All Posts by Himanshu Sheth

|In: Blogging|Last Updated: | 2 Comments
So here I am again with the same question “Why do you blog?” sad Every blogger,no matter how much is his rate of blogging, every blogger has a reason to blog.Irrespective of the blogging platform,as a blogger(irrespective of the no of readers reading your blog), you yourself are a BRAND in the blogging space biggrin

From a reader’s point of view,when we read a particular blog,we first appreciate the effort behind the blog and we get a clear idea of the person and his dreams , interests, aspirations etc For example,if you blog on :

  • Travel , indicates you would be a travel freak
  • Business, indicates you are passionate about the various aspects of business and aspire/have one smile
  • Entertainment , indicates you are in love with Entertainment and so on……
In fact , Rohit Bhargava,Vice President, Interactive Marketing focusses on “25 ways of blogging“(in the presentation below).After going through the presentation and scratching your head a bit question, you would find an answer to “What is the (exact) genre of your blog” and also “Do you think,you are realizing your aspirations/dreams through your blog?“

So, my blog is a combination of “Ambition Blogging“(trying to achieve my dreams through the medium of blogging) + Repost Blogging (sometimes, picking up a story/stories from other blog and make a story revolving around the same).

The bottom line: “If you have a blog than you have a reason & you are the reason(to blog)” biggrin

|In: Business|Last Updated: | 1 Comment
There is a lot of talk about the one lakh rupee car by Tata Motors but this mail(below) would change the way you look at the so called “Low cost vehicle”.Worth a look:

Son:
Papa papa, I want to write more on the paper.

Papa:
But son, if you do that the writing will
overlap. You should understand that for the writing to be visible properly, you need to have only as much writing as would fit in the paper.

Son:
But papa, why is is then that our roads(paper) have limited capacity but still more and more cars(pen) are seen on the road?

Papa:
Well son, you need to ask the aspiring high-earning brains of our society and the credit card
companies and banks.

Son:
Why papa?

Papa:

Because these make the car companies increase their production without understanding that the supporting infrastructure is thrown totally out of gear

Son:
Is that precisely the reason why chief ministers and chief guests report late at every event?

Papa:

Yes son
Son:
If we know the solution why is it not implemented?

Papa:
Son, humans have a tendency to show off and build an image. Whatever they do within the realm of common sense and possibility is fine.

Son:
Should the government not play a role in having a limit on the production of cars?

Papa:

Yes, but then there will be funny people coming with funnier arguments that no one can decide who should produce what of how much quantity. They will argue that if there is a demand, they will produce more cars

Son:
Papa, then these auto companies should be involved in road infrastructure and should dedicate a part of their earnings to such capital investments

Papa:

Son, they will blame it on the Govt. They will say – government is not doing its job of providing infrastructure
Son:
Is there no traffic analysis done? What are the statisticians doing?

Papa:

They are busy working on the demand of cars and how to fulfil them by introducing new launches every few months

Son:
Isn’t this funny?

Papa:

Son, life is full of funny people. They make others go through troubles while they show off their wealth

Son:
I have also seen many CEOs and managers going in cars to their office while it is better and less time consuming for them to travel through public transport

Papa:

Son, as I said humans want to show off their status.

Son:
What to do then?

Papa:

Understand life, speak the truth, don’t fear criticism, transfer the clarity of your mind to lot many others and finally

Son:
And finally?

Papa:

Hope that sanity will prevail over show business


And that roads will be provided some relief from the car flood before introducing 1 lac Re cars let’s broaden the roads a bit or roads will be drowned with cars of every Tom, Dick and Harry!!!

