On the blogging space after a long span. To say that it has been hectic would just be the 'Tip of the iceberg' the fact is that the journey has been addictive very addictive.
I chose such a non serious title for this blog because this has been the question which I have been facing almost from everyone whom I meet nowadays.
Though I normally try to give a very formal ( read decorated) answer to those queries but when I sit and think back now it is a very intriguing question ' How do I feel '.
Well the first response which comes to my mind is that ' I am feeling very light' , a free spirit , seems like a lot of frills which was creating unnecessary weight has been suddenly removed. Now I work from whereever I can , work on whatever I feel like, meet whomever I think is important and feel great about everything I do because there are no compulsions
Puritans may argue that entrepreneurship is all about creating an enterprise and that has a framework for success and I fully agree but I guess in order to reach that stage you need to first soak yourself in this state.
More to come so stay tuned and cheerio !!!!!!!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Creating Leaders
Watching the IPL since the last 4 years , Rajasthan Royals was and still remains my favorite team. It is a coincidenec that they have won a IPL and have had a decent outings in all the IPLs but my linking for them stems because of Shane Warne who has led a bunch of unknown players ( Naman Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja, Yousuf Pathan) and created a unit which can challenge any decorated outfit.
This weekend I was watching 'Para Cricket' and observed an argument between the non striker and the bowler on whether the batsmen had nicked the ball and the moment the non striker was told he can bat as a single man ( for people not familiar with para cricket rules, a batsmen can bit single if all other players are out) he agreed that the batsmen was out. He preffered himself batting alone and felt he could win all by his own. Suddenly I felt that perhaps this is what singles out a leader from the rest of the pack. A leader is one who has the guts to back his troops as much as he backs himself perhaps more in some cases.
After spending 11+ years in the industry somewhere I have a feeling that we need more of such leadership to groom the current crop of people coming in and create a ecosystem where excellence becomes the key. These young guys need to get the right exposure, mentorship and most importantly a feeling that they are important to convert them into assets in the long run...
Wish will see another para cricket match where I will see a leader who fights to get his team chasing a target rather than trying to get the runs on his own
This weekend I was watching 'Para Cricket' and observed an argument between the non striker and the bowler on whether the batsmen had nicked the ball and the moment the non striker was told he can bat as a single man ( for people not familiar with para cricket rules, a batsmen can bit single if all other players are out) he agreed that the batsmen was out. He preffered himself batting alone and felt he could win all by his own. Suddenly I felt that perhaps this is what singles out a leader from the rest of the pack. A leader is one who has the guts to back his troops as much as he backs himself perhaps more in some cases.
After spending 11+ years in the industry somewhere I have a feeling that we need more of such leadership to groom the current crop of people coming in and create a ecosystem where excellence becomes the key. These young guys need to get the right exposure, mentorship and most importantly a feeling that they are important to convert them into assets in the long run...
Wish will see another para cricket match where I will see a leader who fights to get his team chasing a target rather than trying to get the runs on his own
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Understanding the 'Voice Of Customers'
Sitting in a government office and waiting for a presentation was draining my energy off so thought of doing something interestin to activate my neuron cells :)
For the last few weeks I have been participating in a lot of discussion forums where opinions were flying in terms of Target Addresable Market (TAM), Social Media intrusion, scope of consulting services etc and honestly lot of noise was being created without much sense
What I feel personally is that too many things are happening for sure Social Media, Internet Technologies, Process Automation etc but somewhere in midst of all these the 'Voice of Customer' is getting feeble , unheard.
I beleive that in whatever you do ( Product business, services or consulting) the key is to acknowledge the customers voice. I still remember a meeting where after presenting a 60 slide presentation on process effectiveness the customer whispered in my ears 'Mitul, I have 90% employees who just have class 10 as a formal education so do you think we can implement what you are presenting here' and I understood what I had missed. In all my enthusiasm to present my idea I had missed the context and hence was presenting something which was not implementable.
