Mark Zuckerberg Turns Investigator


One by one, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has driven away his cofounders and close confidants. The latest to go: chief financial officer Gideon Yu.

Now Zuckerberg is tracking who has leaked the email memo sent to CFO and you can see his instigative tactics in the email… Please read the email carefully…

Catch the differences? One says “will report,” the other says “will be reporting.” One uses treasurer Cipora Herman’s last name, the other omits it. One says “we are fortunate,” while the other uses the contracted form “we’re.” And one says Peter Currie will be “an advisor,” while the other says only “advisor.”

 
That’s not the only oddity about the email. “Several versions I got of this memo had different punctuation in various places,” Swisher notes in an update.

COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL–DO NOT FORWARD

Hey Everyone–

Today ends the first quarter of 2009, so I wanted to send out an update on our growth and financial progress, as well as a couple of changes we are making.

Our user growth has been extraordinary over the past year and has continued to be strong throughout Q1. We are getting very close to reaching our 200 millionth active user. This is pretty remarkable considering we just reached 100 million actives a little more than seven months ago. We have become the top site for sharing information on the web, and this gives us a good strategic position to help people share even more.

I am also pleased that our financial progress has been very strong as well. While we came into this year wondering how the recession might affect us, our financial performance in the first quarter surpassed our expectations. As other businesses around us are slowing down and cutting back, we continue to grow around the world. Our advertising products are becoming more attractive for advertisers and we have seen strong growth in both our domestic and international direct sales and online sales channels.

Even in the current economic environment, we are confident that this success will continue. Based on our first quarter results, we now believe we are on track to see our revenue grow by at least 70% this year. We just completed our fifth straight quarter of EBITDA profitability. And most importantly, we expect to achieve free cash flow profitability next year. That’s an important measure of financial success and sustainability because it means we’d be able to fund all of our operations and server purchases from the cash we generate while increasing our cash reserves in the bank. Hitting these numbers will require continued hard work, discipline and execution by everyone here at Facebook, but we are on the path to achieve these goals.

As we ramp up to take on these challenges, I want to let you know that Gideon Yu will be leaving the company. Gideon has played an important role in helping us achieve our financial success, building a strong finance team and establishing the core financial operations of our company. I will always be grateful to Gideon for his contributions to Facebook and what we are trying to accomplish. As those of you who know him know, Gideon’s family is his highest priority and it’s certainly not the usual cliché to say that he plans to take some time off to be with his wife and son. Gideon and I have often discussed that the next stage of his career will likely be as an investor, and I fully support him in this regard.

We have retained Spencer Stuart to search for a new CFO and we will be looking for someone with public company experience who can help take us to the next stage in our growth.

In the interim, the finance team will report to Cipora Herman in her capacity as Treasurer and Ted Ullyot as mteam lead. In addition, [Facebook is] fortunate that Peter Currie, the former CFO for Netscape, has agreed to serve as the advisor to Facebook until a new CFO comes on board.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me or to others on mteam if you have any questions about our finance plans or organization. I’ll discuss this more at the Q&A on Friday and I will be happy to take questions then too.

Congratulations to everyone on a great start to the year and on all the momentum you have all helped build for the rest of 2009.

Mark

WORKSHOP – The Journey Within INNER


Sometimes we really find ourself not being our best.

Sometimes we wonder what is that which guides me.

Sometimes we need to change the “inner thoughts” to produce “outer results“.

We need to take the ‘The Journey Within’

CHENNAI ENTREPRENEURS CLUB & LIFE ACADEMY

Presents a workshop

” INNER UNIVERSE ” – Exploring the Inner World of Thought

YOU are invied for a different journey. The journey in to your own self – your inner world of thoughts.

We weave the fabric of our life in the factory of our mind using the threads called thoughts. We fashion our destiny everyday by our mental designs.

We welcome you to explore the inner structure of your thoughts and unearth the mysteries of living.

FACULTY

Mr.ASHRAF is a corporate trainer and the director of Life Academy– a lifeskills training organisation based at Chennai. He is a certified Master Practitioner of NLP( Neuro Linguistic Programming – the Psychology of Excellence) from National Federation of Neuro Linguistic Psychology, U.S.A.

