Just like that...

On Cloud In Vogue

2011-11-09T06:09:00.000-08:00

Agree? I guess most of you do. Fortunately, it is way simpler than it looks. More often than not a change is reactive predominantly stemming from compelling systemic forces but definitely requiring lost of energy to get over the inertia to make it a habit. “Cloud Solution” is one such innovation which it seems has the potential to be the thing for next gen but surely needs good amount of ground work to be done before it catches the eye.

Why Cloud

Last couple of years saw the business scenario shift from a seller’s paradise to the buyer’s arena bringing in the pressing need to optimize resource exploitation. Though this can be intuitively thought of as “The Need” for going the cloud way, by no means this is only driver. After much discussion with entrepreneurs, friends & decision makers, and the old & wise in the market, five prominent drivers which I could construe as the steam behind the cloud would be the following;

Increasing Cap-ex: Spiraling IT infrastructure setup and operation cost with growth is the major crippling factor in setting up an IT infrastructure. With this model in place, seemingly end-users will be able to completely eradicate the initial heavy investment on hardware and will also be able to avail the software services like any other subscription service.
Efficiency: Despite having invested heavily in creating the infrastructure, the infrastructure is un-utilized for more than 50% of its capacity. Improved efficiency without having to worry about creating new infrastructures for each new application is one such brilliant opportunity which makes this service a formidable offering.
Agility: Agility is one factor in the industry these days which differentiates between the leaders and the second best. The service provides the much necessary wherewithal to compete better in the market to the small and medium enterprise.
Demand for Storage & Management: Ever increasing demand for data storage and management is yet another challenge, as it diverts the much necessary capital towards non-core investments.
Operation and Maintenance challenges: Along with the infrastructure comes the much necessary cost of maintaining and keeping it up-to-date. This not only requires competent dedicated manpower but also valuable working capital. The initiatives not only promises “pay-as-you-use” services but also reduces multi-skilled manpower requirement.

The Target Market:

If we are to believe Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft, India will not only see a surge in cloud computing but also become the service hub of cloud computing for the world. Only time will disclose its potency, but as of now both global and Indian harbingers are considering the mammoth Indian SMB sector as the potential market which can make or break the rules of IT industry in India. While trying to understand the contribution of SME to the Indian GDP, varied results surface, primarily because of the difference in definition assumed. But the one factor which remains unchanged is its huge potential. Assuming Zinnovs research study as the base, we have about 60% of the GDP coming from the SME, which is close to $650bn, and the contribution is set to increase over the period.
Gartner believes that the overall cloud computing business in India will touch $One billion mark by 2014. As per Springboard research, Indian SaaS market is already the fastest growing market in Asia-Pac with 60% CAGR and will clock about $350mn by 2012. As per Gartner, about 90% of the Indian market is now covered by SaaS and the remaining 10% by IaaS and PaaS.
Having (to some extent) understood the model, the end users are a bit skeptical due to lack of complete understanding. Adding to the haze is the concern of data security, supply chain and modus operandi. One of the key concerns which i could understand from some of my friend entrepreneurs is “what if due to some reason the service gets terminated?” End users need to have a parallel data storage facility in place to mitigate the risk of having its entire critical data on cloud. Literally the user has a noose around its neck.

The Indian Cloud market SWOT:

The SWOT analysis of the Indian cloud market reflects a pretty attractive pursuit, albeit with some very sincere caveats. Though these threats may sound big hurdles at this juncture, the model intrinsically has the capability to address and overcome them successfully.

Strength
• Converts IT Capex to Opex

• Pay as use model

• Scalability

Weakness
• Model Nascence

• Still a hazy concept

• No All in One solution

Opportunity
• Largest SME sector

• ~$1.08bn market by 2015

• 60% CAGR of SaaS from 2008/12

Threat
• Data Security

• Lack of control on data

• Skepticism over service guarantee

My Opinion
I personally feel that lack of awareness,threat of data security and service guarantee will hold the initial rush in India. However, once these problems are taken careof, it has every possibility to be a revolutionary solution not only for the small and medium but also large enterprise as well. Hopefully in the next few years, as domestic service providers master the business model, the market will educate itself to reap the most from cloud. Till that time, happy learning to all of us...

The Corbett Rendezvous:

2011-10-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

“Destinations do not make a tour, companions do”... Few weeks back, four of us made a trip to Jim Corbett (JC). Why JC, no rational explanation, just happened, and of course initiated by Chiru and Mathur. To begin with many thanks to Lakhu and Chiru (my ex-roomies) to take the time out to fly all the way to delhi for the trip, and to Mathur for suggesting JC. Honestly, it was Mathur who made the trip for the rest of us, it takes guts to be pulled 24x7 for three consecutive days, you’r endearing Mathur.

L to R, Lakhu, Mathur, Chiru on our way to jungle trekking....

Coming back to the trip, If you are thinking to visit JC for tigers and wild animals, scrap it straight away. If your are planning to just hang around over the weekend on a riverside, may be yes. JC is about 250 odd kilometers from Delhi and the drive is quite comfortable except for few kilometers from Moradabad Bypass to Kashipur. Stay at JC is quite ok, depending upon where you plan to stay. For begineers, you will not be able to sight a tiger in a 3 hour safari, If you are lucky, you may be able to site a bull elephants and that will be intimidating enough for rest of the trip. You may find some Cheetal’s (kind of deer) and that’s it.

