Talk to any school/college going kid and you do hear the "orkut" sound byte often in their conversations. Kids are very internet savvy in India today, but mostly in Tier-I cities. I am waiting to see that kind of growth in Tier-II cities. I heard about Orkut from my teenager kid. Her entire class (may be even school) seems to be on Orkut. So far it … [Read more] about Will Facebook win over Orkut in India?
Mobile Advertising in India
With Mobiles becoming very popular in India, mobile portals are bumping into a problem which I had encountered a decade ago – how to monetize from this medium. The problems encountered in the web and mobile mediums are very different. Few points that come to my mind are, With the internet the penetration in India was far too low until 2005-06. … [Read more] about Mobile Advertising in India
When the VCs say “no”
Yet another good article from Marc Andeerssen about startups. Every entrepreneur goes thru this phase - being rejected by VCs. The article helps you interpret the "no" you hear often! It's an old -- and true -- cliche that VCs rarely actually say "no" -- more often they say "maybe", or "not right now", or "my partners aren't sure", or "that's … [Read more] about When the VCs say “no”
Why not to do a startup?
A well written article by Marc Andreessen (co-founder of Netscape) on startups. Few points from the article, Most importantly, realize that a startup puts you on an emotional rollercoaster unlike anything you have ever experienced. In a startup, absolutely nothing happens unless you make it happen. Hiring is a huge pain in the ass. God … [Read more] about Why not to do a startup?
Readership of local languages on the net is on the rise
It was good to read about the rise in the interest of Indian languages on the internet, “The above dichotomy of 59% preferring local language and only 12% visiting the sites and a sharp drop of 30% (42% visiting local language site last years to 12% this year) internet users no more visiting local language website itself explains a demand supply … [Read more] about Readership of local languages on the net is on the rise