BUZZWORD COMPLIANCE Sanjay Anandaram A friend narrated this to me this morning. He was on a business trip to Taiwan and bumped into a colleague from a much larger division of the same company at Taipei airport. After exchanging some chit-chat, the colleague told my friend that he was likely to be now based out of […]
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Sanjay Anandaram Julius Caesar the great Roman emperor divorced his wife Pompeia as heconsidered his honour and position compromised because Pompeia was indirectly associated with a trial for sacrilege. He explained that his wife should not only be free from sin but from suspicion. Given the state of our political system, this […]
INDIAN CRICKET NEEDS A KERRY PACKER
INDIAN CRICKET NEEDS A KERRY PACKER! Sanjay Anandaram That cricket is a religion in India is a cliché. That cricket exists as an “international†sport largely because of India is a fact. More people, perhaps, play cricket in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park than there are first class cricketers in Australia. Yet how is it that the […]
ENTREPRENEURIAL MBA?
ENTREPRENEURIAL MBA? Sanjay Anandaram An increasing number of universities and colleges are offering courses in  “Entrepreneurship†as part of their business education. Around the world, business plan competitions are held by academic institutions at regular intervals. The wide publicity given to “entrepreneurship†in recent times has resulted in entrepreneurs gaining respect and being acknowledged as […]
DIVERSITY IN HIRING
One of the things that intrigued me when I visited a startup recently was the amazing conformity and homogeneity on display. Most of the team members were from a particular community, from a particular part of the country, had studied in the same set of colleges and had worked in similar roles in similar companies […]
Marc Andreessen raises $300MM for early stage investments
Very interesting news. In this climate of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, noted entrepreneur Marc Andreessen (who led the development of the first web browser and co-founded Netscape, among other things) and Ben Horowitz have raised 300 million dollars for early stage investments: Sources said the fund–which was nicknamed “Project A†but is actually called Andreessen […]
Entrepreneur-Board Dynamics
ENTREPRENEUR-BOARD DYNAMICS Sanjay Anandaram  You’re delighted to have successfully raised capital. You can now execute the plan and grow the business. One of the first things you do is hire senior sales and marketing people. You negotiate their compensation with them and are about to issue an employment contract. Then you remember that you’re […]
Right CEO?
The Right CEO? By Sanjay Anandaram __________________________________________________________________________ Most entrepreneurs (especially wannabees) believe that they should naturally be the CEO of their venture because “hey, its my idea and my company!†Really? are you indeed the right CEO to steer your entrepreneurial dreams to success?  Entrepreneurial ventures are usually created in either or both of these […]
Am I Good Enough?
Am I Good Enough? by Sanjay Anandaram Over the weekend I was a panel member at a mentorship event. One of the presenters was the founder of a company whose business card simply read “Chief Architectâ€. On being asked who the CEO of this company was, he surprised all by saying, “I’m looking out for […]
Who Owns The Company?
Once in a blue moon, this situation repeats itself. The board of a company along with the stake holders and investors are pushing the entrepreneur towards a direction and he/she is really not liking it, and tries the ownership card. “This is my company, and I do have the best in mind for it”. Nobody […]
Consumerization of Enterprise
The notion of enterprise customers as large monolithic technology purchasing entities is on a decline. This perhaps was first visible in sales people popping out their credit cards to buy subscription to salesforce.com. However, the trend is expanding with more and more of social web principles being applied to enterprise software. For some time now, […]
Thinking outside the (cellphone) box
Gigaom has a thought-provoking article on non-cellphone devices which use the cellular networks. The ones that Stacey mentions are: * Smart Insoles * The BI HomeGuard Anklet * Zoombak * The Cameo Picture Frame * Ford Work Solutions * The Flaik * DriveCam Ubiquitous networks are the future, and IMHO, represents a great opportunity for […]