Miles to go...

Resolution time!!

Jaya — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:42:35 +0000

Time to talk about new year resolutions again

Well – there aren’t any new ones for me this time. I had two resolutions for last year. One about regular exercise and the other about paying bills on time.

I did fairly well on the exercise front, although I would like to be more disciplined than I have been last year. So, that’s the resolution for this year.

I lost a decent amount of weight and now I am at a stage, where I am not worried about my health due to weight. I would like to lose some more, but that will be an added bonus so that I can buy some funkier dresses )

I have a thought about losing weight here. Typically there are two ways you can do it. By controlling your diet (not starving, but healthy food) or by exercise. Ideal way is, of course, a combination of both. But it is difficult for most people. Now, if you want to lose weight whether you choose the diet option or the exercise option may depend on your personal preference. Some people find one easier than the other.

I find both difficult. So, it was a question of choosing the lesser evil for me. I figured that controlling diet for long is not possible for me. Probably upbringing in a Brahmin family can be blamed for it partially ) No. I am not a foodie. But food is considered very sacrosanct in my family. You do not count the number of rotis you are eating or making (as is no per person counting while making rotis)! That’s considered cheap behaviour. It is okay to prepare double the amount of food you may need, but it is mortifying to run out of even pickles while eating. One sabzi and one daal is not considered enough even for your day to day meals. And you never, ever stop anyone from eating or comment on how much they eat. That’s too huge an insult! It is so ingrained that I get annoyed at Abhaya very often, if he stops me from eating something, even if it is something as trivial as chocolate and he stops me only for health reasons.

So, even though overeating is not my problem, if I want to eat something at some point of time, being prevented from doing so is not done for me.

That leaves exercise as the only option for me. But there is another reason to choose exercise over diet if you care to weigh in these reasons in your decision making. Exercise also has an advantage over diet as a means of weight loss. It helps not only in losing weight, but also in overall fitness. So, in last one year, my health has been better than what it had been two-three years preceding that. The legs which can carry you a few kilometers and the lungs which are strong enough to pump oxygen for that are great confidence boosters, even if you are not dependent on physical labour for you day to day work. Feeling healthy and strong improves your quality of life, your productivity and your happiness.

So, exercise regularly in 2012! I must hit the stairs after posting this

Coming to the second resolution, I didn’t do well on the paying the bills on time. So, that will be a major thing in 2012. Pay those bills on time Jaya Jha. I have cancelled a card that was particularly troublesoe because it was not connected with any bank account So, I had to remember to pay the bills. There were no SIs for it.This should help me defaulting less. Rest is up to… well, me.

Four Types of Mentors to Avoid

Jaya — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:04:39 +0000

Originally posted on “E for Entrepreneurship“.

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Mentors can play an important role in the success of a start-up. If you can find the right mentors, they can bring in the much needed external perspective in your business decisions; the bigger picture, broader questions that you might miss in your day to day struggle as an entrepreneur. They can also help you with right contacts for selling your product or for raising capital. Some may be able to help you in streamlining your operations or correctly channeling your marketing efforts.

As useful as a right mentor can be to a start-up, the wrong ones can be equally or more damaging. So, here are a few types of people you should avoid getting on board as mentors.

The cynic: Someone who has dirtied his hands by being an entrepreneur himself is a good candidate for being a mentor, even if his entrepreneurial attempt(s) have failed. Few things are more precious than actual experience. But if the failures have made them cynical about everything, they can be dangerous. You need the mentor to bring in a balanced perspective, not a negative one. The mentor should be a support to the entrepreneur. So, avoid someone who thinks that the world and everyone in it, including yourself, are doomed, the ecosystem sucks, the government doesn’t care, the RBI is after you and the terrorists are targeting you.
The narcissist: There is a category of people who, when they succeed, fall too much in love with their success. They think that theirs is the only way to success. As an entreprneur, you are most likely trying to do different things, or trying to do them differently. Someone who can not see a way of doing things other than how they have done it in life, will spell doom for your efforts.
The know-it-all: There are people who do not believe in listening. Yes – they seem to have skipped their COM101 classes during their MBA. If you have fallen for some such person, get up fast. As an entreprenur, you have an idea, a vision. The mentor is supposed to help you refine it, modify it in a way that you succeed. So, someone who isn’t giving time to listening to you and understanding what you are trying to do, is no good as a mentor. Stay away from them.
The inexperienced: The start-up ecosystem, particularly in India, seems to be full of people who are the equivalent of “famous for being famous” from the page 3 world. Their sole entrepreneurial credential might be that they are start-up gurus without having any solid entrepreneurial hisotry behind them. Not having been an entrepreneur, by itself, does not mean that the person is not a suitable mentor. But he does need to have something solid to offer to you. Probably an experience in the relevant industry. Or someone who is a very good observer, someone who can actually learn the right things by observing others and pass the learning to you. I have to admit that it is difficult to judge. But you don’t have an option. You have to develop the skill to differentiate between the bluff-masters and the people who have a solid understanding. If unsure, you might want to stay away from the inexperienced.

