Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

What Did I Learn, Turning 25?

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Sep
01

Well, yes yesterday was the day which comes once in everyone’s life. Its shows you growing up, maturing over  period of time, creating new possibilities in life and what not!

The Pages of Life: Something about Turning 25

There is something about turning 25 and stepping into your 26th year. There is something about life taking a new turn, its like a new page opening in life, which calls out to you saying, im again blank and then you start scribbling many new chapters of times and life on the pages. The pages of life.

A Little Kid, Growing Up

When we were kids, we never used to think twice about something. Whether it was climbing trees while playing hide n seek or just gong berserk in rains and soaking in every drop of happiness that there is. We were fearless.

And that’s what Iv always liked about being a kid. And that’s how I operate in life, makes one, fearless. Makes you do things which are not so normal according to the real world. According to the world of grown ups.

And What Did I Learn, Turning 25?

Well, I am so sure my life has been put through such a major sudden change. Now I must admit, I was looking for this change to happen since a long time and I think its finally arrived. But as they say you never know what it is like, till the time it hits you, well, Yes, it’s hit me and Im happily just going with the flow, learning.

What Change?

Even before I talk about the change, its about the fact that I learnt a lesson, which is, that being a little kid makes you fearless, but what it also does is puts you into a whole new space which is full of so many grown ups that you feel that there is something that we grown ups talk about, a communication gap.

For Me Life Changed While Answering a Question: Who am I?

Yes! Life actually did answer me a question which is one of the most crucial questions for anyone! Who am I? Just like every normal person, I am playing many different roles in life, that of a Son, of a brother, of a friend and professionally as the CEO.

And Iv always been operating from just one take in all these spheres of life, which is being just the way I am.

And How did it happen?

Interestingly, God has plans which unfold in front of us, while we don’t even realize there are things happening. Things had started to change around me and were calling for a change to be accepted by me, within me, which I was aware of, but probably was too reluctant to be accepting and being present to it.

And then it happened, it started on 27th August and went on and on endlessly and effortlessly. While going out for a meeting on 27th I bumped into someone who is changing life, who is making me realize that there is not just me to myself.

I see smiles everywhere, everything is smiling around it seems and well that’s the way I am

The above line is not mine, but that’s what Iv come to realize.

What Iv come to realize and really really incorporate in my life is, the real meaning and the truth behind the word ‘stability’. Everyone talks about it. Everyone says you must have it. But there are a few in your life who actually understand you and make you realize that you know it, but you have been missing it, by just a small mark, but that small mark, you were not able to see clearly, as you were happy with what you are!

One of the biggest lessons of my life which this one person taught me over like a few days and many many hours is how to detached and still be as much attached to something. Until ROI, of which I am the Founding CEO, obviously when its your baby, you are always cautious and concerned, but what also becomes is you get so attached to your baby, that at times you overlook many a things.

What Iv Always Been Wishing for?

Iv always been wishing for someone who can help me be detached and still be as much attached. Someone who really makes me learn, how to control my excitement at times when Im just overjoyed and literally like a to little kid the excitement takes over my senses in those moments. And at these highly charged up and very excited moments, does one loses his sense of stability. At least I used to.

At many a times in life you need a strong perspective on things. A perspective so strong that it hits your own ego and shuts you up for a few minutes and makes you realize that there are other views to the same issue than your own.

I mean, this has been the biggest learning of my life. Today I am growing towards real stability coupled with patience and the right attitude. Iv learnt to how look at the same thing, which I used to just look at from my own vision, from many other views. Its about seeing something so close to yourself, from your eyes, but from a whole new perspective.

And How Has it Helped?

Well, this whole new perspective has changed my life. Changed my life, as now I am looking at all things existing and in the future from a different perspective. Its not about just me anymore. Its about learning from many new people in life. About how they see what Im seeing or trying to see.

What Do I See Now?

As I said above, well, now when I look upto the sky, what I see are smiles, clouds forming upto be smiles, the moon smiling back..

