Vijay Anand | The Startup Guy.

What Yahoo Should Possibly Go After. Part II

// October 17th, 2008 // No Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, Ideas to Toss, India, Technology, Web 2.0

This is a continuation to a Post that I had written Earlier.

“Yahoo could emerge with an edge, if they leapfrog into other verticals following the same web-based advertisement network.”

For a company which has entrenched itself in the media space, managing advertisements networks i probably the holy grail. I wouldnt recommend that Yahoo give up that leverage. Instead of going head on with Google and losing out on that battle, all they need to do is leverage that asset in a different vertical.

I wrote about perhaps using advertising networks, especially multimedia (audio/video) ads in Radio and television networks. One could argue that the ad server requirements, the infrastructure requirement and cost of operations would significantly vary because of the medium. I’d agree to some extent. But there is also a way to deploy the already existing asset, as-is, into different verticals. Read on.

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What Yahoo Should Possibly Go After. Part I

// September 12th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Ask Vijay, Business, Ideas to Toss, India, Open Source Innovation, Technology, Web 2.0, tips

So I know that there are a gazillion guys out there in the whole wide world, who have given “open” advise to Yahoo as to what they should do. I am neither an expert, nor am vested into the company to have such generosity towards them

A friend of mine and I, over some conversations were discussing about some of the bigger brands that we see around us and something along the topics of Return on Equity. Not sure if you are aware of, but Microsoft has a 52% return on equity. Yahoo has roughly about 7% and falling drastically and Google has one which stands at around 26% – and growing steadily. Whatever you may say, Microsoft has played this game with a whole new set of balls and one most people simply won’t understand. And if you ask me, they are a much better company in terms of strategy and products compared to Google, anyday.

Yahoo could emerge with an edge, if they leapfrog into other verticals following the same web-based advertisement network.

But that’s not the focus of this post.

The conversation was that, if a company has Advertisement as its core strength and has built a competence in it, then its going to be very hard for the company to drop that and adapt the advertising network of its partner/rival. Well, for the case of survival they might, but since they do have the core competence, the resources and the minds that can think in that direction, what could they possibly do, was the question.

Fact: Yahoo makes most of its money via advertisement, and that too on banner ads.

This becomes an issue when you have so much internet portals and properties, but just simply have to fill them with advertisements in order to make them viable. And in this day and age of APIs, nobody might even come visit the site to get hit by the advertisement. You are forced to rethink in terms of strategically placing the advertisement within the content, but thats a very very hard thing.

My Take: I think this is probably the same route as making fiber out of rocks. There might be some way to do it, but whatever it is, its one rare, long process.

I’d say, flip the coin, and lets look out to the horizon. Go after other streams, television and Radio… to be precise.

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What Do Startups Need?

// September 9th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, India, Technology

"What do Startups need" is the Question asked these days.

Seems like that’s the kind of question a lot of companies which are looking to support, nurture and grow alongside Startups are asking themselves these days.

I’m invited to be part of a fairly small panel that is to discuss on this very topic tomorrow in Bangalore in a short meetup that Sun Microsystems is putting together.

The more I think about it, I think the sheer number of pages where business opportunities, support systems, efficiencies can be made all seem to just go on and on and on.

I think the key element that it comes down to is not “selling”, but “enabling”. Really, if you think about it and put all the power law distribution to  a graph of economy (financial status and revenues) versus size of the company, it’d be quite easy to see the bigger corporates easily contributing to 80% of the economic wealth that is being garnered. That’s almost a no brainer.

I think the insight is this: An average startup entrepreneur is young, imaginative and full of ambitions and dreams. The key is to enable them. Not sell to them, but help them achieve their dreams. Its going to be pretty much the same way that you would want to support artists to come out with more creativity.

Someone wise once said that the role of a supporting organization to a startup should help startups make truck loads of money and make a small slice out of it. We need to tie in our success with that of the startup. Everyone wins in the end.