In short, mentors can be great asset to an entrepreneur. But having no mentor is better than having a bad mentor.

A Publishing Entrepreneur’s Ode to Chetan Bhagat

Jaya — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:18:54 +0000

Originally posted on “E for Entrepreneurship“.

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Being an entrepreneur who runs a self-publishing platform I love Chetan Bhagat. Because when traditionalists come to us ranitng about “quality” that the traditional publishing brings to the table, I can raise my eyebrows and point them to the best-selling author of the day!!

Anyway! That is just to shut them up. Publishing Chetan Bhagats of the world is not the point of Pothi.com. In fact, it isn’t even suitable for those aspiring to be the next Chetan Bhagat. But Pothi.com is not the point of discussion here. So, I will skip dwelling further into that.

Nor is bashing Chetan Bhagat the point here. Yes, as a reader, I keep away from his books. Still apart from the reason mentioned in the first paragraph, there is another reason I adore him. The reason is that he has been able to create a product which is bought by 750,000 people in less than two months. Whatever be the quality of his writing from my point of view or from the literary purists’ point of view, if those many people were entertained by his book and wanted to buy it, they have all the rights to buy it, Chetan Bhagat has all the rights to publish it, nobody should scoff at them for that and he must be credited for his achievement. I give him that credit and I look up to his achievement as an entrepreneur. Because I would also like to be able to create a product like that.

The only thing I can not digest in Chetan Bhagat’s praise is that he has done the society some good by making all these non-reader teenagers read. I don’t think that counts. Why is the habit of reading considered good? Because it opens up a world of stored knowledge, wisdom and experiences for you. And even though the words knowledge and wisdom sound pedagogic, it does not mean the advantage of reading comes only from the academic books. It very well comes from reading good fiction and other kinds of books too. If the first book you read gets you started on reading a lot of other books, then only can it be credited for the mere fact that it got you to read. If you read that book and others like that, which probably are no more beneficial than the mass market movies you see, then getting you to read is not much of a service to the society really. You were entertained; that’s good. But that’s where its value ends. From anecdotal evidence and personal experience, it does not look like Chetan Bhagat’s readers graduate to other kinds of books with more substantial content. So, spare me the Saint and Social changer Chetan Bhagat. I am all praises for the entertainer Chetan Bhagat.

E for Entrepreneurship

Jaya — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:30:10 +0000

I have started a new page on facebook called “E for Entrepreneurship“. It isn’t difficult to guess from the name what it is about. Please check it out and like it if you liked the pieces posted there.

Here is the opening post from that page

‎“Collatz conjecture” for Indian Entrepreneurship

If you pivot enough number of times, you will become an e-commerce startup!

Credit: Abhaya Agarwal

Coming soon…

Jaya — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:11:27 +0000

He was not a teenager. What teenager, he mentally berated himself; he wasn’t even twenty-five-year-old like her. At thirty seven, he believed he had seen life from all angles. He had been married for five years and divorced for another five. And in the last three years, he had seen women of all shapes, sizes and variety through the escort services. This wasn’t the time and age to have a crush, to feel so intrigued by a woman. A simplistic child-woman on top of that!

And Further…

Jaya — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:43:08 +0000

“Why the hell am I supposed to travel by train from Delhi to Lucknow?” Rohan was still cynical about his new assistant’s comprehension of her work.

“Delhi airport is in a mess now with the renovation work going on. Flights are regularly being delayed by five to six hours. In the time you would otherwise spend at the airport, you would have reached Lucknow by Rajdhani. And it will be easier to catch up on your sleep on a train than while waiting at the airport.”

