Vinit Bhansali's shared items in Google Reader

Awesome: The Game Crafter Lets You Build And Sell Your Own Custom Board Games

2009-07-17T02:48:18Z

Now this is a great idea. The Game Crafter is a new company that lets you build your own, fully customized, table-top games. Board games, card games — you name it, there’s a good chance these guys can put it together for you, with fully customized art assets and text.

Building a game is fairly straightforward — you upload the art assets you’d like to have printed on your game board and cards, pick out which accessories should be included in the box (dice, pawns, etc.) and write out the game’s documentation laying down the rules. Of course, that’s all a bit easier said than done if you don’t have a bunch of art assets sitting around. Still, once you have your images and text in hand, actually putting the game together is painless. Unsurprisingly there are still some limitations (you can’t currently design custom pawns), but the company is planning to add more customization options shortly.

As you put your game together, the site will give you an idea of how much it will cost to build based on how many cards, pieces, and boards it requires. From there, you can either order it at cost for yourself or set a sale price and sell it on the site’s integrated store. The store is pretty empty at this point with only a handful of games available, but it’s a start.

The best part of this for novice game builders is that there’s no up-front cost to get started — the site handles all distribution and printing costs, taking a 50% cut of the profits from each sale. A 50% cut sounds like a lot, but the company defends the price-point by explaining out how much you’d get if you managed to get your game in stores — according to the site, you’d typically have to give the game’s distributor 30% of the the proceeds, with the retailer taking another 40%, leaving you with only 30% of the sale price. You also retain all rights to the game, so you’re free to take it off and sell it elsewhere should a better opportunity come along.

It sounds great, but there are still a few caveats. The site’s production page notes that while cards are full color and printed on hefty card stock, they’re printed with wax instead of ink, which is less exact. Likewise, card printing isn’t exactly perfect, and there’s a chance some parts of the card’s far edges will be cut off. Still, it sounds easy to compensate for these issues, and the technology is only going to get better.

We think this is such a cool idea that we’ve currently got an intern hard at work at creating a TechCrunch board game. It’s still early in the planning stages (feel free to leave ideas in the comments), and we’ll let you know once it’s ready.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Making presentations in the TED style

2009-05-12T04:31:28Z

TED has earned a lot of attention over the years for many reasons, including the nature and quality of its short-form conference presentations. All presenters lucky enough to be asked to speak at TED are given 18-minute slots maximum (some are for even less time such as 3- and 6-minute slots). Some who present at TED are not used to speaking on a large stage, or are at least not used to speaking on their topic with strict time restraints. TED does not make a big deal publicly out of the TED Commandments, but many TED presenters have referenced the speaking guidelines in their talks and in their blogs over the years (e.g., Ben Saunders).

Thanks to Tim Longhurst (The TED Commandments - rules every speaker needs to know) you can see the list in an easier to read format below.

Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick.
Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before.
Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion.
Thou Shalt Tell a Story.
Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy.
Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee.

TEDx Tokyo 2009
In less than two weeks TEDx Tokyo will have its unveiling. I will be advising some of the presenters on site the day before TEDx and pointing them to this particular post and other resources in the days ahead. There is not one best way to speak at a TED conference, there are many different ways. But what the good presentations have in common is that they were created carefully and thoughtfully with the audience in mind and were delivered with passion, clarity, brevity, and always with "the story" of it (whatever it is) in mind. So let the list of 10 above be your general guide. In addition, take a look at some of the TED presentations below. They all follow a different style but were effective and memorable in their own way.

• Presenting fully naked, no slides, no script
Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? Sir Ken knows what he wants to say and usually has 2-3 key points in mind, but he does not read a script or use notes. He makes good use of humor and story to illustrate his points.

• Presenting with highly visual slides in the PZ style
Seth Godin: Why tribes, not money or factories, will change the world. Seth uses many, large colorful slides in his talks but the slides have very little (if any) text. Seth is out front totally engaged.

• Presenting with slides kind of like Al Gore
Al Gore: 15 ways to avert a climate crisis. Al Gore became an engaging presenter with the aid of simple, high-impact visuals that helped him tell the story and give evidence supporting his content.