Mr.Ashraf has conducted training programs for organisations like Reserve Bank of India, LIC of India, Airtel, Sify, Nokia, Areva, Metlife India, JP Morgan, Elsevier, Bajaj Capital, Sundaram Finance, Eicher Motors, NASSCOM, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and educational institutions like Anna University – Madras School of Social Work.

Over the years, Mr.Ashraf has actively trained and inspired thousands of people fron diverse backgrounds to “Use more of their potential“. He shares his incredible knowledge in a “hands on learning environment” in all his programs.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Date : 5th April 2009 (sunday)
Time : 10.30 am to 1.30 pm
Venue : L.A.Training Center (A/c),
36, Aziz mulk first street,
Thousand lights
(near Greams road)
Chennai – 600006.

Guest Fee : Rs.300/- per participant.

As seats are limited, please confirm your registration if you like to participate in this workshop.

To Register Contact Mr Padmanabhan  98414  38486 /  Mr Ashraf   98412 92715.

The real Slumdogs


Last Sunday I was in Bangalore… I reached Bangalore very early in the morning say by 5 AM and reached home by 5:15 AM… When I opened the gate I was chased out by a mother Slumdog which wanted to protect itz puppies from me…

 

I got scared and didn’t enter the gate… Since it was dark I was unable to see both mother & itz puppies as they were black in color…

 

I was still standing in the road thinking the tenants would wakeup soon and help me to get in… The wait lasted for 15 min and there was no progress then I made a bold move to enter the house and I successfully entered the house without any damage :)…

 

After entering the house I had to laugh at myself because I was denied an entry into my own house by a Slumdog… I just remembered a famous Tamil saying “Anda Vandha Pidariya Oor Pidari Thorathuna Kadai” (Story of a Guest Devil driving away the Native devil)…

 

Then I took a nap and then started to BOCC and I didn’t want to take a chance again and thought I must befriend the mother and the puppy… So I fed them with a pack of Good Day biscuits and befriended them… When I returned in the evening mother Slumdog didn’t make any noise and let me freely into my house :)…

 

Here are the snaps of the true Slumdogs…

 

Flaunge – Small in size Big in investment


Last Sunday I’ve been to Bangalore to attend B’lore OCC and then went to 13th floor to honor my promise to host Hrish Thota for a treat… Only then I came to know Hrish was a documentary film maker and it kindled my eagerness to know more about film-making…

 

Hrish said that he is going to his office to finish some editing work and I asked him if I can accompany him to have a look at his office…

 

The name of their company is Flaunge and it is a home-cum-office housed in his friend’s house… By entering his office I was thrilled to see this small fish tank… This really pulled my attention… Positioning of tank was well done where in visitors don’t feel the pinch of waiting…

 

dsc006681

 

Then I went into their office and I was really amazed to see such a small office… It must be a 10 * 6 Sq.Ft. office… But the equipment used is expensive… You can also have a peep into their office…

 

 

dsc006724This is the size of Sweet little Flaunge & you can see all the equipments fitted within that room…This is Hrish working in his MAC… 

dsc006712

 

Then Hrish showed me their sample work and I really liked Tour De Nilgiris… Here is the video…

Tour Of Nilgiris – Experience Nature from Tour Of Nilgiris on Vimeo.

 

In the mean time if you have any requirement for short film-making or ad film-making you can contact Flaunge…

 

I’m a Word Press Boy


I’m a WordPress Bhoy boy looking for a WordPress girl 🙂 yes for last 2 days I’m using WordPress… Not it is not a fools day prank… You can check this blog is on WordPress… I’ve been using Drupal CMS for my blog for last 4 years and I’ve great love for Drupal… There were lot criticism and cry from Drupal world… Even I got a shout from a buddy in twitter…

tronathan@anandnataraj Why on earth would you go from drupal TO wordpress? please enlighten me…6:19 AM Mar 29th from TweetDeck in reply to anandnataraj

For Drupal lovers or WordPress lovers let me confess I’m still a Drupalian by heart and WordPress is just a mask… I still challenge everyone that Drupal is the best CMS in the world than any other CMS… So, you can ask me why I converted from Drupal to WordPress… Here are my justifications

