Author: SG

How Zero marketing can revive Indian hockey?

Prof. Ray Titus talked about reviving Hockey on his blog here. I am copy-pasting it here …

You don’t need a marketing genius to plot how hockey can come up to cricket’s stature in India. For that matter, pin no credit to anyone in the cricket administration team (read BCCI) for cricket’s supremacy as a sport in India.

The only reason why cricket is what it is, despite being one of the most boring of sports, is ’cause that’s one game at which we are ‘world-beaters’, never mind the ‘world’ being just a few countries.

Want a resurgence in hockey? Get India to win!

Sure, that’s a tall order considering yesterday’s Olympic qualifier debacle. But its not impossible. Can the guys who manage the sport. Get in foreign coaches. Revamp the admin. team. Build astro-turfs for players to play and practice on. Bring in something akin to Corporate governance.

Again, an initial investment is needed. Well, its worth it, if that can propel India to become world beaters. If that happens, watch the moolah roll in. No marketing whiz-kids needed.

I dont really agree with him. I left a comment there. Reproducing it here …

Hi Prof. Titus,

I am mostly a silent reader of your blog and agree to most of the things that you say. However today I disagree with you.

I dont think getting more facilities and making the game professional will help the status of Hockey in India.

I think there are two huge variables in making something a mass phenomenon.

1. The network effect coupled with a feedback loop: Most people (including media) talk about the game because most people want to hear about it. And more people want to hear about it as everyone else around them is talking about it. No one wants to be left behind. Over a period of time, this network effect gets a positive feedback loop and suddenly you have a mass hysteria for something. In our case, cricket.

2. Experience: Most of the current fans of Cricket have grown up playing the game in the gullys, homes, schools etc. Most of the people have fond memories of the game and somewhere or the other they relate to the game and hence the following.

Am sure there are other things also. Please share.

Regards,
SG

P.S.: Posting this on my blog as well.

Any thoughts?

Lessons from Warren Buffet for Start-Ups

Lessons for startups from WEB’s Letter to Shareholders.

Warren E. Buffet is one of the most celebrated men in the modern history. Better known as WEB, he is a self-made billionaire made most of his money from investments. His flagship holding company, Berkshire Hathaway has stake in more than 70 businesses. WEB believes in taking a controlling stake in companies and chooses a company because of the business value and the kind of people running it. Any mention to WEB is incomplete without talking about Benjamin Graham – WEB’s mentor and Charlie Munger – WEB’s partner at Berkshire Hathaway.

I would look at his few nuggets of wisdom and look at their implications for start-ups from his 2007 letter to shareholders.

People
There could not be a better starting point than Charlie Munger. They are one of the most celebrated teams in the financial world. Everyone knows that we need to select business partners very carefully. All partners should trust the judgments of other partners and should stand behind every decision.

Most of the managers at Berkshire have “… no financial need to work“. This simply means that the people who are working are working because they love working. Rewards for them are not economic in nature but are psychological – of taking their company to a new level, of becoming leaders in what they do and pushing the limits.

WEB further states that “these managers is that they have exactly the job they want for the rest of their working years“. This is probably the most important line for a startup. Have people who like what they are doing rather then employing people.

Business Decisions
A lot of startups assume that once they reach a user base, they can sell out to a bigger player. This approach can take them only so much far. They should take a cue from WEB. He has been advocating the importance of a long-term time horizon for businesses. In my opinion, selling out is ok but only after reaching a point where you think that the other party can contribute more meaningfully to the business and its shareholders.

WEB says, “as with Berkshire, a deal is a deal.” A lot depends on the way your word is taken in the market. Especially when you are starting, a lot of reputation is on stake. As it’s said, reputation once gone is gone forever.

Businesses
WEB says, “A truly great business must have an enduring moat that protects excellent returns on invested capital“. Most of the startups are engaged in reinventing the wheel. I can recall just two Indian innovative products. For a country of a billion, just two innovative ideas? Need of the hour is to look at businesses that are different, can not be copied easily and havhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gife a moat round it. The moat could be because of the scale (IRCTC), technology leadership (Zoho), people (??), knowledge of markets (Future Group?), low cost of operations (?) and many other factors. Startups need to identify their moat and build their company around it.

Realistic Assumptions
It’s always recommended to fly high. But the feet should be well grounded for that. Like in the report, WEB says, “Berkshire’s past record can’t be duplicated or even approached. Our base of assets and earnings is now far too large for us to make outsized gains in the future.” It would have been easy for WEB to paint rosy pictures but he chose otherwise. Startups should be realistic when they set their goals and get down to implement them.

To end it on a light note, WEB says, “Just as Adam and Eve kick-started an activity that led to six billion humans, See’s has given birth to multiple new streams of cash for us. (The biblical command to “be fruitful and multiply” is one we take seriously at Berkshire.)“. Startups need to identify a business that can grow organically and can operate for a long time.

Although WEB says “Start-ups are not our game”, I could still find these nuggets of wisdom. Anyone wants to share more?

The power of human mind.

I had written this post 30th April 2007. Just found it buried under one of the folders.