For JC, there are few do’s and don’ts I would like to share;

Do’s

a) Carry cash, your debit/credit card may not be of great help

b) Carry your own booze….

c) Start early from Delhi and beat the rush.

d) The place around JC is quite diluted now, with loud music and chaos. The place is quite oversold.

e) Go for full day safari, not the 3 hour one. Its entire waste of money

f) Keep your camera always ready, you never know..

Don’ts

a) You will not be able to find any wild animal in a short 3 hour jeep safari. The jungle is too dense and everyone will oversell you the tiger thing. If you are enthusiastic enough have a 12 hour safari try it.

b) Do not plan your trip between mid August to mid October. These are rainy seasons and the entry gates are closed.

c) Never shout or make unnecessary noise in any jungle..

Key Activities..

a) Safari @ corbett.

b) Stay inside the park, for this you have to book well in advance

c) Fun activities like crawling, boating, rock climbing, cycling etc..

River swimming etc..

Besides these, this place has quite a rusty feeling, which should be for any animal park, since it’s all about experiencing the nature. For us the best part was monkey crawling, rappelling, and rock climbing and the entire day in the river ( i am not sharing those pic...). There are other good activities as well, forgetting the names but you can easily find them out..

Few Pics are shared below just for. If you are looking for some assistnace mail me at umesh.msr@gmail.com

Monkey crawling over river ramgange

Rock climbing...

Drive to Corbett... a great drive.

Bon Voyage..

Gurgaon on a Very Pleasent Afternoon

2011-04-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

Gurgaon on any usual day is pretty hot and dusty unlike towns like bangalore or pune where it is usually pleasent in late afternoons. This is one of the pleasant afternoons of Gurgaon when it rained, settling the dust and heat around. Welcome rains...

I didn't know that - A good watch if you like to know about stuffs

2011-04-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever imagined what would it look inside a bike engine or from where does most of the bra's in the world come from and how are they made. FYI almost 80% of the bras in the world are misfit and manufactured with traditional unscientific process. This one show on Nat Geo is quite an attraction if you like to know how things work. "IDKT - I didn't Know That" was quite a revelation for me. I think it is aired every working day from 7 to 8 in the evening, but its the repeat. New episode is aired on Saturdays @ 11:30 am.

The program not only talks about innovative manufacturing process of almost everything moving on the planet but also talks in details about the most innovative things and practices around us. The show is hosted by couple of geeky guys who always manage to instigate your inert brain to look things from the "Why" angle. The almost always child like enthusiasm to explore processes, things and materials is not only a good treat to watch but also contagious. One of the best thing, which is not quite my favourite though (one of the disadvantages of being a grown up) is literally cutting open things (from vacuum cleaners,water pumps, bike engines) with a mechanical blade.I just recalled they are Richard and Jhony and i have their pics somewhere around here and they are industrial scientists.

I was wondering why they always explore industrial things and processes.

Happy watching....

The Big-Leak Wiki-Boss

2010-12-18T03:24:00.000-08:00

Whats in name "Big Boss" or Wikileak" they all serve the same, tasty,spicy mouth-watering gibberish. Before we surf through similarities, i would like to share a bit about this Wikileak thingie

Let me begin by understanding the word "cable". A “cable” is basically a kind of email which is confidential/classified and runs between diplomats. Which is always good to read because in the first place it is “classified” and secondly it teaches you to talk nonsense in a meaningful way.

About Wikileak, the Wikipedia writes a lot, in fact a big lot about names of people, awards.places where its servers are located...etc.etc. Following are the first few lines of what Wikipedia says..

A news media that publishes submissions from anonymous sources…
It describes being founded by Chinese dissidents, as well as journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists from the United States, Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa”….
Julian Assange is generally described as it director.

So what we have here is a news media with unauthentic sources, from uncertified destinations managed by unknown people spread across the world. But surely its not cool like bond movies, after all what difference does it make to the common man if high profile guys are calling each other names behind their backs, or if daggers are out on someone’s comment on terrorism?

Fundamentally its an eyewash, very much like a staged drama. The last couple of years have not been good for both leaders and the citizens of the world. As the leaders have consistently failed to deliver, the citizens of the world are fighting hard against recession and now inflation. As this juncture when things are really not quite good for the common man, a global daily dose of hogwash supplemented with few pseudo intellects debating it out on prime time is the best distraction available to the distressed world.

I guess reading newspapers with wikileaks submissions as front page news is equally enlightening as Veena Maliks intellectual lessons on Big Boss. Cheers to news media, at least they now have something which will always provide matter if the world becomes monotonous.....

The DQ IT Spend Outlook - Caveats and Takeaways

2010-07-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

The DQ Indian IT Spend Outlook, released on 11th June 10, quite strongly reflects positive sentiments among the CIO fraternity. The overall IT spend in FY 11, as shown by their 300 company survey is expected to increase by 13.3% over FY10. The average IT spend in FY 10 was about INR 15cr, the survey projects an increase of 13%, to about INR 17cr in FY 11. Though the market is buoyed and the outlook seems quite convincing, few hiccups here and there and the market will plummet before anyone realises. We have seen it quite convincingly in the past couple of years that a whiff of negative news can lead to order books going blank and clients going into hibernation.

