Now as July is nearing it’s end , here is the list of my picks for this month
My comment to his post hereRelated Links:
After a busy Collective schedule at the BarCamp Bangalore4 (about which there would be a brief article tomorrow) , there were many surprises (for me) that were seen in BCB4 as compared to other BCB’s.
Looking at the frequency of the posts, few people(with whom I interacted) felt that I am a FULL TIME BLOGGER !!! I had one answer that “Blogging is like the holy relation of marriage,where the blog and the author(of the blog) should lead a happy married life . This means that if you take blogging very seriously and passionately,you get addicted to it and you would never know when you become a Blog Addict !!! I would definitely add myself in the list of Blog Addicts since,the first thing which comes to my mind in the morning is what would be my new blog article…
Just came across an interesting article on “Blogger’s Blog” that has a list of 5 questions and if you answer 3 of them in affrimation,that you can proudly consider yourself a Blog Addict 
Hurray, ThoughtsPrevail is an effort of a Blog Addict !!! To add one more feather to your cap,you can also check out Blue Blooded Blogging , which touches on the passion of Blogging and says:
“Blue-Blooded Blogger” is not just about the addiction, but more on the passion and love for blogging and everything related to it.You can have a look at this new terminology called Blue Blooded Blogging here.
In a nutshell,as a blogger I am a Blog Addict as a well as a “Blue Blooded Blogger”
You can download the BBB badge from here.So,Try out,if you are one of the addicts in the Blogosphere and also spread this addiction message to others in the Blogosphere !!!
So, your newly created blog is your own BABY or should I call your startup?
Isn’t Blogging related to Startup? Below are some of lessons a blogger learns over a period of time,which are the key elements to any startup:
a. Market Study:
You have decided to take a plunge into Blogging but don’t know where to start? Some say Blogger is good and for others WordPress is better(and yes it is open source).Other bloggers say “Better to have your own domain name?” and list of suggestions keep on coming.This in turn helps you interact with lot of bloggers and check up,where the technology is heading and plus,who knows the people with whom you have interacted will be your future readers(or customers).
b. Bootstrapping your blog:
When you have a startup,the initial hurdle is bootstrapping your startup.So,after the initial market study,you have decided to have your own domain name.If you are still in your teens,you have to hunt out for that initial sum to register your domain.You reach out parents,friends or others in your locality(and trying to convince them for the amount and ROI you would fetch through your blog.You haven’t made a business plan but still learnt lot of aspects about funding
c. Brand Building:
So,you have done the market study,done the bootstrapping.Bigger confusion now,what should be the blog URL?Will my target be just the local audience or would it address the international community as well? So,you need a Blog name that is easy to be spelt/easy to search on Google or one which would be recognized by international audience as well.Need to build a band image for your blog which is very much needed at each and every phase of a startup.
d. Marketing (reach out people):
Now,you are ready with few posts,but you are not getting enough readership.Oops,you have not marketed your blog?You now build a strategy to get more readers(so called customers).This in turn helps you to polish you marketing skills and build a larger customer base
e. Get Customer feedback:
Now after effective marketing,you have managed to build a larger customer-base.But with this comes lot of suggestions or feedback.You being the founder of your blog,have to figure out which comment/feedback to incorporate in your blog.Thus,blog helps you form a strong communication channel between you(as a blog owner) and your readers(who are the customers of your blog).
f. Revenue Model:
(Note: This is only applicable for people who are blogging for money)
You have a blog , marketed it and built a strong customer base(same readers do turn back,which is very motivating for your startup).As many say “If you have a Good idea,money follows you” but if that does not happen,you would now need to have proper model in place.Should I put Google Ads, Text Link Ads or Review Me ….Yes, you never knew that doing this, you were building a revenue model,just like every startup has a model.
g. Mentorship and Ecosystem building:
Every Entrepreneur would love to have a mentor.But how does it feel that you(as a blogger), being a mentor?.As you begin to devote more time creating a brand for your blog,you have already built a strong market knowledge !!! Very soon,you would find mails flowing into your mailbox with the new aged bloggers asking for help(guidance).This does not seem to stop with just one blogger but you would be the change agent to many of such new age bloggers. You are now a mentor for these bloggers and are indirectly building a healthy Entrepreneurial Ecosystem,which would have been very difficult without your blog
These are some random thoughts coming from my startup ThoughtsPrevail,if you have some more thoughts do share them by leaving a comment.
Must for every aspiring Entrepreneur This podcast made my day !!!
