Anwar's Personal Blog

2009-03-01T21:39:00.001-08:00

Having laptop issues... Suffering Internet withdrawal symptoms

2009-02-27T20:03:00.001-08:00

making wonderful butternut squash soup

2009-02-23T22:11:00.001-08:00

is wondering if anyone has recommendations for a good tax accountant in Chicago

2009-02-23T22:10:00.001-08:00

Anwar is wondering if anyone has recommendations for a good tax accountant in Chicago

2009-02-23T22:09:00.001-08:00

2008-12-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Anwar has joined a gym but not losing weight.... maybe I should go there and work out as well? hmm...

Indian companies on an acquisition rampage - luxury brands up for grabs

2007-12-09T11:29:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post a follow up to a recent email I sent out to a few friends a couple of weeks ago (some of you may find this familiar):

Interesting turn of events as Indian companies are on a acquisition rampage around the world. Some of you may have heard of the Hinduja Group's (Gulf Oil) acquisition of Saudi Arabia's commercial lubricant maker, Petromin (formerly owned by Saudi Aramco and Exxon). In late November WSJ mentions that Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are the leading candidates in line to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover (in case Ford decides to divest its interest in them).

A quote from the article: "...representatives concluded after the meetings that Tata is "the only company" among the final bidders "with enough money, clout and experience in our industry" to successfully manage the brands, according to a labor official who attended the meetings."

Interestingly, the US Jaguar dealers seem to be against the deal, citing:

"I don't believe the U.S. public is ready for ownership out of India" of a luxury-car brand such as Jaguar, Mr. Gorin said in an interview. "I believe it would severely throw a tremendous cast of doubt over the viability of the brand."
...
"Mr. Gorin said he wasn't judging the management capabilities of Tata or Mahindra. "My concern is perception [in the marketplace], and perception is reality," he said. "It's about saying there are unique image issues with two of the bidders that the other one doesn't have.""

The perception issue is whether US consumers are ready to associate Indian brands with luxury products. I wonder if the same concerns were raised when Japanese manufacturers entered the luxury auto-segment with the Lexus and Acura? I also wonder what visitors to the Taj Boston feel when they stay at the ultra luxurious Boston land mark hotel? The former Ritz Carlton hotel was acquired by the Taj group [part of the same Tata group] for a staggering $170 million in 2006. I wonder if the visitors who pay $500 on an average per night have the same issues of perception that Mr. Gorin speaks of.

Perception may be reality, but is perception something that can be changed over time? In a flat world, the only true constant is change, the survivors will be those who can embrace this change.

Environmentally conscious consumers - a Euro-centric phenomenon?

2007-12-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Some friends and I were discussing the surge in popularity of environmental consciousness in consumers. European customers, my seasoned supply chain management consultant friend mentioned, are far more conscious of the carbon footprint of products they purchase. Volvo for one, has a carbon neutral, Co2-free truck manufacturing factory in Belgium. Why doesn't Volvo market that to sell more cars in the US? Do US consumers not care? As a 'Sushi-eating, Latte-drinking, Volvo-driving' 'liberal' - a tag a good friend of mine branded me with, I would be encouraged to repurchase a Volvo knowing that they are a more environmentally conscious company.

On the topic of environmentally conscious US companies, my wife recently bought two pairs of shoes from Timberland. On the box, I noticed a 'Green Report Card', that identifies the carbon footprint for the product. They include the energy spent to produce their product as well as produce a score card that displays the 'Green Index' of the product. Here is a press release on the topic:

http://www.timberland.com/corp/index.jsp?eid=8500007242&page=pressrelease

Incidentally one of her shoes had a Green Index score of 3 and another pair had a score of 6.5 - the factors feeding into the score being:

1. Climate Impact
2. Chemicals Used
3. Resource Consumption

One of the shoes took 3.1 kWh of energy to produce. I am not sure if they include the carbon footprint of their supply chain - post production - factory to customer, though. Way to go Timberland!

Education key to maintaining the position of the United States in a flat world

2007-12-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

Its been a long while since I blogged here, but this article resonated with me, especially after attending a panel discussion on Knowledge Process Outsourcing today morning (organized by the Midwest chapter of the Pan-IIT Alumni organization)

This quote from DuPont's CEO, Chad Holliday's keynote at University of Delaware sponsored report on 'Creating Knowledge based Partnerships' exemplifies the importance of investment in technical education in the United States.

"... [Chad] told the audience he was jogging in South Korea at around 6 a.m. one day and noticed a large group of young people massed around a building. Holliday assumed that tickets to a rock concert were about to go on sale and the young people were lining up to get good seats. When he returned to his hotel he asked what was going on. The hotel staff told him the building was the public library and young people gather there every morning so they can get a good seat to study all day. “That’s the kind of [attitude] being developed in South Korea, which is one of our competitors.”"

According to the report, "Declining scientific research and development expertise threatens to undermine the competitiveness of U.S. corporations and erode the nation’s standard of living, according to the chief executive of DuPont Co."

IT outsourcing is only the tip of the iceberg. With the growing outsourcing of other 'Knowledge' functions, the United States needs to encourage technical education and invest more money into research. Encouraging the assimilation of the best and brightest minds from around the world is key to the future of the US. Opening up of immigration opportunities for these minds is a step forward in this direction.

People at Yahoo don't eat Peanut Butter

2006-12-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

Well, if they listen to Brad Garlinghouse (SVP at Yahoo), they won't. Brad is a person after my own heart - he says it as it is - not mincing his words - Yahoo is in a mess today. Brad blasts Yahoo for the state they are in today and provides recommendations in his 'Peanut Butter Manifesto'

The company has so much potential and enjoys an enviable position with its depth and breadth of content and functionality and yet cannot stand on its own against Google.

And why is this the case? ... "a lack of focus with unclear ownership" to quote Brad. A quick look at their acquisition strategy gives us an idea of the lack of coordination and mad rush to be 'out there' with features - a clear indication of lack of focus. Compare their competing feature set, that confuses the heck out of me:

• YME vs. Musicmatch

• Flickr vs. Photos

• YMG video vs. Search video

• Deli.cio.us vs. myweb

• Messenger and plug-ins vs. Sidebar and widgets

• Social media vs. 360 and Groups

• Front page vs. YMG

• Global strategy from BU'vs. Global strategy from Int'l

Why so many competing products? Why hasn't there been a process of natural selection where the leaders promoted and laggards sunsetted? One may argue that Google has its own set of competing offerings - take Google Video and YouTube for example - but I am sure they will do a good job of integrating the offerings soon. To conclude, this is the three stepped proposal Brad concludes with:

1. Focus the vision
2. Restore accountability and clarity of ownership
3. Execute a radical reorganization

With today's announcement regarding changes at Yahoo's senior management, clearing the path for Susan Decker (former CFO) to succeed Chief Executive Terry Semel, it might be signs of change.

[Humor] iiiiiiii.com

2006-09-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

Now why in the world would someone spend money to buy a domain called iiiiiiii.com? Maybe its so that they can make it so extremely hilarious, you've got to share it with your friends. Check out www.iiiiiiii.com and make sure you have your speakers turned on.

Plane arrests in Amsterdam

2006-08-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Its sad that people get paranoid for the wrong reasons. Over the years, its sad how often I have been profiled for the color of my skin.... I sympathise with these people - strangely for both parties. In today's world it does not help not being cautious.

Ya Who? Finally Yahoo invests in cutting edge research

2006-08-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today's Wall Street Journal says that Yahoo is out on the prowl for academics to boost their research efforts. One word - Finally ! Its sad to see a company like Yahoo languish - inspite of their amazing suite of offerings. Its high time Yahoo started taking research seriously and start improving their offerings. The once poster child of search, Yahoo has almost gone into oblivion. Its nice to see this renewed focus on technology and not just another slew of poorly marketed products.

My recent forray into newer and cool offering from Yahoo like Yahoo Tech and Yahoo Video and event tools from Yahoo Labs like Mindset and MyWeb make me believe that Yahoo is still out there - but somehow they don't seem to get the media visibility they are due. Everything is about Google these days - but one may argue to the efficacy of some of the non-search products from Google - whatever happened to Google Finance and Orkut? (Its ironic that I am using Google's Blogger to make this point).

Now, I'll certainly be happy to see more work coming out of Yahoo Research organization. I look forward to more results coming out of their new recruits in the coming months...

Of all things one could do with a cell phone.... (True/Humor)

2005-12-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

Of all things one could do with a cell phone, this one really takes the cake (pun intended):

A woman's row with her boyfriend about a mobile phone suddenly went quiet - when she swallowed the handset whole.

Police in Blue Springs, in the US state of Missouri, said they were called out by a man who said his girlfriend was having trouble breathing.

When they arrived at the house, they found a phone lodged in her throat.

"He wanted the phone and she wouldn't give it to him, so she attempted to swallow it," an officer said. The woman was expected to make a full recovery.

The 24-year-old woman was taken to hospital in Blue Springs, Det Sgt Steve Decker told local media.

"She just put the entire phone in her mouth so he couldn't get it," he said.