Having said that, we would still have take the support of such reports and develop our roadmap, albeit with our own set of precautions and hedging plans in background

DQ IT SPEND OUTLOOK

a) Average IT spend to increase from INR 15cr in FY10 to INR 17cr in FY11. The increase will primarily stem from revival in IT procurement of larger (>2500) enterprise

b) Average spend pie in FY10 was 48% hardware, 31% services and 21% Software. The outlook for FY 11 stands 47% hardware, 33% services and 20% software.Service expenditure is expected to rise more, as compared to hardware and software, because of increase in scope of IT services, from merely infrastructure maintenance to being a part of business growth

c) Industry-wise IT average spend breakup for FY10 & FY11;

i) BFSI to increase its spend from INR 41cr in FY10 to INR 43cr in FY11

ii) IT/ITES to increase from INR 29cr to INR 31cr

iii) Communication & Media to rise from INR 10cr to INR 11cr

iv) Manufacturing to increase from INR 6cr to INR 7cr

v) Healthcare to increase from INR 3.3cr to INR 3.5cr

d) Vertical-Wise IT Spend in Industry; IT services spend across industry will experience an increase as shown in the following image. The growth will primarily be due to increase in scope of IT services. IT services will cease to be plain vanilla IT infrastructure support and maintenance, but will be an integral part of decision support system.

Caveats & Takeaways

Despite the fact that the survey sample may not give a complete preview of the market, i would more or less agree with the outlook. However before putting this piece of info on the decision table, i would surely add few caveats;

To begin with inflation is and will be a prime hindrance for months to come, hence a rise in price of services will be imminent and hence a larger portion of spend will account for it

The increase in average spend may not lead to any rise in delight/margins for OEMs/SI/Business Partners as overall cost will increase for them

As talked earlier, the sample may not be the exact representation of the market and SI/Channels partners will have follow their our target segment and develop relevant strategy

Precipitates of current financial crisis in EU and not so attractive economic outlook from US can cause a drag on the overall buoyancy in the market

Having said that, the broader takeaway for OEMs/SIs/Channel Partners would be

Market revival is underway in India and despite some global impact, internal consumption will sustain the market

Scope of service is increasing quite significantly in the Indian market and in times to come, this vertical will be the segment to eye for

Hardware prices will be more competitive, OEMs will fight vehemently to protect their turf...

Data Source: Dataquest

Managing Post Sales Dissonance…..

2010-06-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

The Power of Post Sale Dissonance.

Customer is the King! and to it would unanimously agree all us marketers. Having said that, if we analyze the opinions of end-users, seldom do we have satisfactory remarks.
Both the sides have stories to tell and it may happen that both are having rational and honest perspectives, but the rift which had emerged if left un-bridged can lead to catastrophes for marketers.
Usually a single small ticket end-user is the most vulnerable, the entire rule book of "Caveat-Emptor" is written for him. And this is where we marketers flounder. It may seem a small slippage, but many such small slippages coupled with the power of rapid information flow and the brand is scuttled before one can realize.

Why is it so important for us marketers?
At this juncture when our economy is rapidly pacing up leveraged increasing consumerism, rising buying power and widening breadth of the market segment, new and hitherto un-tested products and services are finding its way into the market. With poor regulatory system,marketers ignorance and consumers hasty approach, end-users are quite frequently bearing the brunt of post sale dis-connect.

Because sustainability and brand value go had in hand, it is immensely important for marketers to sit straight and take note of burgeoning dis-satisfied end users.Intuitively spending for maintaining post sale decorum may seem unproductive, it will be extremely myopic to shrug aside its important.

Putting on an end-users hat,i could list down few basic steps which i feel, will not only help us understand our end-users better, but also ensure sustainability and brand value strengthening in longer run.

Six Baby steps towards managing post sales dissonance:

a) Keep in-touch with you client even after the sale. Give them a call a day after the ownership is transferred. It gives them the assurance that the seller is there.

b) In-case you have poor service support, invest some amount to begin with for the post sale support. Believe me, you will begin to reap its benefits even before you pay the support staff

c) Have a strategic plan for post sale support. Each product/service is unique and its requirement for post sale support would be equally unique. Understand it and serve it well.

d) At times it is important both for the business and client to sever the bond. Don't hesitate to do it, but yes there is always a smooth way.

e) Differentiate between support and spoon feeding. The end-user has to exist with the product, hence your support should be hand holding not spoon feeding.

f) Cut "Arrogance" out of the system...its a death nail for post sale support.

I am sure as usual, the potential is immense here to explore. And as we progress ahead in our endeavors, we will have both better and innovative ways to support our clients better, till such time, lets us practice these baby steps and make our world a little bit more happier...

6 Things to Note While you Relocate.....

2010-06-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

Finally I have completed the circle in five years, I am Back to Delhi. And "The One Thing" which I have learned is "India is very very same across India" Maharashtra is NO cleaner the UP or Bengal, Bengal is NO Sweeter than Delhi......and blah blah blah...You can just throw off the perception through your window. It is all same everywhere…..chaotic, clueless and developing.