• Using a prepared script from the lectern (no slides)
Isabel Allende: Tales of passion. In general, I do not recommend reading a speech at such a conference, but if you do read, do it in a way that is engaging as demonstrated by Isabel Allende.

• Using a prepared script from the lectern (with slides/video)
Sylvia Earle (TED Prize winner 2009). Although Dr. Earle was using a script, she knew her material so well that it felt natural and the pacing was almost perfect with the visuals.

• Presenting well in spite of superfluous, cruddy bulleted slides
Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do. Tony Robbins speaks for a living, and while I do not recommend swearing from the stage, Tony was able to engage a rather skeptical audience at TED in spite of poor visuals. Watch the presentation to see how.

• Presenting in a way that makes an amazing connection with the audience
Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight. Dr. Taylor uses some slides and one prop (an actual human brain), but mainly she lets her emotions out and tells her story in an honest, sincere way. Amazing.

• Presenting data with slides to tell meaningful stories
Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you've ever seen. Who says data is boring? Data is like notes on a page, says Dr. Rosling, it's up to the presenter (the conductor) to bring the data (music) alive for the people.

• Presenting in sync with many, many slides
Larry Lessig: How creativity is being strangled by the law. Who says you can't speak well to 200 PowerPoint/Keynote slides? No one does it like Prof. Lessig.

• Presenting from the piano, the stage, & within the audience
Benjamin Zander: Classical music with shining eyes. What can I say? If you present with even half the conviction and passion of the great Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic and loyal TEDster, you will blow their socks off.

These are not the only good presentations at TED, but these are some of the better ones. Perhaps you'd like to share your personal favorites from the point of view not just of content but from the stand point of preparation, design, and delivery.

Bill Gates vs. Bill Gates
Again, you do not have to use slides at TED (or TEDx, etc.), but if you do use slides, think of using them more in the style of Bill Gates the TEDster rather than Bill Gates the bullet point guy from the past. As Bill has shown, everyone can get better at presenting on stage.

If you have a short-form presentation to give, be more like the new & improved Bill Gates (left).

How to Motivate Programmers

2009-05-23T07:59:59Z

There's an inherent paradox in motivating programmers. I think this Geek Hero Comic illustrates it perfectly:

It's a phenomenon I've noticed even in myself. Nothing motivates like having another programmer tell you they're rewriting your code because it sucks. Dave Thomas has talked about this for years in his classic Developing Expertise presentation, supported by the following quote:

Interestingly enough, a friend of mine (who is a quality control manager in a hospital) often makes identical statements in reference to doctors: Polite requests, coercion, etc. are useless at best and often detrimental. Peer pressure and competition are the key.
Don't try to race sheep,
Don't try to herd race horses

Yes, the use of the term sheep is mildly derogatory, but the general principle is sound: use motivational techniques that are appropriate to the level of developers you're working with. If you have neophyte developers, herd them with maxims, guidelines and static rules. If you have experienced developers, rules are less useful. Instead, encourage them to race: engage in a little friendly competition and show off how good they are to their peers.

Of them. Of me. And of time so inadequate.

2009-05-22T20:01:00Z

Slow down! Slow Down!
They all tell me.
You have time. Loads of time.
They all tell me.
How do they know?
I have to ask.
Do I have a lakh of days
or just enough for a prayer?
How do they know?
Do they have enough?
Whether ten or a thousand?
How do they know?

I look at them,
by the road side,
sleeping on their mats
in the heat with no taps.
I swallow a tear
too embarrassed every time
as I pass on by in my ac car
knowing my time will come
in five years or so
when I can help their kind
and change their world
as much as I can

Now I wait
As I have waited since I was eight
The time is close now
Dream, I can now
Plan, I should not
lest it takes from the path.

Time is short and the wait is long
Only by finishing my first can I go to the next
Will it run out if I run faster?

Take a Break with Browser Ball

2009-03-25T19:23:31Z

When's the last time you saw something really cool on your browser? Take a moment and click this link for Browser Ball, a cool and purposeless browser toy. Launch it to create a main window, then click to create additional windows. Overlap them slightly and then toss the ball around. Cool, eh? Experiment with different window configurations, then invite people over to your cubical to check it out.

Browser Ball is an experiment created by Mark Mahoney, and I'm crazy about it. To see more surprising browser toys, visit Chrome Experiments. The site is a showcase for JavaScript browser creativity from programmers around the world. You don't need to use the Chrome browser to see them. Leave a comment below to let us know your favorite.

