Когда ты работаешь за хорошую зарплату, тебе приятно, что ты можешь купить себе дорогие часы. Я не представляю себе выпускника Стэнфорда, который радовался бы такой возможности, для него это мелко.
I'm excited to announce that the FanPulse Beta has been released for the iPhone! We (Joe, Vish, and I) have been working night and day (when not playing foosball or basketball) and the app has now landed in a handful of handpicked users' phones / touches. This first phase of introducing sports fans to a socially centric sports application includes many novel yet simple concepts that naturally align with how people think and talk about sports today. We've really tapped into how people interact with friends or even strangers about sports, making their sports knowledge more powerful in an effortless way (for us technically and for the sports fan!).
Instead of reinventing how sports fans should consume sports, we've simply provided a nice tool for sports fans to increase their casual to hardcore sports knowledge, as well as improve interaction socially with friends over a technology medium.
If you'd like to learn more and be part of our next release, you should follow FanPulse on Twitter here for updates on how to signup!
Last week we interview Reza Sadeha, the found of I'm Halal. Today, we caught up wtih Kareem Arafat, the CEO of WatWet, essentially an Arabic Twitter! I like it, and I certainly like the fact that you can access the service through SMS from several countries in the Middle East.
Enjoy!
TheNextWeb (TNW): What inspired you to create Watwet when twitter seems to be making major inroads in the region?
Kareem Arafat (KA): We actually started working on Watwet before the Twitter hype.
The founding team of our mother company, TootCorp, have been always focusing on user generated content and citizen media. Before Watwet, we launched Ikbis (ikbis.com), a leading video sharing service in the Arab World, and Toot (itoot.net) a blog aggregator. We believe the micro-blogging scene is still maturing and we want to focus on populating this expression format across the local mass in the markets we operate in.
TNW: How many users do you have today? Can you provide us with some demographic details (age and location)?
KA: I prefer not to answer this question until we have reached a certain milestone.
TNW: How do you intend on competing with twitter in the region?
KA: We want to focus on the local mass market. Twitter and Watwet are still popular among the early adopters and the tech savvy. In the coming year or two, it will be about taking it to the masses, and we want to have a decent share of this segment of the market.
TNW: Any interesting upcoming features you would like to tell our readers about?
KA: Well, we are working on a set of new enhancements. We are focusing on availability across platforms; desktop apps and mobile apps. Since we don't have millions of users, developers are less keen to create apps for us via our APIs. Thus, we are taking our time developing these apps since we are an extremely small team.
TNW: What was your largest challenge in establishing watwet in the Middle East?
KA: Many! At the very beginning, users did not understand the concept of micro-blogging. Now it is a bit more popular among people. Today our main challenges are around getting mobile operators to work with local brands like us and not only global brands, and finding the right strategic investors to fund our ambitious plans.
TNW: How is your website financed and do you intend on accessing any of the venture capital companies in the region? If you've already dealt with a VC, what is your opinion of the regional VCs and access to capital for start-up companies?
KA: We are financed by an angel investor. Yes, we are talking to VCs around the region. A couple of days ago, I attended a talk by Joi Ito in Amman, and one of the things he said that Japanese and Middle Eastern investors like to invest in what he terms "safe investments" i.e. companies with globally recognized brands, and end up with little upside if any. I agree with his point. I think VCs in the region should take more risk, and should increase their stakes and go for the steeper upside.
TNW: How do you view the regional start-up landscape?
KA: I think it is starting to mature up. I think investors will recognize technology as the new sector to invest in; after years of investment in lands, real estate and financial markets. So I think we will see some more funds available for startups. But having said so, mistakes and gaps in expectations (not every startup will be bought by Google!) will happen in the process. Generally, technology sector is more complicated, and will require more institutionalized approach to investment.
Additionally, while availability of funds will stimulate and entertain a startup scene to develop, it also requires other factors to sync in to make it all happen. We need more users connected to true broadband internet (an area I think that needs much more committed investment in), investment in knowledge and research; our universities should be improved massively. I really consider it an amazing miracle/achievement to have the talented people we have today in the region (mostly attributed to people improving their capacity on an individual basis and not driven by the educational institutions around them). Imagine, if the process of creating talent is institutionalized, we would be much better off.
I think Amman is one of the most startup-friendly cities in the region. Talent is more available relatively, and operational costs are reasonable. Dubai is great for networking, but operational costs are too high. Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Doha and Cairo are emerging fast. More and more clustering will happen in the coming 5-10 years. Hopefully by then, we will be VCs! :)
TNW: Finally, for our many twitter users who would like to migrate to watwet: Is there a way of integrating twitter posts with watwet (I know I can integrate watwet with twitter, but I'm already established on twitter, any advice)?
