URGENT UPDATE
Hey you rockstar – hope you’ve been enjoying my writing. Do give me feedback and be candid – I’d like to hear from you.
Now for the hiccup. It seems there was a Database upgrade that was initiated last night by our IT support at GoDaddy. And the DB that was feeding my wordpress has… well… moved on !
Basically all my posts have been deleted. Comments, social links – everything !! How’s that for a weekend ?
Yeah I know this is stupid. But someone once told me – ‘Shit happens. Deal with it.’ So I’m reposting. Each one. One by one.
Do pardon me if one of the earlier posts land up in your inbox over the next few days. Sorting the RSS and mailing functions. Thanks in advance for your patience.
Now you can get back to your beer. Cheers !
18 May ’12
Forgive and Forget
I wonder why these 2 words are used together. Think about – you’d either forgive. Or forget.
Anyone you have a problem with needs to be either forgotten about or forgiven.
Anyone who has a problem with you has either forgotten about or forgiven you.
But rarely does one Forgive AND forget.
16 May ’12
Video:: Om Chole Bhature – food for the soul
24 Apr ’12
#How much time do you have? (infographic)
Time is the only constant. The only uncontrollable parameter in all equations. To appreciate your time on earth – check with the founder – Lord Brahma himself. (If font seems small – click on the image for full scale)
16 Apr ’12
Indian Railways thru my Camera :: VIDEO
15 Apr ’12
#Why the Lions are at the top
Because they focus. On only 3 things – food, water, shelter. That’s all that the Lion needs to grow and flourish.
Try catching a deer. Can you? Trust me you wouldn’t even be able to catch a chicken in your garden. And that’s when chicken are stupid.
But the Lion can catch a sprinting deer. A Lion’s right at the top when it comes to a hunt. That’s because a Lion is spending all his resources and energy focusing on only 3 activities – food, Water, and Shelter.
The flipside is zero intellectual and emotional growth. But then again – does a business care about anything else except revenue?
13 Apr ’12
#Who are these 3 people
There are 3 members of the board inside us – Mr. Paranoia, Mr. Realist, Ms. Hope. Each of them pretty much decides the actions and decisions we take in our life.
Isolating them is tedious and time taking.
But once isolated, you can pretty much outcast Mr. Paranoia for every decision. Oh and in case you didn’t know ; it’s Mr.Paranoia that’s preventing you from bungee jumping, sky diving, deep water diving, and many adrenalin related activities known to us.
One of them adrenalin rushing activities is watching a Lion in his natural habitat. I was at Gir recently and this is what I saw.
12 Apr ’12
#Why Boiler Plates?
Oh the Boiler plates. Why would anyone care to read about yourbusiness on your brochure. And even if they do care – why wouldn’t they spend another 2 mins on your website. It’s just 3 clicks away at the most.
But here’s an interesting idea. If your audience is expecting a boiler plate – why not give them something interesting.
Maybe a tag cloud. Maybe a code string. Maybe a series of Mugshots of the CEO.
Back in the 1900s, Boiler plates were intended to ease printing. But the world of marketing demands your boiler plates optimize real estate and reader time. Ergo when you’ve got someone reading your brochure, do us all a favor and not talk
about your business. We will look it up if we want to.
11 Apr ’12
#Why Imagine?
The reality is that you’re not going to get to have sex with your favorite superstar. Imagination brings a smile to your mind when you think about it.
The reality is you may have to take a pretty large risk to buy a porche. Imagination makes you want to go for it.
The reality is your dream home is becoming costlier every day. Imagination makes you believe the wait is worth it.
As you can see – Imagination is better than reality. So stick with imagination – not reality. But then again – never trust a marketer. We’re known for guarding the horizon where the 2 meet.
10 Apr ’12
PressuRISE
Pressure is a strange thing. It shapes some metals. Breaks others. Finding your tensile strength is hard. And that’s where Feedback matters.
You cannot tell if you’re shaped or bent. Unless somoene looks at it from the outside. That’s called valuation. And in our world valuation is feedback. It’s what gives you the idea of shape and bent.
I often wonder what valuations would be without marketing. But then again – good marketers are artists who can distort a fact into fiction. And infuse imagination into the most simple concepts in physics.