And Obviously I am Thankful to that One Person Who’s blasted my Ego and Made me Realize the Bigger Things in life. Sure this one person is going to be a part of many new wins and many more better moments in life :)

A Passionate Mentor Can Change the Game for Your Emerging Company

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Aug
17

Before I venture ahead into this post, I would like to extend an honest “Thank You” to everyone who has stood by me, towards raising up Until ROI. Though I may not be able to put all the names, let me try and recount all I can in the time I have:

My Mom, Kamal Sir (my graduate school professor), Avinash Raghava (the turning point of my professional life), Neha (a great support), Sarika (one who knows, I’d be too lazy to work on what she says always, till she scolds me bad :P ), Sonam Budhiraja (a great support to Until ROI), Akanksha Seth (a great friend), Gargi Sharma (a great support and a fantastic human), Geetu Mam (this is one lecturer whom I used to adore in college times :P , one lecture I never bunked)

The first turning point in life

Just a little over 3 years back I bumped online into someone who, with his insights and thoughts, actually helped me evolve as an individual. Avinash Raghava from NASSCOM. Avi has been both a mentor, guide and a friend of sorts.

I remember, when I had this super lucrative job offer from a large company, Avi called me up and actually helped me decide by saying: Paritosh, Job or Until ROI. And he said, if you utter Until ROI, well, we wont discuss the job part again. And we did not. And today Until ROI has challenges, but we are poised to create a success story, a part of India’s growth story!

Avi, as I call him, and many others too, extracted the best out of me by making me always push for raising my level of performance. And I am so thankful to him always for this.

The Second Time, Life Took a Turn

This one encounter with a gentleman called Rajiv Mittal, has been one of the steepest learning curves in my life. Rajiv Sir as I call him always, is a Mentor, not just to me but for Until ROI. He is one of the best people undoubtedly who you must work with once in your lifetime in the industry.

Rajiv Sir, has helped me evolve as an entrepreneur over the past 6 months and is now helping me transition into a well bred CEO. And Mind you, he’s not another mentor, who will come and share his insights. He actually has sat with me overnights, late at work, helping me work on various aspects of business, running a venture, raising capital and much more.

I am not sure about the others reading this blog, but how many times the mentor actually takes your work and does it?!

And well, in all honesty, its not really the fact that he’s just been a client, its a relationship on a different level. Try telling your boss/ mentor/ Chief, that I dont agree to you and go up against his views and put up a fight, well, chances are somewhere it snaps. With Rajiv Sir, its on the other level. We argue, we listen, we learn and at the end of the day Iv always actually seen that his experience wins. His insights into what may happen right/ wrong actually proves right.

For Emerging companies, having the right insights at the right time is very crucial and obviously you as an entrepreneur, must always be ready to learn and un-learn from such people in your life. Be open, and you will create magic faster!

I surely am excited to be on the path to raising up a successful enterprise and contribute to the nation’s growth :) thank you all again, look forward to your support always!

HCL A Big Conglomerate Which Truly Proves Customer is Second Always!

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Jun
24

Before I share my ordeal, I must say something, which as a small start-up we believe and as a leader, I truly, passionately believe in: employee first, Customer second is good, but only when your employees are trained enough with solid integrity to keep their commitments, otherwise, well, your customer will truly be a second and will probably stay with you as long!

HCL is one company, which I always used to cherish since my early days of entrepreneurship and the professional career, as a home made global brand!

But today as I stand, cheated, frustrated and upon being bombarded with FALSE PROMISES by HCL, I must put across that being a so called BIG 5 billion dollar global brand DOES NOT mean that you don’t care a zilch about your smaller retail customers, who are the reason of you being where you are!

The Ordeal!

A few days back HCL gave a full page print AD in the News Paper about the fact that they were giving away prizes and an assured Philips Home Theater with a HCL Desktop. There were certain numbers mentioned in the newspaper.

I called one of them and asked if its true (just to be double sure of every *conditions apply) and I dropped the call and went to the nearest market “Nehru Place”. The first shop I found there, with a genuine, HCL Brand Logo, a fairly big board which said ONLY HCL, upon enquiry, the shopkeeper said, YES Sir, this is the last day of this deal, go and register your product online and you will get your gift.

And that’s what I did. I brought the system home, and well its been over 1 month and after absolutely crappy and false promises of a truly “CUSTOMER SECOND” (Mr. Vineet Nayar, you stand tall to your claim here, your employees truly believe CUSTOMER SECOND) service, today I stand as cheated.

After I received a message from HCL about 15 days after the promotion was over and I had the system at my place, I called up a number mentioned in that SMS and a certain Mr. Kashish from HCL HQ referred me to Mr. Rahul (who happens to be their Online Marketing Head).

HCL’s Online Marketing Head Says – Its not my department, I am not at office today, please send me an Email and I will connect you to the right person – But its not our responsibility to keep a check on all what is happening in the market

Mr. Rahul, as a comment to you – I am an entrepreneur and run a much smaller company in Size as compared to HCL, but well, all my team members are empowered enough to SERVICE our customers in every way. Absolutely every way! Period. We know how to take responsibilities and owe up to them!