"This is the first I've heard of this happening," he added.

Now what would Motorola or Nokia's marketing teams come out with next - Chocolate flavoured cell phones? At least they can claim the market seems to crave for it.... ;-)

Retailers - dropping those discounts? going upscale? What does all this mean to us? - New trends in retail

2005-11-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

Now that the post-Thanksgiving sales are on, the reports from the markets come in.... the US consumers don't seem to pay much heed to rising fuel prices or increasing interest rates. People are rushing into buy from retailers in droves - and according to the WSJ, some are even entering into brawls to buy items on sale (as is the case in a WalMart in North Dallas where the police had to be brought in to control a crowd of aggresive laptop shoppers).

In their report on trends in retail, WSJ brings out some interesting points, some of which I've noticed as an enterpreneur focused on solutions for retail. The trends they highlight are:

1. Focus on Image: Retailers seem to move away from marketing their stores as sources of discounted items and more as 'lifestyle's. I can understand when Federated Department Stores (holders of Macy's and now Marshall Feilds) does this, but when Wal-Mart (traditionally focused on selling products at the lowest prices) puts in their efforts to siphon away customers from Target (stores focusing on 'Cheap Chic'), I am a little surprised. Does this mean less discounts? and more focus on better looking stores? I shop at both WalMart and Target - based on what I am out to buy. I love being at Target, but I go to WalMart when I need some branded commodity that won't have any difference in quality regardless of where I buy it from. Would I want a Target-like experience at WalMart? - NOT, if they are going to raise prices. I am not sure if WalMart can really give me the 'image' Target gives me. Maybe I'll be proved wrong - after all, I'm not the one with a $210 Billion market cap.
2. Consolidation: Lots of M&A activity going on. Federated's purchase of May Department Stores has combined the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Marshall Field's, Lord & Taylor and Filene's department-store chains. Private-equity firms took private Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and Toys "R" Us Inc. in separate deals. Upscale retailer Saks Inc. has sold parts of its empire. And grocer Albertsons Inc., battered by Wal-Mart's storming of the industry, has fielded a bid from Kroger Co.
3. New building styles: Builders have realized that consumers are tired of those million square feet malls and focusing on building lifestyle-centers, or retail districts, which combine office space, retail, residential and open spaces. I like the way these look - sort of like the University Village project at Chicago's UIC college area. But somehow I feel that these might be more popular in areas where the weather is a little bit warmer. Woodfield mall in Chciagoland is certainly a nicer place to shop this time of the year - one huge warm mall with all the stores you would need for the holiday season.
4. Value added services: Its true, retailers like Best Buys are kicking butt with their value added services - product insurance, extended warranties, Geek Squad and other installation services. For a technologist, I am surprised by the amount of money people are willing to pay for Geek Squad - computers seem so easy to me. But on the other hand, when I think of the amount of money I put into getting mechanics to service my car or chang the oil, I can understand why someone would be willing to pay a premium for something they don't understand all that well. Feeding on fear of the unknown is what these value added services are - but I suppose thats what the whole idea of value added pricing is all about.
5. Something for Everyone: Retailers are focusing on stores dedicated to various genres of customers - categorized based on economics, age, etc. Gap Inc., a pioneer in the trend of multiple store concepts with its Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy chains, this year unveiled Forth & Towne, an apparel store aimed at women over 35. The Abercrombie & Fitch brand for its core teen shoppers, Hollister for high-school shoppers, Ruehl for college and postcollege shoppers and Little A for kids. I can relate to this. I love shopping for deals at The Gap.
6. Going Private: Some retails seem to want to go private, for pricing reasons. Private-equity firms took private Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and Toys "R" Us Inc. in separate deals. Is the increasing overhead of government checks such as Sarbanes-Oxley a reason for this?
7. Retail-tainment: Making shopping fun? Retailers such as Dick's Sporting Goods have features such as climbing walls, Niketown stores have professional atheletes come for autographing sessions, and even Wal-Mart (with the recent promotion of John Menzer, former CEO of Wal-Mart's international division, to vice chairman of its U.S. stores) may try to replicate their success with retailtainment in other countries in the US. Wal-Mart in China has fashion shows, computer contests and even shrimp catching contests.
8. Moves into media: Some retails have started publishing their own magazines or sponsoring related TV-shows. Home Depot sponsored TLC's 'Trading Spaces' is a classic example.
9. Going Solo: Retailers are moving out of traditional malls and into strip centers and lifestyle centers. Why? - becausing of decreasing mall traffic and ease of resuplying (because they have a dock at the back). I like this trend because this increases the number of stores accessible to a neighborhood and we don't have to drive miles to reach the closes mega-mall. Now that I have a strip mall with a Target, Marshalls, Pier One Imports, Payless Shoestore, Panera Bread, Chilies in my neighborhood, I don't feel like I am living in suburbia, where I need to drive for 20 minutes to reach the closest store.
10. Focus on customer information: Maybe CRM vendors would party at this. But, retailers are increasingly using the information they gather about customer purchasing behaviour to provide better promotions and focus their sales pitches to customers. Retailers like Kroger respond to Wal-Mart's grip as the largest US grocer, by improving discounts for repeat customers.

It's Fall again !

2005-10-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

Originally uploaded by anwarhaneef.

Fall is one of my favourite seasons - besides Spring and Summer, of course. With my recent visit to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle and photo-spree in my backyard (tis picture is from the tree in my backyard), I've realized that maybe New England isn't the only part of the country where one can enjoy the beauty of fall colors.

Summers over - back to the business of blogging

2005-10-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

I knew from the very outset that this year would be very different. With my startup venture and the biggest event of my life so far - my marriage. Its been a little over five months since I've blogged. I hope to make a more conscientious effort to blog my thoughts and readings from now. To summarize whats been happening:

1. Been in Bangalore for a few months leading our India team and gettings things in order. Got the first release of Corona out in the summer.
2. Got Married!
3. Came back to the US and finally had the second release of Corona
4. Finally getting back in to the groove... and blogging...

In Bangalore

2005-06-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

"All the business is coming to India, and I don't see why I shouldn't follow the business," says Vicki Chen, a Chinese-American business student from the Claremont Colleges in Tom Friedman's June 8th NY Times editorial. "If this is where the center of gravity is, you should go check it out..."

Being in Bangalore at this exciting time, only now does the impact of all the new developments sink into me. .....

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/opinion/08friedman.html?ex=1119326400&en=8366a18e4c2d7824&ei=5070&emc=eta1

More from the Tie-Midwest Panel Discussion - Lessons For Start-Up Businesses Selling Into Major Corporations

2005-05-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

Dave Weinstein, the President of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center was the moderator at the TiE-Midwest panel discussion on sales cycles for startups. I had blogged about it a few weeks ago. This is Dave's summary on the Illinois IT Association website - Lessons For Start-Up Businesses Selling Into Major Corporations.

The bottom line is that companies will employ different tactics at different stages of growth to help close sales with the big guys.

Early on, companies seem to have more success in selling pilots to divisions and departments of major corporations. As businesses prove themselves and secure more client references, they are able to win more enterprise-wide contracts. This sometimes requires the assistance of a channel or strategic partner. Whether you’re a product or service company, the following key insights from the panel are useful to remember while chasing the big deals:

1. Build credibility with your target client by selling a value solution to a current pain point or demand issue.
Don’t try to sell something without doing your homework and understanding the business unit you’re targeting. This is one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when meeting with a corporate buyer.

One of our CIO panelists, who is also a major buyer of technology services, said that his company gets a great deal of pitches from entrepreneurs touting the next “big innovation”. His lesson is that it means absolutely nothing if the product or service doesn’t address a current pain point.

2. Evaluate the risk and benefit from the perspective of the buyer.
A start-up with few clients that has a unique solution for a specific pain point might make the benefit outweigh the risk of purchasing a product or service from a firm that has the potential to go out of business.

3. Demonstrate your viability as a business.
While this is difficult when trying to win your first big client, it can be accomplished through selling a pilot or prototype. Have your venture capitalists, bankers or outside advisors call the prospect to help validate your viability (especially in terms of cash position).

4. Honesty and integrity in the sales process rule the day.
Both CIOs on the panel waxed poetic on the integrity of the sales process and how overselling is a key flaw for anxious entrepreneurs. They also said that entrepreneurs should expect the same integrity from the buyer.

If the buyer tries too hard to price the purchase too low, they aren’t the right people to do business with (even if you could name them a marquee client), the CIO panelists said. Over time, this could cause you to be forced out of business.

Most corporate purchasers understand that they are buying from a small business and they don’t want to put you at an economic disadvantage that would hurt both parties in the future.

5. Never give products or solutions away for free.
Giving away free services doesn’t validate your business and ruins the value proposition you’re offering.

6. Entrepreneurs should not celebrate sales. Instead, celebrate when goods or services are used.
This is a great mantra that sparked an interesting discussion. The panelists discussed software that was sold and never used and how that kills the reputation of an entrepreneur more than not having sales at all.

