Author Archives: Hari

Twitter update for the week – 14 Feb

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Twitter updates for the week – 7 Feb

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Letter to Steve Jobs

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Hello Mr. Jobs,

This is my first letter to you. I am a true devotee of Apple like many others in this world. I hail from India and wanted to take this opportunity to write to you and share few of my thoughts on your strategy of Apply products for countries like India.

I do understand that since the beginning, Apple has produced only technologically superior products. However, when these technologically rich products do not reach people at the right time it is a waste. Also, if technology cannot be affordable, then there is no point in producing it, because in return, it would not give you any results in creating the technology which cannot be used by people.

As I understand, all of your products are technologically rich and also expensive. To add to this, you keep changing versions of your products too very soon and few of the features do not make sense at all, there by hitting hardly on your buyer.

Let us take an illustration of your iPod. When it was initially launched, it created a revolution. Music has been redefined. As Microsoft took a computer to a common man, iPod took music to every pair of ears. This is remarkable. The way music industry works has been redefined. Instead of buying the complete album, you provided opportunity for music lovers just to buy just the music they want to listen. Over the next few years, there were many new additions and enhancements to iPod so quickly that the first mover was completely dejected and unfortunately, there is no way I can upgrade an existing music system. Why do you do this? You may ask, is this the same way other music systems work? No, but as an Innovation organization, can’t you think differently? I do agree that there is something called “Product Life Cycle”. Every product has its end, just as it has its beginning. By being an Innovative organization, cannot Apple think something different to this life-cycle? Like we recycle our clothes and waste, I am sure there is a scope of recycling the product.

Another classic invention is your iPhone. The mobile phone industry was shaken with the launch. Your competitors started “innovating” more exhaustively, just to beat your phone. However, you again proved your point by bringing out updated versions too quickly into the market and there by hitting on middle-income people like me. I cannot afford Rs. 35,000 for a mobile phone once a year. Also, iPhone locks me with certain features which I really do not need. For example, the iPhone comes in two varients – 16GB / 32GB. I do not need a phone with so much memory. I have my iPod and I really do not want to throw it away because I paid a real good amount of money for that (Rs.13,000). Instead, why cannot be there an iPhone version which comes with standard memory and allow me to upgrade its memory when I need? This reduces the cost and does not confuse me – iPod for music and video, iPhone for mobile purposes and Mac. Is there a time Apple will reduce this confusion for us?

Is it by chance or by choice do you do this? Why do you also rate your products so exorbitantly and do not give us options of using what we want rather than forcing what you want to sell? It is my very strong belief that what ever is the product/service/innovation you bring out, if it cannot reach the middle of the pyramid, there is no big deal of it.

At the moment, Apple is catering only to the Top of the Pyramid and the upper top of middle of the pyramid. It is understandable that this is your business strategy, but with a little twist, you can take your Innovations to many more, there by changing the game of computing.

I am sure, the same is going to happen with iPad. The first buyers will be held at ransom when they realize how much has changed in an iPad in a very short time (At this point, iPad does not have multi-tasking and Camera and I am sure these will be included in 12-18 months of its availability in market).

Is there any thing you can do about this?

Appreciate your understanding..

Regards,

Hari

Was reading an interesting article on the same topic today ‘By Ignoring India, Apple is doing a big mistake‘.

Twitter updates for the week – 31 Jan

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Twitter update for the Week – 24 Jan