Anyway, I sent an Email to Mr. Rahul on May 20th, today its over a month and NO REPLIES. I presume Mr. Online Marketing head is a little too busy facebooking than looking at his customers, and if he is one, well, I must believe, he should reply back to this post immediately (if his team is tracking HCL’s reputation online).

A few weeks back

A few weeks back I got a follow-up sales call from a sweet talking lady to whom I repeated the entire case, and she said, Sir, I personally will take up this matter with the management and make sure your gift gets delivered. I was relieved.

But HCL – being what they are (CUSTOMER SECOND, your’s truly), we treat you as second always and forever, well, it was again an empty, totally blank promise with no substance to it. NO action, NO follow-ups, NO nothing!

What happens today?

Mr. HCL if you dont know what is happening in the market and if you are NOT interested in knowing what is happening to your market and who is duping your customers where, well, you truly are a company worth never doing business with.

Mr. online marketing head – Rahul, you still don’t really know what customer service is about, its passion, it runs in your veins and when you are truly passionate about your organisation and its brand, well, Sir, you care, without conditions!

Do I want this gift?

Mr. HCL, go play with the gift at your home and listen to songs. If you want some, I have a fantastic collection, I would be happy to share :)

Being Paritosh Sharma – My Story

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Jun
12

This blog post is surely one of the closest to my heart! And before going ahead with it, I must thank the people in my life who have made it possible for an ever middle class, traditional, safeguarded by Jobs background individual (which I was) to be a dreamer, an entrepreneur today!

There are many, though to name a few, My Folks, Neha, Gayatri, Sarika, Rajiv Sir and a host of others who have always been a support!

Entrepreneurial life is something, which can only be read about in books and blogs, but felt the high of, only when you leave a comfortable job, to find your dreams, when you give into your eternal calling and make a way for yourself.

How I got My Wings?

I remember how I was the happiest soul on earth when I had received a good offer from a major Indian IT company to work in their testing practice at Bangalore, I was sure that now the career is set. It was a different kind of a high! BUT still, what was a bigger high for me, as I remember those moments today after a couple of years, was to sit on a plane, the first ever flight of my life. I had never been on a plane all my life and that one journey from Delhi to Bangalore on a plane, got me my first wings!

After delivering a highly successful project, I felt a void, some sort of a calling. When everyone else used to leave office at 6-7PM, I used to sit at the library, get books, loads of them, and sit through reading stories of established people. A Ratan Tata, An Ambani, they were all dreams that time. And finally I decided its time!

I Quit my First Job after 9 months

Obviously everyone in the friends and family said, you have lost it, why do you want to come back to Delhi when you have all the chances of going onsite and have a good life? I still remember, when I packed my bags from Bangalore and got onto the flight, with nothing in hand, I was a little unsure as to what will I do next after landing in Delhi.

Finally landed in Delhi, quite some humiliation and frustration, but finally when the dust settled everyone accepted the fact, that I had quit a safe haven only to do something of my own. And I started my search for something.

My Ex-boss From My Part Time Job from Class 12th Called up

I was working since class 12th. Did road shows, Joined a Start-up BPO unit which today is pretty established while I was pursuing full time college. My Ex-boss called up, when he got to know I’m in Delhi and we said lets work again.

And to everyone’s utter amaze, I became a Relationship Manager with an insurance company. The job was simple, go pick your bag each morning and come back to office with a cheque in your hands and be happy till you are performing.

The targets, the pressure of performing, the heat, dust, cold weather, abusive people in Delhi, I faced it all. Iv knocked at people’s doors, just to be shooed away under the name of insurance agent.

I was performing though, but was not satisfied. Though till today I think this was one of the most steep learning phase of my life, when I got to know how to sell! YES! I could sell… taking a cheque worth a lakh of rupees in India, from a lala sitting in a Gandhi Nagar, Kapda Market, is no less than a feat.

I moved on…

I submitted my resignation to my boss, who was against it, telling him, Boss I will come back one day with my own company. There is a bigger calling for me in life.

And I started looking again and hit upon my first idea and floated a company called: “WeYouPoint – Together we make a point” it was an idea of creating an online platform to get the industry and the academia together. I did my research and started building contacts, by going to smaller colleges and delivering lectures and talks!

I became the second youngest Indian after Ankit Fadia, to deliver a talk at Symbiosis Pune! Where it was a mixed feedback I got, but for me, it was a high of sorts. I remember, how it was hurting to invest 3500 rupees to catch a flight to Pune and reach the college, but I had in mind that this could be the turning point.

