The last programme of TiECon yesterday was Pitch to VCs, several budding entrepreneurs presented their case for seed capital. I was surprised when I was invited next on stage to present on Vishwak's story (my good friend and our GM - Manigandan Gopalakrishnan had listed my name without my consent ).

Doing an elevator pitch in 5 minutes for Vishwak which has 10 years of experience and achievements is difficult. Hence I decided to be precise, to the point and highlighted them in 6 buckets (headings).

1. About Vishwak: When was it founded, what we do, number of people and locations
2. Solutions: That we offer and the need they fulfill in the market
3. Current Customers
4. Current Structure and ownership
5. Future plans of expansion
6. Why we are bound to succeed?

I was happy on the way I pitched and the fact my message was received well by audience. Of course, it will be fool-hardy to expect a deal from any investor with just a 5 minute pitch

Yesterday was TiECon 2008, an event organized by TiE Chennai to celebrate and recognize Entrepreneurship in the City. The event had lot of stardom with the inauguration by Dr. M. Karunanidhi,Chief Minister, Tamilnadu & Smt. M K Kanimozhi, Member of Parliament, Tamilnadu. Initially I didn't get the connection between Hon'ble CM and an Entrepreneurship event, then it got clear when the awards recognizing Entrepreneurship were given to eminent personalities like Mrs Y. G. Parthasarathy, Director and Dean, PSBB schools (Social entrepreneur of the year), and Dr Pratap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Group of hospitals (Lifetime achievement). Ms.Kanimozhi (MP) in her speech talked about the similarities between Chennai Sangamam and TiECon but many in the audience including myself didn't get the connection.

Other awardees were:

• R. Subramanian, Founder and Managing Director, Subhiksha (Extreme Entrepreneur of the year)
• R. Sarabeshwar, S. Sivaramakrishnan and V.G. Janarthanam, Founding Members, Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd (Entrepreneur of the year)
• Hemu Ramaiah, CEO, Landmark (Woman entrepreneur of the year)
• S. Abhay kumar, Founder and vice-chairman, Lifecell (large start-up entrepreneur of the year)
• Vivek Anand, CEO, FitnessOne (small start-up entrepreneur of the year)
• Raju Venkataraman, President and Chief-Operating Officer &
• Firstsource (Serial entrepreneur of the year)

You can view short videos of the event including the CM Address and Award distribution from ChennaiOnline.

PANELS

There were 3 panel discussions during the day, I have just managed to cover below the first panel on Emerging Trends in the Retail Industry.

Vivek Anand of FitnessOne talked about their emphasis on excellent equipments, world class training to trainers, hygiene, etc. He talked new opportunities that are available for Aesthetic & thrill seeking industry. And with the competition from organized retail how existing stores are upgrading to new consumer experience and the big opportunity here. He quoted that Top 10% of income group in India consume 30% of retail. A company can compete on price, compete on service, compete on innovation - but you cannot compete on all three.

G.V.RaviShankar, VP of Sequoia Capital talked about speciality stores like Coffee Day, Printo (Digital On demand printing)

Hemu Ramaiah, CEO of Landmark Books talked about how when she started 30 years back no one heard about Outsourcing. She talked about a list of emerging outsource opportunities that budding Entrepreneurs can think of starting: 

1. Infrastructure (Property, Real Estate Broking, Project Management, Visual Merchandising)
2. HR (Outsourcing Recruitment, Outsource People)
3. Training (Even basic speaking is bad in India today, language, Skill Gaps)
4. Store services (Housekeeping, Security, Software, Retail Auditing)
5. Backoffice Operations / Logistics, Imports/Clearance, Buying (Sourcing Agents)
6. Marketing (Analytics, Data Mining, Shopping trends and shopping habits, CRM, PR, Media Design, Event Management, Web Design Outsourcing)
7. Quality (ISO Certified, Balanced Score Card, Customer Satisfaction Survey)
8. Banking & Finance (VC Funds, Business Plans)
9. Travel/Tickets.