7. Know when to punt.
Learning when to move on from focusing on a hot prospect seems to be a key for entrepreneurs transitioning from the start-up phase to the next phase of growth. Speaking from experience, this is a huge lesson for entrepreneurs. Knowing that not all clients are good clients and understanding who not to pursue can be just as important as knowing who to target.

Entrepreneurs who learn how to pre-qualify leads with good customer intelligence and can articulate a value proposition to a current pain point are more likely to win the business of major corporations. Selling pilots or prototypes may be the way for start-ups to win their first big accounts.

Whatever type of company you run, approaching sales with integrity and honesty seem to endure the test of time. If you have a product or service of value, someone must pay for it. Having a client for the sake of saying you have a “name-brand client” means little if you’re not compensated or your product is collecting dust in a cabinet.

This is funny - Microsoft Plans Security Service For Computer Users

2005-05-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Funniest news I've heard in days - Microsoft Plans Security Service For Computer Users.

icrosoft intends to charge an annual subscription fee for the service, which is designed to provide home-computer users with an easy way to maintain up-to-date antivirus, antispyware and firewall defenses. The service, Windows OneCare, will automatically perform certain personal-computer maintenance tasks such as backing up and recovering files.

I am not a Microsoft basher, but, my question to you is - What incentive does Microsoft have at all to develop safer operating systems any more. With OneCare, more holes Windows has, more revenues to Microsoft.

For all those of you missing me in action....

2005-04-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving for a 2.5 month sojourn in India starting Saturday. Most of the time will be spent on work. This will be the first time I'm working from India since I've been to the US. Peak of summer might not be the best time to be in India, but I'll only know for sure only once I try it.

I will try to chronicle my experiences working in India as a temporary NRI returnee. Now, back to packing for the trip.....

Great New Service from Google Labs - Google Ride Finder

2005-04-22T08:18:00.001-07:00

Just noticed this great new service from Google Labs - Google Ride Finder. You can find the taxis closest to your location using this. Its a good thing some taxi companies have GPS on their cabs. The number of cab companies Google has hooked up into seems limited, but its a start. I am impressed!

Investing in India Conference

2005-04-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

There is an upcoming conference on investing in India - beyond BPO - but longer term investments such as real-estate, investment banking, VC financing etc. organized by the South Asia Business Group at the University of Chicago. IIT Midwest, is a marketing partner and people I know are organizing it. The speaker list seems pretty impressive. For more details, click here.

Sales cycles and startups

2005-04-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today I attended the TiE Midwest sponsored 'Sales Cycles for Startups' presentation. A few tips I picked up:

* Don't rejoice on your first sale - rejoice only when you know that your customer is actually using your product
* Intellectual honesty helps - remember that people aren't always out to cheat you - its in their best interest to see that you remain in business if they put their skin in the game
* Never give your product off for free - ensure that your customers put their skin in the line = this also ensures that you get greater buy in and more people than just the folks you interact with agree to the utility of your product
* Entrepreneurs go to VCs in a moment of weakness - Interesting statement by Mohan Warrior
* Enterprises may be early adopters in their core area of business - Investment Bankers deal with information and therefore may invest in information tech. that gives them a competitive edge, while a manufacturing firm may be an early adopter in manufacturing tech but not necessarily IT
* Try to get a sponsor/champion for your product at your customer site
* KNOW your customers before you approach them with a solution. Don't force a solution on them unless you truly believe it will help them.
* Be ready to punt - in case you've tried selling to a customer for a long time or someone corners you into a negotiation that can make you go under - be ready to let go

Some more tips:
* You may want to give discounts to your customers in exchange for publicity such as a press release stating they use your product
* Get a recurring revenue stream from something simple - like a BPO operation - to feed your product development

Travelling and Managing...

2005-04-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Did some travelling last week to meet potential customers. Feedback was good. Work's been busy... more later.....

Don't discard those ridiculous ideas

2005-04-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

MIT's Tech Review magazine has an interesting editorial on innovation and how the ideas that sound most ridiculous at first may not be so.

In 1998, I ate lunch with an entrepreneur at a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco. The entrepreneur, an ascetic and a yogi with startling blue eyes, spooned a lone bowl of bean soup and told me, "Software is a living tree." He said he had invented a new kind of software called PowWow that "would allow people to run in tribes on the Internet." He boasted that Tribal Voice, his new venture, would be the physical manifestation of what Indian shamans call "the golden thread." I was nonplussed.

Yet Tribal Voice could not be immediately dismissed, because the entrepreneur was John McAfee, the founder of the antivirus company McAfee Associates, for some years the most profitable company on earth. In 1989, when McAfee Associates was starting up, its business seemed as ridiculous as Tribal Voice did in 1998. It gave away its most important program, VirusScan, and sold licenses and support to corporations. This idea had made John McAfee supremely rich.

Humor: Blogo, ergo sum (I blog, therefore I am)

2005-04-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

I was browsing around and stumbled across this site - "Latin Phrases" - its got a whole list of Latin phrases for the sophist in us all, most notable being:

Cogito, ergo sum.
I think, therefore I am.

Sum, ergo edo.
I am, therefore I eat.

Cogito, ergo doleo.
I think, therefore I am depressed.

Cogito sumere potum alterum.
I think I’ll have another drink.

Qualem muleirculam!
What a bimbo!

Qualem blennum!
What a doofus!

According to the site - "Impress your friends and relatives, talk to them in Latin. Remember:
"quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur" (anything said in Latin sounds profound)."

My blog, my photo-album, my bulletin board, me

2005-04-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all my friends who wished me on becoming an uncle. This is the first piece of news that my friends actually found out through my blog before I talked to them individually. :-)

PSP: 'cause its so cool!

2005-04-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

I had lunch with some friends (former collegues) on Sunday. Had some interesting discussions on our careers, tech trends, business in general. It was a meeting of techies - one of whom incidentally has turned to, as some of my friends may say, 'the dark side' and transformed into a management consultant, whose tech background comes in handy. It was fun to meet all of them together again after these couple of months.

Obviously as one would imagine, the conversation also included an analysis of the latest gadgetry - and in our case the PSP - play station portable. It found it funny that my friend bought a PSP - especially considering that he is no avid gamer. His excuse? - 'its just too cool not to buy!' I admit, the PSP is one of those devices, I would love to buy and keep in my collection, even if I never end up using it. The device simply blows my mind everytime I think about it. Technically, its almost flawless - industrial design, functionality (minus its lack of bluetooth) and of course the video and 3-D graphics rendering capability. This is truly a leap in mobile computing - considering its form factor and feature set. We've almost come to point where we take laptops and their increasingly functionality for granted. The PSP on the other hand, with its integrated WiFi and graphics rendering capability truly opened up my eyes to the potential of mobile multimedia. If they can somehow make the form factor a little sleeker and smaller, and incorporate a decent sized hard drive, Sony could integrate the Walkman MP3 player with the PSP to give the iPod a run for their money. I suppose the only things next would be a DVBH tuner and a GSM processor (from Sony Ericsson). It might seem like the Doom-ed (pun intended) Nokia n-Gage all over again, but this time, it would be executed by someone who's truly a leader in all the pieces..... hmm....

Happy Birthday, Jasim Haneef

2005-04-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

My nephew Jasim Abjin Haneef was born on April 5th, 2005. Welcome to the family ! :-)

What is the most important resource in a tech startup?

2005-04-01T08:19:00.000-08:00

Is it your timing? Market outlook? The money you have? Or your people?

If money were the only thing, the IBMs and Microsofts of the world would have being doing ALL the innovation and technology development. And timing, in my opinion is what you make for yourself. There are always opportunities out there and it is finding the right opportunities that create what is know as 'good timing'.

IMHO, and from my limited experience, the most important resource any startup, or any company for that matter, is their human resources. Everything else can be bought or made, but not this. In my opinion, startups especially, need to focus on developing their key differentiator - its people. Keep your people happy and motivated and you can get through any amount of trouble. Money is definitely critical, but what most investors - private or VCs look for in a company is not necessarily their business plan, or the technology, but instead, they invest in people. As long as the people can deliver, there will always be money out there to be had. But, have a demoralized team, and there can never be any hope.

Unfortunately from my experiences, I've realized that it takes a while to make some people realize that. And in most cases, it happens too late. I hope with greater management responsibility, I am able to learn from the mistakes of employers I've seen/heard of in the past and make a change in this line of thinking.

Humor: This is hilarious

2005-03-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

You've gotta see collection of photos of attempts to pull up a car that fell into a river (apparently in Ireland). It looks realistic, but its just too funny to believe. I hope no one got hurt though.

(PS: If you look careully, you'll realize that the last picture is photoshop magic at its best - the reflection of the mirror on the front of the green truck doesn't change inspite of the change of angle, and you'll notice that the onlookers are identical to one of the previous pictures - gotcha!)

Cingular Sucks ! - But, who else is better?

2005-03-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

Having been a NEXTEL user for over 2 years, I was excited to finally move over to Cingular. At least I could use the phone when I travel outside the country and the coverage would be better - I thought.

