desirer. thinker. doer.
dreamer. wisher. trier. fighter.
builder. seller. doubter. surer.
finder. keeper. sharer.
seeker. giver.
hoper. no-hoper. prayer.
fixer. better. wonderer. wanderer.
entrepreneur.
The startup space needs some weight gain
On a recent thread on India's startup ecosystem vis-a-vis the idea of the startup visa that's doing the rounds, someone mentioned that in the US they saw a lot of support for the underdog - which is what startups are. This support came in the form of users signing up, the biggies willing to work with startups and angels and VCs more readily putting their weight behind ideas.
In India, its a tougher battle, to put it mildly.
Most users are less than enthusiastic, and even nervous, about signing up for a startup's service. Unless it is purely (small) transactional with very low risk, or comes as a huge deal, or serves a so-far unserved, desperate need. Anything less than this, and we need the weight of a big brand.
Big enterprise doing business with small guys is the same story - except it needs a much lower risk or a much stronger need. Else, no go.
I almost don't blame the VCs for following this trend. Few buyers, few users - would you put your money into it ?
The startups that are working are doing it around transactions. Sell books, tickets. Anything that needs some longer "commitment" falters. It can happen as a grey/white label, or with some smart dealmaking, but else is very very tough.
How do we solve this, and do it right ?
- Start with something transactional/low risk. Even if you intend to solve longer term problems, drive stickiness, etc. Tryouts are important.
- Get a dealmaker or two on your side. Easier said than done, of course :)
- Do NOT pay users to use stuff. It might give you a spike, but it isn't worth it. Avoid freebies, except for being thankful.
- Persist :) The curve will take its time. Goes hand in hand with lean-burn too.
These are some things startups can do to work around the problem. The core of it - i.e. making startups feel a little more "secure" and "weighty" in the eyes of the user, investor, big-biz, is still an open problem.
Ideas ?
Irritation to Go-live in a few hours
A couple of days ago, got yet-another-email in my inbox announcing deals. As is often the case, they were either uninteresting/of unclear value or felt like a trap with layers of well disguised fine print.
My first reaction was the usual irritation - the kind you have when a smrt-ass-wannabe tries to take you for a ride and you just manage to spot it in time. But, over lunch which I had in a few minutes later, it occurred to me that I might possibly not be alone in this sea of deal-noise. And that like me, folks naturally have a nose for good, genuine deals which actually made sense.
And as I thought more, it became obvious that the whole definition of a "deal" as a "discounted" offer was flawed. I'd just bought great tyres for my dad's car - even at no discount they were awesome deals compared to the other choices. And we humans, we just know these things, don't we ? Especially Indians - VFM is part of our DNA.
Of course, we find deals everywhere. And the really interesting ones are those that are around us - those in the neighbourhood mall, or with our usual grocer, or favourite diner. Offline, online. Sometimes just a friend selling something they don't need anymore.
So created the easiest thing I could - a Facebook page for dealrater. And followed up with a WordPress install with a plugin for voting deals up or down. And then added a Google spreadsheet form so folks could add stuff they found VFM, or a great deal they'd go for themselves.
The site is now up at http://dealrater.in. Its a simple blog with some features now, and will grow if my gut feel of folks being better at this, and interested in cutting down deal-noise is vindicated (them being able to find the site is of course part of the testing so help me please :))
// Pardon the crappy logo - its a 2 minute job to get started. Will get a fancier, designed one later.
All of this took sporadic effort over all of 48 hours. Including some data seeding.
Great vs Profitable Business
Purely based on a few stray examples,
Is it that for building a really profitable business you usually have to build for common denominators and base desires? Great businesses aren't always immediately wildly profitable. The common denominators are easier to find.
Hot or Not or Whatever Happened to Joy ?
There was a time we caught two movies a week, sometimes. We did not always need to know from the reviews beforehand if the movie was "worth watching" - it was more about deriving pleasure and a good time out of whatever we watched. Sometimes we suspended disbelief, sometimes we needed to carry empathy as we went in, sometimes we gave in to feeling spooked, and sometimes it was intensely and deeply intellectual.
It was not about 0 or 10 - all movies were certainly not reduced to a binary choice.
"We value our time more" - often heard argument in this context. Really? You'd just catch a movie in the time you spend reading the multitude of reviews and analyses of one. And if you value your time, you'll construct it in different entertaining surprising ways - not just in the mould of one dreary totally expected and conformist superlative.
The movie reviews (and of course those darned multiplex prices) have killed it. Bigtime.