Anyways, as I relocated to Delhi lock stock barrel last week, the experience was brilliant, and particularly with the "Movers & Packers" guys. Believe me, if you guys need a lesson or two in Transport Management, go to these small time transporters and I assure you, the learning will be better than any fancy B-School. Actually, lessons are also at the bottom of the Pyramid.

To begin with I will list down my learning’s and brief a bit on them as I remember.

Learning No 1: The golden learning, whatever plans and timelines you have kept, it will get flushed down the drain. Nevertheless, do make “things to do list” and diligent plans for relocation

Lesson No 2: Your “Packer & Mover” will always be the least worst, not the best. Be very very vigilant and careful while you are planning, negotiating and executing your shifting. Believe me I can write a book over the experience I had.

Lesson No 3: You will have un-imaginable expenses while you are shifting. Keep a buffer amount for such things. Possibly 5 % to 7% of your total shifting expenses.

Lesson No 4: Find a buddy/family friend near to the place you are shifting, you will desperately need their help

Lesson No 5: When you have shifted to your new home, both you and the home will need to make adjustments to plug in. Believe me this alignment will cost you dearly.

Lesson No 6: Last but not the least Be Patient, it will be tested. You will not be able to get cosy in your new home before at least a week.

To sum it all, if there would have been a scale to measure my “relocating performance” I would have failed miserably. But for sure I have seen smartest of people stumbling at this hurdle. For sure most of us would have some or other hiccup in the process, but the lessons learnt will be priceless….So enjoy the process of Relocating and keep sharing the lessons learnt.

Is humility a dud's tool?????

2010-05-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

For more than quarter of a decade since the time i seemingly gained senses, i have been struggling to balance on the tightrope of humility and flamboyancy. For those who know me, i agree i am not that humble and nimble , but definitely at work place i play pretty humble.

Before i go any further, i would like to brief on what i actually mean by saying "humility". For me it means, a mellowed tone, good respect and genuine appreciation for someones opinion.Yes, few friends and my wife would definitely score me miles away, but surely at workplace i am one of those humble ones.

As i continue my humble approach, i seldom get encouraging responses from either my peers or superior, but surely i do end up at times as punching bag.It may sound a bit pessimistic and kinda loser, but believe me, i have strongly started to feel the need of a romping approach plus good work.

Now as i begin my relatively entrepreneurial rendezvous, i strongly feel the need of a romping approach. Good work may to an extent take a back seat but being bullish is a must. However, deep down i feel humility should be the key word and more so when i begin my journey .

Having put my thoughts through, i am still quite confused at to which approach i need to follow, and which is the correct practice to success. Slavery is of course the way at home, but surely pen your views for the official front....

Cheers...

After All Everyone Wants Name And Fame Amir!!

2010-01-02T23:09:00.000-08:00

As the country continues to enjoy the narration of a soulful story of 3i (3 idiots) and learn fewhumane lessons, the trio of 3i (Vidu , Hirani & Amir) have lit the simmering squabble.

Believe you me, had the film rocked at box office, things would have been radically different. Chetan would have probably shrugged commenting “They deviated from the story and see what happened” and the trio of movie makers would probably have considered it as a bad experiment.
Can we see a better example that how two faced even “the best in their fields” can be, at the end even the preaching “Rancho” ends up squabbling for name and fame in the real world. Unfortunate but true, there is “Chatur” deeply imbibed in each one of us. We may aspire to become the real “Racho” but we eventually end up becoming chatur, which I find is more practical for the real world.
Despite the melodrama off the screen, the whole episode has two sacrosanct results
a) Whatever noise the trios of 3i make, people had gone to the hall with “five point someone in mind” and will come out more or less with the same. It will stay in their subconscious.
b) The money from the hit will stay with the trios of 3i and they will always be remembered for a great film.
I hope the two respectable parties come to digest these facts and be happy with their achievement s and stop running like chatur to prove their success. I don’t know the end result but I feel it will not give the 3i trios much to enjoy, but we spectators might feel sorry over this useless tussle.

May you preachers please be the practitioners and create another example…

A sneeze a day keeps you quarantined away

2009-08-12T05:46:00.000-07:00

Guys’ what situation we have, and I think the best case is Pune. Its not yet quarantined, but if media raises its volume a bit, it will get soon. Imagine poora Hollywood ishtyle..

Govt. is enjoying the lead role, with it leaders strategizing at places out of reach and rest of us swines enjoying the flu. The chaos is such that, today a running nose is dangerous than a gun in hand. Girlfriends have stopped kissing; a mere sneeze is driving away girls. I guess the motto today is “A sneeze a day keeps you quarantined away”

The only benefit, i got from it was that I was able to persuade my wife not to invite her parents to Pune, and believe me no news can burst my happiness bubble, unless of course she reads this or I get the flu.

Meanwhile, if you guys are having any problem with the flu, keep your self inside out dripped in liquor, one of my friends suggested this and I squarely agree with him, at least you will not feel the bruise of mistreatment form friends, colleagues and people around you…and if you are safe from the flu then of course you need to get drunk to enjoy one more day of escapade from our flu infested swiney atmosphere..

