There is an interesting post doing the rounds on the blogsphere which talks about 17 tips for startups. Most of these tips apply to the US, but some are universal, and the one I like the most: fire employees who are not workaholics. I totally agree with this one and strongly recommend that every startup […]
How did you fund your startup?
In the US it is quite common for a startup to get its 1st round of funding from SBA (small business association) or an overdraft of $100K from the neighbourhood bank. After that if cash flows can support you should be able to get more credit from the bank. Then there are Mezzanine funds which […]
IAMAI Entertainment 2.0
Digitalisation is changing how entertainment is used, distributed and developed. From gaming to music to video, mobile entertainment is revolutionizing the industry in ways unheard of just a short time ago. What are the challenges and opportunities developing in this market place? Who are the players? Which business models are succeeding? How will content and […]
17M advanced users, growing at 2.5M a year
A friend of mine who is the founder and CEO of a major Indian internet group estimates that in India there are 15M internet users, beyond email, who log in every week, and this is growing at about 2.5M a year. Plus add another 2M NRIs. This is the relevant Indian market for all non […]
Digital India 12 – 15 Dec 2007
We’ve been talk long at IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association India) about setting up a consumer facing expo with the twin aim of 1. giving our members a platform for interacting with consumers live, which is a critical component of marketing, severely lacking in India; 2. Increasing consumer awareness of the benefits of the Internet, […]
Band of Angels’ 1st Mumbai meeting
Band of Angels, now rechristened Indian Angel Network(IAN) held it’s 1st meeting in Mumbai today afternoon, where 6 businesses presented for raising early stage capital. IAN has now assigned a member to work with each of the businesses to help develop their plan and undertake diligence. Upon completion of these steps, which usually takes a […]
Why are we not gaga over Zoho?
Zoho is arguably the ONLY global product to come out of India from ANY company, and its a sweet product. It gives mighty Google Apps a run for their money; and Zoho’s Creator is a path breaking innovative product. So why is VentureWoods not talking more about Zoho? Is it because of lack of awareness […]
BigAdda’s billboard bash
Just last week our internal office discussion hovered around how PR heavy strategies don’t really work in India, because PR channels like live events, blogs, niche tv, industry publications are not well developed here. People also don’t seem to talk about new products without seeing some major advertising. To get a brand off the ground […]