But As They Say Life Aint That Easy…

The venture could not work out, due to two simple reasons:

  1. I was immature to really understand the dynamics of running a venture
  2. I learnt the art of building the right team of people

And I came back to square one, jobless, again an undecided member of the family, and someone who was not right as per the people around. At an age of 20-21 when I was discovering myself and following my heart, there was a lot which put me back, also I missed not having a mentor around at that time.

Finally to sustain myself, I had to go back to being in a job and I knew selling, so went back to the wealth management industry and started performing, with my eyes and ears open to all sorts of ideas and stories and everything else.

And Now I wanted to Know, How People Earn From the Internet?

YES! Internet was catching up at that time, and I wanted to know how people could just sit at home and earn. And my quest started, which pulled me into studying the internet closely. Closely such that one fine day I stumbled upon a major industry association’s Blog.

And to be honest, I did not know what a blog meant, till I saw it and this was in 2007 end.

I knew I could write and there was a lot in me which wanted to share and learn and grow and hence I contacted the administrator of the blog, with a blog post, who actually responded back and today he is a mentor, a guide to me! He came as a stroke of opportunity and it changed the game.

I started blogging and that is how Paritosh Sharma the blogger emerged. I got my motivation from the fact that people started liking my work and this kicked in me the view of taking it to the next level, which was to take my skills LIVE. And I started going to events, while LIVE blogging them.

People till today express amaze as to how fast can you capture the thoughts of a speaker, speaking LIVE at an event? And I say, its the love of the work guys, it makes you achieve things automatically!

I became the Official Blogger for One of India’s Largest Industry Associations…

While this happened, it opened a new chapter in my life with an offer from a start-up into Social Media Marketing, to expand the Social Media operations with the Co-Founding team! Though Social Media was fresh, very fresh 2 years back, we started dabbling into the same and made a name for ourselves.

This was a good learning period for me as it opened up a whole new world of opportunities, which spelled future!

And future it was, with the New Media industry gaining ground, I found my calling. I knew this is it. This has enough scope for exploration, freedom of expression, delivering absolutely innovative solutions and creating new possibilities for clients.

Becoming a Social Media Evangelist was a turning point in life and till date Iv never looked back.

Plugging Gaps in The Industry Which I Realized Early On, I Started Until ROI

Looking at the gaps in the delivery and expectations of the market, I again set out to plug the same and started a venture called Until ROI.

Its been 7 months now and we have been growing as a company briskly, with interesting offers of acquisition and the rest. I remember how it all started from a very modest small store room, a laptop and me. Yes, that was http://untilroi.com/ when we started and today we are a growing team of passionate people who are simply winning hearts with absolute client satisfaction and innovative solutions for the market.

I want to thank every client, every one who supported us through all the rough patches, these 7 months have not been the easiest months of our lives. For me personally its been like a new birth. Like a new life, which is of learning, exploring, knowing the various dynamics of creating an organization.

And today as I sit at a good looking, though a small one room office, at 5 AM in the morning, remembering old times, and taking new decisions, making new calls, I feel blessed, to be, to choose to be an Entrepreneur! With dreams of making it big for not just myself, my team, my people, and many others who I wish to touch with the possibilities of seeing dreams and reaching out to get them, today I feel good taking strides!

May God Bless everyone and give everyone the power to change the world for the better of everyone else :)

We Train you in Social Media (Training company), we Just Fired our Social Media Agency (Client)

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Feb
21

Its a Sunday morning and after quite sometime, Iv sat around looking at what is happening across the Digital Media/ Marketing industry in India. Overtime the interactions Iv had with people across ages and businesses, today I share a perspective with everyone who is interested in exploring the New Media!

I must confess, this post is not going to be the sweetest in the line.

Recently I read an article at Alootechie a famed site which Iv been following since sometime and have admired their content, on, “are social media training companies helping”? Hold…hold your thought…lets revise it again!

Social Media Marketing/ Digital Media marketing companies, training people/ corporate/ employees in using the New Media??

Learn Social Media in 2 days!! I must confess, Iv been working in the New Media domain since quite sometime now and I still learn new things each day, evolving with people around! Networking with people who have done one thing or the other which has proven successful. And I still wont say that I know enough!

Before we go ahead, a question to these trainers?!

Give me 5 successful case studies of clients you have served and when I say successful, I dont mean, raising pageviews or traffic. Also give me 5 super failures that you had while you were associated with the New Media?!