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•    5 ways small businesses can avoid Social Media Panic
•    Twitter launches Location based Trending Topics #Twitter
•    Internet: The final frontier
•    Internet access is the new freedom of assembly
•    The three minute rule #HBR
•    Using checklists to prevent failure #HBR
•    Why do we care about disruption #HBR
•    Overcome resistance with Right Questions
•    What is Design Thinking
•    The 3 D approach to Creating Opportunity #HBR
•    Let your customers persuade themselves #HBR
•    Value Creation: The ultimate Goal of Innovation
•    Managing for the New Reality http://bit.ly/4pS5Tq
•    Facebook gets into VoIP service
•    How does Apple Tablet Look like? http://bit.ly/5FDVJt #Apple
•    Google: We are hugely optimistic about the Internet
•    5 Social Media Lessons the NBA Can teach Business http://bit.ly/4opEaE
•    Facebook to launch Dashboard for Apps and Games
•    How transparent is too transparent http://bit.ly/5ls4mq
•    Learning why your customers buy http://bit.ly/59DAhZ
•    Decoding the Social Media Hash Tag Mystery http://bit.ly/8wGQZa
•    2010 – The Year of Mobile App
•    Wiring in Social Media Measurement http://bit.ly/5VQimc
•    Schools without Teachers
•    Starting Gun for New Class of Social Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/5NOEM0
•    The future of Mobile media in China http://bit.ly/5a8WuX
•    A new framework for Business Models http://bit.ly/7lbv65
•    Aavishkar: India’s first First Social Entrepreneurship Fund http://bit.ly/6ZwfdX
•    Innovation – Just Do it http://bit.ly/5noCTa
•    Innovation’s accidental enemies
•    Amazon turns Kindle into a Platform http://bit.ly/5CrYAl
•    Broadband’s next 100 Million will come from Emerging Economies
•    Symbian’s dominance erodes in Emerging markets Vs iPhone http://bit.ly/8mBvnX
•    The mobile web can be better than PC web http://bit.ly/5Trqyb
•    Podcast on Positioning http://bit.ly/4VU2tE #SramanaMitra
•    Facebook’s ideal future http://bit.ly/6ICHik
•    Universities go for the Green http://bit.ly/72lfjG
•    3 Smart Grid funding this week http://bit.ly/6gdXts
•    Why consumer will be king of Home Energy Management in 2010 http://bit.ly/545wxZ
•    Twitter user name land grab coming soon http://bit.ly/7ChVYH #Twitter
•    Taking Social Business on the road http://bit.ly/6LFGX4
•    The 4 C’s of B2B Marketing
•    Integrate Social Media with traditional advertising http://bit.ly/8USukr
•    Why different networks are important for Social Entrepreneurs
•    Management by Imagination http://bit.ly/6L8UNi
•    Five keys to creating an Information advantage http://bit.ly/70icJj
•    The moment Social Media Business becomes serious http://bit.ly/7cL7gM
•    A better way to manage Knowledge http://bit.ly/7Kyipv
•    The scale every business needs now http://bit.ly/5ps3rn
•    Does an MBA make you a better CEO? http://bit.ly/7vgSGe
•    # How leaders should think critically? http://bit.ly/5RRwej
•    Are you committing Leadership Malpractice? http://bit.ly/5mM8M9
•    Spreadfast Fashions Social Media into a Corporate Dashboard http://bit.ly/4AhlYl
•    Just done Groundswell, a HBR publication. Now waiting for Simplyfly which arrives in a day…
•    Social Marketing in 2010 http://bit.ly/8VB6gm
•    7 Lessons for better Networking with Social Media http://bit.ly/6glPCe
•    Why Social Media is not for everyone
•    5 more reasons why IE must DIE
•    Apple in talks with Harper Collins to bring eBooks to Tablet http://bit.ly/6fOjGM
•    Social Media eBooks – http://bit.ly/7BFQLz
•    Degrowth – Is it useful or feasible? http://bit.ly/6H3jkk
•    The future of Conferences http://bit.ly/6TWIS0
•    Leadership and Martin Luther King’s Dream http://bit.ly/6d5YAA
•    Innovation Perspectives – Educating tomorrows workforce http://bit.ly/7FGGmV
•    Amazon’s Jeff Bezos on two ways to approach customer-focused innovation http://bit.ly/5zw5E3
•    CoDev – for understanding Innovation Strategies http://bit.ly/5VO17e
•    Adaptation as a form of Innovation http://bit.ly/6GYyNa