Userfulness of school activities in work

2008-12-19T14:51:12Z

This is so true. The same holds for college studies. Most of what I find useful at work is stuff I learnt myself…

Source: xkcd.com

- Suramya

The Differences Between Star Wars & Harry Potter

2008-09-16T17:27:15Z

Biopiracy and bird flu

2008-08-21T20:26:00Z

In late 2006, Indonesia sparked a furor in the international public health community when the country announced it would no longer supply samples of the H5N1 strain of bird flu to the World Health Organization. It wasn't fair, complained the developing nation, which is second only to Vietnam in recorded cases of human deaths from bird flu: Indonesia was providing crucial data for researchers working on vaccines, but prices for proprietary pharmaceutical products resulting from that data were too high for most Indonesians to afford. If you want to understand why citizens of developing nations get aggrieved about biopiracy, there's a clue.

After a flurry of worldwide publicity, Indonesia relented, and in March announced it would resume sending samples to the W.H.O., provided that the samples were not made available to commercial organizations. The debate over how best to serve the interests of both developing nations and pharmaceutical companies was by no means resolved, and according to the New York Times, Indonesia received only a tepid promise from W.H.O. "not to pass their samples on to commercial manufacturers without consulting the health minister of the country that provided the sample," but a clear point had been made.

Now in what appears to be something of a scoop, a freelancer writer and specialist in patents has revealed that even as Indonesia was threatening to withhold its samples, the United States government was applying for an international patent on a new vaccine that incorporates genetic code derived from Indonesian avian influenza samples.

Writes Edward Hammond, in the Aug. 15 issues of SUNS:

In a development that is likely to raise more pressing questions about reform of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN), an international patent application has surfaced in which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and U.S. National Institutes of Health claim ownership of Indonesian influenza genes.

A recent patent search has revealed that the CDC, which is a WHO collaborating centre, is applying for a patent for a new vaccine against influenza, particularly for bird flu (H5N1). The vaccine incorporates genes from a H5N1 strain isolated from an Indonesian human victim of bird flu in 2005.

The strain that contains the genes was transferred to the WHO GISN by Indonesia for characterization for public health purposes, but may wind up as the property of the US government.

Under U.S. law, the U.S. government agencies would offer licenses to the technology to pharmaceutical companies. The patent application indicates that the US government intends to pursue the claim in most countries of the world, including Indonesia itself, as well as neighboring countries.

One follower of intellectual property and public health at the blog IPMed found the patent application "troubling":

The patent application raises specific questions about the US CDC, which is a WHO Collaborating Center for influenza virus studies. The WHO Collaborating Centers receive influenza viruses from donor countries for public health characterization purposes, and not for the purposes of making proprietary claims. The Global Influenza Surveillance Network's effectiveness rests on the prompt sharing of and access to viruses from all donors. However, one wonders how many donor countries will wish to continue to share influenza viruses for research and vaccine development if it is that Governments who operate Collaborating Centers are minded to make proprietary claims over the materials which they have received as a result of the GISN system. Obviously this patent application built on the back of the GISN system of virus sharing will call into question the entire system and may very well undermine its effectiveness.

Admittedly, there is something very odd, and slightly disturbing, in the spectacle of a fight over who owns the DNA of a virus that could kill millions of people around the world. Should a country retain property rights to the strains of diseases that plague its citizens? There is also, as always, the niggling question of how the world is to fund the development of new vaccines if the few companies that are capable of producing the medicine aren't compensated for their efforts. Finally, it would seem to me that there is a clear difference between a U.S. government agency owning a patent and a company such as GlaxoSmithKline staking the claim.

Unless, of course, the U.S. does end up licensing its patent to Big Pharma without requiring some developing nation equity, in return.

What do you blog about?

2008-08-06T15:03:00Z

Well, my question should more appropriately be, "What do you like to say?"

Just tried http://www.wordle.net/ : It creates a word sphere of the words mostly used in a given text, website or blog.

Here is my 'wordle'

and here is vinit's

Yay !