9 Apr ’12
Infographic :: Dr. Droid (Android)
The year Android was Founded (2003), Andy Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman, a close friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope and refused a stake in the company. You should read about Steve and what he’s been upto here.
3 Apr ’12
State of Videos :: Infographic
When making this – I had just 1 objective in mind. To help you appreciate how our world is going to change in the next 5 years. Though factions expect print media to pick up – the fact remains digital content will continue to grow.
However, I predict we’ll soon be consuming videos for everything. Reading news on mobile devices is not uncommon. But the future of your content is videos. Doesn’t matter if you don’t like it. (click to see full size image – 800px wide)
22 Mar ’12
Intellectual Property is it?
Intellectual. Property. I find this term thoroughly deceiving.
I like to replace it with ‘Asset’. Assets are tradable. Ergo a business can be build around it.
‘Intellectual property’ suggests that an asset must necessarily have intelligence associated with it. Though originally German, ’IP’ is a term engineers in America have marketed to perfection.
Investors bet on IP. IP wins confidence from customers. IP increases a shareholder’s risk appetite. And IP makes it easier to trade.
But can a business grow without IP?
Sure, just ask your neighborhood real estate agent. She’s selling someone else’s asset. But she’s intelligent about it.
20 Mar ’12
#How to isolate the problem
Of the many ridiculous meetings I have been to with customers, prospects, and strangers – the most successful ones have been where people have been honest. With everyone in the room. Including themselves.
You see – it takes guts to be honest. There’s no philosophy here – we’ve all lied. And told the brutal truth. We know the difference.
But this honesty really pays off when you’re trying to Isolate a problem. Diagnose a symptom. When you’re analyzing a situation. When you’re dissecting a patient. When you’re planning a strategic military attack.
And when you’re preparing your next keynote.
When the problem needs to be isolated – you’d better be honest. With yourself before others. You may end up saving jobs, if not lives.
19 Mar ’12
#What’s the difference between an investor and a customer?
Nothing. Quite literally.
And this one should be easy to figure out why. The last time you bought a cigarette, a bottle of cologne, or a car – you were an investor as well as a customer.
You invested in satiating a vice. But you paid money for it.
You invested in smelling good. But you paid money for it.
You invested in social respect. But you paid money for it.
The question to ask really is – what’s the similarity between an investor and a customer. The answer comes naturally – theyboth paid money for their benefit. Not yours.
17 Mar ’12
#What is Intelligence ?
In the last 200,000 years that man has been around, the single biggest force within us that has allowed us to conquer it all is without question – intelligence.
However, to define intelligence, we must look towards our roots and normalize the equation. What that means is that we need to bring all competiting objects (mammals, fishes, birds, or each other) to ZERO INTELLIGENCE.
So let’s go back 200,000 years when we were all alike. There was no subway. There was no mobility. iPad wasn’t a fad.
There was just a singular pursuit – to survive. This instintictive need transformed itself into actions that led man to invent tools, do farming, and kill for food.
If you really look at it – intelligent people aren’t the fastest at computing square roots of 5 digit numbers. But intelligence is a virtue that makes a man survive. Hardships. Loss. Deferral.
Smart entrepreneurs usually know when they’re not being intelligent.
16 Mar ’12
#How many times is enough ?
If your sales email has been read and responded to – you don’t need to follow up.
Trust me on this one. By incessantly chasing your prospect, you may actually kill your case. This fundamental is called ‘Incessant Nudging’.
Have you ever been incessantly nudged at a theater or a public place. Kinda bums you out doesn’t it.
That’s cause we all have our own private space. And we take decisions in that space. We don’t like to be told our decisions are inaccurate or possess fallacy.
In my experience – once is enough.
15 Mar ’12
#How to kill on KITE DAY
You can’t go wrong at basics – says my veteran Grandfather.
I remember we were making kites. For the first time. It was a nice winter morning and I must’ve been like 12 or something. Obviously I did it wrong. I didn’t know the Kite actually flew. The physics of it. So I was building the kite all wrong.
I was trying to make it look good. Not functional.
Thankfully I was stopped in the middle of a fiasco. By my veteran grandfather (who has fought all the wars India’s tried its hand at). Tough as a nut. Therby strong as one.
