Author: anandnataraj

Entrepreneur, Blogger, Traveller, Pet Lover, Networker, Social Drinker, Party Animal, Movie Addict, Startup Enthusiast, Organic Gardner, Avid Reader....

First & Second Startup experience – a comparison


I had the opportunity to be a startup twice in my life. My first one started as early as a student and the second was with eight years of entrepreneurial experience. I just wanted to compare how it makes a difference and how I felt on both occasions. So here is a small comparison chart;

 

First Startup Experience

Second Startup Experience

 

 

Lack of experience, focus & investment.

More experience, focus & reasonable investment.

 

 

Trust levels are low among stake holders.

Trust levels are high among stake holders.

 

 

Company & Personal costs are low.

Company & Personal costs are High.

 

 

Fluctuations in motivation are High.

At times motivations levels fluctuates. But experience shows how to overcome it.

 

 

Fear of failure is less because there is not point to prove.

Fear of failure is high because people expectation is high because of past success.

 

 

Problem solving was poor.

Experience has improved problem solving skills.

 

Over all it is interesting to be a startup second time also I might think my piece of cake is being like a Serial Entrepreneur so that I always have the excitement of being a Startup. Anyway let me enjoy my second stint of being a startup and run the show until I loose my motivation.

Why I like Shinjuku Incident & hate The Strangers


I’m a movie buff and I see at least 3-4 movies a week but I never blog its reviews. In my Bangalore trip I watched two movies where in one movie really inspired me and the other one made me think I wasted my money. Which prompted me to make this post.

 

Why I like Shinjuku Incident

 

I was really inspired watching Shinjuku Incident.

 

Firstly I liked Jackie Chan portraying a role which is away from his image. The movie doesn’t have any heroics of Jackie and this role has really fit well for his age and he has done justice to the role where we can see maturity and experience. He has really shown class.

 

Secondly movie showcases how life changes and thinks that changes character of humans. In one scene Xu Jinglei says how things transform in human;

 

  • She will explain how human run for basic need which is food by telling her poverty ridden childhood.
  • Then how desire strikes a person where she gets a neighbor who has new cloths and gadgets which create a desire in earn those things / lifestyle.
  • Then how desire changes to desperation to earn the desire.
  • How man falls for power after gaining his desperation.
  • Finally how power creates ego and makes him cruel.

 

Over all I like over all aspects of the movie like Screenplay, Storyline & Jackie’s mature acting.

 

Why I hate The Strangers

 

I was pulled to this movie because of Liv Tyler. Other than that I can’t understand anything in the movie.

 

Let me start with good points in the movie. The movie has screen play and music which really horrifies audience. But we are not sure / understand the story.

 

The movie starts by Liv rejecting her boyfriend’s proposal to get married and they goto a lonely farm house on the hoods. There they are horrified by three Mask faced strangers. The strangers have many opportunities to kill the couples by they never do that instead they keep horrifying them fully.

 

Finally they capture the couples and kill them. In the climax two goto the house and find the dead couples and when they try to go near Liv she screams and the movie ends.

 

The audience leaves the movie without knowing?

 

  • Why The Strangers kill them.
  • How Liv doesn’t die even after being stabbed by knife.
  • Strangers face is not shown at all.

 

Over all I came out thinking why I wasted my money & time. Once consolation is Liv Tyler she looks gorgeous.

Cogzidel Technologies Attrition Report


Just received the attrition report from my HR and now it is time to do post mortem. Must review why February had almost 19% attrition…

 

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Fundamental’s of Marketing


Got this wonderful forward from my friend Sundar Kumar…

 

  1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” – That’s Direct Marketing”
  2. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: “He’s very rich.” Marry him.” -That’s Advertising”
  3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: “Hi, I’m very rich.” Marry me – That’s Telemarketing”
  4. You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car)for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say:” By the way, I’m rich. Will you “Marry Me?” – That’s Public Relations”
  5. You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says:” You are very rich! “Can you marry? Me?” – That’s Brand Recognition”
  6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. – “That’s Customer Feedback”
  7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party.. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” And she introduces you to her husband. – “That’s demand and supply gap”
  8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her: “I’m rich. Will you marry me?” and she goes with him – “That’s competition eating into your market share”
  9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say: “I’m rich, Marry me!” your wife arrives. – “That’s restriction for entering new markets”

Gave a Presentation to TASMAC Students


Today was an interesting day in my life. Myself and Bala were invited by TASMAC (Training and Advanced Studies in Management And Communication) a B-School in Bangalore as Entrepreneurs of the Month and to give presentation for the inauguration of their new batch to give them insights on entrepreneurship.

