All Posts by Himanshu Sheth

|In: Business Networking|Last Updated: | 2 Comments
Few days back there was a post on my blog , which was written with the intention to form a group of Entrepreneurs.This would have the benefits of sharing ideas,finding partners, discussing problems(which would result in generation of new ideas) and the list keeps on growing.

It is quite accidental that there is a similar group on LinkedIn started by Dharmesh Shah of OnStartUps , which has a similar kind of purpose.According to Dharmesh,below are the 5 reasons why you should join the “OnStartups LinkedIn group“

5 Great Reasons To Join The OnStartups LinkedIn Group

1. Find other people in your area interested in startups (even if you live in the middle of nowhere).
2. See if you can locate a co-founder for your maniacally brilliant startup idea.
3. Recruit unsuspecting victims to join your startup team
4. Locate a promising startup to join and try your hand at this whole entrepreneurship thing.
5. Find funding for your current startup so you don’t have to beg and plead with your friends and family.
It’s an amazing step by Dharmesh , though there are lot more reasons to join this amazing group biggrin .I have already joined the group , so go ahead and join the “OnStartUps Entrepreneurial community” and help spread the word of “Entrepreneurship”.

Last but not the least,you can read the complete article here

|In: Outsourcing|Last Updated: | 1 Comment
I guess whatever I am writing is not new since, we have read this stuff in newspapers , magazines etc etc We have heard a lot of outsourcing,cost cutting and lot of work being transferred to Asian countries(like India,China etc).Some people have labeled it as a measure to cut costs and some think that India is becoming an IT superpower.Different people,different perception mrgreen

Few days back, I had come with this post which has Thomas Friedman doing research for his bestseller “The World is Flat“.Somehow I felt that India is becoming an attractive place to sink some of the global talent but one incident with an unknown foreigner(cannot say her foreigner since,I felt she was very much impressed with India) proved it all.Keep on reading to know more about the story.

I was walking with my friend on 80 feet road in Indiranagar,Bangalore when a young lady named Lisa(who works in a Non IT firm in Bangalore….yup Non-IT rolleyes) comes and asks us(me and my friend) for a cricket playground.Well,I had no idea about the ground and so I decided to kickstart a small conversation.The conversation revolved around her experiences in India.

Lisa told that she is from Germany and than she started telling about Bangalore(and how she landed up here).I could a big glimpse in her eyes when she started telling about it smile).One thing I was impressed with is that she knew the names of many roads in Bangalore(and I wasn’t aware about half of them cry)From the way she spoke,I could make out that she really liked working in Bangalore and I asked her the reason.Her reply was a surprise to me.She told that she wanted to mention India in her resume as that would add lot of value to her resume.

Her talk pretty much amazed me surprised.She also mentioned that some of her friends are planning to shift here and if she feels more comfortable here,she would settle in Bangalore itself.

This is just a small example of India shining and I think more news(like this one) would put India in a different zone lol

|In: Business|Last Updated: | 4 Comments
Just started reading the book “How Innovators Connect by Rohit Agarwal“.Each and every line in the book leaves a message but it starts with the difference between Invention and Innovation.Let us see what does WikiPedia say about “Invention” and “Innovation”.

Invention-An invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. An invention may sometimes be based on earlier developments, collaborations or ideas, and the process of invention requires at least the awareness that an existing concept or method can be modified or transformed into an invention. However, some inventions also represent a radical breakthrough in science or technology which extends the boundaries of human knowledge. Legal protection can sometimes be granted to an invention by way of a patent.

Innovation–

  1. the process of making improvements by introducing something new
  2. the act of introducing something new: something newly introduced (The American Heritage Dictionary).
  3. the introduction of something new. (Merriam-Webster Online)
  4. a new idea, method or device. (Merriam-Webster Online)
  5. the successful exploitation of new ideas (Department of Trade and Industry, UK).
  6. change that creates a new dimension of performance Peter Drucker (Hesselbein, 2002)
  7. A creative idea that is realized [(Frans Johansson)] (Harvard Business School Press, 2004)
  8. “The capability of continuously realizing a desired future state” ([John Kao, The Innovation Manifesto, 2005])
Well,the first line says it all “An Invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty and Innovation is the process of making improvements by introducing something new”.Hence,there is a thin line of difference between the two which means, Innovation can be built on an existing and proven idea(provided it tries to solve some of the problems) in an already existing innovation.

Every day or should I say every minute each one of us would have thought of some idea(which could solve an existing problem) , but you parked your idea aside(for that very moment or permanently) due to various reasons cry A loss of your idea could be a gain for others.Now let me come to the crux of the entire problem.

I was chatting with an enthusiastic and aspiring guy Mahesh Pidhsetti who shared his idea with me but had problems in sharing his idea with others(ie he could not find soulmates).This is not only his problem but a problem faced by many of us.