I enjoyed the last panel discussion moderated by K.Pandia Rajan, Ma Foi and he did a wonderful job in that. I liked his quote of "Punarapi Jananam, Punarapi Maranam" while saying talking about Serial Entrepreneurship. Other panelists in that session were:

• Sharad Sharma, CEO, Yahoo! India R & D
• Srinivas Balasubramanian, Chairman & CEO, Photon Infotech
• Rajesh Jain, CEO Netcore
• Mahesh Murthy, Partner, SeedFund
• Satya Prabhakar, CEO, Sulekha

KEYNOTES

Captain Gopinath in his Keynote spoke about "Dare to Dream and Do It. Most important for an entrepreneurship is to live it more than anything else. To be Uncompromising & to listen to your inner voice. To Pursue that vision to the exclusion of everything else". He spoke about how he grow from being Army Officer to a Farmer of 40 Acres borrowed from his uncles in which he did Silk Farming, starting an Helicopter company with an ex-army colleague when India had only 20 Helicopters in civil sector and finally to his successful venture Air Deccan. He stressed on the need to Dream big and act fast. Air Deccan collects more than USD 1 to 2 Million every day. Talked about how Accenture was slow to respond when Air Deccan initially wanted them to build their e-ticketing software and then how they went with a small software company for developing in the early days.

There were other keynotes as well made by the following eminent personalities during the day.

It was educative to hear each Entrepreneurship's struggle to success story.  Mr.Thiagarajan's speech in Tamil (who was the exception to speak in Tamil, even CM spoke in English) was disappointing as it was nothing more than an inaugural address and was consumed in praising Tamilnadu CM.

Last month I attended a SPIN Chennai program on Balanced Scored by Mr.Sudipto Marjit. Offline when I was speaking with Mr.Marjit he noticed the book I was reading (while waiting for the talk to start) - Profitable Growth Is Everyone's Business by Mr.Ram Charan. Immediately he recommended that I also read Ram Charan's What the CEO wants you to know?. I did exactly that this week and here is the review.

The first thing that strikes about the book (USD 20, INR 428) is its attractive title and the second is its thin size (about 140 pages). Before I say anything about the book I must say that this is a must read for anyone in any Business and it doesn't matter whether you are working, managing or leading a business. Having said that the book can be a let down if you had focused too much on its lofty title. The book should have been titled "What everyone in business should know" or better "Quick start manual for businesses" . Let me give you a brief review of the book's coverage:

• If you were wondering for a better term for saying "Business is in her blood" or "His gutfeel on business" Ram Charan has coined a beautiful phrase "Business Acumen" and he introduces the term and what it means very well.
• Introduction and simple english explanation to business speak like P/E Ratio, Return on Assets, Sales Turnovers.
• He introduces an simple formulae of R = M x V, where R is return on assets, M is After-Tax Margin and V is Velocity or Inventor turn. I found the way he talked about Velocity as a very useful idea.
• Need to have Right People in Right Job, the importance of Coaching
• Ram Charan introduces one more term "Social Operating Mechanism" which basically is how to motivate people at all levels and have them connected seamlessly as a team all the time

Overall a must read for every business person. Thanks Mr.Marjit for recommending this book.

தமிழ் மையம் என்று ஒரு தன்னார்வ நிறுவனமும் (அந்த நிறுவனத்தின் ஆதி மூலம் நமக்கு இங்கே தேவையில்லாததால் அதை விட்டுவிடுவோம்) தமிழக அரசின் சுற்றுலா மற்றும் கலை வளர்ச்சித் (ஆம் இந்த துறைகள் கூட தமிழக அரசிலுள்ளது என்று நாம் இந்த நிகழ்ச்சிகள் மூலம் தான் தெரிந்துக்கொள்ளலாம்) துறையும் போன வருடம் முதல் ஆண்டுத்தொரும் நடத்தும் திருவிழா சென்னை சங்கமம். அதற்கு அழகான தலைப்புக் கொடுத்துள்ளார்கள் - திருவிழா உங்கள் தெருவிழா.

