As per the latest reports from CNN,Google CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will receive a $1 annual salary for 2007 surprised

As per the reports:

Yahoo! (Charts) chairman and CEO Terry Semel is also getting paid an annual salary of just $1, as is Apple (Charts) CEO Steve Jobs.

The three Google executives, also did not receive an annual cash bonus for 2006, according to the company. But four other Google executives received substantial raises for 2007 and bonuses for 2006.

Robert Eustace, Google’s senior vice president for engineering and research; Omid Kordestani, senior vice president for global sales and business development; chief financial officer George Reyes; and Jonathan Rosenberg, senior vice president for product management will all receive an annual salary of $450,000 this year, up from $250,000 in 2006.

Read the complete story here

After startups.in , this is my second achievement in the space of Blogging.I have joined an elite group of bloggers in Bangalore through a global group called “Metroblogging”.As per my part,I would be contributing something to the Bangalore city through the medium of blogging biggrin

What is MetroBlogging?
Metroblogging is the world’s largest network of city focused blogs,with over 700 bloggers contributing to more than 50 cities…

Benefits of joining MetroBlogging:

  • MetroBlogging is a platform which provides you to express what you feel and it would be read by millions of people worldwide
  • You can meet an exciting set of people who are bloggers and love what they do biggrin
  • You would get more recognition since, MetroBlogging is a worldwide network and you can learn about it here

After my personal blogging card, now is the time to show my “MetroBlogging-Business Cardwink

My Metro Blogging identification

Interested to join MetroBlogging:
More details about MetroBlogging are available here and about Bangalore chapter are available here

TechTribe-A guide for EntrepreneursTechTribe has been in the news since its launch and I was very fortunate to speak to the CEO during Rohit Agarwal during BarCamp Bangalore.I still remember his words “Every Indian is an innovator” and you can find what he spoke at BarCamp,Bangalore here

I am an avid user of TechTribe and I would not like to miss a chance to network with you.You can connect with me here.Returning back to business,this post is regarding one of the interviews given by Rohit Agarwal,CEO of TechTribe in Express Computer, where he speaks about “Rising wave in Indian Entrepreneurship“.The main reason why this interview featured here is:”After reading this it,I felt it is true keeping in mind the Indian context” smile

I have divided the interview in a Q&A kind of session…It contains only important excerpt of the conversation
(NOTE: “I” in the interview refers to Rohit Agarwal)

What should India to do to shift from”Service based” to “Innovation based Economy”?
Entrepreneurs are made, not necessarily born.The growth in the Indian technology and services industry (IT and BPO) has created a strong “service-centric economy”.It is that India needs to shift from a service-based economy to an “innovation-based economy” and that’s very new to us.
I believe India will claim the title of the global hub of IT and will be the de-facto destination for innovation and entrepreneurship in software and services. I also believe that in order for that to come true, India will have to “make” many more entrepreneurs.
Every Indian is a born entrepreneur.entrepreneurs in technology make a living out of “short circuiting” a process—something that the world was used to doing a certain way, they figure out how to do it in less time, with less resources, or with better efficiency/accuracy.The combined revenue of the Indian biggies is less compared to the revenues of Google which itself answers the question.

What India needs to focus on to create more Entrepreneurs?
In order for us to make more entrepreneurs, we need to focus on creating an environment where innovation thrives and entrepreneurship can be developed. This innovation environment will be the backbone of what will make India claim it’s position as the global IT superpower.
There’s an inherent entrepreneur in every one of the workers, which isn’t being brought out by the same old work, every single day.

What companies need to do to promote Entrepreneurship?
a. To make entrepreneurs, we have to educate people about how they fit into the innovation ecosystem, and what it takes to build companies.
b. They’re expected to do their daily work, but discouraged to venture into anything creative, sometimes for security reasons, mostly for corporate paranoia.
c. Companies block access to chat, message boards, and other forms of collaboration with peers, which is a requirement for the employee to tap into their creative energies. They’re not encouraged to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions of any kind, and I mean encouragement in tangible form, not just words. I don’t expect Indian IT companies to require employees to spend 20% of their time on “innovation projects” like Google does, but do expect them to reward “collaborative innovation”—within and across corporate boundaries to innovate and be entrepreneurial.

To make entrepreneurs, we have to encourage people to connect with others, showcase their work, and promote themselves.

You can read the complete article here

You can also find Rohit’s guide to startups on this personal weblog
Do have a look at TechTribe news section for more of such motivating and entrepreneurial stuff!!!

During my early days of Blogging,when I attended BlogCamp,Chennai I met Shiv who had his own identity through his own blogging card.This idea seemed to impress me and I also decided to have my own identity as a Blogger.