Cheerz and have a fluey time...

The bullwhip in waiting......

2009-07-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, believe it or not, but its coming. Last evening i went shopping to a mall. These shopping hubs are actually good proxy of consumer sentiments. Usually in malls, you will either find brimming eating joints or stuffed theaters. Yes foot fall is very high but, the percentage of foot falls actually turning into buyers is pretty low.

But this time to my surprise i found two prominent trends, a) discounts up to 50% and without any conditions applying. Designer clothes were available for about half the rate and literally on every product one could get a discount of not less than 30%. b) People were buying as if there is no tomorrow. Each pay counter had at least 10 people in queue.

Putting things in perspective, just three months back, malls did have fewer such frenzy customers, discounts were not that rampant and sellers were ready to keep some inventory. As months passed by, sales declined but the cost of maintaining the inventory was mounting. Well the next obvious step was to just get rid of inventory, and that is what is through distress selling.

Actually this is not a revival but distress selling. After shutting plants, manufacturers are now into distress selling to get at least the fixed cost, and sooner than later it will spread to rest of the market.

What is to come now?

Well this is what we all wish to know and know it well. The signs are of a bullwhip. Demands due to discounted costs will improve, but as manufacturers have either shut plants or cut capacities big time, it will come to an abrupt halt. What will follow next is demands with lack of supply. Though for a short time, but a spike will come, which will be followed by capacity re-opening and resarting of plants, which will bring in a period of lull again.

To put in few words, a roller coaster ride is waiting.............

Cheers

Luv it or hate it but you wld pick it……

2009-07-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

And yes this is what most of us would do with john Buchannan’s book “The future of Cricket: The Rise of Twenty20”. Whatever his coaching credentials, he has definitely struck a correct note to sell his book. Where can you find a better market to sell his book than in India. Australia is a damn sporting nation and cricket is just other sports. Rugby, soccer attracts more attention than cricket.
In India, where cricket is religion more because we have not been able to do anything much in other sports events, the number of frenzy fans outnumber the entire population of Australia. The best thing any author can do is create a chaos in the target market, and that is what Buchanan has done well, write crap about cricketers of the most frenzy cricket nation and people would go read it and start shouting over it. Bottom line is we will buy it to read it. End of day, whatever we may say or whatever explanations he gives, he is happily pocketing the money coming from large number of buyers.
Buchanan!! if not as a coach, surely as a shrewd businessman.......

Love thy Rich Neighbour..........

2009-04-08T05:37:00.000-07:00

Historically we have seen the never ending tussle between capitalists and Marxists, and i guess this will last for eternity. As time moves on, the fashion will change, leaders will come create a fad, we will follow and then it will go down the history lane. It is not the concept which is important, but the leader who customises it to the need and presents it to initiate a change. And this is so because the external environment is soo.. dynamic that any demarcated path throughout the journey may lead to failure.
Nevertheless, I would like to share one such concisely explained concept of capitalism by Dr. R Kamerschen (Prof of Eco) University of Columbia. It does not take into account the dynamics of external environment, but surely the deliberation is immaculate. I hope this add up to our dictionary of knowledge. Here it goes………

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.”

Drinks for the ten now cost just $80
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay! And so…
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!”
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!”
“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

Vote Hard IPL Harder

2009-03-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most frequently used words in 2008 and 2009 would be “recession” and “stimulus”. For me, not a day goes by without them; i guess these days even POGO and Cartoon Network uses them. Jokes apart, these times will not last long but surely learning’s would.
Other than "recession" and "stimulus" , we Indians too have our own prominent words to boost about, a) lok sabha elections and b) IPL. The last few weeks have seen BCCI and Government in a tussle over IPL. Unfortunately, for international participation this is the only window unoccupied, but of course, election is the priority.
The 15th lok Sabha election could not have been at a better time for the Indian economy. Leaving aside the results of election, the process itself is a good economic booster. Economic times opines that the 15th lok Sabha election would cost about Rs 10,000 cr this summer, which is Rs 2000cr more than 2007-08 US presidential election, and the money would be spend in just one month. Of the same, governmental spending would be around Rs 2000cr, political parties putting together would spend about Rs 1650cr. Remaining Rs 6350cr would be spend by national and regional candidates’. Never ever, I guess so much money both black and white would come together for a cause, and what a cause it is.
Growth is all about consumption, and a consumption of about Rs 10,000 cr in just one month!!!

The Indian premier league is the second binge. Mr. Modi said the confirmed contracted revenue for the second edition of the IPL has gone up by Rs 1,725 crore.Now it's Rs 10,790 crore.
Though this is just the second season, profitability may not be feasible, despite that we can assume 90% of the revenue as the expenditure, which stands about Rs 9700 crore and this does not include investments from individual franchises. Assuming the most conservative of about Rs 100 cr from each franchisee, we have an expenditure of Rs 800 crores.
Summing it up we have an expenditure of about Rs 10500cr, that to over one month.Though a major chunk of it would go towards player fees, this event will spur demand among one billion cricket followers for merchandises, F&B, travel etc.Even a not so hit IPL could be shot in the arm for the other-wise lackluster Q1 of FY 09/010.

