Burrp …. Views and Reviews June 15, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Business, Food Reviews.1 comment so far
Havent posted on Bizzbuzz in a while… I am sooooo sorry…
Check out Burrp
Its a cool site that has people rate restaurants and eateries…
Flyclear.com April 5, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Business, Innovation, Opportunities.3 comments
Murali Partha finally got time from his busy schedule to send me this URL. To quote him:
Talk about exploiting the changing environment and world that we live in. If I were a frequent traveler in the US I would sign up in a jiffy.
A cool service that allows frequent travellers to the USA pass through security easier. Check it out.
Is the Print Media Dying? March 29, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Blogging, Business, Internet, Issues, Media, Print.9 comments
I have written about this before. People are getting their news, views and reviews online. Bloggers are increasingly the new media and are capable of influencing the opinion of their readers.
The readers themselves are a community that contribute to the news. Compare this with the print media.
Take the example of Churumuri. Its a blog that is fed by people from the journalistic field and has built up a loyal following. People like Anand Balaji are Journos who now share their views on their blog.
Heres an interesting take on the Print Media by Don Dodge.
The businessman in me thinks theres a new business model here 🙂
Making money is good. But at what cost? March 23, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Airtel, Bharti, Brands, Business, Greed, India.2 comments
Churumuri carries a story today where Airtel is conducting an SMS poll about Bob Woolmer’s death. They are going to make money our of every reply sent.
Is that what we have come to? Use any excuse to make money even if it means dragging a dead person into the picture?
Looks like the media (TV, Newspapers etc), and Communication companies revel in making money out of sensationalism. How else can you explain the gory pictures you see on TV and in the papers?
Have we really stooped so low?
The small retailer still rocks March 13, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Brands, Business, Retail, Small Retailer.11 comments
He is alive and well my friends. The small retailer that is.
We have had a couple of posts on this issue, one was whether the small retailer will survive and the other was some reasons why he would.
Last weekend I accompanied my friend Raghu to a local store. He has a bag with a list inside that he drops off. We then proceeded on our walk. In the meantime, the bag filled with goodies from the list had made it to Raghu’s house. Account to be settled at the end of the month.
Do you think the big boys will do that?
Open Source – Here to Stay March 9, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Brands, Business, Innovation, Internet, Open Source, Software, Trends, Wordpress.10 comments
Some time ago, I attended a TiE meeting where some of Silicon Valley’s top VCs participated in a panel discussion. One thing that stands out from that meeting was a comment that said “All companies trying to develop and sell software products in the traditional manner will be wiped out and replaced by Open Source”.
This got me thinking. Six months later, I am convinced that what they are saying is true.
Over the last few months, I have been installing more and more Open Source packages to help us in our business. This includes HR Systems, Resume Management, Knowledge Base. All of them I have found on Open Source. Here are my observations:
1. The very nature of Open Source ensures a better thought out product. People comment on features, beat down on useless software. So if you look properly, you’ll find very good products.
2. I have found installs are much easier and documentation is very good (at least in the ones that I have installed)
3. Extending functionality is easier.
4. You can ask for features that you want and if it makes sense they’ll add it for you.
How do they make money? Typically through support, customization, and consulting.
One of my favorites is WordPress. Really love their famous “Three Minute Install”. Especially like the message that comes up after their installation that says something like “Installation complete. Sorry to disappoint you but thats all there is to it..”
In addition to blogging on WordPress, I use it a lot internally on our Intranet for collaboration, Knowledge sharing, and Knowledge Management.
Bank with the Best March 7, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Bank of India, Banks, Business, Entrepreneurs, India.9 comments
One of the things I have realized during my 3+ years of entrepreneurship is that you should not be fooled by glitz and glamour. In most cases (exceptions excluded), the glitz is meant to hide all the flaws underneath.
Nothing highlights this fact than the banking industry today. My best experiences have been with our Nationalized Banks. Granted there could be a few starting problems. But once you establish your credibility, the service levels are unmatched by anyone.
At my company we bank with Bank of India. Three years ago, they were the only Bank willing to give a small BPO company a break by giving us a loan for equipment and working capital facilities. During those three years, they have bailed us out of some tricky financial situations when payments from customers came in late and cash flows were tight.
What really impresses me about them was the human touch to their service right from the Bank Manager upto their Zonal office. Compare the same with some of the more market savvy International Banks and their computerized call centers.
I still remember Infosys CEO Nandan Nilikeni was the chief guest at a function last year to commemorate Bank of India’s 100th year. In his own words, the only people who gave Infy the time of day when they were growing were these very Nationalized Banks.
Give me a Nationalized Bank anytime.
As a small business you stand a better chance of success there.
Cross posted on Startupreneur
Google takes a swipe at Microsoft March 4, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Business, Google, Internet, Microsoft, Trends.8 comments
Google has announced Google Apps for your domain that will include Mail, IM, Calendar AND office productivity tools. The service costs $50 per year.
I have always been a big fan of hosted application services especially for productivity tools like email. Beats installing it on your in-house servers and hiring people to manage them.
Microsoft has started changing its licensing policy as well. Whether its in anticipation of competition from companies like Google and Zoho or whether they realize that market dynamics are changing, it augurs well for the end user.
New Jobs on JobsBuzz March 2, 2007
Posted by Vijay in Jobs.add a comment
Check out new jobs on JobsBuzz from Axiom Tech, Sirius Connect and more…
Business Buzz 