He kinda invited himself into my little party and taught us the physics behind kite flying. It was intense. Tough. Boring.Felt waste of time.
But after about an hour I realized I could now visualize the Kite while flying. So I could literally design the most optimized kite for a particular set of wind conditions. Once I understood the basics, I could literally create thousands of designs in my mind and quickly evaluate the most potent design before getting intoproduction.
I use this technique while building stories. On any keynote, on any video, on any email. I list out the basics. Go over the physics (or rules of the real world if you may). Try to visualize the nuances. Try to find reasons why the kite wouldn’t fly. And would. I go over the designs. The mockups, the wireframes, the ideas. All along I’m constantly thinking of the wind conditions.
I invest in a few options. I evaluate with no prejudice. I let my mind create a possible failure.
Unless there’s a flaw in the Basics of kite flying – I let it be taken outside and flown. But hey – don’t take my word for it. That’s me and my ways of building kites.
But more often than not – I kill on Kite Day.
6 Mar ’12
Catching Deers in Marketing Headlights
Deers are just stupid. Getting run over cause you got caught in the headlights – is the dumbest way to die. (Deers freeze when a strong light shines at them. It’s like their brains freeze. Check it out here. Also see Crepuscular. )
If you haven’t already figured it out – this trick can be used to kill a Deer.
Step 1: Drive in to the forest without your lights. Don’t hit trees.
Step 2: Use an IR Camera for better vision. Else just drive slow.
Step 3: Watch the movements in the dark. Hope it’s not a predator.
Step 4: If you spot a deer – zoom into it with a powerful light beam. Maybe the one they use to call Batman.
Step 5: Then take aim. And slowly press the trigger. Or just drive straight into the animal.
Critical step: Don’t get caught.
I was wondering if marketing content should be like that.
What if it is. Would be a damn good day in the sun for the sales guys if marketing collateral could just freeze those ripe prospects. So we could run ‘em over and meet ‘em sales targets.
28 Feb ’12
Booth babes
You got it right – that’s what this is about – Babes in a booth.
Stay with me – don’t shun this just yet.
Our eyes are the most influential of senses. What looks good has a higher chance of being tasted, felt, seen, and experienced. Ask all those botox companies who’ve made millions selling the anti-age miracle. So what if half of this is being funded by Demi Moore. Last Oscars the upper portion of her face couldn’t move. Her eyebrows couldn’t follow her intent of showing surprise or sorrow.
Her livelyhood depends on how she looks. You may be surprised to know the rules are applying to your product right now. If it looks good – it must be nice. I didn’t come up with this theory.
A booth babe can make it look good. And if enough carrots are thrown about – a booth babe might just become your strongest crowd puller. So what if she has to walk to every corner of the hall and solicit individuals. You’re anyways spamming them with your invites – might as well go the extra distance and send a prettier format of the same message.
Don’t be silly – invest in booth babes. I wish I was one…
17 Feb ’12
Right now…
… a woman has become a mother for the first time.Inexperience.
… an air-hostess doesn’t actually mean that smile. Lying.
… a guy is walking to talk to a single woman at the bar. Risk.
… a prospect has just become a customer. Hope.
… your PoC has been approved. Success.
An entrepreneur’s gotta be so many in one. Must be difficult.
15 Feb ’12
#Why men cheat
No this isn’t sexist. In my argument with Esha - she believes that a man cheating on his partner is the same as a man cheating in an exam.
I obviously disagree. To me it’s the same thing.
Men cheat in a relationship exactly like they cheat in an exam.
In reference to the ‘illegal act’ (to be described as an immoral and unthetical touching of private parts to rewriting an already published piece of paid knowledge)
- We’ll do it if no one’s looking
- We’ll stop when someone catches us
- We’ll promise we’ll never do it again if faced with a small chance of acquittance
But some men don’t cheat.
14 Feb ’12
Purple Nurple
Apparently it’s a thing where one guy tweaks the other fella’s nipple and squeezes em. And they turn purple. Hence – purple nurple. I heard about this concept back in college.
We’d flick em. Anyways.
I was thinking if women have such things.
