My Dad always told me this – what is done cannot be undone! Therefore, what you say and how you communicate can make a big difference in how people respond to you. Your words can take you places or can come back to haunt you when you least expect.
Communication is very important in any relationship, especially for a healthy one. You could hurt someone unknowingly with the words you speak or the way you say them. Once the words leave your mouth, it is impossible to take them back. It doesn’t matter how unintentional they may be, words can sometimes cut a lot deeper than a sword.

Very often you’ll hear people say, “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” well if you didn’t want to hurt feelings why couldn’t you be thoughtful before you let the unpleasant words escape your loose lips.

Why am I writing all this today? Because I am sincerely feeling apologetic about certain words / behavior today that might have hurt someone intensely.

I recently read an article that I have circulated to my team, a blog post of Jason, which talks about Startups that are about to fail in a grim market like it is for example in the US.

Some serious reality checks only enabled me to understand what it means to operate in a lean and mean environment, get strategic deliverables right, smart enterprise resource planning, belief and sound methodical approach to business with maximum focus on throughput with a minimum force in place.

Its astonishing to know that people who think they are entrepreneurs cant do the grind in tough times and with companies with just 12month cash either let it die or go to the board to resign to find another cushy job as VP or something in some large organisation. These kind of people Jason calls “fauxtrepreneurs”.

Now there isnt much of a difference in the passion, work commitment and ethical practices with these fauxtrepreneurs but they are just not entrepreneurs because their immediate thought process is to ensure that their lifestyle is taken care off well than to do the grind like taking salary cuts, laying off staff, having the guts to speak to the land lord on not paying for a couple of months till the revival for the organisation is visible and figuring out a way to ensure profitability is maintained.

Or they do not even have the conviction of their own plans to go back to their VCs and ask for fresh infusion by convincing them that you are committed to get your butt working 20hrs a day and show positive results in just a couple of quarters from today. Build a roadmap thats fool proof and offcourse recession proof and work towards it with complete conviction.

Jason has 12 questions that he has posted and if you have these answers then you are in and if you dont then its time for you to go to the board and resign as a fauxtrepreneur.

“Here is a really easy way to figure out if you can deal with the mess
in front of you. How many of the following can you deal with:

1. Laying off half your staff.
2. Laying off half your staff again three months later.
3. Spending 20 hours a week on the phone being yelled at and
threatened while trying to renegotiate a dozen contracts–like your
T1, phone system, rent, equipment leases, etc.
4. Having an investor scream at you and tell you that they will ruin
you, your career and that “you’ll never raise money again, you mother
f-er.”
5. Laying off half your staff for a third time.
6. Getting served a half-dozen lawsuits, courtesy of the folks who you
tried to renegotiate with in point number three who wouldn’t deal.
7. Having one of the people you’re renegotiating with come to your
office every week and ask for their check in person.
8. Having the same media outlet that once claimed you were the next
Barry Diller write that you’re a fraud.
9. Not getting a good night’s sleep for six months.
10. Having dozens of paying clients default on their bills.
11. Having staffers who you really need to double down and focus walk out the door after you helped make their careers.
12. Have the people who begged you for a meeting at the peak not even return your emails or phone calls.

If you can’t deal with these 12 situations, then you’re out. It’s time
to refresh your resume, tell your board you resign, sublet your place
and go to Thailand. Go sit on the beach and lick your wounds for $40 a
day (all-in) like the fauxtrepreneur you are. You suck. I hate you.
You’re smart enough to cut your loses in a way I could never
understand.”

Situations lead people to take knee jerk reactions and if people dont think rationally knee jerking becomes a habit.

We are a startup and have been lean and mean and know exactly what we need to do to ensure we overcome every hurdle, there maybe times when we fail in a few endeavours but that should only be a stepping stone to success. We are funded well and are seeing tremendous traction and as a CEO of this organisation I know for a fact that we have taken the right approach and have ensured that we stay focussed in tough times like these and keep meeting our strategic operational road map that has been set.

http://www.calacanis.com/

Find the original blog in here - awesome stuff!!!!

“While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this, we will rebuild, we will recover and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before”

The above lines were greeted with joy, glee, confidence and optimism at the Congress where Barack Obama reassured that his policies will change the way things are going to be in building America back to it’s glory. His focus on Credit Markets, Healthcare, Automobile Manufacturing, Focusing on Natural Energy, Broadband etc will surely not only protect the common American with security but also ensure that there are a couple of millions of jobs that will get created. His tax reductions will save over 2000 USD a year for a common Amercian and his manufacturing policies will ensure that the nation that has a visionary role to play in the making of automobiles will now wont depend on any countries outside of it to ensure that jobs are created.