•    Design: A Key differentiating factor for innovative products and services http://bit.ly/60vMEf
•    Organizing around the average Performers – Not viable any more http://bit.ly/5AkuPJ
•    Come on. Designers, Step Up http://bit.ly/7JObmZ
•    Introducing the Open Innovation 100 http://bit.ly/5Svm2l
•    Rockefeller Foundation’s push toward Design and Innovation http://bit.ly/4Qptkt
•    Innovators of the Decade http://bit.ly/5aCL2M
•    LoL: Dilbert’s take on Cloud, SaaS http://bit.ly/7H1GYd
•    How customer aggregation will redefine the utility of the future http://bit.ly/4xzNKJ
•    Carbon Management Software and Services to grow 40% annually through 2017 http://bit.ly/7wfYZC
•    Best Green Tech Innovations of 2009 http://bit.ly/7lNjyY
•    Solar Powered Rural Health Hospitals saving Lives now http://bit.ly/6yghuj
•    5 Myths that can kill a Startup
•    The 10 Stages of Social Media Integration http://bit.ly/6ZpKAs
•    3 Things you need to know about Social Media Strategy
•    5 Industries Apple Tablet could Revolutionize http://bit.ly/75BX1c
•    Doing business in Social World http://bit.ly/4yLKyU
•    How to write compelling Social News Headlines http://bit.ly/8DRjDM
•    The top 10 Twitter Statistics and Analytics tools http://bit.ly/8jlzSk
•    4 Styles of Marketing on Twitter http://bit.ly/8WslXR
•    7 Social Media roles you haven’t Considered http://bit.ly/8mjMsD
•    The Essential Startup Reader: 10 Lessons in Entrepreneurship http://bit.ly/7l9vvW
•    3 Common Questions with Social Innovation Funds http://bit.ly/8VgH9M
•    What goes wrong with re-building efforts http://bit.ly/8vlmkv
•    A must do for any Social Entrepreneur http://bit.ly/4x0I2j
•    Can you BootStrap? http://bit.ly/5tsHta
•    5 Ways to lead with more Compassion http://bit.ly/5gWwKW
•    2 Ways to hold Entrepreneurs Accountable http://bit.ly/7SmgdI
•    The most influential Management Ideas of the Decade http://bit.ly/7u777f
•    Ending Poverty – PERIOD http://bit.ly/5mlBrZ
•    Innovation Training & Coaching Overlooked? http://bit.ly/7wKu0k
•    Education Innovation needed NOW http://bit.ly/5tcE2a
•    Innovation Perspective: Active Senior Opportunities http://bit.ly/4oKSYE
•    Pay attention when Sony and Japan Embrace Open Innovation http://bit.ly/6XRhTe
•    Planning for the Unknown, the Impossible and the Future http://bit.ly/6MZkau
•    Why corporations provide little Venture Capital http://bit.ly/78Cw2i
•    Innovating your “Why” http://bit.ly/5A1Afj
•    Innovation Wanted: What to look for and focus on http://bit.ly/850sNd
•    7 Tips to comply with HITECH requirements
•    Denmark leads the way in Digital HealthCare http://bit.ly/7TDpPD
•    12 Softwares for managing your Startup http://bit.ly/5LoaYl
•    12 Tips for Ethical Marketing to New Consumer http://bit.ly/4EzkUX
•    Brand Building in 21 Century
•    10 Climate Trends that will Shape Business in 2010 http://bit.ly/8gyF7u
•    Financing our CleanTech Future http://bit.ly/8LMxYX
•    10 Myths of Cleaner, Greener Transport http://bit.ly/73OT34
•    11 Practical Reasons for buying an Electric Car http://bit.ly/8HUxUQ
•    How to Select, Design and Operate a Business in “Era of Green” http://bit.ly/54ClgX
•    Ten Green Building Trends for 2010 http://bit.ly/4S4dZi
•    Pepsi Refresh project giving away Millions to support new Ideas http://bit.ly/63mhiZ
•    The next hot Smart Grid Market – China? http://bit.ly/53UOFp
•    20 Battery Startups Hitting the Road with Lithium-Ion http://bit.ly/4JIozj
•    Japanese Social Networking – Its all mobile http://bit.ly/4NU3p9
•    Three keys you need to know about Personal Branding, But Probably aren’t doing http://bit.ly/8aPGlC
•    The Business of Social Media: B2B and B2C engagement by numbers http://bit.ly/4UIPxs
•    Breaking a Goal into Metrics http://bit.ly/6EVXB5
•    Print Personalized Facebook Calenders http://bit.ly/8jTXKX
•    Enabling Social Change through Analytics http://bit.ly/5DJEBf
•    The next Big Showdown: Twitter Vs Terror http://bit.ly/8SCm7i
