Shuhaib ShariffThe Dark Knight… Yeah, Right!

Grrrrr….

DS team @ McDonalds

Notice the BIG SMILE! Why? Because I was not around

The Pursuit of Happyness - For Steve Jobs

Ever since Microsoft’s search engine Bing.com made its debut, it seems to be getting a lot of press and apparently sizable traction.
There are some who believe that Bing will be a real challenger to Google’s dominance in the SEARCH ENGINE world. There is speculation that Google is beginning to loose market share to Bing (link)

My view on the Bing Vs Google battle:
The only market share Bing is capable of eating into is Yahoo’s

Google offers a better user-experience, has great “mindshare” and a gigantic marketshare. Bing might do *some* things better but thats not enough to make users switch.
You dont displace a market leader (like Google) by being incrementally better… You have a chance if you are exponentially better.

All this percentage talk, is essentially Microsoft’s hype machine at work. Bing’s traffic will spiral downwards once the marketing budget is exhausted!

Also, Google has been around for a long time. They are not a company that rests on past laurels… they are only going to get better.
As for Microsoft’s strategy: first there was MSN search, then LIVE and now Bing. I guess their biggest strength is not search technology related, it is in fact “Re-Branding”

Bucking the global slowdown, Startups in India are still hiring.
Here are some resources to find startup jobs in India:

http://www.pluggd.in/coffee/forum/indian-startup-jobs/
http://www.venturewoods.org/index.php/venturejobs/
http://www.startupdunia.com/jobs
http://jobs.joelonsoftware.co.in

The Print Media business is in big trouble at the moment. Several media houses have altogether shut down and some have filed for bankruptcy (Tribune).

Why is this happening?
The simple economics is that revenues have sunk below publishing costs (i.e. paper + print + distribute). Also, there is some tough competition from Television & New Media. For advertisers, newspapers are no longer the only game in town.
Newspapers need to reinvent… not incrementally but exponentially. Else, they might go the dinosaur way!

Google Vs Yahoo!
Google tried selling contextual print ads in newspapers… but the strategy failed:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/20/google-bails-on-print-ads-and-newspapers/

Surprisingly, Yahoo seems to be enjoying some degree of success here. Yahoo’s Newspaper Consortium Keeps Growing:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/09/yahoos-newspaper-consortium-keeps-growing/

Interesting strategy.

Found this on Business Today, great WIT & mostly TRUE:

***
By Mahesh Murthy

600 million and growing
The net’s now and future tense
Forget the crash and make a dash
First get off the fence

India’s great for startups
Not just because of geeks
But marketers, managers, admins
People who work long weeks

Bangalore and Cyberabad
Aren’t good for startups I believe
People there cost a lot more
And on H-1s they soon leave

Going By The Book
Blame It On Efficiency
Finding A Purpose
You don’t have to envy

Startups in San Jose
They burn fifteen times as much
Every single day

So many have died or laid off
After a market crash
You can weather the storm
By spending much less cash

If you have an idea
That can be a global hero
Take it further, build it out
An idea alone’s worth zero

Get a few people turned on
To come and join your team
Without people and a plan
Your idea dies a dream

Pool resources, borrow, steal
Put in all you get
The best equity, we all know
Is the type called sweat

Start stingy, rent, don’t buy
Your resources do not tax
You could run a year or more
On just fifty lakhs

Outsource little, build as much
As you can in-house
Use free labour when you can
By that I mean the spouse

Relying on press for direction
Can be very risky
To them, everything’s going down
Be it markets or Ms. Lewinsky

BPO, IT enabled, biotech
Wondering what’s the trend
If you follow the herd you know
Your startup will come to an end.

Only two ways to build a business
The first: relieve a pain
The second: offer a pleasure
Tho’ in the former is more gain

Follow your gut, blaze a trail
Make sales, then find a VC
They’ll see the dream coming true
Then it’ll be quite easy

Break even in a year
The mantra that I follow
Then ask for money to expand
That story funds will swallow

VCs have burnt their fingers
Some say Star did KBC
To make up for all it lost
On Indya, Egurucool, Baazee

If your plan’s just for India
I almost won’t care
Aim for the entire world
That is right out there

If ICQ’s from Israel
Third Voice from Singapore
Alumni.net from Manila
Surely we can do more

If you need lots of cash
To get your stuff advertised
Then there’s something wrong
And you’ll get pulverised

Ads and hoardings just give
Your bottomline a drain
The only one they made rich
Is a Mr. Vineet Jain

Amazon Yahoo Napster Hotmail
ICQ Google eBay
Got their name and fame for free
Ad agencies they didn’t pay

Building global brands today
Is different, there’s no doubt
It’s not about how money talks
But about word of mouth

Our industry till today
Imported what others made
Going forward our products
Have to make world grade

There’s a world of customers for you
And rivals from sea to sea
It isn’t easy to win but then
No reason it should be

All you should remember
As you wallow in this gloom
What comes after a crash
Is a resounding boom

***

I’ve met Mahesh Murthy a long time ago at a Startup Event  (Mahesh was playing the role of a mentor)  He looked dis-interested and bored during the presentations. Kind of snobbish.

However, when I heard him out at the Seminar (later that day) , he came across as somebody exceptionally smart and insightful. He spoke for a long time and I cannot remember disagreeing with any of his views (for me, thats a rarity)

This guy *actually* knows his stuff, unlike most VC’s …