So,before our ideas die out,I have decided to take some step….These are the suggestions from my side:

  1. Have a GoogleGroup(YahooGroup is banned smile) which would be used for the sole purpose of sharing and reviewing ideas.A record of all the members(and their backgrounds) would be maintained for further reference.
  2. Plan to meet on every alternate weekends to know each other and also see which person is suitable to be your soulmate.
Well,there may be some who would agree with this idea and some may disagree.I would welcome your feedback(either though mail) or through a comment.

Let’s work together to give birth to ideas and to build ventures around those ideas smile

|In: Off Theme|Last Updated: | 5 Comments
Before I start writing about anything,let me define what or who exactly is a BOZO.

BOZO is a Guy Kawasaki terminology for a loser of a person.He/she would definitely try to bog you down during the course of the venture.He/she is always on a spree to make you believe that you would not succeed and want you also to join the group of LOSERS where they belong twisted BOZO could be anyone right from your friend to your colleague or an unknown person.

So,why exactly I am writing this post.Well,there was one incident that happened today which made me write this post.There was a guy and girl who just passed besides me and looked at me(and smiled) as if they saw a monkey coming out of the zoo razz.Damn,I was really embarrassed and at the same time,made me wonder if I have some problem.I looked at myself in the mirror(yup,even I am a human being) and just wondered if I have some problem.

When I came out I was very much satisified with myself and just thought “Why the hell should I think about those guys since I am pretty much ahead than those guys…Damn,instead of them I would take advice from guys who have better knowledge than me or who are guys who are not loser of a person”.

There are many people(like the ones mentioned above) who would question your capibilites or your looks or your attitude and it is upto us to just ignore them(though I made a mistake by not ignoring them sad).For me “Narayan Murthy” is a great example who is an average looking person(or should I say below average) and built th massive Infosys empire.I am sure looks or your physical appearance has nothing to do with your venture(or your entrepreneurial dream) but I think there could be more people like me who could sometimes have the same feeling(like what I had this time).

This also reminds me of Dharmesh Shah of OnStartups quoting “He left India only because he felt that India was not suitable for shy people like him and US was a better option for him”……I also got a similar kind of a thought in mind after this incident idea (I know I would be a fool to decide things based on one such incident).

In my honest opinion “These BOZOS are our teachers and they give us more strength to move forward and perform better” lol Just as I complete this post(which does not fit in the theme of my blog), you might be wondering why I wrote this post?….The answer is “Beware of BOZOS and learn how to ignore them(which I also need to learn)” smile

|In: Blogging|Last Updated: | 2 Comments
Every day several blogs receive spam comments,anonymous comments and though you might can block some of the comments,still some of these would still be there on your blog sad Take a look at this link which describes about death threats to bloggers.With so many problems in the BlogoSphere,it was high time to bring a code of “Conduct for Bloggers”.

O’Reilly came out with the Code Of Conduct for Bloggers at the ETech Conference , which addresses some of the common problems faced by Bloggers.

Some of the rules that were discussed at the conference are given below:

  1. Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
  2. Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
  3. Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
  4. Ignore the trolls.
  5. Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
  6. If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so
  7. Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in person
These are not the final rules but more rules would still be added after further discussions.You can read the complete description of the Code Of Conduct here and believe me,you would find it very true and interesting as well.One strange thing is that there is no rule that adresses theft of content from other blogs.

Some interesting guidelines for Women Bloggers which has been set by BlogHer can be found here

I hope that this Code Of Conduct improves the scene of the BlogoSphere

|In: Blogging|Last Updated: | 2 Comments
For guys who have been in the blogosphere,would have definitely seen 2kBloggers.So,if you feel that already there are many guys aware about it,than why does this post appear on my blog.To get the answer,keep on reading……There are several reasons for this post since, this post focuses more on what exactly is 2K Bloggers forum and why should bloggers contribute to the 2000 bloggers forum.

What is 2K Bloggers?

Why join 2K Bloggers forum?
As Chinoy Ray points out “2K Forum is an excellent place to meet 1999 bloggers” and I won’t repeat what he has already communicated in his post biggrin

How can 2K Bloggers forum help your blog?
First of all,let me see where am I in the 2K forum wink

One of the main advantage of joining the 2K Blogger’s forum is that it helps in getting some more recognization in the global scene of Blogosphere.Above all,it really helped my blog move up by 8000 in the Technorati rankings lol Nearly 5 new blogs linked to my blog after I had my profile on this forum

So go ahead and join the 2000 bloggers forum

|In: Business|Last Updated: | 1 Comment
What if an undergrad student from India has a bright idea but does not know how to go about executing the idea and getting the funding cry This article on Economic Times has the answer to all your questions where the article speaks about building entrepreneurs right from the college level.

The most striking part of the article were the lines given below:

The atmosphere the programme is trying to build up in campuses is “think innovation, think entrepreneur-ship”. And the reasons for the college-level focus is because they feeling “entrepreneurship can’t be inculcated at the mid-career level”.