The former seems to be more of a reality than the latter. As this WSJ article states, Cingular Wireless seems to have the worst record in terms of dropped calls. The FCC has recorded 4.6 complaints regarding dropped calls out of every 100,000 Cingular customers. This compares with T-Mobile's 4.3, Sprint/NEXTEL's 3.6/2.3 and Verizon's 1.4. So I guess I am not the only one with this problem. According to Cingular:

"While we take each complaint very seriously and are always striving for improvement, the number of complaints represents an infinitesimally small portion of our customer base," Cingular spokesman Ritch Blasi said. He acknowledged that there could be some engineering problems during the process of combining the two systems that may cause worse coverage for some customers, but emphasized that the issue isn't widespread.

What these guys don't realize, or don't want to admit is that the number of people who have taken the effort to complain are only a fraction of the number of people who face the problem. For instance, I admit not to have called to make a complaint - .... partly out of fear that my call may get dropped and I'll need to call back........

Motorola SCREEN3 - my past life

2005-03-23T07:49:00.000-08:00

So finally, Motorola announced the SCREEN3 technology, which is essentially a ticker on the idle screen of your cell phone constantly keeping you updated with the latest news and other multimedia content. This is one of the technologies I helped develop at Motorola as part of Motorola Labs. I'd been working on this for ages now and I feel proud to finally see it hit the market! At least the name is a lot better than the internal code names we had. :)

It was a collegue of mine, Tzvetan and myself as members of Motorola Labs who built the first prototype of this (proving that it is technically feasible) and helped the Motorola marketing team sell it to wireless carriers. Having had been a user of the product for many months while I was at MOT, I can assure you, its very addictive and useful - once you're on it, you'll never understand how you could have lived without it - Motorola had done that to us with the cell phone in the 80's, now they've done it again.

Enterprise Architects - Cut above the rest

2005-03-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

Besides the interesting points in this article in CIO magazine, one thing that caught my attention was the profile of Motorola's Chief Enterprise Architect, Baldev Singh.

In 1975, Baldev Singh was at the pinnacle of his profession: rally racing. He was sponsored by Volvo and Fiat. But in the middle of his fourth East African Safari Rally—a three-day, 3,000-mile dash across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, a race that only about 15 of the 300 or so cars that enter ever finish—his life changed.
...
Twenty-nine years later, he walked into Toby Redshaw's office, where Motorola's corporate vice president of IT strategy, architecture and e-business immediately realized that Singh was just what he was looking for in an enterprise architect.

Redshaw needed someone who had both a deep technical background and a good understanding of the business, skills that Singh, who had earned engineering and computer science degrees and an MBA since he quit racing, had in spades. But that wasn't what clinched it for Redshaw.

"An enterprise architect is going to get a lot of pushback," he says. Changing the way a company thinks about IT and the way IT thinks about the business is not easy. "You need someone," says Redshaw, "who has done something like drive across Africa at breakneck speeds. Someone with persistence. Someone tough."

Wow! Now, thats one really interesting requirement for an Enterprise Architect!

WSJ.com: Rising Gasoline Prices Threaten Viability of Biggest SUVs - Reminds me of the Dave Barry Classic

2005-03-22T22:38:00.000-08:00

I read this WSJ article: Rising Gasoline Prices Threaten Viability of Biggest SUVs:

Rising prices of gasoline across the U.S. are raising vital questions in Detroit: Will prices keep going up? And if they do, will that prompt Americans to accelerate their shift away from the auto industry's cash cows, big sport-utility vehicles?

The stakes are huge. For more than a decade, the Big Three Detroit auto makers have derived most of their overall profits from sales of gas-guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks. Indeed, General Motors Corp.'s current predicament -- it was forced to slash its earnings outlook last week and its debt now trades like junk bonds -- was provoked in part by sliding sales of SUVs such as the Chevy Suburban and Tahoe.
....
Cris Manning spent $44.84 one night last week to put about 23 gallons of gas into his SUV, a white 2002 GMC Yukon. He figures he drives 50 to 100 miles each day, shuttling around the Dallas region as corporate education manager for a university. His Yukon gets about 15 miles a gallon. He has no plans to change his travel habits -- or his vehicle -- regardless of how expensive gasoline gets. "I just like having a big SUV," he said.

Gasoline represents only about 15% of the cost of owning and operating an average new passenger car in the U.S., according to the AAA, a federation of affiliated automobile clubs in the U.S. But the recent rise in gasoline prices still can pinch. If Mr. Manning drives his Yukon 75 miles each weekday, and about 50 miles each weekend, the rise in gas prices over the past year will cost him about an extra $540 annually.
...
GM begs to differ. In the past five years, it surged ahead of Ford in total sales of large, truck-based SUVs. GM executives attribute the recent slide in large-SUV demand not to any widespread worry about pump prices, but rather to the fact that GM's segment-leading SUV models, such as the Chevy Suburban and Tahoe, are old. The large-SUV market is "stable, not shrinking," GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said this year.

and guess what I have on my mind - of course its the classic Dave Barry article on 'More Souped up SUVs' (a hilarious, must read!):

I don't know what the new Ford will be called. Probably something like the "Ford Untamed Wilderness Adventure." In the TV commercials, it will be shown splashing through rivers, charging up rocky mountainsides, swinging on vines, diving off cliffs, racing through the surf and fighting giant sharks hundreds of feet beneath the ocean surface - all the daredevil things that cars do in Sport Utility Vehicle Commercial World, where nobody ever drives on an actual road...

Symbian Succumbs to Microsoft or vice versa?

2005-03-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

WSJ: So finally, Microsoft Licenses Technology For E-Mail to Rival Symbian.

Microsoft Corp. has licensed an e-mail technology to its biggest rival in the cellphone-software market, Symbian Ltd., in the latest sign of how intensely the cellphone industry is wooing businesspeople who send and receive e-mail on their handsets.

The deal will allow handsets running Symbian's software to automatically send and receive e-mails from accounts managed by Microsoft's Exchange software, which is popular with corporations.

The agreement, which follows a similar deal with top cellphone maker Nokia Corp., of Finland, last month, is designed to boost sales of Microsoft Exchange and reduce the lure of BlackBerry mobile e-mail technology, made by Research In Motion Ltd., Waterloo, Ontario.

While helping Microsoft Exchange, the agreement has a catch for another Microsoft division: cellphone software. One of Microsoft's major advantages over London-based Symbian, which is owned by a group of leading cellphone makers, is that handsets running Microsoft's software tend to work better with the Exchange e-mail system -- and that advantage appears to be undermined by the new licensing agreement.

Now this helps level the Mobile Enterprise playing field. In a strange way, this agreement helps both Microsoft and Symbian as the article states. Is this the beginning of the end of BlackBerry's solo reign of the mobile enterprise market?? I wonder....

IIT team solves the Ashoka pillar mystery

2005-03-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

So finally, a team from IIT Kanpur solves the Ashoka pillar mystery. The Ashoka pillar is a 4th century iron pillar, attributed to the ancient King Ashoka, that has resisted rusting for all these years. Currently located in Delhi near the Qutab Minar, people have attributed the non-corrosive nature of the monument to all sorts of reasons - even some crazy ideas like extra-terrestrial influence as proposed in Von Daniken's 'Chariot of the Gods'.

Want some new ideas? Check out DEMO@15!

2005-03-18T07:26:00.000-08:00

DEMO@15! is one of my favourite annual events where startups and new companies demonstrate their wares. This year's event was held on Feb 13-15. Check out the list of participants to gather an idea of emerging technologies.

The death of radio as we know it?

2005-03-18T07:21:00.000-08:00

WSJ has an interesing article on radio station's reaction to iPods, satellilte radio and the likes. Radio stations are getting paranoid that satellite radio and iPods are taking aways their audience - and for a reason. With over 22 minutes of advertising and the lame selection of songs, go figure.

FM broadcast technology hasn't significantly changed since they became popular in the '70s. What other consumer technology is still that lame? Some may say TV, but digitial cable is fast picking up and of course there is satellite TV. Its high time radio stations invested more in digital broadcast technologies such as DAB (digital audio broadcast) or other similar technologies. Added value to the user being richer content - audio intermeshed with even vidual content like weather and traffic reports. And someone's gotta do something about all those ever increasing ads.

My personal take is that unlike in the past where radio faced competition from TV in the 1950s and the Sony Walkman in the 1980s, this time its different. And my prediction is not stallite that would kill the radio - it would be iPod-like players integrated with streaming Internet radio stations - services beyond those such as AudioFeast, who already work well with your iRiver MP3 players providing you a selection of songs customized to your taste. Motorola has announced a similar service, iRadio at DEMO@15 that works with your mobile phone. Now imagine all this integrated with a 3G radio service such as that offered by Virgin Radio.

Now that woud be interesting! It won't take too long before we see such services kick conventional radio right in the nu*s!

TiVo Finally Gets Its Comcast

2005-03-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

Impressive that Tivo could finally make this happen. TiVo Finally Gets Its Comcast. All the TiVo fans must be doing cartwheels. I don't know if you know any, but those TiVo fans are probably the most loyal set of fans outside the NASCAR fan set.