Interview Curtosy : Kamla Bhatt of PodTech
The Economic Times Network has an interesting article titled “America’s loss may be India’s gain” , on home-coming of the heroes(ie NRI Entrepreneurs ).Some interesting excerpts below:
Guard against complacency all the time.Complacency makes you blind to the early signals from the environment that something is going wrong.
For every problem that change represents, there is an opportunity lurking in disguise somewhere. It is up to you to spot it before someone else does.
While routines are useful, do not let them enslave you. Deliberately break out of them from time to time.
Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to manage fear without getting paralyzed. Feel the fear, but move on regardless.
You have to constantly learn about people and how to interact effectively with them. In the world of tomorrow, only those individuals and organizations will succeed who have mastered the art of rapid and on-going learning.
Spend time with people who have a “can-do” approach.Reasonable optimism can be an amazing force multiplier.
Playing to win would help you to concentrate your energy on what you can influence instead of getting bogged down with the worry of what you cannot change. Do your best and leave the rest.
If you succeed 90 per cent of the time, you are doing fine. If you are succeeding all the time, you should ask yourself if you are taking enough risks. If you do not take enough risks, you may also be losing out on many opportunities.
In spite of all the change around you, decide upon what you will never change: your core values.
All of us have a responsibility to utilize our potential for making our nation a better place for others, who may not be as well endowed as us, or as fortunate in having the opportunities that we have got. Let us do our bit, because doing one good deed can have multiple benefits not only for us but also for many others.
You can have a look at the complete presentation below:
Wondering what is Bang(osphere) , let me reveal it – It is the arrival of a new phase of Blogosphere in Bangalore.Having missed second edition of Proto,my wish was that the Bangalore Blogger’s Meet,termed “Blogaloreans” would turn out to be interesting 
And to my surprise it was not so interesting but VERY interesting
Around 50 bloggers from Bangalore , met at around 10:30AM in BrewHaHa and the charge was seen right from the beginning.The session with a brief round of introduction and there were all sorts of bloggers – Seasoned, Newly,Geeky,Non-Geeky……Bloggers(and others) in the crowd were really excited when I disclosed that I found my partner through my blog and my introductory session was really interesting(photo below).The introductory session went on for around 45-50 minutes and than started the topics of discussion.
Himanshu, introducing himself
Blog’a’loreans : In a nutshell:
– Sridhar Rao(who eats-drinks-sleeps startups) and Harinath Pudipeddi(Aspiring Social Entrepreneur) shared their idea of a Web NGO,which seemed to be quite appealing.Lot’s of ideas from the audience in the meet and this idea would be discussed in BarCamp Bangalore-4 (BCB-4)
– Now it was my turn to make a Pitch .With “Wings” just around 3 weeks away,we required support in any way that was possible and this was the best place to make the Pitch.Ashwin than took over the baton from me and made an excellent pitch for Wings as well as Nisarga India.There were quite valuable suggestions , which would help us to take things forward !!!
– Arun Ramarathnam , one of the organizers of BCB4 gave a small introduction about BarCamp and how we can carry forward the discussion carried out here in the unconference He also put forward a very good question “Who are the 5 most influential blogger’s in Bangalore” and his first recommendation was Thejesh G N who manages EventsInBangalore.Debate than started on the controversial word INFLUENTIAL , since it varies from individual to individual and that debate was left incomplete 
[I wished at least few people recommended me as one of the Influential Blogger’s in Bangalore ]
– Finally,we had a discussion on “Domain registration” for the formation of this community and this would be a one stop for “Bloggers in Bangalore”.
– There were few topics which were untouched which would be discussed at a larger scale in BCB4 as a part of the “Blogger’s Collective“.Sanjukta,the enthusiastic advocate and one of the organizers of “Bangalore Blogger’s Meet”,made a closing note for the event.Oh Oh , forgot something, it was Sridhar’s birthday and he was given birthday bumps(a memorable day for him).
What I missed at the event:
– Wanted to meet Ramjee Ganti and Piyush Gupta,the two geeky guys but I guess they missed the event 
– Could not blog the event live though AJ has a done a wonderful job by blogging it here
The event started in a grand way and also ended in a grand way !!!! Thumbs up to the organizers Sanjukta and Dhivya for this event…This event could easily be termed as a Mini-UnConference 
What other blogger’s are saying about Blog’a’loreans:
Jayanth – Bangalore Blogger’s Meet – BrewHaHa
Prashanth – Bangalore Bloggers Meet: We Met up!