He was categorical in saying that bail outs are not for reviving the industry but the common American’s dream of a decent lifestyle through jobs, which will then create credit demand which will further enhance in mortgages and house financing to such an extent that he is encouraging re financing that will ensure further savings for the commoners in that country.

Banks in the US are now averse to lending and he again said that those sentiments will vanish with the infusion of more money into these sectors. He has promised to make new regulatory norms, which were age old to protect people from misusing and also from finding loop holes that has brought the biggest financial power in the world to its kneels.

He was also cautious and warned that the bail out number might exceed 1 Trillion however his plans will ensure that the walk to recovery may be long but it will definately be completed.

His sentiment is echoed in the lines he said as mentioned in quote unquote, “Because even if we manage this plan flawlessly, there will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis that is severely weakened our financial system.”

Speculations are also ripe on the US troops now handing over Iraq to its people in total and leave the country, this I am sure will save several billion dollars annually that the earlier government spent in the name of ‘WAR AGAINST TERROR’.

To me when I watched it live this morning on CNN, it was very clear that here is a man with a mission of restoring lost pride and in the process several industries that make a killing through outsourcing will have severe impact including India. He is hell bent on not sending jobs abroad, he is pretty clear that all the requisite watch on every sector will only create value to the people of America in America and not outside. So even if software and BPO might be a huge industry I am sure there will be severe course correction in these businesses and they will now open up large facilities within the US and create jobs for the Americans. H1B curbs will get visible sooner than later and I am sure though companies originating from India wont get hurt severely but there sure will be impact in their bottomlines since they may now be forced to operate within the US and keeping in mind the biggies in India within the offshoring space are listed in various stock markets across the world a lot of them are either NYSE or Nasdaq and so impacting their topline might also cause damage and so I wont be surprised if Infosys, Wipro and the likes now start building huge facilities within the US.

My guess is 2yrs and this country will be back on its feet.

1 Trillion plus in bail outs - ufff, thats big not as big for an economy that is 13 Trillion plus

Way to go…..

Just a thought came to my mind about Angels. Till sometime back I thought all Angles are females….untill I saw this beautiful film “City Of Angels”…and I started believing that ther are male angels as well…untill….i read somewhere that Angels are sexless ! I was shattered…donno why…i always belived in Angels & I wanted a clear cut answer from someone on the same. Somehow i relate to Angels to women…the word sounds so feminine! But gradually, now i believe that we don’t need to die to become angels(that’s what my grandparents told me)…there is an angel in everyone, we just need to introspect & realize…its called “self-actualization”. Each day, if we bring atleast a smile on someone’s face..it’s a great feeling. Giving & sharing happiness brings happiness. And believe me…ITS EASY. A lot of times when we hurt someone…somehow we dont talk to ourselves about it, yet we deep down know that it feels bad. I see old people & think…someday I will grow old too…nothing lasts for ever you see, but each day try to do something new…something good for someone. There are these zillion moments which will add up when I have to show my face to the Almighty…after I die…although I believe in Life after death…but shall discuss that sometime else Load your passion without any hesitation.

At definitive Question asked on the morning call! Reach beyond the existing demand. This is the key component of achieving value innovation.
To achieve this one needs to focus on existing customers. The other is the drive for finer segmentation to accommodate buyer differences.

But when it comes to increase the size of the market we need to take a reverse course. Instead of focusing on customers, we need to look at non customers. That allows companies to reach beyond existing demand to unlock a new mass of customers that did not exist before.

That also answers a lot of my questions around - Hoga! Awaiting client approval! Awaiting creative! Campaign dropped PIPELINE CRUCIFIED 

What is it that I as sales professional do to save my Soul?

Hmmmm! Create backups – backups par backups – no answers

As rightly said, reduce dependencies create your our market segment and be a growth catalyst. Target untapped market space, demand creation, and the opportunity highly profitable growth!

As sunil mentioned in his last Blog – Raise beyond Negativity and light your own fire.

The approach of reaching non customers may be tough but not impossible.

Since I entered the world of internet about 9 years back, I’ve worked on and understood only one term in the internet advertising genre, which is “AUDIENCE”. I never tried to understand terms like inventory selling on cost per clicks, cost per leads, cost per acquisition, etc.

But now on coming back to India after 4yrs stint in the Middle East and involving myself in the booming ad network business here, these are the terms which I’ve started listening to just about every day.

While with my previous assignment I was selling advertising at an average of USD 40.00 cpm, even 10% of those rates are foreign in India. Why so?
I am still to figure out why is the power of this medium being sold so cheaply in India? Who are to blame for this? The Publisher – for giving away his audience cheap, The Agencies – trying to squeeze the publishers from all ends for keeping their advertisers happy or then The Internet Sales People – who over commit on response rates, etc from time to time for few dollars.

All in all, I think, there’s only one party gaining from this and that’s the advertiser. They get all the possible reach, branding and measurements at throw away prices.

