Mukesh Gupta - Leaders Worth Following

November 23, 2010Entrepreneurship

3 reasons to start a successful startup

Any start-up which has gone on to become highly successful does fall under one of these criteria: They found a solution to a problem everyone knew but no one had solved till then. They found a potential problem not known to the market till then and tried to solve it first They found ways to solve a known problem dramatically (5x times) better/faster/cheaper. There are a lot of start-ups which achieve decent success just by adding new functionality to an existing product/service as well. They thrive till the overall market grows and then inevitably stagnate for growth. The one’s […]

November 22, 2010Sales

The Art of the Quick Phone Call

I have found the article on the art of the quick phone call by Mark Suster very interesting and helpful. I have had to sell to a lot of people on the phone and I have learnt from experience that the tips that Mark has listed work really well. Few more things that I would like to add to the list are: Summarize the discussion or decision in an email and share it with the caller. This will help clear mis-understandings upfront. Pls share any pre-read that can help save time and provide back-ground information for the call at least a day ahead if possible or […]

November 22, 2010Marketing

On Airtel’s re-branding and more

There has been a lot of talk about the re-branding exercise that Airtel executed. They spent an obscene amount of money for this exercise. This exercise coincided the launch of 3G services by Airtel. Now I have the following questions: Does an end-user care if Airtel’s logo or the corporate tune changes? Was the timing for the re-branding right? I question the timing because amid all the discussions that ensued on the re-branding exercise, the launch of 3G services by Airtel took a backseat. I would have thought that the money Airtel spent on the re-branding could have been better utilized if […]

November 18, 2010Business Model, Entrepreneurship

Understanding Startups – D2O

Today, I came across an interesting start-up: D2O (as in Distribution 2.0). They have already been profiled in Headstart network and yourstory. The name sounds very interesting. The space is also very interesting. They are in the process to create a product agnostic distribution network which can distribute any product nationwide. They have started operations in Mumbai and are seeking to scale-up. My take on the start-up is as below. The most important aspect of any successful business is the business model. Let me try to put in my understanding of their business model: Value Proposition: Re-define conventional distribution networks […]

November 15, 2010Entrepreneurship

NASSCOM Product Conclave – Indian IT Industry comes of age

This year’s NASSCOM Product Conclave which concluded last week had a few surprises in for me. This year’s theme was cloud computing and start-ups. A few things that stood out at this year’s events are: Co-Creator forum: One unique activity that has been tried out at the event was a match making process where big SI’s and MNC’s were introduced to Indian product companies to explore possible partnering opportunities. I participated as part of the SAP team. We met some interesting product companies and are exploring partnering opportunities with them. I think this indicates another shift in the industry. Partnerships […]