Former FCC chairman Micheal Powell is known to have called it 'God's machine' - now thats what I call an endorsement ! Some of my former collegues are such fans of TiVo that I'm sure they'd havemixed feelings that TiVo replaces the Motorola DVR devices used by Comcast.

Drooling over the new Motorola PEBL V6

2005-03-17T22:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder why I left Motorola and my unlimited suply of toys..... like the Motorola Motorola PEBL V6 announced at CTIA the past week. As far as I've heard this is only the beginning. I hope the recent surge of innovation reflect well on Motorola's stock some time soon, unfortunately, according to Forbes, they need to work on their margins.

Amazing Visualization of Web Server Logs

2005-03-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

I've been looking around for software to log visits to Red Rabbit's website. I'm currently using one from StatCounter. On their site, I saw an ad for this amazing visualization tool for web server logs: VisitorVille: Web Site Intelligence for Creative Thinkers - its a pretty neat SimCity-like UI for visualizing visits to your web site.

I am not sure how usefull it really is, but it certainly looks innovative. To be practical, I'd rather stick to my graphs - they're far easier to analyze at one shot as opposed to 3-D people walking around town carrying passports :)

Red Rabbit Software - Website is now live !

2005-03-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

As of noon today, Red Rabbit Software's website went live !!!

Let me know your comments (if any) here.

Business Intelligence Seminar Tomorrow

2005-03-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

Got to attend the Business Intellience Seminar organized by the Chicago chapter of the Technology Executives Club. I hope to get some leads and get some insight into customer issues faced by users of Business Intelligence tools there.

All I am looking for ammo for my product, besides understanding some real customer pain points. I knowhow much better our product, Corona is, but I'd love to hear it from the horse's mouth.

Also, our website (www.redrabbitsoftware.com) should go live tomorrow - no more single logo with contact email information. Version 1 might not be the best, but its a start. Of course we don't intend to publish our entire strategy, so the website will only function as minimal marketing tool and more as a reference for potential customers and interested parties. Most discussions would be in person with our customers. Its always to be extra cautious when working in the software world - remember - 'Only the Paranoid Survive'.

How to Start a Startup - Tips from Paul Graham

2005-03-14T21:20:00.000-08:00

Paul Graham, author of Hackers and Painters has a wonderful article on his website: "How to Start a Startup". Quite an interesting read. I'm yet to read 'Hackers and Painters' - I've heard a lot of good reviews about it from my former collegues. After reading this article from Paul, I'm even more encouraged to pick it up from the bookstore.

Stifling broadband penetration

2005-03-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

Wired Magazine had an article that caught my attention this month "Why Your Broadband Sucks". It talks of the efforts by the City of Philadelphia to provide free WiFi throughout their municipalities, that was eventually thwarted and vetoed out by the telecom lobby.

I am not a communist, but I did feel that Philly was going in the right direction by increasing the availability of broadband to its constituents by providing free broadband. The emergence of such services may lead to greater innovation and other new services that may benifit us all. Unfortunately the threatened telecos made their fright clear by preventing this from happening - dampening the rate of provision of broadband access to underserved communities in the interest of keeping their stronghold on high speed Internet.

The solution is not to fire private enterprise; it is instead to encourage more competition. Communities across the country are experimenting with ways to supplement private service. And these experiments are producing unexpected economic returns. Some are discovering that free wireless access increases the value of public spaces just as, well, streetlamps do. And just as streetlamps don't make other types of lighting obsolete, free wireless access in public spaces won't kill demand for access in private spaces. In economoid-speak, these public services may well provide positive externalities. Yet we will never recognize these externalities unless municipalities are free to experiment. That's why the bipartisan Silicon Valley advocacy group TechNet explicitly endorses allowing local governments to compete with broadband providers.

Also interesting is Wired's interview with Verizon's VP of Broadband solutions, Marilyn O'Connel, where she says:

From the citizen's perspective, it sure seems like you're trying to prevent wireless access from becoming a basic public utility. Shouldn't bandwidth be free?
A lot of things would have to come together before you have the kind of coverage that would allow people to say, "I don't need any other bandwidth, I can just go and plug into the city's network." I don't see that governments are going to supply that kind of service in such a broad, ubiquitous way. The reality is, to have the kind of broadband-rich networks you need, private companies have to come forward.

Somehow that last answer didn't make too much sense to me....

Down hill Skiing - learning a little bit more than skiing

2005-03-13T16:36:00.000-08:00

So, I'm back from the weekend skiing trip to Wisconsin's Cascade Mountain Ski Resort. Pretty fun place - especially for beginners. This is the second trip this year - and being a beginner, I'm happy with my progress. What I liked about this place are the good instructors who adapt their teaching to your experience level. And of course the abundant downhill trails for beginners who really want to try out what they've learnt on the smaller slopes.

One key thing I learnt from the nearly 8 hours of down hill skiing across this hilly terrain was to make sure I knew what I was doing and not waiver from my faith in it. I knew how to ski down smaller slopes, but the steeper ones, where I found difficult to control my speed, I tended to become nervous and fall. Once I realized that the steeper, longer trails were no different - except of course that they were steeper, and longer :), I maintained my faith in the basics I learnt and didn't have any issues. I knew that the moment I lose faith in my fundamentals, I would fall.

Maybe life has a subtle way of giving you lessons. All we need to do is to look for them to appear.

Another one hits the bucket....

2005-03-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

My buddy, Santhosh (SRT) does it once again! He's getting engaged on the 16th of this month. SRT and I share a very special relationship - our lives run parallel in many ways... let me explain:

1. Both were born in Kerala, India (him to royalty, me to the plebs)
2. Both lived in the Middle East till senior high school
3. Both of us went to the same coaching centers in Kerala after school
4. Both went to IIT Khragapur, in the same freshman hostel and ended up in the same wing, a few rooms apart
5. Both ended up taking up Computer Science
6. Both ended up working on the same projects, including our bachelor's thesis
7. Both ended up in the same research group at UMass Amherst
8. Ended up being roomates at Amherst (well, this was under our control)
9. Both bought our first cars around the same time
10. He got a job a few months after I did
11. Had similar issues with certain friends
12. Both graduated together
13. Both ended up crashing the cars we bought at Amherst
14. Both ended up buying new cars around the same time
15. Both ended up getting promotions faster than the norm
16. Both ended up meeting someone special through our parents and chatting for 5 months
17. Both ended up getting engaged within a week of meeting the special someone in person

.... and both getting married this summer? I am... I'm yet to hear back from him regarding his marriage plans.... not too much of a guess for me though :-)

View from the top?

2005-03-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

02-11-05_1619
Originally uploaded by anwarhaneef.

A quick snap from my office on Michigan Avenue. Thats the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Gleacher Center, blocking my view of the NBC tower on the rear left and the Chicago river on the right. This picture was intended to be abstract, showing my relfection on the window. I'll try to upload a better picture soon. Also, this is my first blog posting via FlickR.

Four lines in four hours !

2005-03-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

I spent four hours today, brainstorming with my collegue, the Director of Sales at Red Rabbit, working on the introduction line to our website. Four hours later we came up with four lines.... rather dissapointing if you measure throughput in terms of lines per hour, but I guess it was fine since the objective was to pack in as much in as few lines as possible. We should get the web site up by the end of the week.

So finally the architect takes up a part-time marketing role. Tomorrow I partake in yet another pre-sales, marketing role in a conference call with another potential customer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Spicing it up! - Puck u, Wolfgang ! ;-)

2005-03-08T20:40:00.000-08:00

Finally, after placing my cooking skills in hibernation for over two years, I have revived my passion of cooking. Ok, maybe not passion, but it certainly is fun. I prefer to cook when I have company, but its a whole lot better than eating canned food - I've been feeling like somone living in a bomb shelter the past couple of months.

After a trip to my friend's place last week and his reenforcement of the fact that cooking can be simple as long as I chose the right dishes. So, I proceeded to shop at the local Pakistani store for spices (I prefer the Pakistani brands of spices to the Indian ones) and got me some Tandoori masala and Chana (chick pea) masala. After making one absolutely horrible and overly spicy chick peas curry, I realized that random spoons of masala don't work and I need to be more careful. Fortunately, I had enough skills to revive the chick pea curry. The tandoori dishes came out rather good. So the next time you feel like having Indian food, drop me a line.... the Streamwood Desi Dhabha is open for business!

Best Ad I've seen

2005-03-02T22:01:00.000-08:00

I know Quiznos probably has the WORST ads - from filthy singing rodents to ugly babies, but this series of ads from 3M are absolutely the best. Click here for pictures. They're advertising their security glass by placing doles of 'cash' ($3 million) between two sheets of their glass (unfortunately only the cash on top was real - the rest were fake).

I 'm an International Film buff

2005-03-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

With my monthly movie pass, I've been hooked on to International Films as opposed to the loads of junk (and occasional classics) from Hollywood. The advantage with watching the International Films at the video stores are that most of them are award winning films, so you get the best of the world.

I prefer movies that highlight the culture of the country they are from. And of course, I have a soft spot for epics. The most recent epic movie I watched was a Chinese movie called 'Warriors of Heaven and Earth'. To all those Indian movie fans reading this, you'd be as surprised as I was to note that the soundtrack of this movie was done by A.R. Rahman !