It was difficult to argue with that logic. He was supposed to take a red-eye international flight the night before. Being able to catch up on sleep before the meeting in Lucknow would indeed be very welcome. Why he had not travelled by train between Delhi and Lucknow earlier, he wondered.

Guess what?

Jaya — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:34:53 +0000

“But no. You are not running out of this room right now, are you? You had to leave because I cared? Because I was willing to fight out our problems and I wanted to love and be loved. How fair was that Smriti? And you really thought that you could be a martyr, leave without a word, live in misery yourself and make me happy? That was what you understood of what I felt for you?”

Everything is not cheap in India

Jaya — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:24:58 +0000

As soon as you talk about doing a business in India, people immediately send an advice your way that target International market because you have cost advantage.

Really? Without any context?

Let me start with the things everyone understands. Branded electronics, laptops, computers, printers are all cheaper in the US. And as an acquaintance, who recently returned from the US, discovered that if they wanted to live their life with US brands here – in toys for their kids, in clothes and in other day to day things, life becomes costlier than US here.

Why? Because things don’t become cheaper just because you are in India. Things become cheaper when Economis work that way. Some of the reasons why certain things are cheaper here

People are cheaper – so software services are cheaper.
Something is manufactured locally using low cost input and people and hence it is cheaper.
Equipments used are manufactured locally or imported at subsidized rates; so the output is cheaper.

And similar other reasons. Economics has to play a part in making something cheaper. Hence Gems is cheaper than M&Ms, but if you want to buy M&Ms in India (assuming they are available and are imported), they are going to be costly. Only if M&M owners decide to handle the production and supply chain locally, could it become chepaer here.

Coming to business,similarly many things are not cheaper in India. Web hosting is costlier in India than in US or most of Europe. Bandwidth is costlier and probably electricity too. Most of the computer equipments are costlier. Logistics is costly too (bad infrastructure?). And the list can be made substantially longer.

Why do I care? Because Print on Demand, my dear American and Indian friends, is not cheaper in India The equipments and supplies are mostly imported and while I am not sure of this, it is likely that a subtantial amount of duty is paid on them. Unlike offset printing, local, cheaper equipments and supplies are not in the market and even if some jugad is there, it won’t match the quality. Logistics – don’t even get me started on that. That can fill up a decent size book.

So, next time you think of cost-arbitrage, do think of the business at hand first. A heads up to the aspiring entrepreneurs as much as to the advisors

What a lame response from Make My trip

Jaya — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 10:57:09 +0000

To get a context, please read the customer’s experience at http://ruinedmytrip.com

Then look at this response from make my trip http://blog.makemytrip.com/insiders-scoop/2011/4/15/customer-service-at-makemytrip.html

This is what I would have written on their site, but comments are moderated. So, most likely it won’t appear on their site. Hence, I did not bother posting it there. Instead writing here on my blog.

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As an online service, it sounds very lame that reservation failed due to a system error and no alerts were raised. So, you did not catch the problem until the last moment. Come on! This is not your first day in the market.

And this is not a rare instance at all. I keep hearing horror stories of hotel booking all the time to an extent that I never book hotels through online services. Considering the amount of trouble such an error can cause, it is just callous that you don’t have systems in place to catch them. If the booking failed, why on earth did the customer get a booking confirmation e-mail? What kind of system does that?

Untainted Joy!

Jaya — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 19:55:17 +0000

Midnight of 14/15th August 1947 was a monumental moment for this country. People celebrated the independence at midnight. In different corners of the country. But my guess is that the happiness would have been guarded. Many were, in fact, going through the worst in their lives. The scars of partition, communal riots, the uncertainties for the political, economic and social future of the country – all of these would have tainted the happiness Indians felt. Many were fearing for their lives and future. The country had gained independence, but the people were divided. The absolute joy could not have been felt.

Midnight of 2nd/3rd April 2011 – Streets of all the cities, towns and villages in India has people celebrating. The reason is relatively trivial. India winning a world cup. But there is nothing to taint the enjoyment. Everyone is together. People on the streets will look like they are lunatics. But you know that they won’t harm you.

It’s ironical but the things that bring people are together are mostly not the ones that would intellectually be considered most important for the society. People come together to enjoy more trivial things.

I am not judging, only wondering.