So treat every customer as a unique entity and present something which matches with their maturity to be acceptable. At the end of the day Technology has to make business easier rather than demanding change in business to do Technology adoption
Cheerio
M
For the last few weeks I have been participating in a lot of discussion forums where opinions were flying in terms of Target Addresable Market (TAM), Social Media intrusion, scope of consulting services etc and honestly lot of noise was being created without much sense
What I feel personally is that too many things are happening for sure Social Media, Internet Technologies, Process Automation etc but somewhere in midst of all these the 'Voice of Customer' is getting feeble , unheard.
I beleive that in whatever you do ( Product business, services or consulting) the key is to acknowledge the customers voice. I still remember a meeting where after presenting a 60 slide presentation on process effectiveness the customer whispered in my ears 'Mitul, I have 90% employees who just have class 10 as a formal education so do you think we can implement what you are presenting here' and I understood what I had missed. In all my enthusiasm to present my idea I had missed the context and hence was presenting something which was not implementable.
So treat every customer as a unique entity and present something which matches with their maturity to be acceptable. At the end of the day Technology has to make business easier rather than demanding change in business to do Technology adoption
Cheerio
M
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Proud to be an Indian
Perhaps just heard the best analysis of Dhoni, the crowned king of Indian cricket by someone who himself was the crowned prince a few years back.
Sourav (aka dada) said that the process which gave India the world cup after 28 years ( my kid is of the same age as was I when India won the world cup in 1983...) started at least 3-4 years back, the nucleus of the team was created , the fearless spirit was taking shape. So in essence it is the same team albeit a different captain leading it but where Dhoni is unique is that he has moulded this unit from 'We have to Win' to 'We will win' and the results are there for everybody to see.
This man has a clutter free mind, doesn't believe in historical data and has the guts to back his instincts and above all gives you an impression that he is born to win and thats where he takes himself and the team to a differnt league.
The QFs with Australia when Dhoni got out, Brett lee was spitting fire, the australians were slowly closng on the Indian batsmen ( how many times have you seen 8 australian fielders in the ring closing on their prey) and the situation demanded an watchful session. But what we saw was just raw aggresiveness from Raina and Yuvraj attacking every loose ball, walking down the pitch to Brett Lee and all of a sudden you could see the crack in the famed Australian wall. Thats what Indian team is all about now , a raw energy and a clutter free mind which says 'We are there to win'
It has just been a very emotional night, perhaps a begining for all of us who aspire to hit a different league in years to come. The sign is on the wall if you want to hit the sky take the jump now. There is nothing called a right moment, a right context all of that has to be created and created now.
I would have loved to hug each and every member of this team and perhaps take a iota of that spirit from them ...
Feeling very proud to be an Indian today...
Sourav (aka dada) said that the process which gave India the world cup after 28 years ( my kid is of the same age as was I when India won the world cup in 1983...) started at least 3-4 years back, the nucleus of the team was created , the fearless spirit was taking shape. So in essence it is the same team albeit a different captain leading it but where Dhoni is unique is that he has moulded this unit from 'We have to Win' to 'We will win' and the results are there for everybody to see.
This man has a clutter free mind, doesn't believe in historical data and has the guts to back his instincts and above all gives you an impression that he is born to win and thats where he takes himself and the team to a differnt league.
The QFs with Australia when Dhoni got out, Brett lee was spitting fire, the australians were slowly closng on the Indian batsmen ( how many times have you seen 8 australian fielders in the ring closing on their prey) and the situation demanded an watchful session. But what we saw was just raw aggresiveness from Raina and Yuvraj attacking every loose ball, walking down the pitch to Brett Lee and all of a sudden you could see the crack in the famed Australian wall. Thats what Indian team is all about now , a raw energy and a clutter free mind which says 'We are there to win'
It has just been a very emotional night, perhaps a begining for all of us who aspire to hit a different league in years to come. The sign is on the wall if you want to hit the sky take the jump now. There is nothing called a right moment, a right context all of that has to be created and created now.
I would have loved to hug each and every member of this team and perhaps take a iota of that spirit from them ...
Feeling very proud to be an Indian today...
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Online Model = Brick&Mortar Model
It was a strange thought that came in and I thought of writing this down. Today when the world moves towards web for almost everything from marketing to sales to knowledge management the most interesting pattern to observe is that to gain Success you need to follow the basic principles of brick and mortar model
Like in the conventional way you go and block a piece of land and if you can choose your land strategically there are chances that you can get a very high returns because some one would need that land as a part of his business expansion plan. Interestingly the same happens when you block a domain with a bit of strategic thinking and then you realize that the domain you have blocked is so critical that people are ready to pay you 5 times more than the original plan.