Some of the good Int. movies I watched lately have been - 'The Thief' (Russian), 'Amen' (French), 'Legend of Suryothai' (Thai), 'Advertising Rules' (German) and of course the most moving of all - 'Osama' (Afghani)

New paradigm in TV consumption?

2005-03-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

The last blog entry went a little bit into the details of my monthly television billing, but was there for a purpose. I am not sure how many people like me exist, maybe I'm unique, or maybe not. But this experience has lead me to believe that with the availability of broadband at home, the need for me to watch TV is decreasing. Had I had the option of subscribing to a monthly service that would provide me with movies/TV programming whenever I wanted it for a price point lower than basic plus cable, I might be one of the first to jump onto it.

All I'd need is something to hook up to my TV. I understand Microsoft Media PC tries to enablea similar experience, but I would prefer a more simpler device that could be latched onto my TV or better yet, an Internet enabled set top box that can receive such Internet broadcasts. Being a loyal Yahoo! Launchcast user, I understand the benifits of personalized Internet radio, and in this case television. Its high time Internet based, personalized TV services becomes a reality. Now, with recent annoncements by SBC regarding their upcoming Internet TV service, I am starting to believe that that future is not too far ahead. My personal opinion is that we will start to see more SBCs in the future - large telecommunications companies providing converged services ranging from wired telephone access, DSL service, VoIP service, Cellular service all the way to Internet based television service. Comcast is large enough to want to think in this direction - I'm sure they've got something stirring in their pot.

So until then, I'm happy with my monthly 'movie buffet' deal from the local video store.

Stepping down my cable

2005-03-02T20:58:00.000-08:00

A couple of months back I realized, partly because of my schedule, that I don't watch much, if any TV. The only shows I really liked watching were 'The Daily Show with John Steward' - a left-wing slanted political comedy show that pokes fun at current events, 'The Simpsons' - arguable the most politically incorrect TV show and on occasion 'South Park'. I realized that I could get a Personal Video Recorder (PVR), a la, TiVo, or one of the new Motorola set top boxes Comcast provides, but didn't think it was worth the time and effort of getting a box and the subscription ($27 for digital cable + $10 monthly for the TiVo/PVR subscription + cost of hardware [$100+ in case of TiVo]).

Also, the other thing was that the only time I really watched TV was when I had dinner. And even then I spent most of my time flipping channels, not really watching anything of interest. So I decided to downgrade my cable to get the basic channels and keep my high speed Internet connection and get a monthly movie pass from Hollywood Video. This way, for less than the cost of basic plus cable, I get to watch movies whenever I want. And besides, 'The Daily Show's website has their latest videos online!

The 2005 Business Blogging Awards » Winners of the Business Blogging Awards

2005-02-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

"The 2005 Business Blogging Awards » Winners of the Business Blogging Awards" is a list of excellent blogs for enterpreneurs and business execs - at any level. I'm glad to see the blog of a former collegue of mine, David Anderson awarded the 'Best Project Management Blog' award.

In Business Etiquette, the Devil is in the Details

2005-02-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

"In Business Etiquette, the Devil is in the Details" is a good reference on NFIB.com on business etiquette. People outside of the US have a wrong impression of American businesses as being a casual crowd. The business community is never so - although at times it may appear to be. Good etiquette is always welcome - regardless which part of the planet you do business in. A well dressed, well mannered first impression goes a long way anywhere.

Cosco nieces

2005-02-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

Yup, wholesale I guess. Got two nieces in one night. My fiance's sister had a daughter and my childhood friend had a daughter last night - born only half an hour apart. Now, thats an interesting coincidence.

Wired NEXTFest 2005

2005-02-24T23:28:00.000-08:00

Last year I went to present there, this year its coming to where I work - Chicago. Almost like it can't have enough of me ;-)

I just went to their site and list of exhibitors. Its not too different from last year. I would have hoped that they had more stuff, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I may not catch it this year. Last time I didn't have to stand in line - if SFO was any example, I don't expect the lines to be any shorter out here.

Startups with Focus - An Oxymoron or a Possibility?

2005-02-24T23:12:00.000-08:00

Focus is something that is very hard to define for a startup. Its easy to change direction or customize your product to suit the needs of an opportunity that gives a quick buck... but maybe disastrous in the long run since your product may end up not really being good at anything but rather a hotchpotch of mediocre components, not having much value.

Sometimes one needs to rein in the enthusiasm of his peers to steer things back on the right track. Its not always easy. But then again the question is - adapt or stick to your original plans? I beleive its a combianation of the two - but adaptation should be well thought out and strategic, building on already developed expertise as opposed to chasing every mirage in sight.

(I need to thank Bob Deuerr, entrepreneur and Director of one of the coolest Motorola products - the CN620 for this piece of pre-emptive advise)

First vendor meeting

2005-02-24T23:07:00.000-08:00

Today I had my first teleconference with a potential vendor for a component we need in our product. It was interesting talking to the CTO of another similar (although now better established after their recent acquisution by a larger firm) company. The conversation went along well. Since the conference started late, they were concerned that it was getting late for us (since they were on the West coast and it was nearging 5pm our time). We got a few chuckles when we reminded them that we were a startup and 5pm was just half the day :)

I have a good feeling about their product, now if only I can negotiate a better deal on the licensing fees.....

Feb - The Uncle Month - I'm an uncle-in-fiance-in-law

2005-02-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

Today I got news that my fiance's sister just had a baby girl. So I guess that makes me an uncle-in-fiance-in-law? Funny thing is my childhood friend's wife has also been taken to the hospital and she should be delivering in a few hours. Coincidentally, its this friend's parents who introduced me to my fiance. I'll be leaving to Wisconsin to meet them tomorrow. I guess that makes me an uncle as well. Just called up my sister-in-law, who is also scheduled to deliver in a few months, the updates... looking forward to that news too.

Entrepreneurial Drive.... not the BMW kind

2005-02-20T01:17:00.000-08:00

What really drives an entrepreneur?

Is is the potential for money? The high pressure life style? The late nights?

Every entrepreneur would have his or her own reasons. But I believe that a true entrepreneur does it for the same sake an academic researcher takes up lower pay to solve a research problem - the sense of achievement, the opportunity to have contributed something lasting to humanity. Being a former academic/industrial researcher myself, I would think I am well qualified to make such a statement. The ultimate reward for a researcher is peer recognition, and the sense of satisfaction of having done something no one else has been able to.

An entrepreneur is driven by the same motivation, to receive recognition for his idea, when people invest millions into your idea, you know for sure its not lip service, but faith in your ideas and your potential. To take an idea from inception all the way to a product is always a unique experience, giving the sense of satisfaction that you have done what no one has ever done before.

But in my case, the one thing that gives me a richer experience than my previous life as an industrial researcher is the potential to establish something that can do a lot of good for people beyond just the technology - develop more jobs. In this troubled economic climate, every little bit counts. Whether its the extra hour of pay that the custodian receives to the twenty well paid software engineers hired, everyone wins - everyone associated with the enterprise - customers, vendors, employees, investors, local merchants and finally the government (everyone pays taxes).

Two years ago, at my former research group, I drove the writing of a research poposal to the NSF (National Science Foundation), based on my Master's Thesis. We were awarded $300,000. My biggest motivation? - the opportunity that the research funding would bring to my advisor to hire more graduate students such as myself. The funding brought in another 5-6 graduate students, with complete financial aid provided to them. The sense of satisfaction that gave me is probably one of the greatest drivers I have to becoming an entrepreneur. This time, my targets are a little higher.... :)

Startup - week 2 - Deadlines and more deadlines....

2005-02-16T23:31:00.000-08:00

As always, the beginnings are tough. Time is the most precious commodity. I long for the days in my youth when I'd get bored with nothing to do... Hours, days, zip by - so fast, and yet the inbox seems to pile up. Fortunately the adrenaline kicks in and the caffeine pours in.... (I've migrated to tea to prorate the intake over the 20 hours of consciousness). Its exciting. There's always something new every day - new ideas, new things to learn, new things to try out, new people to talk to, new competition to guard against.

The past few days had been exceptionally hectic. Hopefully it'll only last a few more weeks till things stabilize. The architecture is coming out well, and I'm proud of it - no kludgy design - just well thought out design. Someone asked me why an architect has to know the competition inside out - I guess its to learn from their mistakes and to adapt ours to stand out from the crowd.

The team - make sure to pick the right people. Things can get pretty tense - even the most level headed person can blow his/her top in such an environment. I'm fortunate to have a great bunch of people on mine. We don't mind letting off steam on each other, no hard feelings and its healthy. I've done it to them, them to me. We're in it together and thats what matters. Get a great team - with motivated people. Like my more experienced collegue mentioned to me - just remember that when someone blows off steam, its because they care, its because of the passion in them. Learn to appreciate that passion and not to take things to heart. We've all been there. Relax....