 

We were sent proper guidelines about the landmark and their follow-up was very professional. Once when we reached there we were invited for lunch ad immediately we went to a conference room where there was this bunch of enthusiastic Budding Managers & Entrepreneurs. The class had folks from diverse background where in there people all parts of the country like from Kerala, Jharkhand, Bengal, Bihar and also saw two folks from Maldives and we shared some insights about the island nation.

 

I was delighted and I envied these smart folks as I didn’t have this much amount of guts or exposure when I was a student. They asked all sorts of questions where in I must say they got the best out of us. The topic we were questioned are on entrepreneurship and global meltdown. Some of the questions I can recollect are;

 

  • Challenges in entrepreneurship.
  • Is work experience required to be an entrepreneur?
  • Is it right to start a business in these down-turn economy.
  • Does place play a vital role in starting a company.
  • How far values and ethics play a role in business.
  • What are the ways to raise capital?
  • How to overcome bureaucratic challenges?
  • How long this recession last.

 

Also they were eager to know more from Bala about support functions and about his experience in being Head of Finance with Cricinfo.com. We shared lots of personal cases and real-time cases which we came across in our life.

 

Overall they say they enjoyed the session by we enjoyed a lot than others. Sharing knowledge always gives a fulfillment and satisfaction. I personally feel this a great moment in my life time.

Silicon India Startup City’s Experience


Personally I must say Startup City event is a success. It is a win-win proposition for visitors and also for companies who booked for a stall. Regarding VC pitch I don’t think it is a success because for CEO – VC breakfast & lunch organizers promised 2 VC’s per table but I didn’t see much VC’s sitting there and also for presentation there were eight rooms where in they have sent 4 VC’s per room and in our case there were 4 VC’s but only three companies because two VC’s representing the same company.

 

Organizers were grateful enough to allow us to present CCS in the stall and give presentation about CT to VC’s. But I’m not happy with the way I gave the presentation. I know I must go a log way when it comes to public speeches.

 

These are some synopsis of the day.

 

  • Reached the venue by 8.30 AM
  • Missed VC – CEO breakfast.
  • Was in stall explain our services to the visitors
  • Met some twitter mates and friends.
  • Networked with fellow stall owners
  • Networked with some visitors who wanted to create a long term relationship.
  • Went to CEO – VC lunch and found no VC’s fortunate to have Satya of LeadSimplified for company.
  • Then presented about CT for VC pitch by 2 o clock.
  • Then I went and crashed to sleep in the car as I didn’t sleep the whole night. Courtesy to Bangalore weather coz sleeping inside a car is impossible in Chennai.
  • Then folks came back by 6.30 PM
  • We went to Aditi Residency in Arekere for dinner.
  • I ate like a mad guy as I’ve that hungry.
  • In fact I ate 80% of the starters.
  • Then we all came home and crashed to sleep immediately.

 

Over all it was a fulfilling day where in we spoke to 100’s visitors and many showed interest in our service. We distributed 1000+ brouchers and collected 200+ business cards. We did our bit of work and must see how far it converts to business.

Cogzidel’s presentation for Startup City 2009


Slides For Silicon India Startup City 2009

This is the presentation I gave to the VC’s and visitors of Silicon India Startup City event. I’ll talk about that experience in a separate blog. I wanted to talk about this slide.

 

First I must thank my CFO Mr.Bala Murugan to do this wonderful presentation with a small piece of information which I gave him. I didn’t even take time to correct this slide. The first I reviewed this slide was 6 hours before giving the presentation.

 

I wanted to talk more about CogzidelTemplates.Com business model it covered more about Cogzidel Technologies. Will share you how I made up with the presentation in my blog where I’ll be posting my experience about the event.

What I did last Friday night?


After a tedious drive to Bangalore which lasted for 14 hours (Check this blog post for more) we all were tired and we all took a long nap and all woke up by 4.30 PM, took bath and everyone was ready by 5.15 PM. Then we wanted to goto the spot where Startup City 2009 is scheduled. It was a fulfilling night and we did following things;

 

·         Reached NIMHANS Convention Center where event is scheduled by 6 o clock in the evening.

