
6. What is least satisfying about your job?
7. What would you change about your job?
8. Do you receive training to keep your knowledge inline with the trend?
9. What are your career goals and how can the company help you to achieve them?

I would like to add my points on the same in my next article.Also,I would like to focus on "A round-table feedback(or a two way feedback),which would help the employee and the leader to focus on areas of improvement

Insight into basics of "Business Etiquettes"

When, what, how.... to speak has become an integral part of the work culture.Many times,out of emotions,we make blunder and communicate in a wrong way to the other person and this results in an unprofessional environment Below is an article on "Business Etiquette"(from Hindustan Times) by Ranjan Acharya,Senior VP-HRD,Wipro that focusses on some of the basic do's of Business Etiquettes.

Note: The points that I liked the most are underlined in Blue and Red.

Click on the image to enlarge

MBA : Yes or No ???

We have heard a lot of MBA and every professional,technical or non-technical is interested in an MBA.The MBA program(as we all know) may be a part time MBA or can be a full time MBA,for which you need to quit your job and join the MBA program.MBA is in my pipeline as well and an MBA would scale my career to a greater height but the question remains "Do you(including myself) need to go to a B School to be an MBA graduate?" and the answer is a No!!!

But how do you get an MBA without joining a B School? The answer lies within each one of us ,who have used the holy grills of marketing , without even knowing that you have those qualities in you But just by having these qualities , does it mean that you should go for an MBA or you are just trying to follow the crowd that wants to churn money after getting an MBA? MBA or business management is more about network and using right resources at the right time and for the right reason.With the advent of internet,blogs and podcasts and study from the management books available,offline MBA(MBA earned without going to a B School) has become easier and you need not enter a B School to get an MBA IMHO,just to shift your career from engineering to management,an MBA degree would be a waste since, after being in a company for few years,you yourself can opt for a managerial post in the company,for which an MBA is not required and won't be a value-add to your profile

With the same doubts in mind,I started googling for some material which would clear your doubt(as well as mine) and I came across a post by Rajesh Setty where he explains "Why should you earn an MBA-it's pros or cons" and I would like to note down some of the interesting points(from his article) that you should consider, while thinking of an MBA

Check your attitude:
Your sole motive of entering an MBA is to be known before hand.

Design an alternate plan(if you can't get an MBA):

Acquire knowledge at a breathtaking speed:

Belong to powerful networks:
Build a wide network of people and keep in touch with them to build a strong relationship

Build long lasting relationships:


Volunteer for engagements of higher value:
Try to do something NOTICEABLE that would catch the eyeballs of others in the office

Lead a volunteer effort:

Work with a startup for Free (Important):

Make others win

Get a Good mentor:

Final word of advice(Time to take action):

This would make us think twice whether we are an MBA material or not!!!

Thanks Rajesh for this wonderful learning.You can download the pdf from here

Podworks Day 1: Talk on Blogging and Podcasting through Wordpress

Reporting live from PodWorks and tried my hands on blogging at around 3:30 PM and yes,I am tired after a small presentation on "Blogging tips for Blogging and Podcasting".My team involved Vibhash and Sridhar and since,I don't blog for money,I focussed on business side of blogging and guess the presentation turned out to be decent one

The presentation was made in around 20 minutes and the experience to speak in front of 150 people was quite amazing Enough of my bla..bla...the current presentation is by the Nautanki.tv CEO who speaks on "How to make money through blogging and podcasting"

AdBright,Google Ads are some of the things that he tried to stress upon.A pretty decent talk but rest of the sessions was on some of the basic fundas of Podcasting!!!

More will update later and would head to the Beach Party

More coverage:
iLan covers Podworks Day-1 here and Day-2 here

Photos of the event can be found here

All roads lead to Podworks...

From Blogging to Wiki's to Startups , a new season of unconference on "Podcasting" named Podworks would start from 9th June,2007 onwards(and the blast would last for 2 days). This makes me remind of my first unconference-BlogCamp in Chennai where, I was silent and was waiting to connect with like-minded people but now,for the very first time,I would be going with a big gang of like-minded people

Last BarCamp,Bangalore was a very great experience for me and I would be joining these Bar-campers for Podworks.

Sridhar has already thought about the agenda for the discussion in the train and I am damn sure there would be lots of other discussions in the train

The other gang members are Vibhash,Anil , Yousuf and a first timer to the unconference circuit Alok....Alok, welcome to the unconference gang

Let's pack our bags and rock the way to Podworks...and yes, since Ashwin cancelled his trip,I would try to take his position to get my hands-on to live blogging For guys like Vishal , Mahesh and Ashwin who have missed the train to Podworks...do not worry...we guys would be there to share the experiences in Podworks , so till than......

Happy Pod(working) !!!

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs : Unravel the rivalry...

This could have been one of the best interviews of all time,two rivals-Bill Gates and Steve Jobs on the same stage for an interview The start of the interview could not have been better where Bill Gates confirmed that he is not Fake Steve Jobs Below is a video of one of the interviews conducted by AllThingsD

The best part of the entire interview is the set of lines(below) from Steve Jobs, which really shows the fighting spirit of this great personality

Steve Jobs says:

And, you know, one of the things I did when I got back to Apple 10 years ago was I gave the museum to Stanford and all the papers and all the old machines and kind of cleared out the cobwebs and said, let’s stop looking backwards here. It’s all about what happens tomorrow. Because you can’t look back and say, well, gosh, you know, I wish I hadn’t have gotten fired, I wish I was there, I wish this, I wish that. It doesn’t matter. And so let’s go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday.

You can read the complete (long yet interesting) interview here where both show the sweet rivalry,in a true business sense!!!

Among the blogger community , Steve Jobs definitely scores more over Bill Gates!!!There is an article by Arpit Jacob , where he questions "Who is a better person Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?" My vote was in Bill Gates's favour taking the excellent work done by the "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation" into consideration.

I hope you enjoyed the interview,just as I did Also, do cast your votes as to "Who do you think is a better person-Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?"