There's always something new to look forward to every day.... its a lot of fun. But I'd still like to get a few extra winks... I've already lost a potential few extra making this entry. But, maybe I'll look back at this some time in the future and smile.... penning off for now. Hopefully I can write something with more insight soon. Tonite, this is just a recollection of thoughts....

Valentine's Day - Not for the faint hearted

2005-02-16T23:20:00.000-08:00

Feb 14th has usually been very un eventful, except it being my Dad's birthday. We're not really into the big birthday bash or anything of the sorts. Dad claims to be St. Valentine himself, but in my case, both my parents were. Things had been uneventful, at least until this year....

So, I guess surprises go both ways. I managed to surprise her with flowers and a great gift (I surprise myself with the selection) :) for her birthday. And the Valentine's day present sent to India a day after the 14th certainly caught her off guard. 14th would have been so predictible and no fun at all. Funny thing is that she could pull one off on me as well. I didn't even realize the USPS packet lying outside my door till she asked me to check. I loved it! ..... I guess the first *real* surprise present I ever got. Maybe my skepticism of Valentine's day being overtly commercial may change after all.... we all need some time to show we care.... but maybe its the surprises without a designated day that get you... but I still believe its the thought that counts. Sending a present through her manager visiting the US a month in advance was brilliant. Brilliantly orchestrated... even the maestro, Herbert von Karajan would be proud.

(By popular demand: She got me a maroon colored sweater via her manager, a real nice tie and two mallu CDs) :)

Am I back?

2005-02-09T21:58:00.000-08:00

So I guess I am back to the world of blogs, after a sojourn of over 8 monhts, I guess I am back. The last few months have been really eventful - all the way from meeting someone special and getting engaged to landing up in an exciting tech startup as a 'founding member'. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the times ahead. Lets hope for the best.

The ups and downs

2005-02-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

So finally, I got something critical (in terms of technology) to our company worked out today. Something that I had designed that we absolutely needed, but was so convoluted that it was the 'skeleton in the closet' of my design has finally been solved and I came up (with my collegue) on an extremely clean and simple solution that would perform far better that I had originally intended. This just gave me a major boost in confidence in terms of how I think we can get our product up and ready in lighting speed - in terms of customization during deployment. Now I can look my customers in the eye and tell them that I can customize our solution to them far faster than any of our competitors ever could ! :)

I am happy.... at least in terms of the possibilities this discovery opens up. Replaying the conversation I had with a very senior person (and fellow IIT alum) at my former employer yesterday afternoon, the more I realize how valuable the tool I am developing will be for business users. It would give me great joy if I can develop something that truly adds value to both business users as well as IT managers. Many have spoken of it - I hope to act on it. I cannot accept victory until this dream is made a reality. Forget the marketing pitch, I'm here to create something that is truly useful... and it would be the sight of seeing the twinke in my customers eyes that would give me the ultimate sense of satisfaction - not much inlike the satisfaction an artist receives on seeing the smiles on the face of his patrons.

I hope my family will be patient enough to help me realize this dream.... so far they've been extremely supportive.... thank goodness :)

The Entrepreneur Blog - The next stage in my life.... A new focus for the blog

2005-02-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

GOODBYEMOTO, HELLO Red Rabbit!

So, today is when it finally strikes me, I am no longer going to drive to Schaumburg in the morning to the warm, stable confines of the 78 year old Telecomm mammoth. On my ride on METRA to downtown Chicago, I realize that this is probably a good time to start my entepreneurship blog - by popular demand, and something I've always wished to do. From today I will have to introduce myself as - Anwar Haneef, Chief Architect, Red Rabbit Software, and no more the 'Senior Research Engineer, Motorola Labs'. It feels so different even thinking about it. Its been over three years since I've been affiliated with Mot Labs - in fact first got in touch with them only 4 months after I got to the US in 2000, and I've been a part of them since in one way or the other (prospective intern looking into ideas to full time researcher). I've made some good friends there - I wish to continue being in touch with for the rest of my life and found some good mentors who helped me develop myself as a technologist and as a person.

Today I join the elite(?) few who've made it at least to the stage of starting thier own company and taking it forward. Motorola looks like a mammoth to me, considering that Red Rabbit only has five employees including myself. But I'm sure Paul Galvin had similar feelings when he founded the Galvin Manufacturing Company in the middle of a cornfield in the village of Schaumburg. Maybe someday, I too will help create a mammoth that can provide employment to so many people..... and help hone skills for future enterpreneurs.... 2083 A.D. doesn't seem so far off anymore.

I'm at WIRED NEXTFEST 2004

2004-05-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

I'm at WIRED NEXTFEST 2004 in San Francisco demonstrating Motorola's Vision of Seamless mobility - this is the stuff I've been working on at Motorola Labs. Taking a break from the booth right now. I'm in a back room hosting our servers. I'm glad T-Mobile Hotspot is providing free WLAN access to everyone.

Its pretty cool out here - both the demos and the people coming to attend - primarily the early adopter community. Its a great chance for industrial researchers like me to meet the people who buy our products - to get feedback on what we think is the future of communications. We've also got a kiosk out here at the Motorola pavilion where people can see pictures/models of our concept communication devices. People can also enter in their feedback on our ideas in the kiosk. I'm really looking forward to looking at them.

As usual demos and demos, so things do keep going wrong all the time, so my team and I need to be here on call all the time to ensure everything goes as planned. We were also at the opening party last night where we had a lot of the executives from the sponsors - GE CEO & co., Motorola CTO & co. There was also an interesting talk by Jeff from GE last night during the party.

The rest of the demos are pretty cool - esp. this one where you get to control a small ball with your brain waves ! Concept cars, car planes ..... boy, this fest ROCKS !!!!!!!!

Its the first of its kind and WIRED is planning on having one every year... Penning off for now... got to get back to work............

I've got Gmail !!!!!!!!!!!!

2004-05-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

Gmail - the new email service from Google - with 1 GB of storage - as opposed to my Yahoo mail with 4MB of space. Yahoo is good, but heck, I need space !!!!

Also GMail has this amazing means of archiving conversations as opposed to emails. So, when you have a conversation/thread via email between you and someone else, thats what is listed on your inbox - this makes thisngs much more clean - and easy to figure out what the discussion was all about - no more sorting out through the inbox based on sender to get the context of a delayed reply!!

This is sweeeeet !!! Also, they don't have a concept of 'folders', rather, being powered by Google, everything is based on searches, so if you need to find something, just search - and being Google, you can trust it to work. I need more mail in my Gmail account before I can attest to this though. There seems to be a ton of features I need to try out - including keyboard shortcuts, periodic auto-refresh, etc. but in short, things look promising.

Smart Mobs: Gunshot sound detectors: Chicago

2004-04-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

Smart Mobs.com reports that Chicago is considering deploying Gunshot sound detectors in high crime areas. Interesting idea. This reminds me of something from a sci-fi movie where cops can be rushed to the site of a crime with sensors noticing abberant behaviour all over the place. Then again, privacy advocates may look at these sensors from another perspective.

A9.com - Amazon's new search engine

2004-04-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

A9.com the new, much talked about search engine from Amazon has gone live today. Its pretty cool. With a wrapper around Google and access to Amazon's book search (that allows you to get pages from books containing the item you searched for), this is an invaluable too. They also have an 'FAQ' as to why A9 should be your preferred search engine.

let me be rich be rich be rich be rich For $1 Million

2004-04-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Talk about being superstitious ! tectually.org reports that the phone number 135 8585 8585, when pronounced in Chinese means 'let me be rich be rich be rich be rich' was bid for $1 Million !

Think of it - the guys already gotten a million bucks to throw away, and he still wants more !

Tax implications of outsourcing/offshoring?

2004-04-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

I wonder what the tax implications of outsourcing are, when the outsourcing is done offshore. If a company X pays company Y in another country to perform a task, I guess company Y does not have to pay taxes to the government to which company X has tax liability to. Is this different if company Y has a base in the country company X is located in? What is a person living in the same country as the original company receives a contract and sends it to his company Y in the second country - where does this person pay income tax for this contract?

I need to check up with my friends with MBAs or ppl in the offshoring business for this.

Inc.com | Angel Investors

2004-04-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

This seems like a good reference to learn more about Angel Investors - how to finance via Angels as opposed to a VC firm etc. This article on angels is rather comprehensive.

I don't do a day of work!

2004-03-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

Can I say that I work for a living ? Actually I don't. When I think of it, I realize that I love what I do - its more like entertainment doing what I do, and seeing the results. I wouldn't do what I do if I didn't enjoy it so much..... so will I ever need to work a day in my life ? I guess I don't need to be born a Hilton to not work a day in my life :-)

Walmart.com - Music Downloads - Cheaper !

2004-03-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize thatWalmart.com entered the Music Download business ! And guess what, passing on the tradition Sam Walton passed down over a quarter century ago, these guys are out there to sell things at a price lower than anyone else in the market ! At 11 cents a song cheaper than iTunes - I don't know how long the user experience factor can hold on iTunes customers.

PS: The site mentions: 'iPods are not compatible.' ;-)

Coke's Dasani - just contaminated tap water ?

