Startup dilemma.
One of the dilemmas I think a would be entrepreneur might face is whether to “think small” or to “think big”.
Think Small:
Considering you have never tried your hand at entrepreneurship earlier, have finally gathered the courage to say good bye to the corporate world and are in times of self-doubt, you may find comfort in thinking small – “to do the doable”. Thinking small would mean being conventional in terms of value of the solutions or services, impact, size, scale, investments and returns. The would be entrepreneur might be ok with it because that’s what he thinks he’s most comfortable or confident with. And everything starts small (bottom-up) anyways. On the other hand the ‘think small’ attitude might lead one to question is it really worth leaving the comfort zone. ‘play-it-safe’ versus ‘are the returns of thinking small really worth pursuing?’
Think Big:
We know returns on efforts are directly proportional to one’s ability to think big. Thinking big will lead to a proportionate sized effort and hopefully returns. However for one used to working in a ‘do-as-directed-mode’ in the corporate world, ‘think big’ might be very overwhelming and could potentially scare the would be entrepreneur from taking the plunge.
We all know if we are thinking then might as well think big, however at the same time how do we ensure it does not scare the first timers off? How can a smooth and confident transition be made from the think small to think big? What are your thoughts and advice?
I have come to realize it takes guts to just think big – ‘Dare to Dream‘.
Vacation
I will be on my annual vacation to India from Oct 11 to Nov 9 – both days inclusive. After slogging for 15 months in Hong Kong, this is the first real long break I will be taking and I am really looking forward to it.
Looking forward to:
- getting my bad back fixed.
- eating a lot of junk food.
- meeting with friends and family.
- speaking to a few entrepreneurs.
- partying in my farm house.
- driving my 2.5 ton 4WD car.
- visiting a few religious places.
- touch and feel India’s business space.
- shopping.
If you wish to get in touch, you know which number or email I will be available on. Hope to see you soon.
Online advsertising market in India.
Source startupdunia.com:
An insightful article by “Businessworld” on the scene of online advsertising market in India. Informative and interesting.
Why to not start a startup.
A great post yet once again from Paul Graham. He has listed few of the common reasons why people are reluctant in starting a startup of their own. He also classifies the reasons as valid concerns or bogus. And it serves as a checklist to exmaine one’s feelings.
The reasons are:
- Too young.
- Too inexperienced.
- Not determined enough.
- Not smart enough.
- Know nothing about business.
- No cofounder.
- No idea.
- No room for more startups.
- Family to support.
- Independently wealthy.
- Not ready for commitment.
- Need for structure.
- Fear of uncertainty.
- Don’t realize what you’re avoiding.
- Parents want you to be a doctor.
- A job is the default.
I initially thought I would extract the most important points and list them down here itself, but then having read the post multiple times already, I would say every line is important. And if I attempted to just highlight the key points and arguments that would some how not convey the entire picture and meaning correctly. Which is absolutely critical.
However the very essence of the post is to start a startup early, rather than looking for a regular job for the sake of experience. A regular job tends to take you away from the goal of starting your own startup rather than assisting or speeding the very process. As a regular job would transform one into a tame animal and what a startup would be able to teach, a regular corporate job will not be able to in the same amount of time.
In a nustshell. The Sooner the better!
Annual list of 40 most innovative companies.
Source Wired.com:
The top 10 being:
- Apple
- Genentech
- Samsung
- News Corp
- Nintendo
- Salesforce.com
- Cisco
- General Electric
- Nvidia
Visit the article for the complete list. Raja of outsourcing – Infosys is ranked 14th.
Need to get my hands on The Secret.
Anil Gupte has suggested me to read a book called ”The Secret” and watch the movie too. Seems like the basic wisdoms of life have been very well written in this book.
By the way, I see that this book in Amazon.com has a ranking of #2. Must be really nice. The book has close to 994 reviews. The highest ranking and number of reviews I have ever seen for a book so far.
Need to get my hands on the book.
Windows Live Writer
All this while I had been creating posts online, using WordPress’ online interface.
I came across “Windows Live Writer” – an offline blog editor from Microsoft this morning. My last post was written via Windows Live Writer. It’s a gem. Very easy to manage and create posts.
The software has a nice user interface and is free for download.
Cheers!
Dinner with a great person and an entrepreneur.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to catch up with my friend, customer and mentor – Anil Gupte here in Hong Kong. He is on a trip to Hong Kong to attend the Electronics fair that is being held in Hong Kong’s Asia World Expo.
He is an entrepreneur and a technologist par excellence and a great human being. A serial entrepreneur having built and sold successful IT firms in the US. He is currently working on his new venture and I had the opportunity to help him build a part of his system, while I was working as a free lance developer / consultant back in India.
Anil is a great teacher and a mentor. He is the one from where I get most of my first hand lessons on entrepreneurship. The other mentor being my father who has been a successful businessman since the past 30 + years.
Anil is a fighter, persistent, confident, positive, logical, patient, humble, down-to-earth and as he mentions he is not meant to fit into the corporate space. He loves challenges and looks at exploring life to the fullest.
He joined us for dinner at home last night.
JAX INDIA CONFERENCE 2007
SDA India Magazine and sda-india.com present the first of its kind conference on Java, Eclipse, Enterprise Architectures, SOA, Web Services, Software Testing, and Project Management, to the Indian Enterprise IT community of CIOs, CTOs, Management, System Analysts, Development Managers, IT Managers, Project Managers, Project Leaders, Software Architects, Software Developers, Software Testers, Database Administrators, and Web Developers. Whether you are a decision maker evaluating the use of these technologies, an IT business looking for partners and networking opportunities, or a working professional looking to stay on the cutting-edge of technology, this is one conference you don’t want to miss.
