A neat problem

First of all, apologies for being out of radar for so long. I have been working hard on creating something new and it is close to where I want it to be. Details on that later.

For now, let me stimulate your grey cells with this smashing problem a friend at work posted to us who travel together in the evening cab. Last Friday, we spent an hour trying to make the just the first moves to solve this problem.

There are two guys and two numbers. Guy1 knows only the product of the numbers while Guy2 knows only the sum. Both numbers are known to be between 2 and 99 inclusive. The following conversation ensues:
Guy1-> I don't know what the numbers are.
Guy2-> I know that you don't know what the numbers are.
Guy1-> Now I know what the numbers are.
Guy2-> Now even I know what the numbers are.
Question: What are the numbers?

And here's the solution.

Enjoy!

Sounds weird as the title of a post , isn't it? Let me explain.

If there is one single word that an aspiring entreprenuer should know how and when to use - it is the word "NO" . At most times, the word "NO" is actually not used as is. This is because a startup situation is very fluid. A "NO" yesterday could be a "YES" tomorrow. Take investors for example. There might be a bunch of folks ready to pump in money into your venture. But you need to decide when to take and how much to take and from whom. Startups often need to chop and change their business models. That is why I don't have a formal business plan yet although I have figured out how I will make money.

However, there are situations which demand a clear "NO". This could be doing something unethical/illegal/immoral. The legal part is common to everyone but ethics and morality are subjective. For example, it might be unethical for someone to develop software for playing cheap lottery on the internet or on the mobile. For someone else, it may not be. These are deeply personal decisions.

How to say "NO" is often very critical. A startup needs as many friends as possible. Some entreprenuers like to be brash about saying "NO". I think this is not the right way. Be humble, Be polite, Be firm and Be genuine. This shows strength of character. Also, when you know its a NO only for today , make sure the message gets across that it could be a YES tomorrow. This is easily said than done. Many folks who hear "NO" are bound to take it personally. Again, make it explicit that it is the idea or the proposal , not the person, that gets the "NO" .

Getting started

This is my first post in more than a month. The standard excuse is that I've busy. The truth is I've been lazy.

For a couple of months now , I have been trying to put the pieces together for a new venture. You could say, once you've started you're a startup. However, I have arranged my goals such that I prefer to "become" a startup the day I get that "launch". Before that, I am zilch.

For this new venture, a lot of things are happening in parallel. I've tried to rate where we are..

1) Investor interest - 3/5
2) Product definition - 4/5
3) Product development - 2/5
4) Partner traction( BD) - 3/5
5) Legal - 0/5
6) Office/location - 0/5
7) Business plan - 0/5

We are not in a hurry because we are doing something which has not been done before and have a product definition which is simple yet outstanding.
Stay tuned in : I will try to revisit these in a month's time and see where we stand.

The Indian mobile juggernaut

The Indian mobile penetration just rolls on and on with no letup in sight. We all know that India is adding highest number of mobile subscribers per month anywhere in the world. What we perhaps don't realize is the sheer historical significance of what is happening. It may be the greatest revolution ever in history - far outstripping the industrial revolution of the 18th century and the semiconductor revolution of the 90's. Last quarter of 2007 added 20 million new mobile connections. Thats more than half the people in California, the biggest state of United States, added in one quarter!

If this growth rate continues, and it is actually increasing, India will add 100 million subscribers in 2008. Yes, a 100 million!

I , for that matter, any single individual or group is not equipped to fathom the implications of such growth on India and the world. Yes, it means the cellphone makers will sell billions of dollars worth of cellphones. It also means there is a huge opportunity for companies which make backend telecom equipments. But most importantly, look at this unprecedented expansion as the enabling of 100 million people. Can you imagine what these 100 million new connections can lead to? Can you imagine what new business models can become feasible just based on sheer volumes?

I will show you a glimpse. Imagine a rural hamlet in Chattisgarh -a small state in central India. A hot afternoon. A deserted village square. Where are the villagers? Answer - They are busy making calls to rich professionals in Delhi,Mumbai and Bangalore urging them to buy a personal loan from HDFC.

The one lakh wonder

There was a time last year that I thought that if I become a proper successful VC, I would have achieved it all. The events of past one week have changed my perception. I think I will still be a VC long term, but I wouldn't have achieved everything by becoming a VC.

Ratan Tata has done what no sane VC would have bet its money on. Yes, there are those valley VC's who bet on companies like Google but those were bets. The concept of rupee 1 lakh car (2500 USD) was not a bet. It was an accurately calculated risk to failure. That's what every one from auto industry said.

To come up with success against such odds is the sole prerogative of the entreprenuer. If the entreprenuer is a game shooter ( only fowl please!), then the VC is one who sells the gun. In this case, I think, Ratan Tata was motivated not by the profit but to leave a world class legacy behind. As they say in hindi , " sunehre aksharon mein itihass likhna" = writing history in letters of gold.

Coming up.. MoMo and Omcar

A couple of back to back conferences that I plan to attend in the coming two weeks.

Mobile Monday Delhi - 5 Jan 2008 ( Password : Android)
Agenda - Mobile VAS
Where : Perot Systems,Plot No.3, Sec 125,Near Amity University,
Greater Noida Expressway,Noida.Phone : 91-120-2432750-64

OM Careers - 12 Jan 2008
Agenda - Online marketing careers
Where : FIEO (also called Niryat Bhawan), Rao Tula Ram Marg
Opp Army Hospital Research & Referral, New Delhi – 110057, India

If you plan to attend either , leave your contact number and lets meet up!

India and clean technology

Clean tech has been the buzzword in the valley for a couple of years now. There is plenty of venture capital available to fund clean technologies. Clean tech business ventures are seen to combine the benefits of for-profit with the sustainability of non-profits. This includes using wind,solar,geothermal, biomass and other energy sources. However, it is not confined to generation of energy alone.

Where does India stand today with respect to clean technologies? And what is our government's views on pushing for cleaner technologies?

As a developing country, India's per capita fuel expenditure is very low compared to developed countries. This ultimately leads to lower per capita emission of GHG's or Greenhouse gases consisting of various oxides of Carbon,Sulphur and Nitrogen. This has been the focal point of argument that the developing countries put forward at Bali, where the 13th UN conference on climate change took place recently.

I think India and other developing countries are making a grave error by linking push for clean technology with per capita emissions. I would suggest use a new metric " per capita quality of life" or PCQOL. To start off, compare the quality of air and drinking water in top 50 Indian cities with that of top 50 cities in US. Then look at the kind of fuel used for public/private transportation, the emissions caused by industrial zones within cities, the energy efficiency of housing infrastructure and quality of water in the rivers that flow near/through the cities. I am pretty sure Indian cities would fare much worse.

The ultimate objective of addressing per capita emissions is to make quality of life better for the citizens. Does lower per capita emissions mean we wait to switch to clean energy until our per capita emission matches that of US? Can India ( or this earth) survive when per capita emissions of India and US are equal? US consumers have historically been the biggest embracers of innovation and this has been the single biggest factor why US companies are the most innovative. Clean tech is picking up momentum and while it is still not mainstream, I won't be surprised if US consumers manage to cut down emissions within 10 years. Honda already sells the largest number of Civic hybrid cars in the US. Where does that leave India? Do we want to go the path of US, and then come out of that ? Or should we address this now, when all that rapid economic growth is ahead of us ? Sustainable growth is not just a fancy buzzword.

It is a tremendous opportunity for India to carve out a future which is energy efficient and dependent on clean energy sources. The time to act is now.