I recently got a mail from one leading company’s past clients’ saying that we just could not understand what happened, for us it was a waste of an activity as we still dont know after so many months, what went right or what went wrong!

– this is one such training company quoted in the Alootechie article

We recently fired our PR agency who was also doing the social media for our events, they did deliver but they were trying the social media on us, there were no results they could show – a leading events company

– this is one of the leading PR agencies of which almost everyone would know

Okay, these are just two of the interactions which Im putting here! I meet so many people daily and interact with several of them and many of them have the same response.

The entire New Media industry is going in a way which many call in the corporate lingo, you scratch my back and I scratch yours, and this keeps on till something like: one tight slap comes like an MTV does!

I recently saw a presentation from one of these social media training companies, which uses the “video” content of a foreign company, without any credits to them! This is what you teach to your people guys?!! Take others content and use it commercially, without even letting the owner know?!!

- I actually went and connected with the owner of the content and notified him about it, to which strangely his response was, we can’t help it as Indian laws dont protect content!

And now for these self confessed Social Media Marketing/ Digital Media Marketing companies

No doubts, some of these guys have done real good work, I know personally some of them. But the rest, and again I know personally these “rest” are making hay while the sun shines! And why do I say that?

Well, in a previous post, I showed how these companies are employing graduates/ freshers, people from varied backgrounds, to create the marketing communications online, for your brand?!

My honest advice for Clients, who are investing money to explore the new Media: Please go to Linkedin and do a strong check of the people who will be executing your brand on the social media, as many of them dont even have the word brand remotely connected to their profiles!!!

And now for the employees

Last night I was looking at some employees of these social media marketing companies, of which I could personally think of and found their “core social media team” was missing from twitter

These companies have no search results on twitter, isnt’ that strange?!

Why did I write such a damning post?

Well, coz all such efforts are actually harming the Industry, rather than improving it. The Indian consumer reacts to logical use of the New Media like a commodity like fruits and vegetables, negotiating at each stage. A client who has burnt his. her hands (not just fingers) before, becomes much averse to the New Media and hence goes very cautious the next time.

NASSCOM and Leading Corporate are Creating a Better World for You at the CyberCity Gurgaon

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Feb
15

cybercity-logoWe have overtime seen many initiatives go high on the fuel of thoughts and vision but not really seeing the light of the day, when it comes to affecting positively, not just a group of people, but an entire ecosystem, which involves you and me.

Especially, its amazing to see how the Indian Corporate and Industry Associations like NASSCOM have come together towards creation of an interesting ecosystem, which is improving not only the lifestyle for many but also is a big and a bold investment in India’s future.

Recently we came across this campaign called the CyberCity Welfare Society, which is been driven by NASSCOM and major corporate members based out of Gurgaon (the Cyber City) which aims at making life easier, smooth and greener on the roads of Gurgaon.

What caught our eye was the fact that not only the corporate, but this time around, the Police and the Municipal Associations have been actively involved in the campaign,  hence making sure that the voices are heard at the highest levels. Such an initiative has not been head of before and we are sure, such steps will go a long way in the future towards creating effective change.

Exploring Business Opportunities in Germany at NASSCOM 53rd EMERGE Friday’s 2.0

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Nov
13

As the Official Blogger for the NASSCOM Friday’s 2.0, many people ask me, that I would surely have a plethora of knowledge with me, as I have the opportunity to attend all the sessions and also since I LIVE blog the sessions, I must be highly attentive.

Today I again am excited to bring forth the high worth and value knowledge which gets created at the NASSCOM EMERGE Friday’s 2.0 and am glad to be making it alive for all of you who could not be present at the session, though we would love to have more participation along and expand the community.

Today we have Ulrich Bäumer, Partner, Osborne Clarke and BITKOM representative and Asha-Maria Sharma, Senior Manager, Service Industries, Germany Trade and Invest GmbH, giving us an insight into the German ICT environment and business verticals for partnership as identified by Germany Trade And Investment (GTAI) for Indian companies and important aspects of What works and what doesn’t in M&A, overview of the legal and practical ways of doing business in Germany.

The room is full and well, its interesting to know how many people in the room want to understand the German market. So we have the session with a brief introduction on what Germany Trade and Invest is.

  • Promoting Germany’s advantages as a prime location for foreign investors in hi-tech industries
  • Collecting and processing economic data and information about industries, tender procedures, legaal frameworks etc.

