To Start-up or Not?

Brilliant post here sighting reasons why people start-up...or don't.

A must read for people thinking of going it on their own.

And the Nominees are...

Nominees for the Webby awards 2007 here

Whats interesting is the great site designs, navigations and the overall experience.

Vote for your favourite.

Any Indian sites? At a glance, I couldn't spot any.

Wonder why.

Holidays unpackaged

I've always hated the concept of 'package holidays'. Hate, is a rather strong expression, but if there is that one singlular thing that can most certainly kill the experience of a holiday, it's a package.

As a student travelling across Europe, I never took a package holiday, even to countries where I didn't speak the tongue, cause they didn't make economic sense. Packages are always more expensive than creating your own holiday.

But that's not the only reason I hate packages.

I also hate them cause they don't let the excitement build. A major factor as to why I look forward to my travels is the planning bit. Planning is the foreplay that I look forward to. It's the process of deciding on a destination, getting information on whens the best time to go, finding that perfect place to stay in, that builds the excitement. Without all this, I might as well go on a business tour.

Sure, packages are convenient - you see an advert, see 15 items on the itinerary and 5 places to visit in 4 days and you get excited. 5 more places on your been-there-done-that list. And if that's what a holiday to you is, go ahead get yourself a package deal. However, even then, if you were to book all those 5 places individually, I can bet my money on it, that it'll be cheaper.

Besides, more often than not, you won't even get what you were promised.
(good story here on rediff...even better comments)

So, people, don't let these 'packagers' take the joy out of travelling.

Go out there and create your own holiday. There are loads of websites with every possible kind of information you're looking for - destination reviews, stay options, travel buddies, etc

Get online and start planning.

And if you're reading this, your travel experience has already begun.

'Every citizen is a reporter'

In a discussion with aspiring media professionals, the issue of citizen journalism on the web came up.

Interesting thought, but like most things www, if you're thinking about it now, someone's already doing it somewhere.

An excerpt from a story in the Mint -

Online newspaper rocks South Korean media trend

March 30, 2007

OhmyNews is now regarded as South Korea’s most influential news website, competing with conventional media outlets and helping change the concept of journalism not just in South Korea but across the world.

“The citizen journalism pioneered by OhmyNews in South Korea is changing the paradigm of mass communications where media outlets unilaterally set what the news is and feed it to the general public,” said Kim Byoung-Cheol, a journalism professor at Cyber University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. “Now, citizens are both the producers and the consumers of the news. The era of elite journalists monopolising the news is over. Citizen journalism is not a transient phenomenon but a big global trend in line with the blooming democratisation...”

The founder, Oh Yeon-Ho clearly has a motto that literally, is his business - 'Every citizen is a reporter'

Any takes on whether such a concept would work in India?

Hey VC! Over here!

Excellent post by Guy Kawasaki on how to get the attention of a Venture Capitalist.

To be honest, I've tried some of these myself. Some succeeded, others didn't.

His advice on what to include, if you're emailing a VC -

• What does your company do?

• What problem are you solving?

• What’s special about your technology/marketing/expertise/connections?

• Who are you?

(I think I missed the 3rd point in my emails.)

Of the things he advises NOT to do, this one seems peculiar -

Most projections that I see show how you’ll grow faster than Google. Frankly, I wouldn’t provide any projection at all. It will be either too low and make your deal uninteresting or too high and make you look delusional.

All of them ask for this. How does one get around answering that question?

Good post to read in its entirety on his blog. Follow it up with a post on fixing your pitch, on the same blog.

Citizen Journalism on the Go

Came across a mobile video sharing Indian site this morning www.aapkavideo.com

A very interesting concept. The site has been seeded with content and the UI is clean and minimalist. Some problems with the links etc, but I'm sure they'll be taken care of in time.

The surprising thing is that they don't have user profiles and hence I cannot build my own viewership or channel. Hopefully that'll come in time.

But for now, go out there, shoot your video on your mobile and upload it here.

Any 'citizen journalists' reading this?

ZeeCCI?

A very interesting development, this.

In between all the mud-slinging and the blame games, comes along India's very own Kerry Packer with the Indian Cricket League.

What's also interesting is the fact that the Legue will begin with the twenty20 format - one that the BCCI has been slow and cautious to adopt.

So, is Mr. Chandra going head-on with the BCCI after a losing bid for BCCI's telecast rights or is he building a League that will complement the BCCI as he claims.

Maybe, like Mr. Packer in 1976, he's just asking the board, "There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?"

A Call to Action

A very interesting story on CNN-IBN on the issue of media participation.

<<“Voter turnout in Aligarh has always be very low. We're going to run a campaign on air, asking people in Aligarh to go out there and cast their vote and choose their own leader,” >>

An apt example of how the media can play a crucial role in helping people dream. And, to borrow a tagline, just do it.

I'm betting my money on a higher voter turnout this year in the local elections in Aligarh.

Any stakers?

Can the Media build great cities?

Just this morning in a conversation with an ex-IIT topper who's also been an energy consultant with some of the top energy firms in India and abroad, the topic of power-shortage in Mumbai came up. Mumbai, for the first time in I-don't-know-how-many-years faces the real possibility of a scheduled power cut. From our brief discussion on the topic, we both were of the opinion that the current shortage is more a problem of mis-management than of a real shortage of power.

The same argument stands true of every facet of Indian urban (and rural?) planning. Potholed roads. Unruly traffic. Unregulated construction. Stinking sewers. Uncollected garbage. Blocked drains. I could go on...

This post on Emergic really got me thinking.

Isn't it astonishing that 2,600 years ago, when most of the world was living in tiny little human settlements, the Indus Valley civilization had well-planned cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro?...
What is even more astonishing is that now, two and a half millennia later, most of the current inhabitants of land of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro civilization live not in well planned cities but in tiny little impoverished villages, and some in ill-planned congested mega-slums. The shame of the whole thing is that as a collective not only have they lost the knowledge of what cities mean but also they don't even dream of building and inhabiting cities. One wonders when the regression started and what led to the death of the spirit that built those ancient cities. Something snuffed out the spirit, something killed those dreams, something made the inheritors of such great vision and accomplishment into myopic poverty-stricken masses living in misery, huddled into very primitive small villages.

Being a media professional, the question that is of interest to me is, what role has the media played in this decline? AND, more importantly, can the media now take on a leadeship role? Can it plant the seeds in people minds to get them dreaming of the stuff that great cities are made of?

Where the three pillars of democracy have let us down, can the fourth estate stand-up and deliver?

Or am I just dreaming?