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated: | 7 Comments
Startup Nation is one of the best books that I have read in the recent times.Every page in it is worth keeping in your mind.Let’s ask some general question-What does a person do when he/she travels to the office?Well,you have multiple options a. Chat with your colleagues b. Read some books c. Do day dreaming d. Listen to radio or e. Any other thing…

One of the radio shows that is really popular in Bangalore is Radio City,91.1 FM.Finally,you get a place where you find your favourite songs, RJ’s and also some information on what is happening in your city.Now let’s imagine something…..You have a problem in your career or you are looking out for some tips for your business or anything related to business.In this case,the solution left out is discuss with the people whom you know or discuss with experts smile Imagine having a radio show for the same, what could have been a better medium than discussing your business/startup issues with experts on a “Radio Show” lol Should we call it as a “STARTUP SHOW“? This can be related to a show called as “Startup Nation” in the US , which has hosts as the Sloan Brothers – authors of the book “Startup Nation”.Not only is the concept of a Radio Show for Entrepreneurs very interesting but the story of that concept is even more interesting (and worth reading):

Back in the year 2000, most of the companies could not withstand the bad weather and had to be shut down/reduce the staff strength.Also,investors hesitated to fund companies and the market was left really dry.The Sloan Brothers who were already successful entrepreneurs with their creation “Battery Buddy” were finding hard to stay in the market.Their business model was solely dependent on Angel Investors and hence,they were left in a very tough spot cry

In order to survive the storm, they had to change their business model !!! After speaking to one of their mentors Sam Valenti,they understood that though business has dried up,there is still a huge demand for assistance in starting & running a small business.Companies weren’t hiring -they were only firing.Due to this reason, many people were forced to turn to Entrepreneurship as their solution(to provide them living).Every teacher needs a student and most of the entrepreneurs need mentors(to guide them).This is where they thought of an online radio show called “Startup Nation”,where they would use their Entrepreneurial experience to help other entrepreneurs.

Within few months,StartupNation Radio turned into a big community of like minded entrepreneurs seeking new heights in business and life.On their radio show,they had interviewed the country’s most successful entrepreneurs – people who lead companies called “Super Startups”

This story is really very interesting as well as inspiring.The radio show started by Sloan Brothers was a result of an “Entrepreneurial” ecosystem that was built around it.Basically,it was the need of that particular hour that gave birth to the show.Now coming back to Radio City 91.1 FM,the question is India ready for an “(Indian) StartupNation”show? Do we have an ecosystem which gives birth to more Entrepreneurs? The following article points out that poverty , lack of consumer base and culture are some of the reasons for not having this ecosystem.

What do you say? Is India ready for an online radio show for Entrepreneurs? Caste your vote and have your say.

|In: Blogging|Last Updated: | 3 Comments
Neil Patel of ACS – A social media marketing company shared some of his helpful tips that has helped TechCrunch double it’s Technorati traffic(no of incoming links).He also touches upon some of his other blog clients – Guy Kawasaki and ProBlogger.

Some important excerpts(basic tips for bloggers) from the interview are:

  1. Your blog should be well SEO’ed
  2. There should be a proper title to any article on the blog since,this is what helps you in better listing on search engines

He has also touched upon the “Corporates V/S Bloggers” scene.As per the interview,his preference goes to Bloggers(as clients) , since he feels Bloggers are very easy to work with biggrin.They are very flexible. Companies are harder to deal with.When it comes to corporates,things move very slow since you have to follow the corporate guidelines.

Off Topic Read : Four things we can learn from “The Google Story”

|In: Billionaires|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

As per the Forbes magazine,out of the list of people featured in the magazine,there are only 3 billionaire bloggers:

  1. Pierre Omidyar, $10.4 billion
  2. George Soros, $7.2 billion
  3. Mark Cuban, $1.3 billion
However,these statistics are pretty old and are taken from the year 2004.You would find a funny line mentioned about the other non-blogger billionaires in the list here

But out of the three, only Mark Cuban is the billionaire who blogs very frequently!!! On checking Mark Cuban’s blog,I was pretty amazed to see the frequency by which posts appear on his blog and for few of the posts,there were more than 600 comments surprised

Out of curiosity, when I searched for Billionaire Bloggers in 2006, the search indicated negative results.On searching on Forbes,I came across a different list which listed 25 most influential people on the Internet
It was nice to see Om Malik,Micheal Arrington,Seth Godin and Robert Scoble on the list lol