Below is the scanned copy of my “Blogging Card“,which I would use when I go to various unconferences lol The card was made with the intention to look different from normal boring visiting cards and hence I came up with the Black background and white content mrgreen
Thanks Shiv for this excellent input!!
Below is the scanned copy of my new visiting card!!!

My new visiting card

When YouTube acquired Google for $1.65 billion,it seemed Acquisition has become a buzz word.After this global acquisition, there has been a no of acquisitions in the Indian circuit as well namely Tata Steel takes over Corus,Mittal Steel takes over Arcelor.Well,these were not in the IT space but when I was just a post on Guy Kawasaki’s blog he had mentioned “When you create a company,it should make a meaning and should make a difference”.

Guy Kawasaki also mentioned that “Many times Entrepreneurs feel that it is somewhat easy to get acquired by the big giants like Microsoft,Oracle,Google etc. ,if their company does not go public within a specified period of time” but this it is not true.Red Herring provides a good insight into the whole M&A scenario(taking the example of Microsoft and Google) and what should be the focus of upcoming companies.

A small excerpt from the article:

It’s tempting for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to design a company today with a notion of who will want to buy it tomorrow. But that irritates deep-pocketed acquirers, who would prefer companies simply innovate, and let buyers worry about what’s worth spending money on.
Google bought roughly thirty companies in the past three years. Microsoft buys between 15-20 companies per year.As per Bruce Jaffe, vice-president of corporate development at Microsoft:”Companies should do what they do best, and innovate”.

Factors deciding acquisitions:

Microsoft : Mr Jaffe – “There is a preference over management teams who are looking beyond get acquired.”
Google : Mr Ullah – “Software can be coded at any part of the world and hence location is not an issue.The only important thing is that the product being developed should fit into Google’s architecture”

You can read the complete article here

I have been using JustDial services for the last 2-3 years and their response has been electrifying.Be it movies,companies,shops(or any damn thing),these guys would land you with the right information.

Their marketing also struck me, when I got an email from them yesterday regarding their new advertisement which would hit the screens very soon…Its good that they keep a track of the users who use their services very frequently rolleyes

A nice advertisement featuring Bollywood‘s comedy king Boman Irani…..sit back and enjoy lol
Another good way to impress customers…JustDial, keep up the good work wink

We have been coming across so many new companies getting funded by VCs and thats make us feel that “Entrepreneurship is on a rise in India” and VC’s are more confident on investing in upcoming startups in India.

But,if you see the trend , most of the companies operate in the Web 2.0 space and there is a lot of confidence shown in this market.There was a news about RouteGuru(which lies in the Telecom space) getting Rs 10 Lakh funding through TechTribe but where exactly is Semiconductors in this entrepreneurial field question

From the new Semiconductor Policy which was announced recently , there were lot of positive points coming out for the Indian semiconductors industry.Below is a small snapshot of the policy

Positive side of Indian SemiconductorsNow after good news, some bad news has to follow.Just came across this article , which mentions about the Semiconductor entrepreneurs Vivek Pawar of Sankalp Semiconductor,Uma Mahesh of Indrion,PVG Menon who is working on his own venture and many more in the list.

Leaving the managerial side(which does not have much problems),the article reveals the problems in the funding of semiconductor startups in India.A small excerpt from the article:

Though there is a lot of VC money floating in the market, and U.S. VCs being increasingly India bound, there is not much enthusiasm among the community for funding semiconductor product start-ups. Says Mahesh, who has been negotiating actively with many VCs for the past five months without having been able to close the deal, “The VCs here still have a software services mindset, and are unwilling to bet in the chip product field.
Gani has a different viewpoint, “There is no dearth of money, what is lacking is a sound business plan.” In accordance, the skepticism on part of the VCs is understandable, also given the fact that this space involves more risk, and a higher capital. As opposed to a typical software services firm, where money is required for paying salaries, in the silicon space, technology development takes up a big chunk.

Many other interesting facts about management,funding and recruitment in semiconductor startups can be found here

Finally, somehow I managed to get “Make the Move-Demystifying Entrepreneurship” from Crossword today.The price of the book is just Rs 95/-,which is very(very) less compared to its content.It is written by two Entrepreneurs – Ishan Gupta and Rajat Khare.

I have just started reading the book but the cover itself has a wonderful message from our President – Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam which is below:

Youth is the most powerful resource.Ignited mind of youth is indeed the biggest force on the earth,above the earth and below the earth

Strong message from our president, since ignition in mind is required to do something extra-ordinary biggrin.Would update more from the book when I find some more interesting points from the book

You can know more about the book here