Marketing in Rural India

Few days back, I just had a short chat with one of the co-founders of an IIM-A's Iaccelerator startup and our conversation diverted to an article that was published in Outlook Business. The article tells about how a simple SMS is helping the Indian farmers plan their farming better and in turn helping them generate more profits.

Just came across a very insightful presentation which talks about why rural India is so important & how one can tap the rural market. The most interesting point from the presentation is the statistics about Rediffmail -

Out of 20 million Rediffmail signups, 60% are from small towns. 50% transactions from these towns on Rediff shopping site.

What makes a winning CULTURE ....

There is a general tendency of we humans to compare whatever we can. One thing that gets compared first when someone joins a new company is the "Company Culture". Culture becomes SO very important especially if you are a startup.

Just came across quite an interesting presentation that describes NetFlix's winning culture especially focusing on it's core points which are listed below:

• Values are what we value
• High performance
• Freedom and responsibility
• Context, not control
• Highly aligned, loosely coupled
• Pay top of market
• Promotions and Development

As you can see it is more for reading than for presenting; hope you enjoy reading the same.

Thanks to JoeManna for the tweet

EVANGELIZE yourSELF ...

It has been almost a month since the last update on this blog. Past few weeks have been pretty bad where I had an incident which made me realize "How search agents like JustDial can lead to mis[information] instead of providing information"...More on that in a separate blog article.

Just came across an interesting audio presentation which touches on The art of evangelizing oneself , hope you find it useful too ...

Success stories through Twitter [Updated]

Few weeks back, I had posted a question on LinkedIn about "Twitter's usage in Business". Today, I just stumbled upon an interesting presentation[shown below] that not only explains Twitter's usage but also backs it up with a good number of case-studies. BTW, the question is still open here

Proto.in : The startup event ...

Proto[derived from Prototype],the startup event will be held on 23rd & 24th January,2009 in Bangalore.There is a very interesting presentation by Pictualize which gives you an insight into Proto & the benefits of being there for the event !!!



You can register for the event here. If you liked the work by Pictualize,you might be interested in checking out the Q&A we had with Pictualize team[here and here].

Like Proto-4,I won't be able to attend Proto-5;hopefully the sixth edition is in Hyderabad

Business Model Innovation

Came across an excellent presentation by Alexander Osterwalder, a Business Model Innovation advisor.No matter what is your idea or business, this presentation touches every corner of it [from Ideation to Execution].

He has quite an insightful blog on the same topic & I am sure you would also enjoy reading every bit of it .

Web 2.0 Product Management

There is always a debate over PRODUCT and PROJECT management and the responsibilities of each of them.Just came across a very informative presentation by Mr. Olsen of Olsen Solutions which was presented at Web 2.0 Expo, San Fransisco.

| View | Upload your own

Key responsibilities of Web 2.0 Product Manager

1. Embrace Web 2.0 marketing aspects of your role.
2. Create customer satisfaction feedback loop.
3. Define the equation of your business.
4. Instrument your site to track key metrics.
5. Prioritize product ideas by ROI.
6. Optimize your viral loop.
7. Learn more about the UI Design Iceberg [More on Slide 45].
   
8. Iterate quickly and continuously improve.

What do INVESTORS look for ?

Many times meeting investors becomes similar to applying for a job in a company.There are some set of basic questions which are repetitive and many times, the answer to these decide your fate.The only difference being in a job interview, the mistake may turn out to be less costly[since,it is only YOU who is affected] whereas any mistake while pitching to an investor won't only affect YOU but everyone CONNECTED with you in the STARTUP.

Just came across an interesting and a worthy presentation which gives an insight into the basic questions and the answer to simple those simple questions

| View | Upload your own

Reader Contribution:

Lakshman Srikanth shares this insights on OpenCoffee Club dated 21st June,2008 here

Lessons from the "Hare and Tortoise" story

All of us know the phrase "Slow and Steady wins the race", but most of the times,the reverse holds true especially in business[First Mover advantage].Apple entered the Portable Player Bandwagon very late yet, it still rules the market with it's revolutionary iPod [Slow may sometimes be the most Steady ].

Teams have become important rather than individual performers and the same is shown in the improvised version of the "Hare and Tortoise" story shown below[must read for anyone in the corporate or a business environment] :

| View | Upload your own

As shown in the presentation, some of the key learnings from the "Hare and Tortoise" story are:

• Never give up when faced with failure.
• Fast and consistent would always beat the slow and steady [but may not always be true].
• Work to your competencies.
• Compete against a situation , not against a rival .
• Team work always creates wonders than individual performers.
  