So now, most organizations are not gonna want this headache. Go after all the small companies, give them that additional support and handholding, just for 20% of the revenue. But isnt 20% quite a lot? I dont think it would ever make sense for a company to focus on just this 20%, but if they were already saturated with the market share in the corporate world, a 20% extra market share will give these companies a lot of footing, wouldnt it?

Now obviously, the number of companies very much increases. The queue of companies to support would almost be as long as the infinitely long tail itself. Thats when shared resources make a lot of sense. Technology helps to scale. Thats what it does beautifully. And if a technology company says that it cannot cater to this group,.. they woe.. something is truly terribly wrong.

Related Posts from Before:

Selling to the Unaffordable – Part I

Selling to the Unaffordable – Part II

A Lesson to Learn. Reflecting on the Mirror of Global Startups.

// September 8th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, India, Proto.in, Technology

My mentor oft used to say that everyone had something to teach us. It was all a matter of either what you should do, or what you should never do. If you look back at everyone in your life, that’d probably quite nicely fit the bill.

If you are at all interested in Startups, or are an entrepreneur, its quite hard to not notice whats happening in the Silicon Valley from time to time. And right about this time, it seems to be the humorous series of incidents – or some might call “planned coups” – that are going on in the valley amongst DEMO and Techcrunch, all in the name of “giving startups a platform”. There are 50 techcrunch companies, and close to 70+ DEMO companies going head on today, and amongst all the angry voice of one group accusing, and the other group defending, and then silly bystanders calling all the startups stupid to be sucky, they have all seemed to have forgotten the one reason for their existence – startups. Seems like in an attempt to settle the feuds amongst them, the startups are essentially the ones taking the beating by the supporters of both sides who are trying to discredit the both equally reputed conferences. Both are equally great conferences, which cost equally high amounts of money to pull through and lets not kid ourselves from the fact that both of them have equally made enough money through all this.

I have no interest in all these silly disputes. But it goes to say how even the “valley” can get distracted from whom their customer is. The startups.

We will, and trust me, we will soon come to that point as well – and I doubt that it will be too early when there are going to be a gazillion new startup showcases going on. If its a good thing, people are going to swarm and imitate, and there is absolutely no harm in that – just as long as they remember what the whole ordeal is all for.

I think India is doing amazingly well. Compared to most of the companies that are taking the stage, I am real proud of the kind of companies this country is churning out. We probably still dont have the reach or the spotlight, but there are equally amazing ideas, teams, talents and companies out here – probably better in some cases. I’m lately coming across a host of companies, some in the design space – making of intelligent home appliances, and a company that does design services – and is designing the torch for the commonwealth games (and its said to be quite sophisticated), companies in biotechnology, energy etc etc, that I have no doubts that in a few years, we will be more than what we ever dream, or dreamt to be.

This is also a time when the lack of support for an entrepreneur is probably the least pronounced issue. From capital to mentors, if you are knocking on the right doors, the right support is available and with local support peers such as Open Coffee Clubs and Startup Saturdays, I am really happy at the way we are strengthening this community.

As I am watching the companies at DEMO and TC, there is just one yearning in my soul. If we make better companies, and if we are darn better in hard work, and are more than well aided in terms of talent and capacity, whats it going to take us to the global spotlight. I think its going to take the support of the community as a whole to make that happen. This December as the fifth edition of Proto.in comes together in Bangalore, we’ll definitely take a shot at that – but not without your support. How do we make that happen? Now thats something I want you to help us, nah, ourselves with.

May the startups always win. For a long, long time to come.

Ideas to Toss: Virtual Community Watch. Preserving Earth

// August 15th, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, Ideas to Toss, Open Source Innovation, Technology, Web 2.0, tips

There was sometime back when was doing a rough math on how many live camera streams there are. There are some that are pointed towards the “habitat” of the Loch Ness Monster, there are enough live traffic camera, and plenty of them pointed towards a birds nest or so. And if you take the example of Justin.tv (which seems to be inspired by The Truman Show), even people are willing to play their part in all this.