Distasteful? Really – you’ve been reading about nipple twisting till now – why stop. Continue…
I mean I’d pay to watch 2 women squeezing em mangoes. Okay that’s a little pictureque and rude – but hey – i’m engaging you right?
Purple Nurple rhymes. Good start. What comes next better stick. Great marketing. Better product.
13 Feb ’12
Feed the Community – it’s Hungry.
In the movie Catch Me If You Can, father makes reference of 2 mice drowning in milk. One drowns and other one keeps churning – eventually walks out as the milk turns into cream.
Though my emotional mind wants to believe in this crap – the scientific part of my brain has huge advantage in this skirmish.
First – the milk. If there’s not enough fat vs. water ratio – the fluid wouldn’t churn.
Second – speed of legs. I wonder how long can a rat do it – I can’t do it forever man !
Third – the situation itself. I wonder why 2 rats would fall into a bowl of milk whose consistencies are being questioned.
Sure there are rats in business. But they don’t win by churning the milk into butter. They win by drowning the other mouse. Or whatever else is available to drown and ride over.
A community can only give back when every one has had their share. Doesn’t matter if the community is that of rats.
Feeding a hungry community is illogical.
For a flourishing community, you’d have to remove at least 1 word from the sentence above. {
1- Feeding a hungry community is illogical (they should be able to feed themselves. That’s the point of a community.)
2. Feeding (a) hungry community is illogical (If a community is hungry – it’s not a community)
3. Feeding a hungry community is illogical (Yep – the action place. It’s the eye of the storm. The reason for the flourish.)
};
If you’re feeding the community – you’re bang in the middle of the action. I promise.
2 Feb ’12
#Who pays a partner
In all probability you’d already know all the sources to look for when searching for an answer. You choose a partner because he answers exactly what you’re looking for. Not the links or the websites or the sources. No opinions. No subtle ego clashes.
Brutally honest answers. Some of which could hurt.
The good thing is that when such a partnership evolves – it’s the customer who pays your partner.
31 Jan ’12
#What is a thought leader really?
Subject matter experts are exactly that – experts on a particular subject. But that may not make them a thought leader. This is because thought leaders must have thoughts to justify their designation.
The fine difference between the two is how they talk about the problem and its challenges. A subject matter expert knows how something happens in their industry. For eg. – a subject matter expert on Business Intelligence would know the tools that can exploit data from a database and can build a mathematical algorithm to manipulate the data to generate an analytic.
A thought leader would be thinking ahead of time. If you caught her near the caffeteria, she would talk about where is the future of data interpretation. She would talk about trends. She would talk about logical deductions that she has made. Personally.
More often than not, thought leaders are like inventors. They keep coming up with new ideas and conclusions which directly or indirectly relate to the industry of which they once were subject matter experts.
24 Jan ’12
#Who does God report to ?
Crazy eh? Why should god report to someone. After all the buck stops at him. Right?
Technically in your organization, if the buck stops at you – then who do you report to? Who validates your decisions? Who gets to make a judgement call and decide if you’re a genius or an asshole.
The price to pay for this luxury is that you will spend sleepless nights wondering if your decision indeed is right or wrong. But here’s the good part – you don’t need to do these validations. You can very well outsource it. You just have to find the right mind to do that for you.
Sometimes you can find that partner in your customer.
23 Jan ’12
The last lap
A race is a 3 step process – Start. Accelerate. Sustain.
A marathon runner is different from a sprinter. The sprinter can visually see the finish line. A marathon runner only sees the vision of the finish line in his head.
However, the challenge before both is the same – to win the race.
A sprinter doesn’t get the luxury of a ‘last lap’. A marathon runner needs to sustain longer. Which is why the word endurance is often used almost together with Entrepreneurship.
If it was easy – winning a marathon wouldn’t be considered such a big deal.
20 Jan ’12
#Why Repeat
In the last year, I have driven to work on the exact same road over 300 times. And the changes in the road have not been more than 5%.
Basically within a 5% change in environment, I have repeated the same task several times. My practice has come to a point that I instinctively swerve around potholes and small bumps on the road. I don’t need to worry about it.
Repeatability is the mother of skill.
By repeating, you can remove the chances of fucking up when the spotlight shines on you. Not IF it shines on you. WHEN it shines on you.
19 Jan ’12