  •  
    • WordPress is quick in giving updates and more happening now-a-days
    • WordPress has all the tools for running a blog, which drupal must improve
    • WordPress admin interface is very simple to use
    • WordPress has more plugins and themes compared to drupal
    • Last but not least I get lot of enquries on wordpress customization… So using the system will help me understand client’s challenges and expectation…

I decided to convert to WordPress a month back, but I researched a lot on reading other blogs on lessons as I didn’t want to take a change… But itz all done within an hour and the process was very simple… This is what I did;

 

1.)    Installed WordPress in a folder /blog…

2.)    Make sure both wordpress and drupal tables are in same database…

Please use below SQL queries to export the posts and comments from drupal to wordpress 2.7.1. I used phpmyadmin to write queries

 

This sql will export all posts from drupal to wordpress 2.7.1

 

# Use the Drupal database

use db261070012;

# Remove all current posts from WordPress

TRUNCATE TABLE wp_posts;

# Insert posts from Drupal into WordPress

INSERT INTO wp_posts (id, post_date, post_content, post_title, post_excerpt, post_name, post_modified, post_type, `post_status`)

SELECT DISTINCT

n.nid `id`,

FROM_UNIXTIME(n.created) `post_date`,

r.body `post_content`,

n.title `post_title`,

r.teaser `post_excerpt`,

IF(SUBSTR(a.dst, 11, 1) = ‘/’, SUBSTR(a.dst, 12), a.dst) `post_name`,

FROM_UNIXTIME(n.changed) `post_modified`,

‘post’ `post_type`,

IF(n.status = 1, ‘publish’, ‘private’) `post_status`

FROM cms_node n

INNER JOIN cms_node_revisions r

USING(vid)

LEFT OUTER JOIN cms_url_alias a

ON a.src = CONCAT(‘node/’, n.nid)

;

            This sql will export all comments from drupal to wordpress 2.7.1

 

TRUNCATE TABLE wp_comments;INSERT INTO wp_comments (comment_post_ID, comment_date, comment_date_gmt, comment_content, comment_parent, comment_author, comment_author_email, comment_author_url, comment_author_ip, comment_approved)SELECTnid,FROM_UNIXTIME(timestamp),FROM_UNIXTIME(timestamp),comment,0,name,IF(mail=”, CONCAT(REPLACE(LOWER(name),’ ‘, ”), ‘@’, hostname, ‘.localhost’), mail),homepage,hostname,1FROM cms_comments;

This sql will update the number of counts in wordpress posts table

 

# update comments count on wp_posts tableUPDATE wp_posts SET comment_count = (SELECT COUNT(comment_post_id) FROM wp_comments WHERE wp_posts.id = wp_comments.comment_post_id);

3.)    In Drupal, I used url alies which was like /my_post_title_name and I wanted to have the same url alies.
To do this I updated the WordPress Permalink settings:
Custom Structure : %postname%    

4.)    120 posts and 98 comments were successfully imported from drupal to wordpress…

5.)    Finally pointed my site’s destination from /anandnataraj (location where drupal files reside) to /anandnataraj/blog (wordpress files)…

6.)    Changed rewritebase in /anandnataraj/blog/.htaccess from “/blog” to “/”…

7.)    Changed the site URL and blog URL in wp_options table to http://www.anandnataraj.com

 

It took 30 minutes to migrate from drupal to wordpress 2.7.1… So far, everything seems to be working just fine…

 

Yesterday I designed my own WordPress, brought a coffee mug and printed it there, also shot some snaps with it :)…

 

Hexolabs is looking for Interns


Hexolabs! Our Campus Wire Internship Program aims to broaden the student’s perspective by providing an exposure to real life organizational and environmental situations. It is the most effective aid in enabling students to relate theory to practice. We encourage students from the following streams; however, this program is open to anyone who proves to be exceptionally talented.

  • Interaction Design/ HCI
  • Industrial Design
  • Design Management
  • Engineering
  • Information Technology
  • Marketing, HR, Management

Being an intern designer at Hexolabs means you need to:

  • Be passionate about your work with clear ideas about your specific field of knowledge.
  • Be a dedicated and smart team-player who enjoys working collaboratively with people of diverse mindsets – We believe that this miscellany of thoughts and approaches leads to breakthrough ideas and innovative outcomes.
  • Be stimulated by challenges and ambiguity – An ideal designer at Hexolabs is a person who loves the challenge of a problem with an unknown answer. You should have the ability to take an embryonic/ amorphous idea, develop it, and create a working solution or prototype.