•    The top 5 ICT4D Trends for 2010 http://bit.ly/6FOCWp
•    Cultivating Food Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/7uI7BM
•    Recommended by HBR Contributions http://bit.ly/7IUKQW
•    The decades top performing CEO’s http://bit.ly/7UN7F8
•    Four perfect situations for Brainstorming http://bit.ly/80X1Ct
•    Innovation Tip: Step back to step forward http://bit.ly/70ZgNh
•    Innovation Training and Coaching Overlooked? http://bit.ly/7wKu0k
•    Ingenix offers Doctors no-interest loans for EHR http://bit.ly/7IlIXs
•    5 Energy Management Tools launched at CES http://bit.ly/4BTdOI
•    Beach Road, Vizag … http://tweetphoto.com/8352719
•    How Social Media has changed us http://bit.ly/5pu1in
•    The secret Social Media Skill http://bit.ly/8HCdTk
•    The Five Things Necessary for any startup Ecosystem http://bit.ly/92tDwA
•    Business Incubation Internship at AIDG http://bit.ly/4zX1gb
•    Favorite Have Fun.Do Good book list of 2009 http://bit.ly/717i3K
•    The future of Decision Making: Less Intuition and More Evidence http://bit.ly/8v55WG
•    Survey: Why Don’t more women raise to the top? http://bit.ly/4VE7uc
•    How Ford got their Social Marketing Right http://bit.ly/4SUGrM
•    3 Tips for Innovators from the Consumer Electronics Show http://bit.ly/7M1uXi
•    A Postcard of Disruption in India http://bit.ly/7ehaXN
•    Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? http://bit.ly/6m9pYt
•    The intersection of Purpose and Profit http://bit.ly/6muXey
•    HHS Unveils Health Security Strategy for Emergencies http://bit.ly/4ucpLL
•    The Top 10 Sustainable CEO’s http://bit.ly/5MfiSr
•    New recycling technology turns winery into water saver http://bit.ly/8DQNDM
•    CleanTech Investment Plummets 33% in 2009 http://bit.ly/5zGRxi
•    82% Firms Plan to boost GreenTech Spending http://bit.ly/5HzBfZ
•    The 14 Winners of DOE Data Center Efficiency
•    Holy New Year GreenTech Funding http://bit.ly/7YOFV5
•    10 Must read articles from HBR
•    Investors try to open doors to Foreign Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/58DVCx
•    How data will impact the way we do business http://bit.ly/8jz3f5
•    Essential Reading for online community Managers http://bit.ly/75t2NO
•    3 Helpful Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2010 http://bit.ly/5APZNT
•    8 Ways to use your Twitter List http://bit.ly/61v69B
•    Google Search Vs Twitter Search Vs Your Personal Groundswell http://bit.ly/8HpYIC
•    Project Management and the Dynamite Philosophy http://altitudebranding.com/2010/01/project-management-and-the-dynamite-philosophy/
•    Changing Development Paradigms http://bit.ly/87jKJA
•    Can we improve aid through evolution rather than planning? http://bit.ly/6to2dP
•    3 Things to watch from the Social Innovation Fund http://bit.ly/4ASTfo
•    Refresh your Social Entrepreneurship Reading Wish-list http://bit.ly/4Tuwkw Have you already killed your next big thing? http://bit.ly/4uvKob
•    Why most CEO’s are bad at Strategy http://bit.ly/6ZBR6O
•    The Danger of Entrepreneurial Passion http://bit.ly/8ae1qb
•    Changing the World in 3000 Characters http://bit.ly/7MJ5EE
•    Saving Curiosity from the Guillotine http://bit.ly/7HsCPe
•    Storytelling, Performing and Social Growth http://bit.ly/6Pc6xi
•    10 Keys to CleanTech Success in 2010 http://bit.ly/6SnurX
•    # A better way to go smart (grid): Wireless Communication http://bit.ly/4FhxCw
•    Going Green at the Coldest Place on Earth http://bit.ly/5CMZ4i
•    Best Practices in Sustainability Food Service http://bit.ly/7rsxAZ
•    Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) Applications now Open for 2010 http://bit.ly/7wZtSh
•    CleanTech VC Hits $5.6B, Asia Emerges as IPO/M&A Hub http://bit.ly/5ApCCM
•    Wikipedia Mobile Widget is available from Symbian Foundation http://bit.ly/5buZIx
•    Finally, TweetDeck allows you to add a Page you created to update your tweets
•    Social Entrepreneurship boards the train http://bit.ly/8wmcFy
•    Social Innovation – Hit or Miss http://bit.ly/4yPcTx