2004-03-22T22:42:00.000-08:00

An interesting post by David Galbraith in his blog regarding Coke's Dasani - its just plain contaminated tap water ! Being from India, I've always been skeptical about 'mineral water' vendors. Now with this Business Week article David links to - there goes my trust in the professionalism of corporate America.

Blame India Watch

2004-03-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Just came across this blog through blogger.com's main page: Blame India Watch

Seems to have some interesting commentary on outsourcing and how Indians seems to be targetted as 'evil job snatchers'.

On a related note, David Anderson has an interesting post on his blog on outsourcing (related to how software developers in the US need to evolve to overcome the effects of outsourcing) here.

The price of mobility....

2004-03-01T15:22:00.000-08:00

How much are you will to be connected always? - Joi Ito found it out the hard way... :

"Grps roaming works... technically. I spent last month so excited by my Nokia 6600. Land in a random city, flip open my PowerBook, click, "connect" and I was immediately online via bluetooth, gprs and my T-Mobile roaming. Internet everywhere. It was sooo cool... until I got my bill. $3500 for one month of mobile abandon. At $3500 / month, I would say that it works, "technically" but is totally unacceptable socially and economically. It's like having a PowerBook stolen from the carriers and being beaten over the head with the stupid stick. "

Whats the Worst Ad you've seen?

2004-02-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

Quiznos Subs ! I'm watching the really crappy ad where two UGLY looking creatures sing a song about Quizno's out of tune.... I've detested going to Quiznos ever since - it just grossed me out completely. I really wonder who's in charge of marketing there ! Hmmmmff !

At least I have company, although Slate doesn't seem to think so.

Motorola Wifi capable MPx

2004-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

Check out Motorola's latest WiFi handset - the Motorola MPx.

Windows Portable Media Centers: iPod watch out !

2004-02-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

The Portable Media Center boasts of devices with 40GB of storage and a small form factor. With Microsoft's entry into this market, maybe its time the folks at Apple took notice (I am sure they have). I like the marketing hype here - all the mumbo jumbo just refers to the 40GB hard disk they expect on these portable media devices. Launch date is expected to be the second half of 2004. Microsoft's partners include Creative, Samsung, Sanyo and Viewsonic - I guess that takes care of the pricing issue.

Words to/not to use during a sale

2004-02-19T21:51:00.000-08:00

Fresh Inc. points to an interesting article on the 'right' words to use when pursuing a sale. Link to the article.

Even working at an industrial research lab, where I am responsible for 'selling' research concepts to product groups - at no cost to them - I can really apprecaite the needs to use the 'right' vocabulary when trying to close a deal. This article covers some important terms to avido that otherwise could trigger negative thoughts on the part of the buyer.

Technology: Mono and IKVM

2004-02-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

It'd been a while since I looked up Mono - the open implementation of the Microsoft .NET framework for Linux. I am rather impressed by the progress. I need to download it myself and check it out soon. I'm also interested to note the JVM for .NET - IKVM. I'm interested to see if it really lives upto what is mentioned in its FAQs. More on this in the coming weeks.

Jeffrey Veen: Seven Steps to Better Presentationss

2004-02-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

Jeffrey Veen has a blog posting on Seven Steps to Better Presentationss. Its quite useful. Although I wouldn't claim to be an exceptional speaker, I admit that I've used some of the ideas mentioned here in the past.

A resource for software marketing, software sales, and software product marketing

2004-02-06T23:18:00.000-08:00

A resource for software marketing, software sales, and software product marketing - read this

ongoing � Bouncing Termsheets

2004-02-06T23:05:00.000-08:00

ongoing Bouncing Termsheets

Tim Bray has an excellent blog posting for potential enterpreneurs [via Raj Jain]

Lessons from Martial Arts applicable in the Corporate World

2004-02-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

Back in school I had obtained a third degree brown belt in Shotokan (Japanese) style Karate. I am currently learning a slightly different style that is a mixture of Korean and Japanese styles with some street and ground fighting added for flavour. I am a white belt once again - although one who kicks and punches like a brown belt ! :-)

One of the biggest lessons I have learnt from the ring (kumete/sparring) is the fact that I should be ever cautious of a counter move for any move that I make. A punching bag never strikes back. A live opponent is very different. The same is the case in a business scenario or anywhere in real life - you make the strike, but always expect a counter strike - and don't look surprised when it happens. Keep your guard up !

The next time I get on the ring I'll make sure I remember this - both in the dojo (gym) and in life......

Humor: Introvertster

2004-01-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

Introvertster is an online community that prevents stupid people and friends from harrassing you online - its hillarious ! - a spoof of Friendster. Check out the people under the section entitled testimonials.

Signs that TiVo is becoming mainstream

2004-01-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

More signs that Tivo has moved out from the 'early adopter' market to the general population: USA Today announced that they will publish TiVo data in their Life section

Eclipse (Java IDE) in the news

2004-01-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

Recent articles on the Eclipse breakaway from founder IBM:

Sun urges Eclipse to unify Java world

New age dawns at Eclipse

I just hope that Eclipse remains free and they keep the momentum going. Eclipse is definitely my favorite IDE for development in Java - primarily because its $Free$ and so feature rich (with all those available plugins) - I don't see any reason why anyone would want to $buy$ tools like Borland JBuilder.

Free-software guru meets Indian president

2004-01-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

Finally I see something different coming from news related to New Delhi. The Free Software Foundation founder, Richard Stallman met India's president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to discuss "the ethical issues related to the use of proprietary software". Kalam had spoken out in favor of open source intiatives and the need for India to get out of proprietary software solutions. Its nice to see that we finally have a president who understands technology and has the ability to voice out concerns related to it. Kalam, before becoming president headed the evolution of ISRO’s (India's NASA) launch vehicle programmeand later took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organisation as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). In India he is synonymous with missle technology and making India part of the 'nuclear club'.

Play Your Tunes Away From Home

2004-01-28T19:31:00.000-08:00

This WIRED news article talks about a service called Muse.Net from MediaCore. It allows you to Play Your multimedia files Away From Home. I wonder how they are doing financially .....

Update: I did a small search and found the MediaCore's co-founder Robert Lord's homepage. According to the site, MediaCore has been acquired by Yahoo!

Warrants against Kalam, Chief Justice

2004-01-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

This is probably one of the most interesting articles regarding corruption in India that I have ever seen. An undercover journalist in Gujrat managed to bribe his way through a lower court to obtain
warrants against Abdul Kalam (President of India) and the Chief Justice. All for just Rs. 40,000. Thats outrageous!

FAX SPAM ! What will they think of next ? - door-to-door salesmen ?!

2004-01-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

I got this mail from a friend today morning:

"I got SPAM in my FAX. grrr! How the hell did they get
my fax no? I have to call a toll free number if I want
to be removed from their 'Database'."

This is outrageous! I'm getting email spam, text message spam and now FAX spam ?!? Thank goodness the government took some action against telemarketers - once of the reasons why I decided against getting a landline at home was to avoid them. Fortunately there was always some regulatory measure against telemarketer calling up cell phones. When can we start seeing some strong International regulations against other forms of spam ?!?

I've always promoted people not to buy products that are advertised using these means. Stop buying products from companies who advertise their wares via marketing companies who use spammers to distribute ads. I mean this not only for body part enlargement products, but for regular products such as telephone services and other consumer goods as well! Hit them at their source of income. Only if people start voicing thier concerns and taking actions such as this can we see a solution some day.....

Corporate Blogging - Motorola a case study

2004-01-26T20:46:00.000-08:00

I've set up an internal blog within my organization, Motorola Labs - my next move is to try to get more people within the organization to start using it. With all the reading people do within my group, I can see it becoming an invaluable repository of information related to our areas of research - All this under the assumption that people actually adopt it. I hope the idea that feeds from the blogs can actually be syndicated to anyone (with a valid corporate username/password) within the organization - even product groups with interest in areas we work on, will make it more sellable as a publishing medium.

Its finally my turn to see if I can make the fat elephant dance !

Managing Startups

2004-01-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

Via E M E R G I C . o r g, Heidi Roizen, a managing director of Mobius Venture Capital recommends to CEOs of startups:

Most of the successful companies from my generation of entrepreneurs did not find their success in their original business plan. But a great team with a deep understanding of a particular market usually finds the seam to mine over time. You just have to know the difference between evolving and wandering.

It’s lonely being a startup CEO. You are comrades with your co-workers but you still have to stand alone at times. Many, many tough decisions had to be made over the last few years. I think a great coach helps the entrepreneur think through the decisions and come up with not only the best decision but the right way to execute it as well.

My advice to CEOs is to hire the very best, act as if your life depended on every person you bring on your team, and put a ton of cycles into finding, referencing, recruiting, and retaining those people.

Every firm has its own challenges and opportunities, that is what makes this fun—and also risky. But all of them have much in common: hire the greatest people you can, be paranoid about the competition, listen to your customers, develop a business model that makes sense.

Humour: Terror Alert Level

2004-01-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

I tend not to post on politics here. No disrespect, but I found these links to be simply hillarious:

Def Con Alerts
Terror Alert Level