Then why are advertisers spending only about 2% of their total budgets online? I just can’t understand this.. May be it will take another couple of months for me to figure this out.

Advertisers & Agencies have taken the word “performance” so seriously that for a Car launch, the advertiser is interested in paying for the number of registrations they receive for test drives. How will they account for the brand impact, recall, etc?

I think, it will take some serious & collective effort from the Publishers & Media agencies to get this industry back on track and give it’s due.

Why don’t people understand that if the publishers don’t get their due they will neither be able to invest more into technology or content. More so, it will just get more difficult for them to survive during these tough times.

From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely appeal to all my friends from the internet world in India to start working towards higher yielding options.

Cheers!

How many times has life presented us with opportunities that we have let go of because we were too scared of making a mistake and being rejected?

Maybe it was asking for money from dad as a kid for fear of being scolded.

Maybe it was not talking to that girl who smiled at you when you were older.

Or more recently, maybe it was not asking for the deal when the timing was right!!!

I haven’t seen the movie ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ but I am told the girl loses the guy because she doesn’t ask him when she should have.

Carpe Diem! says Horace the Latin poet in his ‘Odes’. Translated it means ‘Seize the Day’. All that you have wanted to do, do it the first time opportunity presents itself. What if there is no tomorrow?

Sure there will be rejections and sure there will be pitfalls. But success rate will be higher than if you let opportunities go by. And so what if you make mistakes? Isn’t that the reason why pencils come with erasers?

If a book can get rendered so well into a movie then it has to be this one, Q&A, the book which inspired the making of Slumdog is really done well enough to get the accolades it is getting.

I am no film critic but there are a few thoughts that are inspiring and few I have my own ideas on.

The ones that are inspiring are the Golden Globes and a clean sweep of over 8 Oscars, not to forget the Baftas and above all 3 awards going to Indians, it’s indeed a proud moment and maybe one the finest hours in Indian Cinema.

Flipside: Was this movie the best of the lot?

Salaam Bombay won it a decade ago, Lagaan missed it by a whisker and Gandhi was an out and out a foreign film or was it? I mean if Slumdog is Indian then so should have been Gandhi.

Anyway, coming back to flipside - Wasn’t Taren Zameen Par not a better movie? I think it was a very inspiring film that actually was running on a sensitive subject that got directed brilliantly, so was its music, so where did Slumdog score?

It scored because the west likes to see the irony and the poor India and that I must say was very well directed, I am sure Danny Boyle had all the right ingredients and definitely dint have any malicious intent but the truth is his subconscious mind continue to treat India the way the British thought it should be, so what they have declared recession? India continues to grow, so a movie well made collects over 60M USD worldwide till date and I am sure with all the other rights he would have pocketed up to 100M USD - He deserves it fully but my take on why Britisher’s subconscious mind still thinks the way the British Raaj thought earlier.

Now, I remember the line, “Dogs and Bloody Indians Not Allowed” in restaurants in South Africa?

So why the name Slumdog? Couldn’t it have been Slumboy Millionaire? That sounds a straight fit but the word dog just shows the way Boyle’s subconscious mind still works as a Britisher.

Sorry, not that I dont like the movie, sure the scenes where the kid jumps into a pile of shit to get Amitabh’s autograph are the things he academy wants to see but I guess it is a supremely over rated movie to be so proud about.

However my moments of pride is in the fact that AR. Rehman’s real life story matches with this one so much, a boy who had to sell off his musical instruments to make a living and then to becoming the most amazing musical genius to get global recognition, surely a story of rags to riches like in the movie and off course Resul Pookutty to get the deserving award for the sound bit makes me feel on top of the world.

So my take on Slumdog Millionaire is not that to be proud of except for those 3 awards that the Indians got, so being a proud Indian I am happy to see my countrymen being recognised worldwide.

Cheers!!!!

It’s always good…its just how much you can control with optimization of mind, temper, aggression…its always the mind that controls us & our situations. There are times when things seems endlessly as “not just happening” and there are stumbling blocks. But the sight is not always good without a fight. If need be…fight it. Passion should be an integral part. God is always kind.

Everyone dreams of something in their life, few things seem achievable & some dreams are conciously put in the mind’s pipeline. My mother says, its all about belief & faith, simple to understand philosophy which most people negate themselves due to certain fears. There are fears, life is not easy…mostly…yet, I belive God gives everyone their respective share at certain stages.And team work is quitessential to achieve something,reap the harvest & be happy to see the happiness on everyone’s face. Business has targets ?? Life has targets…and without targets & deadlines…without a “purpose”…one just exists..its not about existence anymore…its about living on the edge…and getting a high out of it.Be good, Think good, Feel good, but do know what the “bad” is like & know how to tackle it….because…no pain…no gain. God Bless