But I guess,with the power of Blogging and Podcasting,we should be able to find few millionaires or Billionaires, who have a blog or at least few guys becoming millionaires just by blogging smile

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated:
I have been receiving e-mails in last few weeks,which would be of some help and interest to some of us in the crowd(Copy of the Email’s below):

  • Mail from Manufacturing News (wf@world-foundation.org) :

Small and Mobile Production (SMP) to resolve giant problem in developing regions

SMP developed a revolutionary production method that is self-contained, immediate, portable, competitive, accessible because it is so cost-effective and transportable by any means whatsoever: by land, sea, railroad or air with more than hundreds Small and Mobile Production systems. From a technological standpoint, it is an incontrovertible fact that this system is aimed at solving very serious problems, starting with that which is most basic: the survival of millions of human beings.

The SMP is the only system in the world that can provide up to six of the most essential products for basic sustenance for just one dollar per day. SMP will supply to countries and developing regions the technology and necessary support for these Small and Mobile Units.

If you are interested in being a partner in your country or region, you can send your CV to SMP Partners Program Marcia Anderson, Project Manager

  • Mail from ISBM,Ahmedabad (ahmedabad@isbm.org.in) :

MBA in six months

Dear Student,

ISBM is the corporate incubator presenting the unique culture of the 21st century for preparing a candidate for handling the dynamics of business and to apply business know-how to real life professional experiences.

ISBM offers short duration programs in various faculties, which enable the students to acquire value based and world-class Management qualifications while working. These qualifications will obviously enhance the career of students in Business and Management sector.

For further details and prospectus: –
www.isbm.org.in/ahmedabad

Indian School of Business Management & Administration.
1st Floor,
House No 1678 ‘A’,
60 Feet Nehru Rd,
Near kammanahalli Police Station,
kammanhalli,
Bangalore-84. Ph :- 9227159444

|In: BPO|Last Updated: | 1 Comment
When it comes to the Indian BPO industry,we can never miss out two gurus of the industry,
  1. Genpact MD – Pramod Bhasin
  2. Quatrro CEO – Raman Roy
In fact,Raman Roy can be undoubtedly referred as the “Father of Indian BPO industry” biggrin Economic Times had an interview of the Guru,where he touches upon his journey from Spectramind(now called Wipro Spectramind) to Quatrro.

Some of the excerpts are given below:

What’s your management style?
Do unto other that you wish others to do unto you. Fundamentally, I have worked with all levels of people in my professional life and the only principle that has survived the test of time is that you have to treat subordinates with respect and dignity. At the end of the day, every activity you follow is people centric – they expect a pat on the back when they have excelled and they don’t have to be let off if they mess up. But the thumb rule is their has to be a cord of mutual respect binding the employer and the employee.

What’s your biggest challenge as a manager?
Managing transparency. When I go and break bad news to my team, they think I must be holding back a lot so the news is perceived as much worst than what I actually tell them. When I say good things, they think I must be holding back stuff so that they don’t bloat. Due to the legacies in earlier assignments, people have still not learned to take me on face value when it comes to being a celestially transparent manager.

Two lessons learned in life
We in India believe in rebirth and go by the philosophy that whatever good or bad one does in this lifetime comes back to you in the next life. But I know for certain that one does not have to wait till the next lifetime. Everything you do unto others comes back to you in this very lifetime. The other thing that stands out as a lighthouse in my life is what I learned partly by working with Azim Premji – money, power and position are all transitionary. So when in position of power and riches, don’t develop a chip on the shoulder. You are always as big as your humility.

Read the complete article here

|In: Blogging|Last Updated: | 1 Comment
There is always a battle between corporates and bloggers.Some companies may feel that “Blogging is a waste of time whereas for some,it enhances their business”.Given below is one of the article’s from Chip Magazine saying “Web 2.0 and Business“.The article shows how companies like Pramati,DirectI,Symantec and SUN Microsystems have used blogs not only the enhancement of their business but also for improving the communication between their employees!!!

This article does indicate that not only startups but also big corporates are adapting Wikis and blogs in their business biggrin