சென்னை சங்கமம் சென்னையிலுள்ள பல்வேறுப் பூங்காக்களில் பொங்கல் நாட்களையொட்டி நடைப்பெறுகிறது. அழிந்து வரும்  கிராமிய கலைகளான - நடனம், தெருக்கூத்து, நாடகம், களரி, இசை, பாட்டு இவைக்களுடன்  இந்த ஆண்டு  கிராமிய/மாவாட்ட உணவு வகைக்களையும் நகரமக்களுக்குக் கொண்டுவரும் நல்ல முயர்சியாக இது எனக்குத் தொன்றியது. அதலால் நெரில்காண  இன்று மைலாப்பூரிலுள்ள நாகஸ்வராவ் பூங்காவில் நடந்த நிகழ்ச்சிகளைப் பார்க்கப் போனேன். அரசு நிகழ்ச்சியென்பதால் அமைப்பு சுமாராக இருக்கும், கூட்டமே இருக்காது என்று எதிர்ப்பார்த்த எனக்கு இரண்டிலும் மகிழ்ச்சியான ஏமாற்றம். நிகழ்ச்சி மேடை மற்றும் பூங்கா சுற்றிடம் (மக்கள் அமர வசதியாக ஜமாக்களாங்கள் கூட போட்டு வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது) அழகாக அமைக்கப்பட்டு நல்ல முறையிலிருந்தது. முட்டி மொதும் கூட்டமில்லையென்றாலும் ஒரு நூறு பேர் மேல் வந்திருப்பார்கள், நிகழ்ச்சிகளுக்கு அவர்களிடம் நல்ல வரவேற்பு.  ஒரு பூங்காவிலிருந்து இன்னொரு பூங்காவில் நடக்கும் நிகழ்ச்சிகளைப் பார்க்கப் போக பஸ் வசதி கூடச் செய்யப்பட்டது மகிழ்ச்சி. பாராட்டுக்கள்.

கி.மு. கி.பி., இது மதன்  அவர்கள் எழுதி குமுதத்தில் வெளியான ஜாலியான சரித்திரத் தொடர்.  எனது நண்பர் பத்ரி ஸேஷாத்ரி அவர்களின் கிழக்கு பதிப்பகம் இதைப் புத்தகமாக வெளியிட்டுள்ளது.  நான் இந்தப் புத்தகத்தைக் காசுப் போட்டு வாங்கவில்லை, போன வருடம் கேஸவன் கம்புயூட்டர் நிறுவன விழாவில் ஓசியாகக் கிடைத்தது . அதனால் தான் என்னவோ இதைப் படிக்க இவ்வளவு நாட்கள் ஆயிற்று.    

சரித்திரத்தைக்கூடச் சுவையாகக் கொடுத்துள்ளார் மதன். அதற்கு அவரை நாம் பாராட்ட வேண்டும்.   ஆனால் தலைப்பை கி.மு. கி.பி. என்று வைத்துவிட்டு கிமுவில் நடந்ததை மட்டுமே எழுதியுள்ளார் மதன்.  அடுத்த பாகம் வருமோ என்னவோ யார் கண்டார்?

நியாண்டர்தால் மற்றும் ஹோமோஸேபியன் என்று மனிதன் தோன்றியக் கதையில் ஆரம்பித்து, பாபிலோனியா, எகிப்து, கிரேக்க நாகரிகங்களை விலாவாரியாகச் சொல்லி இந்தியாவின் மௌரியர்களின் வீழ்ச்சுயில் புத்தகத்தை முடித்துள்ளார் மதன்.

I just finished listening to this Audio book. The book is by former CEO of IBM Louis Gerstner - the outsider who was responsible for IBM's spectacular turnaround in 1990's.

The first time when I read the paper edition of this book was soon after its release in 2002. Those were early years in Vishwak, when I wanted to be more of hands-on in technology and I was reluctant to take up management responsibilities that were being thrown my way everyday as CEO of a company. This book along with Jack Welch's (Jack: Straight from the Gut) definitely stirred up my interest in management, growing and winning. When I graduated as an engineer just like every other fresh engineer I thought all managers are like Dilbert's Pointy Haired boss. This book and several others I read during the time, certainly demystified and clarified to me that management is also a science that can be learned by reading & practice.

If you are a manager of a division or a CEO this book is a must read and I am sure it will inspire and motivate its readers, just like it did for me.

Every Indian Engineer was made to feel proud yesterday. The event was unveiling of Tata Motors dream project the world's first Rs.1 Lakh (USD 2500) car - Tata Nano. When first talked about 4 years by Mr.Ratan Tata noone believed it to be possible that too by an Indian company. Thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of Indian Engineers it was made possible and demonstrated yesterday. From being an under-dog in the world's automobile scene, India overnight has graduated itself to the premium club of the GMs & Toyotas. With this Tata's have made themselves more than qualified to be the future owners of Jaquar & Land Rover.

I found it heartening to see the congratulatory message from Anand Mahindra, managing director for Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors’ primary competitor “I think it’s a moment of history and I’m delighted an Indian company is leading the way”

I came across this PDF from Microsoft Auto that talks about how a new Microsoft technology developed in partnership with Auto majors will help drivers manage and make voice requests to make a call, select and listen to music and more. Interestingly the technology is supposed to work with all major mobile devices (including Non Windows Phones), Zune, IPod and more. I hope it lives to the promise.