Ofcourse all of this is a one way broadcast. Apart from adult sites which are apparently making their niche through two way interaction, there is not much that is happening in this space.

Is there any of that, that can be adapted into the “green” scenario? A couple of light bulbs went on and off and here’s the thought (or Idea):

The forest department today plans thousands of saplings every year on barren lands to convert them into lush green forests, but the biggest problem with it has been the case of watering them. There is not enough manpower to do those menial tasks – at the salary that the govt is providing – and there is also the issue of accountability where all the saplings near the roadside stand straight and well watered, but the ones in the interior die away because laziness kicks in for most of these workers. They are not to be blamed either when the scorching sun is merciless on them and they are poorly prepped for all that.

The idea is to basically plant all the saplings as the forest department does and then have water drums which can be filled periodically with water from trucks (much simpler task). The pipes to the saplings will be set on drip irrigation and there will be a soil moisture sensor in the soil which measures if there is water or not. Set a Camera that overlooks this area, connect it to the Internet and create a frontend to a MMORPG (Massively Multi-user Online Role Playing Game). If that’s too much of an acronym, think Second Life. People can “adopt” grids of these fields and take care of them. All they have to do is, once the soil moisture turns a bit low, hit the buttons that will start the drip irrigation and stop them when the moisture level is optimal.

There are already countless number of such “events” that happen in Second Life, where if one plants a sapling in the virtual world, an organization instead plants one in the real world somewhere. This would just be an extension of that.

Now, technically you can take this to the next level. Think of all the Wild Life Sanctuaries. The biggest problem today is Poachers (I am still worried if I have to show stuffed toys of Tigers as our National Animal to my kids someday), and the forest officers are not nearly paid enough to scout the areas – and they are very ill armed to protect themselves from these animals as well. What if we could setup a range of Wifi cameras, stream the videos and let people monitor them. I’m sure there are enough animal activists around the world that some might even take it up while we sleep. All they would have to do is to hit a button which will alert the officer if a Poacher is spotted. And give the front end the control to click a snap if they want to document something and we might capture poachers and exotic wildlife as souvenirs.

I think finally, and its about time that the conscious of having to go green is kicking in. And we are gonna have to do everything – not just to sustain – but positively influence this planet to make it sustainable and even stay on the existential path. Maybe entrepreneurship, technology and the enthusiasm of the global audience can create a network of Global Watchers, to take care of the assets around us – All this while getting to “play” their roles.

What Started 700 days ago…

// July 15th, 2008 // 5 Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, India, Proto.in, Technology, The Journey

There are only a whole total of 14 tasks that need to be done before the event,and given the capable team that we have this time, and the sheer level of enthusiasm flowing, I dont see that to be a problem. The core team from Chennai, Bangalore, and other places are starting to fly in into Delhi starting tomorrow – Our flight leaves in exactly another four hours. The team is busy getting their laptops on datacards so that we can still remain effective, even on the go. We are prepped, geared and all ready for it.

What did didn’t expect is the sheer push of some magical moment that has happened within the community to attend the event. we are nearing 400 attendees for the event, and that’s a “significant” jump from the 250 that we had last time – and trust me when I say that I am genuinely surprised. I always thought that the southern states were more entrepreneur-centric. I suppose it takes a good shot to really prove and debunk theories and myths as well.

In the following two days I am going to be writing to you to prep you to help set some expectations and in terms of some of the activities that we are planning at the event. The Innovation brainjam on the second day is something I am personally looking forward to. The credit goes to Amit Somani of Google, who threw open this open-ended way of brainstorming that they practice at google and as we pondered over the possibility of doing that in a conference. It should be loads of fun.