2008-06-24T02:08:52Z

Forest Department wants lakes declared as ‘nature preserves’

PCCF’s status report submitted to High Court

Bangalore: In an assessment of the impact of privatisation on Bangalore’s lakes, the State Forest Department has described the Lake Development Authority’s programme of leasing out lakes to private developers as one that “seems to be taking all the ills of modern, built-up and paved-over, urban life into these hitherto natural spaces”. It has recommended that the lakes be declared as “nature or bird preserves”.

The report on three privatised lakes — Hebbal, Nagarava and Agara — was submitted to the Karnataka High Court on Monday. The court directed the Forest Department to visit and report on the lakes, following a public interest litigation petition filed in January, that challenged the legality of lake privatisation. The petition contended that these lakes were “common property resource.”

‘Habitats destroyed’

Last week, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Dilip Kumar, visited four lakes — Agara, Hebbal, Nagavara and Vengaiahnakere — leased out by the LDA to private companies for 15 years, for their “development, beautification and maintenance”.

Lake Hebbal was leased out to East India Hotels (the parent company of the Oberoi Group of Hotels) to create a recreational centre. The PCCF’s report on it observes that “dredged material (has been) piled on the lake margin to extend the land margin, thereby damaging the shoreline vegetation which is critical wildlife habitat….” Nagavara and Vengaiahnakere lakes, developed by Lumbini Gardens and ParC Ltd., respectively, have no habitat left for water birds, the report says. Lake Agara, leased out to Biota Natural Systems and yet to be developed, supports a richer diversity of aquatic vegetation and birds, and also supports a community of fishermen and weed collectors.The report has said the lakes that have not yet been developed “are well worth declaring as nature or bird preserves”. These bird preserves will be a tourist attraction and will serve as “a shining example of ecologically-wise integration of civic interest and biodiversity.” As there will be no “commercial bias”, it would be possible to maintain these facilities with reasonably low entrance fees.On food courts, boating and other recreational facilities, the report said “none of these commercial and tourism activities (should) be envisaged.”

Heathrow Airport goes RFID.

2008-02-26T10:48:56Z

According to the latest BBC report,London’s heathrow airport in the collaboration with Dubai’s Emirate Airlines and Motorola have started the RFID based baggage tracking .The British Airport Authority will donate around U.S $ 294,000 and would be deployed to track about 50,000 bags per month .

Top 9 unique structures soon to be built

2008-02-14T16:08:19Z

Written by deputydog

obviously, construction technologies are advancing extremely quickly. couple that with multi-billionnaires / deep-pocketed companies trying to outdo each other in the quest for the next standout design and you have a near-future filled with mile-high skyscrapers and buildings that no longer look like buildings.

below are 9 strange and unique structures which have either been approved or are in the final stages of approval. some have already been partially constructed.

welcome to the future landscape.

1. aqua, usa (website)

from a distance this skyscraper, to be completed in 2009 in chicago, will seem quite traditional. it’ll only be when you get close and look up that you can appreciate the ripple/jelly effect created by variously sized balconies from top to bottom.

2. chicago spire, usa (website)

the phenomenal chicago spire, when completed in 2010, will be the world’s tallest residential building and the tallest building of any kind in the western world. seemingly modelled on the image of a giant drill poking through the ground, the 609m structure will dominate the chicago skyline.

3. cctv headquarters, china (website)

at a modest 234m the cctv building isn’t going to stand out from a distance. however the design and shape is a crowdstopper to say the least and will be another incredible addition to beijing’s skyline in time for the 2008 olympics. the shape, described as a ‘z criss-cross’ results in a very high, seemingly unsupported corner at the front. let’s hope there’s a glass floor up there.

4. regatta hotel, jakarta (website)

taking on a nautical theme, the developers say the 10 smaller towers represent sailing boats whilst the larger building is ‘the lighthouse’. it’s the lighthouse that steals the show for me, possibly the most incredible looking structure i’ve seen for a long time. if it ends up looking anything close to these pictures i’ll be impressed.

5. residence antilia, india (architects’ website)

construction has begun on residence antilia despite opposition from those who see it as an ‘excessive’ design in a city where more than 65% of the population live in slums. politics aside and after you recover from the initial shock of seeing a skyscraper that resembles an ikea cd rack, the building actually looks like it may succeed as a stunning, unique, green piece of architecture.