Interestingly, the investors consultancy part of the company, is into much diversified scope:

  • Renewable Energies and Resources
  • Chemicals and Healthcare
  • Mechanical and Electronic
  • Service Industries

We are now getting to know what it is all about being in Germany, with the geographical location to the travel time. To know how blackberry and Vodafone and such large companies are actually settling in Germany. Pros and Cons of different places for your business ill be different and you need to understand that, with relevance to your business.

We are talking clusters in Germany now, I am interested to know this space, as its pretty big a space in India as well and some really interesting work is on with respect to them.

Germany offers different incentive packages to re-imburse an investment project’s expenditures

With the market volume of above 133 billion Euros Germany’s ICT industry ranks second in Europe. These are interesting figures. in 2008 German companies closed a good number of BPO and IT deals, hence there is a plenty of space.

Germany is the most lucrative software market in Europe, accounting for 26.1% of the EU market value. We are talking about the diversification of software market in Germany.

There is a good presence of the SME industry in Germany and it could surely be of interest to many of you

Talking Green!

Green ideas in IT and Green through IT, is what we are working on this and should you have products under this umbrella, you should definitely explore Germany.

Software Security is one area which we are really concerned about. We have had cases with data loses with social networks and as anyone, we Germans are surely much sensitive about our personal information, hence there is good space in the domain. Embedded systems market is of a fairly good size in Germany and you will also find clusters in the Southern part related to the domain.

Germany has by far the highest number of internet users in Europe creating large potential for business

  • E-commerce
  • Gaming market
  • Online Advertising

I am personally amazed with the numbers on the slides, especially for the gaming and online advertising, which is showing a huge surge. German companies are moving from Print to Online.

  • Market growth areas: Green IT + E-Energy + E-health
  • Mobil apps: Increase in non-voice-services
  • Embedded systems
  • IT Services and Software

And now we are talking about the automotive industry in Germany, which to mention also is the home for Mercedez. The small manufacturers are spread across Germany and there is no one hub/ cluster.

I suggest the best way to get in touch is to attend conferences and other events to know the suppliers and other specific information you require about your business.

And now we have Ulrich, thanking everyone in the room, for whom this is the 12th visit to India. I advise SME’s in Germany also to get to India. And Ulrich shares the agenda for the session:

Interestingly we are going to discuss, Co-operation between Indian and German Companies. We have a very different law in Germany and its completely different in almost every way than what you have in India. Hence you need to understand the basic laws which are very important before you sign up your first customer in India.

You must definitely thank your peer Indian IT companies, who ventured into Germany 10-15 years back, coz they had to persuade German people, for the price and quality and hence for you guys its easier now to reach out to the German companies, which buy Indian IT not just because of the price, but for the quality as well.

So we have started with the introduction for the Law company which is Osborne Clarke. Very ineresting to know how many people they have helped set up in Germany. There are surely some very interesting and Big Indian names on the list that we have on screen.

Co-operation in Germany

  • Merger
  • Acquisition
  • JV
  • Partnership
  • Build Operate Transfer – It Outsourcing
  • Indo-German Strategic Alliance

Many of our M&A’s have been extremely successful and have been running for 10-15 years. Ulrich is sharing the previous success stories that they have created, and these also include some real big Indian corporate names.

So now we are discussing Common Law and Civil Laws in Germany which are surely an absolute necessity for you to set up in Germany.

Common Law (inductive)

Problem -> Judgement -> Ratio decidendi

Civil Law (deductive)

Statute -> Problem -> Application

I am very impressed with the way, Ulrich has simply explained the entire difference between the Common and Civil Laws and how can you in simple measures look at what you can expect when you reach the German shores, or establish out of India. Ulrich is very interestingly raised the awareness of the people in the room and sure all are all ears!

Now we are getting an insight into the European Legal System. Well, sure the German Law is definitely different from how we operate in India. And now gets answered the question, of many a people who wanted to know about Branch offices and how to set them up in Germany.

The outsourcing market is growing in Germany and I think in 2010 the curve will continue to grow up

Good to see how the Indian IT Services industry has grown and set foot in Germany. And well this figure has raised since 2007. Service providers have now crossed out to the other side.

Have you ever thought about off-shoring: 27% of the part said to this that they have larger projects already LIVE which have been off-shored. If we do off-shoring, we do it to India, is what the 67% of the people who answered this sample survey said. Some really interesting figures, being shared by Ulrich.

I personally dont see a single Chinese company, to overtake any of the large Indian IT service companies. China will NOT be a challenge in the near future for the Indian ITeS market.

In the Non Voice market, I dont see players as large as those in India, challenging the Indian players.