If you are a blogger by any means are a little rusty, this is the time to sharpen your skills. It’s going to be a liveblogging marathon this time, and we even have a surprise for the best live-blogged summary of the event. If you are the logical, knowledgeable one, well take heed. The quizzes are there to die for. I’m sure you’ve enjoyed the quizzes on the blog, and you’ll see more of it live in action, and as random teams come together to compete.

We are still looking for folks to take up various activities (If you are a good photographer, do let us know). So if you would like to help volunteer, the mailing list for the same is the first place to start, Have fun, keep your heads up high, and as we get together, let the voice that we always echo, echo once more – may the startups win!

PS: We’ll mostly be lurking around the venue starting tommorrow. Feel free to drop by and say hello. We do take encouragement in terms of homemade cookies too – Just kidding.

The Future of the Startup Workforce : OnDemand Talent?

// June 22nd, 2008 // 7 Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, India, Technology, Venture Capital, Venture Funding, Web 2.0, tips

Everybody, just about everybody seems to be having this problem. The teams that I oversee in IIT, all the way to a lone team in Simla, everybody is having a talent crunch. It is said that the most important aspect of a startup is the team. Have we grossly overlooked something? Or do things just have to be looked at differently? I think there is an alternative, and thats probably how the future will evolve.

So according to one entity’s claim, there are 800 startups in Bangalore. I know that as part of tracking startups, we see an average of about 500 – 600 new startups coming up every year, and these are just in the Technology space, and product focused.

Do we really think that we have the manpower to fuel all these dreams? I am really starting to doubt that. Loads of Opportunities, shortage of talent, and high density of clusters – which is going to be mean more and more people are going to leave startups to probably freelance and make use of this opportunity. I wouldn’t blame them. They are just tapping into the opportunity.

nGenera an entity founded by the guy who wrote the book on Wikinomics, which helps larger organizations optimize their task forces has this to say about Workforces: “…Enterprises have shed pyramid-style organization structures and instead view talent as a “marketplace” where workgroups with the right skills and experience can be quickly assembled, put on a given task and rewarded for the value they provide.” Does that sound Familiar? Will the same make sense for a Startup?

One of the primary reasons why a startup is pushed to go hunt for an Investor much before the focus, solution and customer has been identified, has been primarily because of this reason – the need to hire. if you want to hire, and someone none other than the best, he/she also comes with her own charade of questions as to how the startup is funded, and what are the options that the individual will benefit from. None of which makes sense, nor has a concrete founding unless there is a bank statement which shows some balance with lots of zeros following it – or atleast a term sheet.

So really, the eye of the hurricane is the issue with attracting talent. If that is solved in anyway, then a whole lot of issues along with it, including that of funding will slow down a bit. And time, even borrowed time is godsend for a startup.

Here is a gist of the issues:

I’ll repeat, there is common theory that any investor will back a good team. Perhaps we need a slight change of thinking on that regard. It is not the team size, the numbers, nor the profiles that should matter. If there is an individual at the helm who could ideate, plan, execute and deliver then it should suffice right?

I’ll get to what I am trying to say.

I am thinking outsourcing. Did you know that Digg was mostly build over elance? The most touted Kevin rose, was not one of those developers who went nuts, locked himself inside his bedroom and coded away. Perhaps there is wisdom in outsourcing.

Let’s put Mr. Friedman’s words to test if the world is really flat, shall we? I mean, if we could get talent from anywhere, then all of a sudden the perk of being in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, or being in Gorakpur does not make a difference. And I think that itself is an incentive to try.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Think about it. Employee productivity is at around 4% right now. I could put some ruppee figures on it and say, if you invest 100 Rs on an employee, you get a product which is enhanced with a value of Rs 4. That’s ridiculously inefficient. And this output is for mammoth corporates. Can a startup really afford such inefficiencies and spend most of its time acting like training agents, than companies that are building dazzling products?

Lets look at the benefits of getting more involved with communities like elance, Limexchange or Odesk for that matter. In order to make it work, you are going to have to;

1. Break your product into modules and have vivid clarity on what you want. That will force the startups to get some clarity on what they are building, rather than playing by ear.