•    Rockfeller Foundation’s push toward design and Innovation http://bit.ly/4Qptkt
•    Social Enterprise boost in West Midlands http://bit.ly/5ib3fH
•    Can Apple’s Tablet succeed at $1000 Price Tag? http://bit.ly/7Es6af
•    8 things to avoid when building an online community http://bit.ly/4NWFyY
•    Four Words of 2010 http://bit.ly/6OiZcz
•    The LEGO Startup Ecosystem http://bit.ly/4WuwdK
•    A question of Casuality http://bit.ly/87w8Cj
•    Google Phone’s disruptive Potential http://bit.ly/6mzYOZ
•    Social Entrepreneur with a backpack feeds African Community http://bit.ly/8VgE4L
•    Win a 2010 Global Social Benefit Incubator Scholarship and Improve your Social Enterprise for free http://bit.ly/7eQSze
•    Social Impact Finance http://bit.ly/7hh2p1
•    Predicting the next Innovation http://bit.ly/5NXG0R
•    The next decade’s top Sustainability trends http://bit.ly/8weOTX
•    15 New Year Resolutions for Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/78EEDJ
•    HBR Exclusive Education for India http://bit.ly/6kJYrO
•    5 MaC apps to boost your productivity http://bit.ly/4QbmDH
•    5 Big Predictions for 2010
•    5 Superb Social Media Tools for Musicians http://bit.ly/7beE6g
•    The 100 Most Social Brands of 2009 http://bit.ly/7eYtnV
•    The 100 Most Social Media Brands of 2009 http://bit.ly/7eYtnV
•    5 reasons Crowdsourcing is Stupid http://bit.ly/6FJjpy
•    Five Examples of Innovation with Twitter http://bit.ly/6wvSIr
•    The most influential conversations on Twitter in 2009 http://bit.ly/7ThDWb
•    What Type of Social Median Engagement is Right for your Brand? http://bit.ly/8aOAEn
•    The Equestrain’s guide to reaching your Goals http://bit.ly/4BSiwa
•    10 Ways to get Serious about Social Media http://bit.ly/5C66yH
•    Altitude’s Top 10 in 2009 http://bit.ly/4uHDIL
•    The Patience Principle http://bit.ly/7lVMB7
•    When People and Business Collide http://bit.ly/8pOz6Y
•    Are we entitles for Free? http://bit.ly/6cBrq1
•    Social Media for B2B
•    Tools can be strategic http://bit.ly/72kcqj
•    How to create measurable objectives http://bit.ly/6OWKCD
•    Internship’s available at Center for Financial Inclusion http://bit.ly/8RMvEN
•    Using Mobile Phones to combat medicine shortages in Africa http://bit.ly/7M3et8
•    Top 6 African Business and Culture trends to watch in 2010 http://bit.ly/5GJq7A
•    3 Hot Topics for 2010: Impact, Leadership Development and Replication http://bit.ly/846×44
•    BoP Innovation: $69 Fridge for Rural India http://bit.ly/8Yk4WM
•    The Decade in Management Ideas http://bit.ly/8rrmqK
•    Three Questions Leaders should ask in the new year http://bit.ly/5gBkcO
•    NW 253’s lessons for Leaders http://bit.ly/7kmMYp – Very Interesting
•    Networking Reconsidered http://bit.ly/6ZRELs
•    NedSoc Social Entrepreneurship Conference looks to go beyond Social Media http://bit.ly/5GSnpk
•    The most important microfinance blogs of 2009 you didn’t read http://bit.ly/83kZeD
•    Non-Profit Purchasing Group Launches Discounted shopping site for Non-Profits http://bit.ly/7DqAAt
•    Battlefield Innovation lessons for Business Leaders http://bit.ly/7V3g4k
•    EHR standards just beginning http://bit.ly/5SmEcp
•    Provider organizations unhappy with Proposed Health IT Rules http://bit.ly/70YeEA
•    How to prevent top 3 Information breaches http://bit.ly/7oC8wo
•    PC Energy Management Startup Verdiem raises $5M http://bit.ly/5FFVsq
•    The Green Business Decade in Review http://bit.ly/6oEABw
•    Test your Green Q http://bit.ly/7tdOXj
•    New Delhi contemplates closing of Industrial Units for “Clean” Commonwealth Games 2010 http://bit.ly/7mMrrr
•    The Triumph of Economics http://bit.ly/8Nvhhi
•    16 Tips for small companies to save Energy http://bit.ly/5aeubb
•    The year in GreenTech VC: More deals, less Money http://bit.ly/8rJNeI
•    Top 15 Earth2Tech Stories of 2009 http://bit.ly/4C9Y1z
•    Masters in Social Media from Birmingham University – http://bit.ly/5htF0
•    10 Ways to get Serious about Social Media http://bit.ly/6nGbJL