I am in violation of Google's policies! {Shiver}
This is what I saw in the mail this morning:
This message was sent from a notification-only email address that does not accept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, While reviewing your account, we noticed that you are currently displaying Google ads in a manner that is not compliant with our policies. For instance, we found violations of AdSense policies on pages such as Please note that this URL is an example and that the same violations may exist on other pages of your website. As stated in our program policies, AdSense publishers may not display Google ads on pages with adult or mature content. While we understand that it may be challenging to monitor user-generated content, such as comments, on your site, we require publishers to check that the webpages containing their ad code complies with our program policies. Please make any necessary changes to your webpages in the next 72 hours. We also suggest that you take the time to review our program policies to ensure that all of your other pages are in compliance. Once you update your site, we will automatically detect the changes and ad serving will not be affected. If you choose not to make the changes to your account within the next three days, your account will remain active but you will no longer be able to display ads on the site. Please note, however, that we may disable your account if further violations are found in the future. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, The Google AdSense Team Issue ID# 166xxxxx ---------------- For more information regarding this warning email, please visit our Help Center: As far as I remembered, I have not cut-pasted or written or even pointed to any adult content on the web, tho yeah, there's lot which indicates maturity on both the readers' and authors part. Obviously, I was a little flabbergasted. On clicking the culprit link, I realized there were some eastern-script (Chinese?) comments that I could not make head or tail of, and had never noticed, or been notified about! Especially given that this is on Google's own blogging platform, does this sound like its fair ? Not from where I stand. For one, the algos could, and should, easily isolate the offending comments, realize its not author-originated, and maybe hide those? At worst, maybe send me a friendlier note about "Hey we've found some shady material from your commenters, wanna take care of it? Its interfering with our Adsense policies." But no sir, I have been found in violation for someone else's actions, inaction and clearly no "adult" intent on my part. And if "further violations are found in the future" I will lose the privilege of using Adsense! And the huge riches - all of $36 - that I could accumulate from the same. I am terror-stricken! Honestly, Big-G, this is a very very lousy approach to managing consumers/customers. There's not even a way of getting back to someone in there and clarifying! You're losing the mojo a bit, and this needs to be part of the reforms if you want that back. If its a "just machines" approach, sure we understand, but first make those machines a little smarter before you send threatening notes to users. Aside : For the longest time I'd cribbed that most folks had a "we-re wrong, Google's right" if something didn't quite work out with using a Google service. A set of results that left one unsatisfied just meant we'd not framed the query well. People started to, and continue to, rewrite sites for the express purpose of being in Googles good books and ranks. Isn't that a little screwed ? I do see cracks in that mindset, and one hears f the SEO problem etc more often.
I am in violation of Google's laws!
This is what I saw in the mail this morning:
This message was sent from a notification-only email address that does notaccept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hello,While reviewing your account, we noticed that you are currently displayingGoogle ads in a manner that is not compliant with our policies. Forinstance, we found violations of AdSense policies on pages such ashttp://entrypreneur.blogspot.com/2009/11/catching-entrepreneurial-bug-side.html.Please note that this URL is an example and that the same violations mayexist on other pages of your website.As stated in our program policies, AdSense publishers may not displayGoogle ads on pages with adult or mature content. While we understand thatit may be challenging to monitor user-generated content, such as comments,on your site, we require publishers to check that the webpages containingtheir ad code complies with our program policies.Please make any necessary changes to your webpages in the next 72 hours.We also suggest that you take the time to review our program policies(https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=48182&stc=aspe-1pp-en)to ensure that all of your other pages are in compliance.Once you update your site, we will automatically detect the changes and adserving will not be affected. If you choose not to make the changes toyour account within the next three days, your account will remain activebut you will no longer be able to display ads on the site. Please note,however, that we may disable your account if further violations are foundin the future.Thank you for your cooperation.Sincerely,The Google AdSense TeamIssue ID# 166xxxxx----------------For more information regarding this warning email, please visit our HelpCenter:https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=113058&stc=aspe-ai4-en.
As far as I remembered, I have not cut-pasted or written or even pointed to any adult content on the web, tho yeah, there's lot which indicates maturity on both the readers' and authors part. Obviously, I was a little flabbergasted. On clicking the culprit link, I realized there were some eastern-script (Chinese?) comments that I could not make head or tail of, and had never noticed, or been notified about!
Especially given that this is on Google's own blogging platform, does this sound like its fair ? Not from where I stand. For one, the algos could, and should, easily isolate the offending comments, realize its not author-originated, and maybe hide those? At worst, maybe send me a friendlier note about "Hey we've found some shady material from your commenters, wanna take care of it? Its interfering with our Adsense policies."
But no sir, I have been found in violation for someone else's actions, inaction and clearly no "adult" intent on my part. And if "further violations are found in the future" I will lose the privilege of using Adsense! And the huge riches - all of $36 - that I could accumulate from the same. I am terror-stricken!
Honestly, Big-G, this is a very very lousy approach to managing consumers/customers. There's not even a way of getting back to someone in there and clarifying! You're losing the mojo a bit, and this needs to be part of the reforms if you want that back. If its a "just machines" approach, sure we understand, but first make those machines a little smarter before you send threatening notes to users.