Summing it up, we have an infusion of about 20,000 cr in just the first two months of Q1. I guess we are lucky to have such incidents to jack up 2009. Let us all come together and make both the elections and IPL major successful events to boost our own growth. A couple of hundreds more on security planning and implementation would do no harm Mr. Modi, Just keep the ball rolling.

Sadly though as current news unveil, Indian Premier league would be played outside India....i guess we disintegrate once again.....

The Indian Picture

2009-03-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Assuming stimulus packages bring fruit and economies are back on track, the second half of 2008 could be the gloomiest period of the current recession. As provided by the economist, US Q4 GDP declined by -0.8% in Q4 and by -6.2% in Q3, compared to previous year’s value, Japan by -4.3% (Q4) and -12.1% (Q3), Euro Zone -1.2% (Q4) and -5.8% (Q3), Britain -1.9% (Q4) and -6% (Q3). Against these gloomy pictures, BRIC markets were supposed to stand strong, as emerging markets were assumed to initiate and continue the robust growth schedule of 21st century.

However, it seems the expectations from BRIC economies are crumbling. Though the Chinese and Indian economies have resisted the plunge, Russian and Brazilian economies have crashed drastically. Brazilian Q4 GDP grew about 1.3% after -13.6% fall in Q3 2008. Russian Q3 values are not available but it surely could not be better than -10%. Q4 decline in Russia stands at 1.1%. The saving grace for the global economy is the demand growth in India and China stemming from internal consumption. India grew by 5.3% in Q4 and China by 6.4%. The projections published by “the economist” show tough times ahead for developed markets. Besides mature markets, Russia and Brazil are also to remain in negative turf (-2% and -0.4%). Only India (5%) and China (6%) would be clocking positive growths. 2010 would see economies gradually coming back of track, which could be almost as late as in the second half.

The January month industrial production, across world shows stout decline, with US (-10%), Japan (-30.8%), Britain (-11.4%), Euro Zone (-12%), Brazil (-17%) and Russia (-16%). Only China had positive growth with Jan-Feb growth of 3.8%. IIP growth in India was about -0.6% in December and 0.5% in January. Analysts in India opine that April to June growth in IIP would further decline. The good news for us however is that as we are primarily self-driven economy, consequently our economy could remain above -10% level in April to June month.

Going further, GDP is expected to touch 8% growth by 2011. Fiscal deficit would however remain at high at more than 5% for the next 5 years, though it would not be much of news when growth picks up the steam.

Source: IMF, The Economist

So the recession is here to stay or….. is it?

2009-03-09T01:44:00.000-07:00

Equity Outlook

Sept ’07 to Dec ’07 was the peak time, probably the best time in the history of equity market. Shanghai by far the strongest gainer became the most volatile…. and lost more than double the gain over the period. BSE 200 index, which had doubled over the period, lost the entire gain.
Going forward, Q1 ’09 may experience about 20% decline on moderate side. Q2 ’09 may not bring much change as Europe still waits its strong revival mood.Q3 may see market stabilize, provided employment figures stop dropping and companies revive its dormant capacities. Wisdom lies in keeping a cautious approach and let the market stabilize, which would surely depend on industrial growths and demand rise.

Bond Outlook
Rising inflation creates an unattractive bond market because it tends to erode the real value of coupon, hence bringing down its market price. On the flip side as inflation declines the bonds become an attractive proposition since real coupon rate is higher. However, as bond prices increase the overall yield of the bond decline because of the fall in anticipated capital gain. Going further, as the yields have declined by about 42% from its peak return of 9.5% and prices at its peak now, institutions should seriously think about going for issuance of debt instruments.

Interest Outlook

With RBI following the “live and let live” policy by cutting its lending rates by about 200 basis points from 8% to 6%. I think the eventual following up by the banks is not far. Nationalized banks have already opened its purse a bit; private entities would soon follow though a bit reluctantly. It is not far to again have a regime of smooth credit.

Well…putting them all together, the final consolidated picture could be something like this.. a) with money squeezed out from equity market and the market lying at its best buying time, b) inflation at its lowest and interests rates coming down gradually…a perfect investment equation, needing a bit of risk appetite and demand to explode the growth again….

Rupee @ 52

2009-03-03T22:01:00.001-08:00

Rupee slumped to a new record low of 52 against dollar yesterday, declining about 0.29% to Mondays close of 51.90/92. The new low which is more than likely to fall further is near future is strongly impacted by the capital market outflows and weakening international demand. Going further, the rupee is projected (Reuters Poll) to fall to new lows till June 2009. Only after September, it is expected to regain back to 52. Barclay also projects a downward movement to 56 a dollar in the next three months, which would mean a really bad fiscal & trade deficit scenario strongly impacting the overall economy.