Twitter update for the Week – 3 Jan

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Beginning this week, I will post a summary of all my Twitter update @harinathpv @Dazasya.

A Change for Tomorrow

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I have been reading The Beautiful Tree by James Tooley recently and was amazed with the amount of research which went in to write the book. This book speaks on James Tooley’s experiences in the developing countries as to how they are over-looking the Public education system and turning towards Private education to provide a better future for the young generation. Two case studies, one of Hyderabad, India and one of Nigeria caught my utmost attention. When James tried to turn to the Government to understand how and why the poor families are turning towards paying small amounts of fees for their kids to be educated in private schools, most of the times he received answers in the affermative. When he continued his journey, he found amazing results and he was astonished. I cannot summarize a 300 odd page book here, but the one thing which I took away, is that no poor family of the so-called developing country is leaving any opportunity to rewrite their future.

In the recent issue of Career 360 I was really impressed with the cover story. It is the same old story which we all hear that the education system in India needs to be revamped. But, few stories of children of poor farmers from Bihar on how they went against the odds give a refreshing perspective. The story of Anand Kumar who started Super 30, a school which coaches top 30 poor children to get into IIT is really inspiring. Can you beat this, in the last 7 years, 182 students of 210 have made it to the IIT’s and in the last 2 years, all 60 students made it to the IIT. These are the results we speak about.

In an interview Tarun Tejpal mentions that the education in our country is more of academic and marks oriented. This is the most disturbing part.

I hail from South India (Andhra Pradesh) and when I completed my graduation (I did not take up Engineering/Medicine) most of my friends have either taken up Engineering or Medicine and after education, one has to take up a job in either Infosys / Wipro / TCS which are the best IT compaines. What you do in the organization does not matter, but as long as you have one of the 3 brands, you are entitled for a settled, secure life and when time comes, a huge dowry for the wedding.

Just to give the other side, if one has to apply for B.Sc Economics in Delhi School of Economics, the cut-off percentage is usually more than 95%. When I took up Economics and Computer Applications in my graduation (this course has been terminated after 2 batches because there were no takers), I was termed the most un-fit and unsuccessful in my batch. After 10 years, when I look back, I think I made the best decision of my life and I really need to thank my Parents and Brother who gave me all the support to do what I want in life.

Now, why did I get into this topic? One thing I realized after co-founding HeadStart and founding Dazasya is that we are not yet ready for Building a better tomorrow with the current way of how we deal with things. In the last two years of being with the Startup community, what I notice is that the willingness to take risks is not yet ready in our minds. Even if one is ready to take the risk, family and social pressure’s take up a lot of time to get you forward. Once you get forward, what misses is the Bigger Picture. Should I attribute this to our up-bringing? From our childhood we are “told” what to do and if we do not, we are not guided enough to come out of the situation.

We are not taught problem solving, but taught only the application of a formula. We are not taught how to think differently, but only taught how to follow what has been thought over by our teachers and elders.

This is one of the primary reasons as to why we do not have an Apple, Microsoft, Google coming out of India.

Many entrepreneurs today are in the path of Entrepreneurship for freedom to work and chase their dreams. When we look at their dreams, ideas revolve around something which exists today, rather than trying to create something new. Why don’t we have even a browser bring created in India?

Let me take my own example, I co-founded HeadStart 2 Years and 6 months ago and founded Dazasya 2 Years and 2 months ago. In either of the two organizations, I am able to Innovate anything new which can help the Startup community.

Let me begin the change here….

Finishing 2009

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The Year 2009 passed by very swiftly. There have been many learning’s for me both Personally and Professionally.

If you have been following my Twitter, you must have noticed by now that I changed my style of tweets concentrating more on Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship and Leadership. Also, I started working on Dazasya more seriously and will have the new site up and running very soon. You may follow Dazasya on Twitter and get updates purely on Social Entrepreneurship and Leadership.