2. You need to be able to do some project planning, which you should have been forced to do anyways.

3. You only pay for what you build, which means much greater productivity

4. You do not have to move to any specific location. You could be sitting in your own hometown, or wherever you can save costs on, and still get your work done. If Instablogs could be based out of Shimla and build such fabulous UI, traction and a community around their offering, it certainly is an example. Not that I have anything against Shimla, but its not your everyday IT Hub as commonly perceived to be more efficient to startup.

5. And the best part of all. If you are having a cash crunch month, you can delay your next task allocation. You control time lines as to when the next task should begin, which means you don’t have to worry about having to shell out monthly salaries with or without productive work happening.

Most teams that I am aware of, still would want to hire people fulltime. Well, you probably can, if you can justify it and if you can afford them. But in most cases, I am wondering if its a case where the founder just isn’t willing to accept the fact that the role that he chose to play is a lonely path. At the end of the day, he/she is the only visionary and the sole knight protecting and nurturing the idea child (perhaps along with his co-founder), but surrounding yourself with people who are at your call and beckon is just a temporary comfort and solace. I know it can get lonely, and having to see three people, the same three people, in your officespace everyday can be pretty tiring, and boring and even might feel as if you are stuck in a rut. (One of the reasons why Incubation centres make for some comfort factor, being around with other teams)

But instead of focusing on surrounding yourself with frail souls, why not keep yourself surrounded by those key guys who share your vision (might be just you and your co-founder), and build the prototype, product and your initial traction with a product that is built by a team which is miles away, yet close by you – just a skype call away, and take it from there?

You are most probably going to tell me that since your product is constantly evolving, you wont be able to get a specifications document beforehand. Odesk, and most of the freelancing sites do offer the capability to hire a person on hourly rates. And with the progress of agile project management methodologies, all you need is a good tool [like what Silverstripe software has], and you are good to go. Ofcourse, there is still the issue with your mentors and investors having to agree to it,but if anyone can make it happen, I know an entrepreneur can. Why not show them it works? Heck, When NASA and the defense contracts across the world are outsourced, why not that mashup you are building?

I was initially a bit skeptical that outsourcing my development work will also mean that someone has access to my code. But I think the NASA model is going to rescue us there too. That’s why I mentioned that you need a core team. Ideate. Figure out the requirements, the initial one. Break it into pieces and send them all to four corners of the world. When it comes back, be ready to put it together. Oh yeah, you need to know how to work with code inorder to be able to do this, but if you or your co-founder cant, you were dead in the water even before you started.

I am hoping to give this a whirl for my own startups. Has anyone tried this option? If so, what has your experience been?

Disclaimer: I am not sure if this is a longterm solution. But most of the hard work and crux is essentially built in the beginning of a startups product lifecycle and thats when all the constraints are there. If the prototype is built, you have a few elite customers, and investors are standing on all sides wooing you, perhaps you can think about getting some folks onboard fulltime, and building a team to build from there.

Some Discussions from Before:

A Funded Startup: An Alienated Brother.

// June 10th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, India

I have seen this cycle happen over and over again. There would be a set of guys who’d be around in most barcamps and social circles and someday they’d decide to start a company, and eventually build a product that’d gain quite a bit of traction from the “first adopters” that you find in barcamps, MoMos etc and then the worst thing happens – they get funded.

I have stats that show that more than 80% of companies whose growth and traction flatten out after getting funded by a VC firm. I’m asking myself the question if the founders were such shrewed and capable executioners that they planned the entire stunt just so that the popularity lasts till they get funded – but I doubt thats the case. So what then?