Experience is the Product

Came across an interesting Video Presentation by Peter Merholz of AdaptivePath where he points out "How important the experience of using a PRODUCT is !!!"

He also points out that a reverse cycle of Experience --> Features --> Technology may lead to Products with BETTER user experience ....Enjoy the presentation

| View | Upload your own

The BootStrapper's Bible

Came across an interesting presentation by the Guru Seth Godin on BootStrapping ....Worth a read !!!

| View | Upload your own

Off-Topic Content:
There are two questions , which I have posted on LinkedIn and your thoughts on the same are highly welcome & appreciated.

1. Different Revenue Model of Web2.0 applications/startups?
2. What is your impression on BlogCouncil ?
   

Sex & the Investor, a deadly combination !!!

What is the relation between an Investor & Sex ....Came across an interesting presentation from BarCamp London , which unravels this mystery.

Credits:
John Wilson

From Ideation to Marketing : The complete LifeCycle

You have a product idea and you are not very much sure about the whereabouts than you have come to the right place!! An excellent presentation from "Winning at New Products" by Robert Gravlin focuses on the complete Product lifecycle right from "Germination of Idea" to "Marketing the product".

Business Model Innovation...

Just came across an interesting and pictorial presentation on Business Models development.Excellent material but my "very" favourite slides were:

1. Open Business Models # Slide 58
2. Business process outsourcing “up-side down” in India # Slide 62

Enjoy the complete presentation !!!

Azim Premji : Adapt change or be the change....

A very inspiring, interesting and thought provoking speech by Azim Premji of Wipro at the 37th Annual Convocation 2002, IIM, Ahmedabad.A small gist of his drivers that would change the world:

Be alert for the first signs of change

Change descends on every one equally; it is just that some realize it faster.Some changes are sudden but many others are gradual.While sudden changes get attention because they are dramatic, it is the gradual changes that are ignored till it is too late.

Anticipate change even when things are going right

Guard against complacency all the time.Complacency makes you blind to the early signals from the environment that something is going wrong.

Always look at the opportunities that change represents

For every problem that change represents, there is an opportunity lurking in disguise somewhere. It is up to you to spot it before someone else does.

Do not allow routines to become chains

While routines are useful, do not let them enslave you. Deliberately break out of them from time to time.

Realize that fear of the unknown is natural

Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to manage fear without getting paralyzed. Feel the fear, but move on regardless.

Keep renewing yourself

You have to constantly learn about people and how to interact effectively with them. In the world of tomorrow, only those individuals and organizations will succeed who have mastered the art of rapid and on-going learning.

Surround yourself with people who are open to change

Spend time with people who have a "can-do" approach.Reasonable optimism can be an amazing force multiplier.

Play to win..!!

Playing to win would help you to concentrate your energy on what you can influence instead of getting bogged down with the worry of what you cannot change. Do your best and leave the rest.

Respect yourself. The world will reward you on your successes

If you succeed 90 per cent of the time, you are doing fine. If you are succeeding all the time, you should ask yourself if you are taking enough risks. If you do not take enough risks, you may also be losing out on many opportunities.

Never change: your core values

In spite of all the change around you, decide upon what you will never change: your core values.

Succeeding in a changing world is beyond just surviving

All of us have a responsibility to utilize our potential for making our nation a better place for others, who may not be as well endowed as us, or as fortunate in having the opportunities that we have got. Let us do our bit, because doing one good deed can have multiple benefits not only for us but also for many others.

You can have a look at the complete presentation below:

Your blog...your style...let's have a STYLE check...

So here I am again with the same question "Why do you blog?" Every blogger,no matter how much is his rate of blogging, every blogger has a reason to blog.Irrespective of the blogging platform,as a blogger(irrespective of the no of readers reading your blog), you yourself are a BRAND in the blogging space

From a reader's point of view,when we read a particular blog,we first appreciate the effort behind the blog and we get a clear idea of the person and his dreams , interests, aspirations etc For example,if you blog on :

• Travel , indicates you would be a travel freak
• Business, indicates you are passionate about the various aspects of business and aspire/have one
• Entertainment , indicates you are in love with Entertainment and so on......

In fact , Rohit Bhargava,Vice President, Interactive Marketing focusses on "25 ways of blogging"(in the presentation below).After going through the presentation and scratching your head a bit , you would find an answer to "What is the (exact) genre of your blog" and also "Do you think,you are realizing your aspirations/dreams through your blog?"

So, my blog is a combination of "Ambition Blogging"(trying to achieve my dreams through the medium of blogging) + Repost Blogging (sometimes, picking up a story/stories from other blog and make a story revolving around the same).

The bottom line: "If you have a blog than you have a reason & you are the reason(to blog)"