KA: Yes, you could migrate your latest tweets on Twitter, and sync in your Watwet and Twitter posts. Try out Watwet, if you like it, sync the accounts. We are happy to hear any suggestions from anyone. So write in.
Apple's 4-week approval for iPhone apps interferes with bug fixes. And that interferes with making the best software -- and inspiring the best people.
An organization that wins by exercising power starts to lose the ability to win by doing better work. And it’s not fun for a smart person to work in a place where the best ideas aren’t the ones that win.
via paulgraham.com
I've put together a list of Swedish web2.0 and mobile startups and people behind them to make it easier to follow what's in the making on the Swedish Internet scene.
http://twitter.com/PaulaMarttila/swedish-startups This is only a start so please let me know: - Who have I missed? - Should You be on the list? - Would You like to be removed from the list? - Should I include investors? More upcoming startups and projects: There's a good list by @jocke of all 24 Hour Business Camp participants at http://twitter.com/jocke/all24hbc. Hope you like it!A pretty good presentation by Craig Hepburn, Director of Social Media Strategy at Open Text. Nothing ground breaking, it's more of a beginners guide to social media.
Enjoy!
iAccelerator 2009 has announced its first startup for this season — Bangalore-based HashCube which develops online games for social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. I chatted briefly on the ‘phone this morning with co-founders Deepan Chakravarthy (black T-shirt) and Ramprasad Rajendran (white T-shirt) about their first two weeks at the incubator programme. So far, the programme has helped the founders address several basics — registering the company, assigning revenue and expense projections and polishing the business plan. Chakravarthy says 50% of the business plan has changed since then. Here’s more on them:
Starting Up
Deepan and Ram, as they are known, have been friends since school (Sainik School Amravathi in Tamil Nadu) and developing online games has always been a hobby. Before starting HashCube in January 2008, the two also toyed with web security solutions as a business. The hobby won. Games for social networks came after a brief experiment with general online games. “We deployed Sudoku and got some traction but revenues were slow. The general space is very crowded whereas the opportunity in social networks is just emerging,” says Chakravarthy. Their first Facebook game, Sudoku, was launched in March 2008.
Revenue Model
At present, 100% of the company’s revenues come from advertising. It claims 150,000 visitors (users) per month, of which 99% are via Facebook. Its bouquet currently consists of three games — DotGame, Loop the Loop and Sudoku — which are available on Facebook, Orkut and recently, MySpace. The founders expect revenues in future to come primarily from the trading of virtual currency for real cash. The company’s current cash burn is low. “The only money we spend now is on servers, about $80 per month,” says Chakravarthy. Incidentally, 99% of its current user base is non-Indian, primarily in the US, Turkey and Latin America.
Funding
Has raised Rs 5 lakh in angel funding from iAccelerator, which the founders expect to sustain them for the next six months. They are also in talks to raise additional seed capital from other angels and are currently trying to work out innovative fundraising models. “Since they are a gaming company it is hard to use the regular equity or convertibles-based funding. They are exploring two methods. One is to get in ‘movie-style’ funding wherein the investor is like the producer of a set of games and HashCube is the director, etc. Once the game is launched, the producer and HashCube share the revenue,” says Pranay Gupta, joint CEO at CIIE and one of the experts involved in the selection of HashCube for iAccelerator 2009.
Photo Courtesy: iAccelerator
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The US Silicon Valley’s venture capital industry, the primary source for venture capital in India, is in crisis with exits via initial public offerings down to a trickle — only six worth $470.2 million in the first nine months of 2008 (Source: NVCA). Trouble with exits implies that investments in new companies also slow down. Indian startups will find it tough to raise fresh funds and the environment will get tougher as growth slows down in the Indian economy. What can startups do to ride out these difficult times. Suvir Sujan, co-founder and CEO of Nexus India Capital, a Mumbai-based venture capital firm that manages $320 million in funds, shares some tips. Sujan has been an entrepreneur who lived through and survived the difficult dotcom crash era (he co-founded and led online marketplace Baazee, now known as eBay India).
Don’t panic! Economic cycles are a part of life. The best companies are built in the worst of times. If you panic, your employees will panic.
Conserve cash: Delay spending on non-critical things that do not result in revenue generation. Renegotiate vendor contracts, rental contracts, etc.
Improve productivity: Get more out of your team.
Differentiate between high and low performers: Reward high performers. Counsel out low performers.