AJ – Bangalore Blogger’s Meet
Neha – Bangalore Blogger’s Meet
Mutiny – Blog’a’loreans’ (Bangalore Bloggers’) Meet – 21st Jul 07
Adheeth – Bangalore Bloggers Meet – Blog’a’loreans
Tanay – Bangalore Blogger’s Meet
Bikram – Bangalore Bloggers’ Meet
Cipson – Bangalore + Blog + Blogger: Bangalore Bloggers Meet
Lavanya – A Phlogger’s guide to the Blogalorean meet
Anbusivam – Blog’a’loreans- Meet
Thejesh – Meet Bangalore Blogger at bcb4
Jerry – Blog-a-loreans’ (Bangalore Blogger’s) Meet – 21st Jul 07
Image Courtesy: Arun Ramarathnam
Jerry
Logo Courtesy: Mutiny
Blog’a’loreans covered in Bangalore Mirror(23rd July,2007):
Bangalore Mirror covered the event and guess what,Wings was covered in the article(marked in RED BOX in the article)….I am also seen in the photo(but not so visible )
After a busy day at the Bangalore Blogger’s Meet(about which we all have decided to blog tomorrow ) , managed to take some time out to take an interesting book-“The Entrepreneurial Connection by Gurmeet Naroola“.The book has interviews of “25 NRI Entrepreneurs” , excluding Narayana Murthy and Azim Premji.Listed below are some of the interesting quotes from those Entrepreneurs:
1.
The most important attribute of leadership is to set aggressive goals and allow people to achieve them with authority and accountability.
–Arun Netravali [Bell Labs]
2.
One must not get married to technology but married to the hole in the market place (Startups are born out of existing problems )
–Raj Parekh [Sun Microsystems]
3.
I try to get people to think in terms of miles, not inches.
–Vinod Khosla [Kliener Perkins Caufield & Byers]
4.
The strategist must also be like an artist-somebody who strives to break the mold,to change the rules of the game.
–Anil K Gupta [Stanford University]
5.
Great companies are built on vision.
–Romesh Wadhawani [I2 Corporation]
6.
The sense of fair play is at the heart of everything you do.
–Kanwal Rekhi [Excelan , TiE]
7.
Knowledge in technology, products and markets-these are the three dimensions that are extremely important to create great companies.
–Saiyed Atiq Raza [Raza Foundries]
8.
The problem lies not in the idea but it’s execution.That is the key.
–Vani Kola [RightWorks]
9.
An important reason for my success is the presence of a very secure and supportive family.
–Prabhu Goel [Gateway Design]
10.
The smart entrepreneur knows which revenue he wants and is willing to give revenue to other people so that he can gain three times more.
–K.B.Chandrasekhar [Jamcracker]
11.
In the technology sector,morphing is a given and the leader who can’t steer the morphing will get thrown by the wayside very quickly.
–Vinod Dham [Silicon Spice]
12.
We thrive on the challenge of outrunning big companies.
–Desh Deshpande [Sycamore Communications]
13.
Our fundamental philosophy is to synergize the organizations objectives and individual aspirations
–Narayana Murthy [Infosys]
14.
Customer strategy is a thoughtful combination of technology strategy and customer requirements.
–Jayshree Ullal [Cisco Systems]
15.
Leaders are typically able to see most things in both a raw and an integrated fashion.
–Rajat Gupta [McKinsey & Company]
16.
The reward of entrepreneurship is the satisfaction that is gained in successfully scaling the walls or maneuvering around the road bump.
–Krish Prabhu [Alcatel Globalization]
17.
The ability to profit from and react to change is what the game is all about.
–Vivek Ranadive [TIBCO Systems]
18.
I look for strengths in people and not their weaknesses.
–Raj Singh [StratumOne]
19.
The future is not what happens to you,but what you make out of it.
–Azim Premji [Wipro Corporation]
20.
If the General does not believe that he can win the war,then it does not matter if his army is the world’s best.
–Sabeer Bhatia [Hotmail]
21.
A niche today,an ocean tomorrow.Those are the kinds of situations that represent the best opportunities.
–Suhas Patil [Cirrus Logic]
22.
The true power of growing any enterprise is 5 percent technology and 95 percent psychology.
–Hatim Tyabji [Verifone]
23.
An entrepreneur is one who creates a direction out of confusion.
–Prakash Bhalerao [Ambit Design Systems]
24.
At the point of investment,all prospects look exciting.
–Rafiq Dossani [Stanford University]
25.
If you sing your song,not worrying who listens and what they think,you’re going to be extremely successful.
–Deepak Chopra [The Chopra Center for well being]