6. russia tower, russia (architects’ website)

topped with an observation deck over the city of moscow, russia tower will become the tallest building in europe when completed in 2012 and twice the height of the eiffel tower. construction has already started on this angular beast which was designed by foster & partners, also responsible for the gherkin and spaceport america, currently in development.

7. penang global city centre, malaysia (website)

following months of speculation and sturdy opposition, this humungous project is in the final stages of approval and apparently construction will start very soon. even so, due to the size of the plan it will take at least 15 years to complete. resembling a sci-fi city, the area will be crowned by 2 x 200m towers and completely transform the small island of penang.

8. gazprom headquarters, russia (architects’ website)

this gigantic, 300m tall glass flame of a building will house the gazprom headquarters in st. petersburg, dwarfing all structures in its vicinity. it will apparently change colour up to 10 times per day depending on the position of the sun. the building has already been nicknamed ‘corn on the cob’ by unhappy locals.

9. burj dubai, dubai (website)

this is the big one. when completed next year it will be the tallest man-made structure in the world and the tallest building by a long shot with a predicted height of 818m. note: currently the tallest building on earth, excluding an antenna, is taipei 101 in taiwan which stands at 509m. the photo below is the building’s current state: the skyscrapers below the burj dubai used to look tall.

sources: 1, 2, 3

ShareThis

Welcome to CopperSpiral RFID!

2008-01-09T14:30:34Z

CopperSpiral RFID has grown exponentially by providing RFID software solutions to the various industries in India, America and other countries. Our aim is to deliver exceptional quality products and services to our clients and enable their technology infrastructure to support their core business activities whether they are in retail or manufacturing.

This blog is an effort to create a platform for industry news and to bring our knowledge to help others in the industry.

iDTRONIC, RFID Hardware Supplier, Introduces Long-Range HF Reader

2008-02-08T16:11:59Z

iDTRONIC, a supplier of RFID hardware, this morning announced the introduction of the HF Long Range Reader EzScan LRM for ISO 15693 transponders. The EzScan LRM Long Range Reader is a high-performance HF Long Range reader operating at 13.56MHz. It...

Adobe Releases BlazeDS, Open Source Version of LiveCycle Data Services

2007-12-13T05:00:27Z

One of the difficulties facing developers who want to create rich internet applications is HTML’s static nature, which requires that pages (unassisted by other scripting languages) must refresh in their entirety for any new information to load and appear. Technologies such as Ajax and Flash have been developed, at least in part, to overcome this limitation of HTML and facilitate the loading of new data onto a page without the requirement of a refresh. Many Web 2.0 companies have taken advantage of such technology in making their applications operate more seamlessly like desktop apps, but the technology still has quite a way to go.

Ajax, for example, isn’t designed to load new information onto a page unless that page has makes the initiative to request more data in the first place (i.e. the user interacts in a particular way with the page that causes it to ping the server for extra stuff). If you want to design an application that pushes information out to a page (say, up-to-the-second stock prices) whether or not the page has made a request, you can pull off the functionality with Ajax but your code won’t be “elegant” and it probably won’t be very efficient either.

Adobe is making a set of announcements tonight, the largest of which is meant to solve this issue of sending data back and forth with a visitor’s browser more elegantly, thereby helping developers create richer internet applications. The company has offered a product called LiveCycle Data Services (previously Flex Data Services) that works with Flex, a technology for building Flash applications. It provides advanced capabilities for Flash applets that allow them to connect up with server-side, back-end systems (in other words, to communicate “back home” with the server that originally loaded a page).

Tonight, Adobe is releasing an open sourced, beta version of LiveCycle Data Services called BlazeDS. The open source nature of BlazeDS will make it a welcome addition to the developer’s arsenal. But on top of opening it up, Adobe is adding extra functionality called HTTP streaming that enables clients (i.e. applets in end-user browsers) to initiate persistent connections with servers that allow those servers to push data back to the client whenever the server deems a transfer necessary (e.g. to send the latest stock price). The hope is that this technology will make it possible for data to flow both ways (from server and back) much more efficiently. The most notable difference for website visitors should be faster performance, and hopefully better functionality as well.