Optimize the organization: Hire critical talent as they may be available at a reasonable cost. Transition or re-deploy non critical resources.
Continue selling or marketing your product or service: Being in front of customers or vendors builds confidence that you are a long term player.
Focus on growth with an eye on profitability: Since the cost of capital is high today, be cautious on how much capital you raise to invest for growth. Avoid over-investing in the business in the hope for exponential growth in the future.
Communicate with your team internally: Make sure that your team understands that you’re building a lasting and successful enterprise and that some of the cost cutting measures, including layoffs, are necessary for the health of the company. Anxiety levels can be high in tough times.
Act swiftly: Try to deliver any bad or tough news at one shot to the company. Continuous bad news can affect morale and instill fear.
Have fun! Make sure your team is having fun. A happy environment builds loyalty and performance for the long term.
Photo Courtesy: Nexus India Capital
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http://startupcentral.in/2009/10/narayana-murthys-gift-to-indian-startups/
Successful entrepreneurs, they say, make the best venture capitalists. While there are several venture capitalists who have never been entrepreneurs but hold stellar records as investors, the premium attached to an investor who has been down in the trenches himself is understandably higher. Also, when such entrepreneurs turn to investing in new entrepreneurs, the startup eco-system gets enriched in a way that is altogether unique. NR Narayana Murthy brings that much sought after unique value to the Indian startup eco-system with the launch of Catamaran Venture Fund.
Murthy turning venture capitalist in itself is not exceptional. India already has a small but fairly influential band of successful entrepreneurs who have brought their experience to bear on venture capital.
Not surprisingly, so far, most have been from the consumer Internet space – the first sector to create venture-backed entrepreneurial successes here. Online marketplace Baazee (acquired by eBay) founders Avinsh Bajaj and Suvir Sujan now lead investments for Matrix Partners India and Nexus Venture Partners respectively. Jobs portal Jobsahead (acquired by Monster) c0-founder Alok Mittal heads India investments for Canaan Partners. Naukri founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, who staged India’s first successful Internet IPO (initial public offering) in 2006, is currently experimenting with the corporate venturing model – read more in the Outlook Business story here.
The BPO (business process outsourcing) adventurers have not done too badly either. Sanjeev Aggarwal, co-founder of Daksh eServices (acquired by IBM), now runs Helion Venture Partners with his friends. Raman Roy, founder of Spectramind (acquired by Wipro), dabbles in angel investments through the Indian Angel Network. Krishnan Ganesh, founder of CustomerAsset (acquired by Firstsource Solutions), is also an active angel investor. All these gentlemen have put part of their own resources, earned from the success of their entrepreneurial ventures, to work in their venture capital activities. There are many more examples.
But, what makes Murthy stand out is the magnitude of what he has achieved as a first generation entrepreneur. The Internet and BPO czars came long after this software engineer (and six other colleagues) broke free of the shackles of a salaried middle class existence to scale unimaginable heights as an entrepreneur. Infosys Technologies, the startup he co-founded in 1981, is India’s second largest information technology services exporter at over $5 billion revenues today. Along the way, it has created millionaire employees, spawned entrepreneurs and generated hundreds of thousands of jobs. And all this while surviving a couple of economic recessions.
It is not clear yet as to how hands-on Murthy himself will be as a venture capitalist with Catamaran. He is still very closely associated with Infosys as its chairman. Reports suggest that a four-member team is being put in place to manage the fund. However, the fact that he sold shares worth $37 million – The Economic Times story here – to seed Catamaran could be an indication that backing entrepreneurs will be more than an off-the-cuff financial interest.
This commitment is critical for India’s fledgling entrepreneurial eco-system. This market has not yet produced enough successful entrepreneurs to inspire and back new entrants. In the US Silicon Valley, for instance, most iconic venture capital funds are helmed by former entrepreneurs. This has helped create and consistently invigorate the vibrant startup eco-system in the Valley. Where volume lacks, stature can somewhat compensate. Given Murthy’s sheer stature, his entry into venture capital is a big step foward for the startup community here.
We will be watching Catamaran’s future moves closely.
Photo Courtesy: Infosys Technologies
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Question: As an entrepreneur, what keeps you up at night?
Answer: We have this ethos at skinnyCorp: “Your project is not good enough.” We’re constantly striving to make all our projects as great as they can be - constantly evolving, constantly refining, etc. I never go to sleep satisfied that what we’ve been working on is done. It’s never done—it’s just “as far as you can take it today”. That—mixed in with thinking about new projects, new ideas, new everything—keeps me up at night. My three cats aren’t any help either.