Language barrier is a comfort issue, in my experience it has been like: 80% of the deals across the table have happened in English. Its always good to have a native speaker, but its not a necessity.

Ulrich again shares the 8 key issues which you can face in your outsourcing contract in Germany.

  • warranty
  • Liability
  • Acceptance
  • Delay
  • Change requests
  • etc.

Talking about warranty, liability and guaranty. Well, yes the entire room is interested in this conversation. Ulrich presents the whole idea of liability with very simply presented examples. Well liability without any limitation under German law, implies fully, if you have not mentioned anything about it in your contract. Eyes get raised at such a point.

The data protection laws in Germany are surely something to learn from. The labour laws are surely pretty strict in Germany. The session is interactive and there are good questions coming from the audience.

And now we end with the session with the audience still very interested and questions pouring in with respect to IPR and other related to the IT services.

Its been a good session and I feel good to know about Business in Germany, thanks to Asha and Ulrich for their precious time.

How is it like Living On Just DREAMS

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Oct
20

Why do I pay 45 when the burger is for 40…written on d menu? It’s the VAT sir, replied the cashier.
I asked this question when I went into a restaurant to catch up with a bite last night.

Well, being an entrepreneur is a life of Pride, Passion and amongst many more things its about living life on the edge. I have seen many people around who say look we are running a side business while we still earn from a day job. Alas, I took the harder path.

With a right on the edge bank account, no financial backing at all…and nothing else, other than DREAMS to count on, I am learning and growing each day. Feels hard at times…people tell me, that leaving some very lucrative and smart paying job offers which I was being flooded with, even in these times of recession was foolish on my part. Well, and all I have as an answer is: there are DREAMS to take care of, they are calling!

As I am writing this blog post from my mobile phone, since I had to leave my laptop which was given to me by my previous company. I realize somethings in life: im being taught how NOT to be dependent on things and how to CREATE POSSIBILITIES in every situation.

It’s been great being an entrepreneur and as I start my new journey as the Co-founder and CMO, Proideaz Consulting, I look for wishes and support in creating a whole new world of opportunities.

Thanks to all my family n friends, esp my Mom n the other best part of my life…who’v been amazing pillars of emotional support always.

Its time to get cracking and see more DREAMS!!

Innovation and Entrepreneurship – India’s Best Ice Candy Googled, Gogola India

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2

Oct
13

I landed back from Mumbai just yesterday and surely it was great LIVE Blogging the biggest Leadership event ever in India. Out of my many experiences in the financial capital of India and the city of dreams. Bollywood stars and the rest, I found this very amazing example of simple yet striking innovation by an entrepreneur.

This is what I found:

Gogola India - paritosh sharma

What you see in the picture above, no its not a Google van! Its the freshest and the best Gola (ice candy) made of fresh mineral water and fruit juices called Gogola India.

I bumped across this van while I was going for a meeting on the Hill street near the Globus mall in Mumbai and just for the fun of it and to interact with the van guys, I did buy two Golas from the van. The van looked pretty okay (a second hand maruti van) with all the electrical machines inside to make a good gola in seconds.

Interestingly, the menu is like an IE page, which gives you all the options of the various flavors available :) simple, yet unique!

The Revenue figures of a single van which stands since 12pm till late in the night and keeps rotating in between two streets in Mumbai are:

  • Daily sale (golas): 300 (in good times) 150-200 (in normal business days)
  • Price per gola : INR 30
  • Positioning of van is changed on weekdays and weekends
  • There are more than 10 vans in the city, doing the rounds

My Feedback and Comments as an Incubation Consultant:

  • Good to see that the logo has been duly trade-marked (good asset)
  • Good revenue model (taking in consideration, all operational costs, costs of building the supply chain, maintenance of vehicle etc.)
  • Simple and effective!

The Gola I had, was pretty good and was surely packed in a healthy manner, with properly kept juice/ color bottles.

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I very strongly feel, the kind of Innovation we have in India, is amazing! Its simplistically brilliant and a concept which can surely become into an auto-generating proposition, and once your brand is recognizable, and you have a size, you can diversify.

Kudos to the entrepreneur :)

Ms. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, LIVE at The Leaders In India 2009 On Entrepreneurship

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Oct
10

So, we have Ms. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw post lunch at The Leaders In India 2009. I have always admired Kiran as a woman entrepreneur. She has proven words with actions! My respects Mam :)

Talkign about the Global Biotech sector Kiran says that it is a business size of over 90 billion dollars globally. Each of the past decades have triggered a new growth of innovation. Interesting to know how the entire Biotech industry has evolved over time. Though Ihave not really understood the Biotech industry much, but sure, I am intrigued!