Finally, as always the availability is currently limited to USA.

I got the first phase of my pilot program to have my house moved to Digital Media done. I thought the toughest part will be the purchase(choice), installation and wiring of the hardware but it turned out to be the easiest part. I got my SqueezeBox connected through wireless and playing audio (WMA/MP3) from my PC seamlessly, my XBOX 360 connected through Ethernet to my PC with the media shared using Windows Media Player 11/Zune Player Sharing. Windows Media Player (or equivalent Zune) sharing was much better and easier to setup and use than Windows Media Center especially since I didn't want Live TV through this setup at this phase.

I wanted the digital media files to be playable with my XBOX 360 and with Zune Player (so that I can watch/hear on the move). The toughest part was finding a software that will rip (copy) the media from the Video CDs and DVDs that I owned. This was the main motive behind buying the XBox 360, so that I can protect the CDs from my son scratching while trying to put it in the DVD player. Audio conversion from Audio CDs was easiest with Windows Media Player doing a great job in converting it to WMA or MP3 - both of the formats played well with XBOX & Zune. Video was the most difficult. First because of the DVD Copy Protection and then finding a reliable software for doing the copying to PC. 

DVD Copy protection

I don't understand this at all. Why should the Media houses treat me (a paying customer) like a criminal when all I want to do is to convert a legally bought content to a format that is convenient for me to store and watch. On top of this is stupid DVD Region code. When I am allowed to legally buy a DVD from any country I visit during my travel, why can't I watch it in my home DVD Player. Adding to the woe is the situation in India where DVDs are sold in both Region 2 and Region 5 codes with one not playing on the players with the other mark. An instance was the Inconvenient Truth DVD Indian Edition from Saregama that I bought recently was Region 2 whereas as per DVD Region Code chart it should have been Region 5 for India.  Because of these stupidness of the technology used, I have to rely on software that will overcome the protection and copy the media to the harddisk.

For this task I found DVD Decrypter (shown in right) to be the best. Don't waste your money by buying any of the software that claims to remove automatically the CSS copy protection. I have tried almost the top 15 software on the Internet and all of them are not worth the trouble and don't even come close to the reliability, quality and speed of free DVD Decrypter. Only challenge will be to find a reliable site to download the software since it is banned in few countries, Wikipedia and Google might help you on the search.  After using DVD Decrypter I am ready to the next step. Note: I tried softwares that claims to do both the removal of copy protection and ripping to MP4/WMV but they were produced output videos files that were pathetic quality and unfriendly to use.

Encoding Software

After downloading and trying nearly a dozen software from the Internet I finally settled down to Nero Recode. Almost all of them had one limitation or other. Remember I wanted the output to be played both in my Zune and XBox 360 not a easy combination.

• First was Windows Media Encoder did a reasonable job but was very slow and didn't work well with DVDs.
• Convert2Zune  - this was a free script from my fellow Regional Director Vinod Unny. This uses Windows Media Encoder as the backend and had the same drawbacks of that, except that it automated the steps.
• Next was Video VLC Media Player - this was the only reliable software that does both removal of CSS and encoding to WMV well, but the downside it was very slow in its conversion.
• PQDVD - I bought this based on recommendation from my industry colleagues to convert videos to Zune format. Though it initially seemed to work well with DVDs, I soon realized it was unreliable and pathetic for VideoCDs. 50% of the time it produced videos that had audio out of sync by several minutes!
• Nero Recode - Here comes Nero Recode. The software doesn't remove copy protection, but once you have crossed that bridge using DVD Decrypter there is no software that comes close to the speed and reliability of Nero Recode. Couple of points I learned that you need to be before you can start using it.
  • If you choose the profile as default Nero Digital Profile the output file doesn't work with Zune and XBOX. It produces MPEG4 files that uses proprietary Nero Digial Codecs that works only with Nero Digital Certified Media players - obviously Zune and XBOX are out of that. Initially I gave up Nero Recode because of this, but later learned the next point from a forum post.
  • You will have to choose the second profile in Nero Recode called "Nero Digital AVC" which produces industry standard MPEG4 files. The output files thus produced play natively with Zune Player. To make them play in XBOX 360, you need to do two things. First is to use Zune Player Sharing option over Windows Media Player Sharing. Second, go to XBOX 360 and play one of the files - it will automatically prompt to download an optional media update (below screenshot). Once you download and install it, your XBOX 360 can now play seamlessly the MPEG4 files.

Problem solved, case closed. Everyone lived happily ever after