As I was coming back from office today, in the cab there was this female who I thought I had seen somewhere. I could not place her in my mind. I came to the conclusion that I had seen her in my school and she was in one of the other sections.

I started talking and I was correct. She went to the same school as I went and even she thought she had seen me somewhere and she could not place me.

She could also remember one of my classmates. This classmate was the most connected person in my batch. And proves yet another thing – that the six degrees of separation is because of certain well connected people. I don’t know how useful this realization would be …

More Details to assist memory later
I was working with the MNC in their Gurgaon Corporate Park Office and I met this person in cab. She was from Greenfields and was in the commerce section.

A Marketers Delight

A friend once told me that I am a marketer’s delight. Looking back at the spending pattern of last few days, his words sound like prophecy to me.

I have bought a laptop bag because I was hanging out in a market full of bag shops (I needed a bag but the one I bought is something that I did not like).

I bought a PSP that I bought just because I wanted to own one and one of friends was coming from Dubai (I bought an iPod in 2006 for the same reason – that fake sense of ownership).

Two pairs of shoes (not that I hate shoes, its just that I did not need them. The other pair I had sufficed my needs).

This brings me to a confession. I might say that my interest lies in the area of decision-making, but I really suck at it. Need to think more before I make a purchase so as not to make myself a sucker.

And if someone wants me to gift things off my wishlist, please lemme know.

Delhi Street Food

Moment I landed in Delhi today, I had craving for the famous Delhi street food. I started with a round of kachori + aaloo at Nehru Place. Nehru Place incidentally is the largest electronics and computing equipment market at least in India. I followed it up with chole + kulche there only. I had to then eat two Veg Puffs at a Café Coffee Day because I was accompanied by a friend who hates street food. Moment she left, I had an awesome rajma + rice, again at Nehru Place.

Moved onto NOIDA and had this awesome Egg Roll. The rolls are called Calcutta rolls for some reason. Logic and assumption tells me that these rolls probably originated in Calcutta. Topped it up with a kulfi + falooda from another vendor. Met another friend over another cup of coffee (this time at Barista). And finally had some home made Daal Makhani. Now if you dint know, a daal makhani is not just any daal topped with lots of butter, but daal makhani is left to cook overnight.

Went to another friends place and since he is a fruit freak, I had to eat an orange. I know fruits are fun but I am not really a fanatic. Finally on my way home, I ended this small street food sampling exercise with Gol Gappe and Tikki from my neighbourhood stall. This guy has been serving Gol Gappe in my locality for last 15 years and people stand in mile long lines for an opportunity to eat his gol gapes.

In next posts, I shall be talking about few famous food joints in Delhi. I would talk about Karim’s in Darya Ganj, Paranthe Wali Gali, Karol Bagh’s Roshan di Kulfi, Pitampura’s Bittoo Tikki Wala, Nehru Place’s famous Rajma Rice.

All these cant really be compared to Mumbai’s late night chai, vada pavs, samosa pavs, omelette pavs, pavs with ketchup, pavs with chutni, basically pavs with anything and everything. They are class apart. Wondering if Delhi food can stand the formidable challenge of Mr. Pav – the staple food of Mumbai .. ?

Related Posts
Paranthe Wali Gali
The day for Junk Food

MDI students to advice Indira Nooyi


Just In, Three students from MDI have won a contest among all business schools in India to win a chance to advice PepsiCo CEO Ms. Indira Nooyi. They would be flown to NY.

Copy pasting the news item from IBNLive.com

Students from a Gurgaon-based business management school would now advise PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi after winning a contest.

The students – Supreet Kaur, Anand Trivedi and Anand Mohan Sharma, part of the team called Midas of Management Development Institute (MDI) – won a contest entitled “Taste the Success – Become Indra’s Advisors”.

In the competition, PepsiCo India invited business strategies for unlocking the latent demand for beverages in India from the leading management schools.

Kaur, Trivedi and Sharma would be flown to PepsiCo headquarters in New York in April, where they will present and discuss their case solution with the chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Inc.

If the business strategy is found feasible, the team may get an opportunity to engage as advisors on an ongoing basis with PepsiCo to operationalise their ideas.

The first runners-up team from Faculty of Management Studies of the Delhi University received a cash award of Rs.100,000 and the second runners-up, another team from MDI, received a cash award of Rs.50,000.

The top six teams from MDI, FMS and Indian Institute of Management Indore will get an opportunity to appear for a pre-placement interview without going through the initial screening process.

Three cheers for MDI. As we said back then, MDI rocks.

For the record, I passed out of MDI in 2006.

Kishore Biyani – Future Group – India Tomorrow

Kishore Biyani is a model businessman at least for me. He is sowing seeds into a lot of interesting businesses and when the time comes, he would reap rich rewards. He is displaying the true spirits of entrepreneurship. In the process of building his companies, he is helping his customers realize his dreams. His way of creating a company is dreaming big, getting the right people on the board and backing all efforts with solid research and relying on intuition and insight.