Company welcomes outstanding design, technology and engineering research talents. If you are confident and feel yourself up to the challenge, please mail your resume and portfolio to internship@hexolabs.com

Mobile communications without a regular network


The TerraNet technology enables mobile communications without a regular mobile network. As soon as two or more wireless units equipped with TerraNet technology are within reach of each other, they automatically form their own network and can start communicating.

Units within such a network can communicate with each other directly up to a certain distance depending on frequency and the environment. If the distance is larger, the communication is relayed through one or more of up to seven intermediate units. Consequently, the network will gradually cover larger and larger areas as more units are connected to it.

A TerraNet network requires no central system, base stations or telecom provider. Everything is handled by the units themselves and the network is formed automatically.

The network can be connected to the rest of the world through a computer network or some other established network structure. To connect a TerraNet network to a computer, you just install a gateway and make sure that one of the units in the TerraNet network is within reach of the computer. To connect it to a traditional telephony network structure, standard methods of interconnection are applicable.

There are a great number of possible applications for the TerraNet technology. We are constantly on the outlook for possible partners with interesting ideas about how to use our technology. If you have a good idea in mind, please feel free to contact us for further discussions.

The Rural Telephony Application Area
Based on our technology we are currently developing a wireless phone system for areas where traditional telephone networks are not available.  There are a number of possible fields of application for this system:

  •  
    • People living in remote, rural areas can get access to telecommunications.
    • Telecom providers can dramatically extend the reach of their networks without large investments in telecom infrastructure.
    • In disaster areas where the traditional communications networks are down, a TerraNet-based telephone system can be set up in a few hours.

Since any TerraNet rural telephony system can be connected to an access point, e.g. an internet-connected computer, the rest of the world can be reached as well..

For Details Visit:
TerraNet AB
IDEON Science Park
223 70 Lund
Sweden
Office +46 46 286 34 90
http://www.terranet.se

Opportunity to network with 100 CEOs


Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)  and MPower Business Facilitators Limited present the National Conference on “Survival & Growth Strategies in Changing Business Scenario” on April 11, 2009 at Coimbatore. We are expecting around 400 delegates including 100 CEOs (of that 62 are already registered as of now), 150 senior managers, 50 academicians of premier instituties and 100 students.   And above all, the CEOs of leading companies of India who are making good business even in the recession will be there to share their success stories.

 

We will be glad to offer you the following sponsorship options:

 

Associate Partner

 

Investment: Rs.25,000 only

 

Benefits: We will benefit  you with the facility of displaying  your company’s name in our official website. We will put your companies literature as a part of Delegates Kit and at the last of the conference, we will also announce your Companies name as a thanking to be our associate partners with recognition of sponsorship on a sign at the entrance to the function.

 

Event Partner

 

Investment: Rs.3,00,000 only

 

 

Benefits: We will benefit you with the facility of your company with the logo of your company on the backdrop which will be visible in main conference hall.

 

Your company’s name and logo will be visible on the delegate kits cover which will be provided to delegates as materials to refer in conference.

 

A banner of your company is displayed at venue and we will display your company’s name in our official website.

 

Your company also receives the chance of prominent visibility throughout the conference with the opportunity to nominate speaker for the session.

 

With this your company’s literature will be put in delegate’s kit.

 

We will also be providing you with the facility to put stall of your company in the place around where the conference will be held.

 

At last of the conference we will also announce your company’s name as thanking to be our Event partners with recognition of sponsorship on a sign at the entrance to the function.

 

Kiosk/Stall Partner

 

Investment: Rs.1,50,000 only

 

Benefits: We will benefit you with the facility of a placing your company logo & name in the banner which will be displayed at venue

 

We will display your company’s name on our official website through this our delegates get to know about your partnership in the event.

 

We will be providing you with the space to put stall of your company in the place around where the conference will be held and this will give your company a chance to exhibit your product and services.