Similarly create a site increase 'eyeballs' and then attract retailers to put up there merchandise and let them pay you a percentage of your sales so what have you created essentially a 'Market Place' or now more well known as 'Mall' which can attract both the Buyer and the seller
So from now onwards whenever you design a eChannel do remember the basics which the conventional model follows and you are sure to get more success
Cheerio
M
Like in the conventional way you go and block a piece of land and if you can choose your land strategically there are chances that you can get a very high returns because some one would need that land as a part of his business expansion plan. Interestingly the same happens when you block a domain with a bit of strategic thinking and then you realize that the domain you have blocked is so critical that people are ready to pay you 5 times more than the original plan.
Similarly create a site increase 'eyeballs' and then attract retailers to put up there merchandise and let them pay you a percentage of your sales so what have you created essentially a 'Market Place' or now more well known as 'Mall' which can attract both the Buyer and the seller
So from now onwards whenever you design a eChannel do remember the basics which the conventional model follows and you are sure to get more success
Cheerio
M
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Is your business scalable?
Well this is the question I have been hearing too often in seminars, from investors, even from the local chaiwallah and so much so that I thought let me try and put my own thoughts on this.
What is scalability. Any business which starts would expect to see an increase in revenue on a Y-to-Y basis and it will for sure see an increase in people etc so whats the hype around scalability.
Scalability has some key dimensions and one of the them is the 'Market' which means would your target addressable market grow with time, is the growth rate good enough to keep your business pockets exciting enough for investors
How scalable is your offering. If you are doing products then you scale up by adding more modules , more functionalities etc and you can easily talk about a product life worth 4-5 years but what about services. How do you define scalability for consulting business
How do you scale yourself in terms of your reach in the market. How do you reach out to a large set of customers, geographies etc. Digital Marketing, virtual sales force, distributor model or franchise...
Keep thinking as I don't feel that it covers all so pour your comments
Cheerio
M
What is scalability. Any business which starts would expect to see an increase in revenue on a Y-to-Y basis and it will for sure see an increase in people etc so whats the hype around scalability.
Scalability has some key dimensions and one of the them is the 'Market' which means would your target addressable market grow with time, is the growth rate good enough to keep your business pockets exciting enough for investors
How scalable is your offering. If you are doing products then you scale up by adding more modules , more functionalities etc and you can easily talk about a product life worth 4-5 years but what about services. How do you define scalability for consulting business
How do you scale yourself in terms of your reach in the market. How do you reach out to a large set of customers, geographies etc. Digital Marketing, virtual sales force, distributor model or franchise...
Keep thinking as I don't feel that it covers all so pour your comments
Cheerio
M
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Mice is Nice
There are times when a thing heard strikes you right at the core and thats precisely what happened while watching 'Rocket Singh, Salesman of the year'
I thing at times we are too nice and that stems from the fact that we don't really know our actual value and we were a veil of nicety. We ourselves are responsible for how the world treats us and most importantly how we are perceived.
At a personal level I think i have suffered a lot from 'Yes' syndrome where I have in order to either keep myself in good books or to avoid confrontation have said yes to things where I should have really said a big 'NO'. At a long run it doesn't help because the recipient perhaps doesn't always have the visibility to understand that you are too much pain to say that 'Yes'. This is a trait which needs to be developed specially if you are in a leadership role.
Cheers
Mitul
I thing at times we are too nice and that stems from the fact that we don't really know our actual value and we were a veil of nicety. We ourselves are responsible for how the world treats us and most importantly how we are perceived.
At a personal level I think i have suffered a lot from 'Yes' syndrome where I have in order to either keep myself in good books or to avoid confrontation have said yes to things where I should have really said a big 'NO'. At a long run it doesn't help because the recipient perhaps doesn't always have the visibility to understand that you are too much pain to say that 'Yes'. This is a trait which needs to be developed specially if you are in a leadership role.
Cheers
Mitul
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