Going forward, my blogs all will see a change. I will continue to write my personal thoughts, however, will also categorize to write about various aspects of Entrepreneurship on a weekly basis.

Forum Nokia Developer Conference 2009

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Forum Nokia is coming up with their developer conference. It is happening on Dec 7, ’09 in Bangalore at Hotel Taj Residency. Please find more details here particularly “Meet the Stars ()” exclusive session.

This is the place to explore how Nokia’s new Ovi Store ensures developers have easy access to publish applications and content to millions of Nokia devices through a unified publishing channel. It is nice place to know the nokia’s technology platforms and user experiences.

More detail .

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Entrepreneurship 2.0

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Yesterday, I was at the NASSCOM Product Conclave 2009. This is the first time I am attending the NASSCOM Conclave and the prime reason for this is the Key Note by Guy Kawasaki. This is the first time Guy is in Bangalore and I did not want to miss a chance to hear him in person. Thanks to Kesava for getting me a pass J

He started his speech at around 9:20 AM and concluded around 10:10 AM. It was not a packed hall, but there were 1000+ delegates.

Guy shared his 10 point view of “Entrepreneurship 2.0”. Slides used in the presentation can be found here.

Here is a brief summary of his speech.

Being an Apple Fellow, Guy took on Microsoft for the laughter part and concentrated on sharing his experiences at Apple.

1. BUILD What you Want to Use

With an example of ICE, Guy demonstrated that Entrepreneurs should build what they want to use and not what others want to use.

During the early days, If anyone wanted clean ice, they would harvest Ice in a clean place and use it. Over the period of time, came the ice factory and the Ice Man. The Ice factory would make Ice and an Ice man delivers it to your home. Things changed and this was very much needed for everyone. It was a success. In the next stage came the fridge where you could make ice at home itself. This is building what you want to use. Ice was required by the person who made the fridge and also by others. Put yourself in the shoes of the customer and you can build what you want to use.

2. Pay Rs.0 for Tools

Today, most of the tools required to build software are available for free. Gone are those days when you make a great PowerPoint presentation and ask for money from friends/family or Investors. If you cannot use the free tools available and build a working prototype, forget your Innovation. It will just not work. In fact, today, there is nothing you cannot build with the free tools available.

3. Pay Rs.0 for Marketing

Use online tools like Twitter/Facebook/MySpace for all your marketing needs. Let people reach you and you reach people.

4. SUCK Down/Across

I cannot recollect exactly what he showcased here..but will my best shot

You usually suck up to get your work done. You need to follow the upper hierarchy to get your product to the end user. Now, you need not concentrate on Sucking up, but you need to work on sucking down and across to get more innovations to your solutions. Speak to customers, take their feedback, and build them into the system. This is what people want.

5. Use Twitter (and TWEETMEME)

Use Twitter extensively to market or seek guidance from your followers and people whom you follow. TWEETMEME is an excellent tool for you to post your tweet and request people to re-tweet with just hit of a button. This creates a cascading effect of your message and it reaches more number of people than you can traditionally reach across the globe and also you can track for yourself.

6. Pay Rs.0 for People

This is controversial and Guy explicitly mentioned that he is not speaking about “out-sourcing” or completely using open source. Use as many Interns as possible for your project. You can get excellent work done and also Interns gain a lot of experience.

7. Put everything on the Cloud

“If you come to me with a Business Plan and have a 6 digit figure for software and infrastructure before evaluating your business plan, there are 99% chances that I will not fund”. Cloud computing helps in many ways by helping you to put your infrastructure requirements at a low and use the many tools available. Use Cloud’s as much as you can.

8. SHIP then TEST

“Don’t ship crappy code, but when your development is controlled, ship the software and then TEST it”. In this way, you can also have your customer beta test it. Reduces your headcount and helps you build stable software.

9. FORGET Venture Capital

If you going to a VC with a PowerPoint presentation without evaluating your idea in the market using any of the above tools, forget funding. VC’s do admit that they are looking for ideas which have been tested. Also, if you use the tools above, chances are that you will never go to a VC, instead, will make money yourself.

10. Niche Thyself

And there was a bonus

11. Don’t Let the Bozos Grind you Down

There is an opportunity everywhere, do not let someone’s thoughts grind you down.