 

At last of the conference we will also announce your company’s name as thanking to be our Kiosk partners with recognition of sponsorship on a sign at the entrance to the function.

 

 

Session sponsor

 

Investment: Rs.1,00,000 only

 

Benefits: We will benefit you with the facility in which we will display your name in our official website.

 

Your company being a session partner will also get an opportunity to nominate speaker for the session you will be sponsoring who will be speaking on the topic of session.

 

With this your company’s literature will be put in delegate’s kit.

 

At last of the conference we will also announce your company’s name as thanking to be our event partners with recognition of sponsorship on a sign at the entrance to the function.

 

For more details contact;

 

Aparna Raman

Executive- Corporate Learning Solutions.

 

MPower Business Facilitators Limited

B 204, Pratik Indl Estate,

Near Wockhardt Hospital,

Mulund-Goregoan Link Road,

Mumbai – 78.

Tel: 022-25662656/5726

Google Ventures Launched


Much expected Google Ventures is out at last… Google coming from rags and knowing the pains of a startup they must have done this before… But it is better late than never… These are some insights about the venture…

  •  
    • Launched on 31st March 2009
    • Managed by Bill Maris & Rich Miner (Can check their BIO’s)
    • Will invest in any kind of startups
    • Investment ranges from Seed funding to tens of millions of dollar
    • Should be contacted only thru email ventures@google.com

 

As usual the site is very simple with just four pages and up to the point… Their FAQ is also very little covering most of the questions…

 

In their FAQ they claim that that they are an independent company and they never push to use Google products or force for an acquisition…

 

Let us see how the company transforms startups in days to come…

 

At this point we wish Google Ventures Best Luck…

Playing CASHFLOW® 101 in Chennai


Playing CASHFLOW® 101 on a regular basis will be a turning point in your real life.

The game will allow you to experience what it is like to be stuck in the rat race making enough money to pay bills with little left over, hoping you don’t get downsized and lose your income.

You will see how easy it is to get swept up into the day to day drag of getting a salary and buying stuff.

The magic of the game is that you will discover the answers to exiting the rat race.

You will gain essential skills like learning how to read financial statements, watching monthly cash flow, evaluating deals, and building passive income producing assets that are requirements to becoming rich like shares and real estate.

Seeing the hopelessness of the rat race and feeling the freedom of exiting it will provide you with a surge of ideas and motivation that will carry over into your real life.

Here are just a few benefits you will gain:

Get a grip of your financial life – You will learn how to easily read and understand financial statements. Discover how to evaluate business deals and opportunities based on ROI (return on investment).

Learn how to harness to power of leverage – Leverage is one of the key factors and differences between the rich and the poor. Rich people know how to use OPM (other people’s money) and OPT (other people’s time) to build passive income You will understand and practice using leverage to build your asset column while playing CASHFLOW® 101.

This game is not about playing for timepass on a Saturday afternoons.

It’s about changing the financial position and security you have in life. It’s not about the price you pay for the game because if you don’t play the game then you just made the costliest mistake of your life.

This game is about learning how to manage your finances and create personal financial security and freedom.

As a regular player of the game, I understand the importance of the game because I know how it has changed my life.

Your first step towards true and real financial freedom from a 9 to 5 job existence starts the moment you enroll for the first the game – but it doesn’t end there.

We are here to share with you the secrets and the successes of other people just like you.

Let us equip you with this powerful financial tool and let us be your co-pilot as you fly towards your goal of financial independence.

PARTICIPANTS will get to play this session for Rs.300 and also will get their money habits analyzed by a Wealth Coach.

Venue:
LIFE ACADEMY
No 36,AZIZ MULK RD
1ST STREET
OPP TO THOUSAND LIGHTS
CHENNAI 600 006
NEAR GEMINI FLYOVER

Date : 04th April 2009 (Saturday)
Time : 3.15 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.

For Registrations call: +91.98414 38486

Around 6-8 players can play at a time.

Cashflow parties can be fun and educational; it’s what you make of it. You can do business or play games, or even both. But do make sure that you have fun…

To join for the next Cashflow event in Chennai or have the same done at your venue do feel free to get in touch with Mr.Padnabhan(+91.98414 38486).