The core of the program is aimed at dissemination of information on all Java technologies, Eclipse and related technologies, Enterprise Architectures, and SOA, which are necessary ingredients for a successful business. Besides this, JAX also focuses on aspects pertaining to project management and software testing, which are key to the functioning of distributed enterprises
Date and Venue: 28th to 31st May 2007, J N Tata Auditorium, IISc, Bangalore, India
More details here.
Attention Web 2.0 Start-Ups: Party May Be Ending
An interesting post on the affect the global recession could have on the Web 2.0 firms.
Wonderful trip to Shenzhen.
Had a great trip to Shenzhen, China. Few of the snaps are as follows:
In the Kowloon KCR station to catch a train to Shenzhen (Lo Wu):
On the train to Shenzhen from Kowloon.
Outside the Shenzhen train station:
Lo Wu Commercial Centre:
Entrance of the Windows of the World:
Had an amazing time. Weather was very nice. Were awe struck to see the developments of Shenzhen, China.
Planning to go to Shenzhen tomorrow.
Planning to go to Shenzhen tomorrow with family for shopping and to see the “Window of the World“.
Dawnay Day to invest $1.5 bn in Indian realty.
Source Business Standard (India):
- Dawnay Day International, the $10 billion UK-based investment company, is planning to invest $1.5 billion in the booming Indian real estate sector in the next two years.
- Dawnay Day has entered into a joint venture with a Bangalore-based family to develop a mixed property development including office and retail on 16 acres with an investment of Rs 400 crore. Dawnay Day India Land, headed by MK Singh, will execute the project.
- G Naggar, chairman of Dawnay Day International, said, “Though realty prices are cooling down and interest rates are going up, Indian real estate space is very interesting. We want to actively develop properties by forming JVs with landowners, apart from outright purchase, consortium tendering/auctions. We will be part of India’s development and growth and will invest in property and infrastructure projects across India’s geography.”
- Unlike Europe where Dawnay Day is mostly into development of commercial space, the firm would focus on residential development in India, Naggar said.
- “We like to invest mostly in commercial development. But, we want to focus on the enormous opportunity in the residential development equally in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Finding the right partner and the right property is our priority,” he said.
- Dawnay Day is even exploring possibilities in warehousing, as the group sees a lot of potential in the sector in wake of burgeoning organised sector in the country.
- On the Indian real estate sector, Naggar said, “With rising interest rates and inflation on one side and rapidly developing Indian economy on the other, realty prices should soon stabilise. This cooling off and drop in the stock prices of realty firms provides an excellent opportunity for us to invest in realty projects, including integrated townships.”
- The UK-based companies has three subsidiaries in India — financial services provider and advisory firm Dawnay Day AV India, Dawnay Day Hotels India and real estate development firm Dawnay Day India Land.
- Dawnay Day Hotels India has plans to invest $200 million to build 10-15 hotels in the next three years. It has acquired properties in four cities — Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Jaipur — and are close to finalising deals to buy properties in three other cities.
Dawnay is surely trying to capitalise on the shortage of ~19.4 million housing units, including ~6.7 million units in urban India, hence it makes sense for them to invest in residential spaces in India than in commercial.
Seems like foreign investors in the Indian reality sector are mushrooming at the same pace as Web 2.0 companies, both wanting a bite of their respective spaces.
With so much money and so many players, in the reality sector, it would be interesting to see how the developers differentiate themselves from one another based on cost, amenities, payment facilities, brand name, transparency, quality, customer service et… One’s mistake will be other’s advantage. I am sure the firms will be working hard not to make a mistake and loose credibility and market share.
Analysts build fortunes on realty boom
Source Business Standard (India) :
- India Inc’s booming realty sector is triggering an unprecedented demand for real estate analysts.
- Demand for analysts, experts and consultants is not only emerging from brokerage houses and advisory companies, but also from merchant bankers, media, aviation and big corporate houses, which plan to develop their land-banks.
- There, however, exists a shortage of professionals. According to Jai Mavani, executive director, KPMG India, “This is because, traditionally, the sector was opaque and did not have the scale and institutional involvement. After companies started hitting the markets and more realty-based financial products rolled out, the need for superior research and financial engineering arose.”
- KPMG has a team of 25-30 professionals, who specialise in real estate.
- This year, students of the Indian School of Business were flooded with lucrative offers from real estate consultancies and finance companies.
- Mutual funds are also gearing up for infrastructure and real estate schemes, even though the latter has not yet received the regulator’s nod. UTI Mutual Fund has already hired experts for infrastructure and would be exploring real estate schemes, once permitted.
- Leading private airline Jet Airways is also scouting for real estate experts to gear up its proposed pilot training institute project.
- The demand for analysts grew significantly after the realty sector was opened to foreign investment and companies tapped domestic and global capital markets to raise funds. Kirti Dalvi of Angel Broking feels that compared with other sectors, real estate analysts have to focus more on valuation part of the company.
- “Valuing a land bank is different from the process followed in other sectors. A fresh talent choosing this area has to spend much time in adopting these skills. Few years back, this was not seen as a drawback, but now companies highly appreciate these skills,” she said.
- On the remuneration front too, analysts are having a good time. An analyst with 2-3 years of experience is drawing anywhere between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.
Seems like a boom time for analysts and real estate agents. Each time foreign money starts to flow in the country, the sector sees a growth in the demand for professionals – IT, real estate, tax planners, financial consultants are a few examples. A similar trend might be on the rise in the retail setor too. Professionals with sourcing, logistics and distribution experiences will in high demand.