I came across a note where someone mentioned that people who get funded barely go back to the social circles after that. Partly cause those circles disown them because of whatever has happened to them. VC funding is not the golden egg, its more of the long-term, high interest, loan that is given to a company hoping that it would make it big, but for most folks getting funded is the end goal and such folks starts treating companies that have gotten funding as if they are Cinderella’s step sisters. The welcome is not there anymore, and there is no reason for these founders to go back to those circles anymore. They retire to the boring life of going out to meet peeps in baristas and coffee days where more pleasantries are exchanged than the actual meaning or weight of words.

This is actually very bad news. For the funded startup its very much so cause these early adopters essentially have dropped a baby on its head, just when someone agreed that it had potential. For the rest of the community, its also very bad since its a loss of a resource who probably had figured out how things work here and most certainly had knowledge worth sharing.

If you think I am just randomly spewing out stuff, I’ll make the entire point with one reference. J’lo’s single titled “I’m still Jenny from the Block”. That pretty much drives the point across. When your folks on the block are essentially who your early adopters are, and they disown you, it becomes radically hard for your company to survive without burning hard cold cash to see if someone would take you in for some cash in return. In the language of the hood, there is no love from the brothers no more.

I for one think that VC firms should stop advertising the amount they invested. Startups that get funded should make this a mandatory point with their investors. I know quite a few firms, like Ixigo for example who have gotten funding, yet not knowing the amount keeps things quiet, calm and life still goes on. Take any company that you know of [ and probably hate ], saying millions have been funded and crazy things like that and all of a sudden I am wondering if someone “deserves” that sorta valuation. Everybody thinks or says it out loud that its unfair and a lot of enmity grows in this little pool for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Some companies would claim that announcing the investment amount adds credibility that will get you clients. Who are we really kidding? When you are small you need to embrace your brotherhood close to your heart and they will be your first set of customers whether you like it or not. An enterprise is a hard sell and probably is only worth aiming at when you are looking at your second round. If it happens, I’d be extremely happy but do be prepared to know and realize that your first set of customers are all folks you know, startups and SMEs. By the second round, you’d have grown to a much different positioning and would also have the strength to stand on your feet that you’d survive, and also would have weaned off the support system by then.

Until then, make no mistake, you need your community and the community needs you. Some things being in secret will make that happen.

Note: The media loves to flaunt numbers. So if you are not going to disclose numbers, don’t be surprised if they don’t run your story. Its okay, they too need to evolve, understand and adapt.

Should Guruji Sue Google?

// June 9th, 2008 // 25 Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, India, Technology

Guruji, for what its due to them, have been quite consistent with their logo. But it seems Google is on a rebranding spree. From the use of their Capital G, they are going to a smaller G which eerily looks like what Guruji’s logo is.

Considering that Guruji’s logo is two years (or more) old, and Google is just fiddling around, It would make perfect sense to file a lawsuit against Google – if the Guruji guys were smart enough to file a trademark for their logo.

There are lawyers these days who are willing to take a percentage of the compensation, and given the exposure and media ride that it will give Guruji, It’s a move that is strongly suggested. I hope the guys take it.

What’s your take on this?

Redbus.in: Make it Your Experience. NOT!

// June 7th, 2008 // 11 Comments » // Business, Entrepreneurship, India

If you really look at what is driving most of the sustainable internet businesses – starting from Seventymm, Storrz to Canvera, its in the ability to handle the logistics involved behind it flawlessly. If you want a grander example to learn from, understand learn from the multi-million dollar backoffice processes that Amazon.com has in place to process all their orders. The rule is very simple. You get paid simply because you can dissolve some of the complications of the customer. Most folks don’t have time and would be more than happy to trade money for time and effort saved.

So I’ve been hearing about redbus.in for quite sometime now. Its been three weeks since I have had a new born nephew and I have been meaning to go visit and finally thought I’d take this weekend to do that. A trip to the temple city of Madurai and back should be all that was warranted. I checked for bus tickets in a few places and everyone had tickets but all their offices are in Vadapalani – which essentially means 45 mins travel there and back just to get the tickets. It suddenly dawned on me that there was redbus.in and i decided to give it a whirl.

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