Drivers
+ive
a) Declining trade deficit
b) Declining commodity prices
c) Declining crude prices
d) Strong remittance expected from expatriates
e) Increase FDI flow

-ve
a) Global demand decline
b) Indian export decline
c) Widening fiscal deficit of India to about 6% of GDP
d) GDP growth projected to decline to sub 5%
e) Funds outflow

The primary factors impacting the fall of rupee are
a) Foreign capital flows:
i) funds sold $1.7 bn in the first two months of 2009
ii) More than $13 billion of net sale in 2008
As India’s GDP growth plummet to 7.1% this year ending March, and a weak 2009/10 forecast lying ahead, the exchange rate is likely to be around 52 for the next two quarters. Despite gloomy markets and morose mood of investors, Mr. Shubhada Rao, chief economists Yes bank strongly feels that exchange rate should improve from current levels due to lower trade deficit and capital flows from remittances and FDI (due to revised FDI norms). Thus net-net, the exchange rate seems pretty poised at 52 and any further investment in the form of FDI should pull the rate from here on.
b) Export demand
The largest component of India’s export basket is crude oil, and with global price decline of crude, import cost have significantly come down. Imports have dropped to about 18.2% in the month of January to bring down the trade deficit to $6.1bn in Jan from $7.6bn in December. Thus, a lot would depend on crude prices which significantly impact our trade deficit.
Another factor which may also come into play is discounting in export from India. Though skeptics may pronounce it as inert since the slump is due to demand fall, the overall fall in export rates may fill in the volume decline in near future to keep trade deficit at comfortable levels.

2009-03-01T03:28:00.000-08:00

History:
Historically the Ambani’s have been acknowledged for their smart business acumen and Reliance industries as implementers. Since inception they have maneuvered through different times to establish themselves as not only the largest business house of India, but a recognizable force in global business field.
This merger, which is to be passed by its board of directors tomorrow (March 02), should ideally give otherwise the gloomy market some news to rally. This will be the fourth such merger in since 1995. In January 1995, RPPL (Reliance Polypropylene Ltd.) and RPEL (Reliance polyethylene ltd) were merged with RIL. RPPL & RIL had the swap ratio of 100:30 in favors of RIL and RPEL had a swap ratio of 100:25 in favor of RIL. The promoters holding in subsidiary was higher than in RIL, post merger, promoter holding increased from 23% to 33%.
After RPPL and RPEL, in 2001-02, RIL merged with RPL (another company which existed earlier). This merger took place with a swap ratio of 1:11 in the favor to RIL. However, as RIL and RPL had cross holdings, eventually promoters holding declined from 44% to 34%, though indirect holding increased too 46% through issuance of shares to RIHL and RIL associates, the two subsidiaries of RIL. In 2008 October, RIL promoters increased their effective holding in RIL to 50% through issuance of warrants.
In this case, post merger RIL promoters holding in the merged entity would decline as promoters have no holding in RPL. Going further it is to be seen what promoters do the keep their stake above 50%.

Prudence:
Historical RIL group had floated capital intensive and intricate projects as standalone projects, and once the projects gets running, the merger comes into play. This quite intuitively is done to shield the group company from any extra debt burden and execution risk.
The previous merger with RPL in 2002 came at the backdrop of difficult periods. RIL had experienced decline in earnings growth in the last two of three quarters ending Dec 31.
The current last three quarters have also seen consistent decline, a first such decline in last four years. Speculation is also that, the last merger was timed at around march to camouflage the poor performance to of RIL.

Other than that, current RPL provides large depreciation cover, and tax benefits by the virtue of being in SEZ. Income tax benefit for RPL is 100% tax free profit for the first 5 years of operation and 50% tax free profit for the next five years. The current exchange rate based on pricing which could be about 1:17 or 1:19 in favor of RPL.

Evaluating the synergy factor; the previous RPL supplied naphtha and few other by-products of RIL to few of its subsidiaries. Currently, RPL and RIL have similar business model. This can be a strong consolidation move to, as together they put up a capacity of 62 million tones, by far the largest Indian company in terms of Revenue and earnings.

Conclusion
Now, roughly 71% of the share is held by RIL, 5% is with Chevron, the remaining 25% with public. Current RPL and RIL prices are 1265(RIL) and 76(RPL) which could have an exchange ratio of about 1:17. Thus based on the given estimates, the RIL equity in RPL would increase by 68cr from 1454cr to 1522cr. Though these values can change based on board meeting decisions,
the company, which always had the reputation of smart business sense, lives up to its standard. Once again It has not only managed to successfully execute its strong investment in RPL, but also timely merge RPL to mask RIL ‘s reddened financials over last 3 quarters, not to mention the business force it is going to create