My own journey of Biocon has been that of experimenting and learning! I call myself an accidental entrepreneur!

I was always interested in brewing. I have had to overcome countless challenges over decades. We started small with simple technologies we built and also partnering has helped me build my own entrepreneurial vision. I started my entrepreneurial journey when I had the provilige of starting India’s first Biotech company, which had its own large number of challenges. People were very skeptical of success and at my time, India was still a developing company and we had sub-optimal structure that we have today and it was the time of the license raj than today. I was a 25 yearold first generation woman entrepreneur!

All I had was foolish courage!

There was no access to VC all I could avail of was very expensive debt based funding which I accepted. I was very driven by green technology at that time. But there were very few takers at that time and one of the BIG challenges I had was, the space I was getting into, was based on one very important need, which is: high quality uniterrupted power supply which India does not have even today.

I started my business from scratch opting for less evolved technology. We focused on a niche opportunity, as I had to be very real about the infrastructure and the environment I was working in. I always knew that India was a very small market for me and hence I had to operate in a niche which gave me some kind of advantage. Also in my starting years, what helped me was, I started this as a JV with a small Irish partner, and they provided me with assistance to market, my product to Global markets and this is what helped my business started.

Up until 1980′s we were still loners in Biotech in India

It was really abotu building this company step by painful step and slowly the Biotech sector started gaining acceptance in India when the govt realized the importance. Creating the skill based that we need to drive this industry has paid us fairly well in time. Thankfully because of the success of the IT and software sector, the VC had taken root in India. Since this happened, we started looking towards VC funding, when we tried to scale up. It also allowed to develop sophisticated products and I was able to compete due to our cost base.

By late 1990′s I had a fermentation unit which could handle all sorts of enzymes

The cluster effect that had started in Bangalore really helped us. the boom in Bangalore had many innovative start-ups in the space which also helped the entire industry as such and hence we were benefited. We had international players coming into India setting up operations which helped gain confidence and many are now building scale into what they were doing. Biocon had started gaining market leadership in the niche segment we were looking at.

As an entrepreneur I felt that enzyme segment was going to be limiting to our growth and we had to take some hard decisions

We hence applied our technology to develop into bio-pharmaceuticals. We were the first to cut across the IP barriers hence defining new opportunities.

“We are the world’s first and only company i manufacturing Insulin and Insulin analogs and I am proud to say that”

Overtime we have become bolder in saying that lets innovate in the Bio-pharmaceuticals now. We can today afford to innovate, we can afford to build programs around new products. Innovation in the field of Bio-tech is something we must surely take very seriously. We tend to opt for low risk services and generic versions of drugs and vaccines.

In India the cost of risk is very affordable and hence we must back innovation

What is happening to companies in the western world, is an opportunity for us. I think India really has a good opportunity to cash on in what is happening in the western world. There is a whole new emerging opportunity in Bio-generics. We will pursue Innovation led mantra to grow and that is really my goal as a company and myself as an entrepreneur! All along e have constantly challeneged ourselves and tracked new technologies.

An important learning that I have learned as an entrepreneur is challenging the status quo and moving ahead

We are trying to develop world’s first Oral insulin and its going to be a game changer for us, if it happens

We have really made a lot of conscious effort in partnering with companies, which has actually helped us leapfrog, and it has been a great business tactic for us. In our journey there is one inflection point, I had a tough and emotional call to make! Enzyme was going no where as we were not really investing enough in it, the reason being we had limited resources. And hence we finally said, we must dis-invest and divested into our competition and they have invested and grown this business fr more than we were doing it at that stage. But we surely benefited out of the IP and knowledge we had built over time. We bought a company in Germanhy which will help us start our operations in Europe.

We have started building global scale in our businesses

Our strategy has been always to develop products, leveraging India’s cost base and using affordability as our competitive edge and we are determined to do it at an affordable rate.

My message to other companies from developing world(s) is, who are stretching hard to fight against odds, we have:

  • Dont hesitate to partner when you want to pursue certain business opportunities, it allows you to grow faster
  • Its important to start simple and start local, be realistic about matching your skill sets w.r.t technologies you are trying to develop

I started my life as a brewmaster looking to brew beer, your journey can take you anywhere, but your life should be an inspiring hope :)

It was great to listen to you Ms. Mazumdar Shaw as usual! The fire of entrepreneurship has surely gotten a needed kick from you!

Now we have the session int he Q&A mode!

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