·         We pasted a banner which has details of all our services in our booth and we met person who coordinates with us to know schedule for Saturday.

·         Then we straight to Garuda Mall around 8 o clock

·         As everyone was hungry because of skipping our lunch we headed to food court to have our dinner.

·         En route on the entrance of food court I saw this small shop painting temporary tattoos and I was longing for a long to time to have one. I choose my star sign Pieces to be tattooed and it took less than 2 min to get it done. I got it painted on my right hand and this will last for one week with some instructions to be followed.

·         Then we all had our dinner and I had dosa and 4 glasses of sugar cane juice.

·         Then we booked Shinjaku Incident a Jackie Chan’s movie ticket in INOX cinemas.

·         Then we wanted to buy some tray, bowls for the event and we were unable to find our needs in the mall.

·         We thought of going to Bangalore central to buy them, luckily we found Home Shop opposite to Garuda mall where we found all that we needed.

·         Then we returned back and checked our weight in a weighing machine and headed inside the theatre.

·         I really loved the movie and Jackie Chan played a different kind of a role which was way different from his Image and he has really sizzled.

·         Then we returned home and we (myself & Bala) gave a small training to Ramanan & Boopathi on how to handle enquiry in the booth.

·         Then I wrote some blogs before this, then I checked emails, read some days news, checked slides for tomorrow’s presentation.

 

Now it is 3 o clock early morning and have decided to wake up by 6 o clock and reach the event spot by 7.30 AM so that we can be settled and well prepared when the event starts. So, let me take a short nap and get back to you tomorrow with live tweeting and blogging of my experience when every I find time.

 

Until then it is Good Bye everyone :)…

Power of the Start


Got this email from Mr.Padmanaban, founder Chennai Entrepreneurship Club and wanted to share it with you all.

 

Loved the piece I just read on Chester Carlson.

 

  • He graduated in The Great Depression.
  • Applied for a job with 82 companies.
  • Finally got a basic job as a patent researcher and had to reproduce copies by hand.
  • He thought there had to be a better way.
  • Even better, he acted on his big idea.

 

Through hard work and innovation he eventually came up with a process called ‘electrography’. Carlson tried to sell it to 20 companies and there were Lots of “No’s”.

 

Few people can see genius until the big idea gets traction. Then it seems so very obvious (think iPod. Think Twitter. Think Google.).

 

Finally he met Joe Wilson, the president of Haloid, a company that produced photo paper. Wilson bought the dream. The company was renamed. And Xerox was born.

 

Hope you all have the sprit like Chester Carlson.

 

Original Source: http://www.robinsharma.com/life_coach_ic_blog_548.htm

Chennai to Bangalore Drive!!!


I can’t forget the driving experience we had yesterday. It took almost 14 hours to reach Bangalore from Chennai and it is all because of me. Yes as usual I made a stupid mistake. I left my Bangalore house keys in Chennai and I only realized it when we reached Vaniambadi which is 200 KM from Chennai. Also out of 5 tolls to Bangalore we crossed 4 tolls and we had no choice other than to return to Chennai and collect the keys.

 

Here is some synopsis of the drive.

 

  • Started by 6.30 PM after doing a small Pooja by my mother.
  • Filled petrol near Poonnamallee.
  • Had a shot bite in Motel Highway, but it eventually became a semi dinner.
  • Then we were talking, cracking jokes, pulling down each other and we reached Ambur by 10.30 PM
  • Near Vellur I made a blog post.
  • Bala, Boopathi & Ramanan has Briyani for dinner and I had 2 omlets in a famous hotel called Khaja which is known for itz delicious briyani’s.
  • Then we started from Ambur and crossed Vaniambadi only to realize that I missed my keys.
  • Then we took a U-turn and we returned back to Chennai.
  • Then I took over from Boopathi and drove till Chennai.
  • Then again everything started back in Chennai.
  • We filled petrol in same station where we filled couple of hours back.
  • Then in Poonamallee in Shell petrol bunk we got some drinks and had some photo shoot.
  • From there Boopathi took over and he drove till Krishnagiri.
  • We all slept when we drove.
  • Then from Krishnagiri I did the finishing touch.
  • Reached home by 7.30 AM.
  • Boopathi brought some breakfast and we all crashed to sleep and woke up by 4.30 PM.
  • Now I’m composing this blog and heading to Silicon Startup city in 30 min.