Aside : For the longest time I'd cribbed that most folks had a "we-re wrong, Google's right" if something didn't quite work out with using a Google service. A set of results that left one unsatisfied just meant we'd not framed the query well. People started to, and continue to, rewrite sites for the express purpose of being in Googles good books and ranks. Isn't that a little screwed ? I do see cracks in that mindset, and one hears f the SEO problem etc more often.
Thus Far
I started writing code in grade 7, and in the 8th (in 1988!), had stitched up a desktop app (we called them "projects" back then) that presented visual + text questions - with some level of animated graphics painstakingly coded one motion at a time - to test people's knowledge of road rules and best practices. I saw a very similar - tho of course more advanced - piece of software when I took my driving license test at the DMV in Beaverton, OR.
College was one massive waste of time, except a couple of interesting "projects" we did - from a fundamental growth of knowledge point of view. Sure we picked up a lot of stuff, but didn't really connect to lots of it till much later, as we stumbled upon concept after beautiful concept.
My first job was in operating systems - initially in the command layer and later - nirvana - inside the kernel itself - of a very cutting edge OS for parallel architectures. I learnt new stuff every single day.
The next job came because of a huge jump in salary - and got boring as hell in a few weeks. We were porting massive amounts of code with very little clue to the underlying architectures, designs or even concepts. Personally, that turned out to be a good place because I couldn't bear to stay in front of the screen doing diffs on logs - so automated bits and pieces and improved my scripting skills a lot. Laziness, boredom are indeed drivers of innovation :)
An unexpected switch to an "R&D" group brought much needed activity to the brain - we were trying to solve the problem of base platform developers who needed to fix bugs reported on platforms that the code had been ported on to. Did my first major design work for this - and got to a stage where basic core dumps from one platform could be captured and migrated to the base platform, with context intact, for debugging. Filed a few patents, and this would've had a major impact if it were used for reduced triaging effort and manpower.
The next bit of "R&D" involved mapping pieces of database logic - across constructs and languages - to a common format, looking for opportunity for recommended practices, improvements and optimizations as documented in a huge number of "expert" level books and cross-compiling into an appropriate target language. Awesome work again, and we got to present this and interact with end users for whom this could be potentially very very useful. But, as is the fitrat of R&D projects, that, was that. Of course, with a coupld of more patent applications filed.
Yahoo was a huge opportunity and next step in "impact". I got into the fascinating realm of machine learning, information retrieval and text mining that I had no formal training in, yet took to - more pragmatically than most with formal training - instantly. We did a great job of our project - coming with lots of innovative ideas, techniques and solutions than solved more than just our immediate problem. It was a joyride and even had impact as it got rolled out as a new property for Yahoo India. Of course, where that went then became a question.
Another zoom-out followed as yet another R&D effort where we were trying to model visualize and deal with messages, chats, mails, blogs etc as one : conversations - with social authority and impact used for ranking. This was way before buzz/facebook etc had made an appearance. Good work again. R&D project again :)
Then Ziva happened. An amazing exciting journey that started with ideas, design, implementations, customer interfacing - but took me way beyond code. The scale of problems and impact assessment grew to envelope the software/development bit of it as one part of the solution, not the whole of it. Not that we succeeded in doing all we started to - but the neurons were pushed hard everyday, and the breadth of skills and ability to deal with fuzziness grew tremendously.
So much so that I became what I refer to as a "Product Manager". This is a much abused term and means a lot many things to a lot many people. To me its the guy who's got the 360 around a product in his head, and driving his life. Needs people to build, sell, hire etc etc - but the one who's marrying the strategic to the tactical, and keeping track of the story.
Linger is an effort at product management too. The code-writing is very different. But fundamentally, the ideas are the same. A product needs to be designed, created, tweaked continuously. The team has expanded, and the vision has grown.
What I've realized is that each plateau, there's been an urge to see if the problem solving effort made any real difference - and the next level was subconsciously desired, and found. Its not the coding, or the designs, or the rollouts that mattered. The question about what they became - or led to - eventually cropped up. Managing to score on somebody else's report card did not satisfy at all.
Is entrepreneurship the culmination of this ? Is this freedom to think, create, follow a path the ultimate path to satisfaction ? Dunno, but so far, its better, and I have found in me an urge to keep doing this despite its not insignificant costs. Amazingly, all the old rules of "hard work" (as measured), killer instinct, dog-eat-dog etc seem to not apply. Yes it still takes work and getting around a lot of procrastination - but those are by-products of a bigger desire, not drivers.
As always - "lets see how this goes".
Product Strategy & Management
While I'm working more or less fulltime on Linger I do miss the excitement of product creation (i.e. in the software space - Linger's a product in its own right!) and do think I have enough to offer towards this.
Of course I'm not likely to take up a "fulltime job" so please do not offer me one. I'm not looking at being co-founder and what not - thats a step one can take only after a decently long engagement and if all the stars are aligned. But I like solving interesting problems, and I like the challenges that product roadmaps bring.
So if you think you're could do with some help/inputs on this front, ping me at get.sameer AHT gmail.com and let me know what you're doing.
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