Lessons to be learnt? Get the right people on the team, let them take risks, invest in the future and try to empower your customers.

Today in Economics Times article, he made clear his thoughts when he said,

…we want to create a strong sectoral play to capture the transition from a savings-led economy to a consumption-led economy.

Now this small piece of comment has a lot to say about Mr. Biyani and his thought process. He has identified, at the right time, that Indians are changing the way they live. There was a time when they were saving more than 50% of their earnings and living on basis necessities. Now slowly and gradually they are living lavishly and often spending the entire monthly earnings before a month is over. They are now more confident about opportunities and their economic well being.

I can easily see Future Group leading the new India.

And by the way, look out for BCCL (NO, not the cricket board but the Times of India group) and TV18 group also in times to come.

Food For Thought

Yet another blog (located at FooForThought.Wordpress.com). This time, I shall be talking about technology, businesses and perspectives of customers.

Here is a brief QnA with myself about Foo For Thought.

Why a new blog?

I realized that War of Words is a personal blog with too many things that a reader might not want to read. Hence a new location and a new start.

How is it different from other similar blogs?

First and foremost, I would not be peddling news like a lot of other blogs. I would talk about things that I think are relevant for businesses and what most people often ignore. These are softer issues related to how humans use and interact with businesses. I would act as a customer advocate, an eager student and an egomaniac visionary.

Are you trying to say that you are a visionary and an evangelist?

Not at all. I am not an expert and dont want to be one. I just want to meet new people, interact with them and learn from them.

What tools would you use?

I would use the most potent tool of them all – commonsense. Then I would rely a lot on feedback and observations. I would also use few examples from history, biology, anthropology, physics, politics, economics, design etc. One of my gurus taught me the importance of multidisciplinary thinking and Foo For Thought would echo that.

Keep watching it for action. I would give occasional updates here also.

Please leave your comments and thoughts.
(As if there are going to be a lot of visitors)

Presentation1.ppt

For my work, I have to make a lot of presentations. And lazy me takes the first shortcut available and calls all my presentations with the default word – Presentation1.ppt.

Today I was asked to hunt for a file and I keyed in .ppt on the search bar. I got a list of some 20 presentation1.ppts. No points for guessing how happy I was with the search results. I did not get the work done and now I am renaming all those files to something that is more searchable.

The key lesson here is that search plays an important role in the way we humans work. More than search, retrival plays even more critical role. It is so easy to stuff a closet with million things and it is equally difficult to retrieve one particular thing from that heap of million things. No wonder Google has done so well as a company. It makes the entire process of retrival so easy and intuitive. Google for me is more of a retrival compay rather than search.

And this leads me to my lesson # 1 for the day. Any business that I get into will have to have a minimal search cost. I define the search cost as the amount of effort on part of end user to identify a service provider (as one of the alternatives to fulfill the demand). And by virtue of this definition, lesser the search cost, easier it is for the end user to find your service.

In fact advertising is a way to reduce the search cost for consumers. Your product might be the best in the world but the customers will never be able to find it if the search cost is too high. The good news is that there are ways to reduce or eliminate this search cost. Case in point, Bisleri. Bisleri by virtue of age has now replaced “mineral water” in vocabulary of Indians. Search cost for Bisleri is hence zero.

Now this concept of search cost can be extended to any business activity. Take for example hiring. You are a growing company. You want to attract and eventually hire the best talent. There are two problems now. One, you dont know where to look for good talent. And two, even though you might find awesome talent, the talent might not know about you. He hasnt heard about you and in all likelihood he would join one of the better known brands.

Think about the Internet. On Internet, a lot of things are noise and a very very few are actually signals. Search cost for anyone on Internet is very high. All of us use feed readers, aggregators, social bookmarking etc. to discover content. Discovery is getting more and more difficult as more and more spam blogs are being published.

How do you then reduce this search cost? How do you make yourself as the default choice for any customer? Is advertising the only way? Is this the core function of advertising?

Any thoughts?

Flash Fiction: The House of Cards

SG has decided to set upon a very difficult task. He wants to erect a house of cards. There is nothing new about house of cards. People have been making houses ever since a deck of cards was invented. Yet, for him, making this house is a mammoth task.

No he is not a “differently-abled” kid. It’s just that he lacks one of the biggest virtues of humandom – patience. He is one of those few people who can’t sit at one place for more than a minute without some distraction. He is not fickle-minded or easily distracted.

He is of the opinion that humandom offers so many things that in achieving expertise in something particular is waste of time. He thinks that in order to be called an expert by the world at large, you don’t experiment and experience a lot of other things. He thinks there is more pleasure in being jack of all trades rather than being a master of one.

He knows that the time he can spend at humandom is very limited. It is only one life after all. And this is what he wants to change. He wants to live more than just a life time at humandom.

This house of cards is his attempt to start a task and finish it. It is similar to a lot of other experiments he keeps doing. All the other tasks he has ever taken have been left unfinished. He doesn’t know where would be get inspiration from, but he is determined.

So he sets upon this task of placing cards one by one.

Other Flash Fiction
The Bus. Stopped.