Source: ET, The Hindu, Annual Report RIL, RPL

Easy Investment

2009-02-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

And finally, all the kings’ men are unable to fix the economy again. Despite stimulus packages, big words, promotions and interventions, the global downturn remains inert. Fearing further decline in consumption, due to worsened job market and bleak guidance, industries across world are preparing for a hibernation to sleep through the economic winter.
Essential commodities, excluding agri-products are spiraling down crashing through all notional support levels. Crude oil, is prevailing around $40 a barrel, a year back $200 a barrel seemed the next level. LME steel billets around $300 per tones, a year back $ 1000 a tonne seemed a reality. Copper, about $3000 per tonne, $7000 a tonne was pretty achievable. We name, it reflects a crash. Suddenly after a massive crunch, we have a glut.
The MSCI world index of 23 developed countries sank by about 6% in the last one month to 791.38. The index experienced a decline of about 45% from year to day, and a declined of about 8% in the last one week, loosing the speculating rally in the first week of February.
DJ industrial average slumped by about 5% (7555.6) in the last fortnight. Though the first week showed a glimpse of uptrend due to stimulus packages announced from respective governments, currently it is trading at a six year low.
On an average, most of the indices declined by not less 50% in 2008, shedding off the strong rise in 2007. The strong speculative up-ride, having more or less been discounted; the only aspects which remains is consumer confidence. Other than demand declines and weak forecast, one of the major dampners of consumer confidence is regular financial duds like Madoff, Stanford International Bank, Satyam, and as water recedes, you don’t know how many more are waiting.
Currently, as the market is primarily impacted by credit crunch due to lost credibility, and demand slump, companies with least long term debt to sales ratio, and positive cash flow needs to be picked.
For now, if at all one wish to invest in the secondary market, the strategy should be to look for financially strong companies with an investment horizon of not more than one year, because companies with heavy debts are sitting on excess capacities, dormant investments, which they are unable to leverage. As demands pick up in a year or so, the same negative cash flows (i.e. strategic investments) will lift the scrip prices.

A New Horizon.....

2008-12-31T04:17:00.000-08:00

As we move towards the New Year, I wonder how day’s slip by. I vividly remember 2008, beginning with indices shooting, commodities skyrocketing, governments scrambling to prepare for inflation and investor shrugging off the new found bug called “sub prime” to begin a new era of growth. And here we stand today at the brink of 2008, reluctantly entering 2009 with fear of uncertainness and hope of revival. What a year we had this time? the best and probably the worst in the span of 12 months.
Globally and domestically, the trust of lenders have eroded, established institutions went crumbling down, safest of places were butchered and every damn thing one can think of, was flipped off.
The only thing which I foresee in times to come, as I guess the rest of eternity does is a trotting 2009 and a reviving 2010 first half, before it begins to pull back. Though the current year fourth quarter results would carry forward the gloom as consumption across the world plummet, the global bailout package of approximate $2 trillion would sail through to begin a revival in the later half of 2009.

The year 2009, would be a much more cautious year with the following prominent trends in play;
a) Declined corporate earnings, bringing in saving and operational efficiency in vogue…
b) Bloating fiscal deficit across countries, thus calling for stringent financial measures after this binge…
c) With OPEC declaring production cuts and Israeli attack instigating the Arabia country mood, crude oil price could hover around $39 per barrel…
d) GBP and Dollar would continue its weakness against Euro, with GBP becoming almost equal to Euro…..

Going forward, as we begin 2009, better stories and fresh horizon will unfold to make our existence more meaningful…..
Have a Happy New Year….

Knowing Hedge Funds - 1

2008-12-12T03:17:00.000-08:00

Hedge Funds: Knowing them……
Hedge Funds are pool of funds managed by financial advisers. Quite like mutual funds, these funds are managed by well known fund managers with promises of huge profits, nevertheless, few essential facts bring in the difference and cause it to be more flexible than mutual funds. Following are the prominent characteristics of Hedge Funds;
a) Hedge fund managers typically have the right to have short positions, to borrow, and to make extensive use of derivatives
b) Hedge funds cannot make public offerings and must have limited number of investors (max 15 in US), e.g. HNI’s Companies, Institutional investors
c) Primarily they can be of two types, offshore and onshore. Offshore funds are for foreign investors based in tax heavens like Bermuda.
It is usually managed by an offshoot of the main company, through a fund manager. The fund is usually investor specific and designed to optimize his/her taxes.
A hedge fund manager’s compensation is a combination of a fixed and variable component. Fixed component is 1% to 2% of the NAV and variable is 15% to 25% of a risk free rate. In 2005, maximum package reached up to $1.5 billion (James Simons of Renaissance Technologies earned $1.5 billion
Unlike mutual funds, Hedge Funds are strongly close ended. A typical hedge fund may allow its investor to withdraw fund at the end of a quarter provided given a notice period of 30 days.
A hedge Fund may or may not disclose any information to the investor, and usually an investor has no information about the portfolio. Information disclosure is solely at fund managers disposal....

Well...i guess this is all i have for the time...... i would soon be coming with more interesting news...........till then...
Cheerz....

Dots would defintely get connected

2008-12-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

Hey friends, quite likely i always found the phrase "Stay Hungry Stay Foolish" appealing, Now as i go through the rest of the speech, it seem so relevant. The phrase is part of Steve Jobs commencement address in Stanford University in 2005. I am sure as you go through the speech, you would also start believing in dots of life and how they get connected eventually.

Have a nice read..............
You have got to find what you love,' Jobs says
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.

Why Beezeeness?

2008-12-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

A wise friend of mine told me once, "business is actually a created busy-ness. Eventually when you are not left with anything worthwile to do or you realize that you are not competent enough to do anything, you do busy-ness".With time such "good for nothings" got busy, then busier and now they are the busiest people, doing anything and everything. Learned call them entrepreneurs, people like us call them employers and governments see them as ATMs.
Unfortunately as my interest lies there, i would try to evaluate and understand few businessess and put across my views. You can also mail me your specific research needs and i would try to help you with as much info as possible.........

Cheerz and have loads of fun....
UPM