Adobe will also be making available something called LiveCycle Data Services Community Edition, basically BlazeDS but with Adobe quality control (i.e. certification) and support. This enterprise version of the technology, which the company compares to Red Hat’s enterprise offerings, will not be ready until early 2008 and pricing has yet to be disclosed.

In addition to the introduction of BlazeDS and its Community Edition, Adobe is releasing beta 3 versions of both Flex and AIR tonight. A commercial, non-open source version of BlazeDS (simply retaining the old name, LiveCycle Data Services) will also be maintained by Adobe and continue to offer some additional functionality not found in the open source version.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

PC Mag's Holiday Gaming Roundup

2007-12-14T21:40:47Z

Once a year, we at PC Magazine get to break free from our soul-crushing everyday lives, invade the Labs, and log uncounted hours playing the newest video games. This time out, we've taken a look at 38 of the hottest new titles for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, Nintendo DS, and PSP.

I wrote up a few reviews myself. One of the games I tested, Super Mario Galaxy, gets my vote for 2007's Game of Year--though to be totally fair, I've always been a sucker for anything that involves the rotund little plumber. I'm not sure the other reviewers would agree with me, especially with titles like Guitar Hero III, Assassin's Creed, Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends, and Rock Band on the list of reviews.

Why bootstrap your business? 1- The big picture, 2- some good reasons, and 3- a few negatives [Sid Mohasseb]

2007-10-04T22:56:07Z

There is just too much to say about the topic and I have been warned about being too verbose with lengthily postings so this is a 3 posting series. Following is the first posting:

The big picture of bootstrapping

Bootstraping, in my opinion, is not about conserving cash or paying out of your credit cards (although those may become ways to achieve it). Bootstrapping is about taking the right action at the right time. It is about making quick and timely decisions. And it is about being focused on cash flow and incremental progress.

There are a few key elements / drivers that make bootstrapping generally lead to better results:

1- When in Bootstrapping mode, the margin of error is much smaller and more importantly the entrepreneur knows it. This causes decisions to be more focused on generating results and on making money, and that is a very good thing.

2- The risk is personal and decisions are reduced to absolute “value” delivery. Being the one who would hold the bag if things don’t work and being conscious about the responsibility to our family makes the risks to be taken very personal. Naturally the game becomes much more dangerous but the danger brings with it a wonderful force of reason that makes us focus on doing the things activities and products that delivers value to the customer – the only way to make money is if we sell & collect and the only way to do that is if the customers see a compelling value in what we do – personal risk forces us to focus on the essentials, and that is a very good thing.

3- Time is a commodity in bootstrapping mode - this makes agility the norm. Being pressed by time makes us move faster, make quicker decisions and deal with our errors faster – being conscious of time, makes the entrepreneur place more focus on the process, the strategy and people – the three elements of execution - time limitation makes us more creative in finding solutions to issues and more agile in dealing with correcting our errors – and that is huge thing!

Coming up some next posting: good reasons to bootstrap.

What kind of an entrepreneur are you? [Sid Mohasseb]

2007-10-04T22:58:03Z

In my days, I have met with many many entrepreneurs. We have agreed and disagreed on things, learned from each other, and experienced disappointments and successes together.

Here is “one” way to slice and dice the group.

The Pure Dreamer
The pure dreamer is filled with new and novel ideas -- innovations and schemes that will make a lot of money -- for some, every once in a while they see their pictures on the front page of the Time magazine . Despite their potential, majority of these folks never cross the bridge and get to the “doing side.” They are always waiting for the right time and almost always regretful (if only, I had that idea a long time ago, ..). My advice to this group is to either admit that you are a dreamer (get it over with) and then enjoy the dreams and the innovations without regret, frustration and the feeling of failure OR “just do it” as the saying goes; the short cut to results may be finding a partner with a different character profile!
The “not so Pure” Dreamer
These are the self proclaimed entrepreneurs that generate ideas faster than bunny’s produce offsprings. They have a shotgun approach - the more bullets in the air the higher the chance of a hit. The not so pure dreamers have yet to see an idea they do don’t like and a risk level that is too high! My advice to them is that entrepreneurship is more of a laser guided sport and the more is not always the merrier. Aim carefully and focus. Fast talking is not the same as salesmanship and focusing on a quick buck is not entrepreneurship.
The Always Stealth Creator
As the name suggests these guys have discovered the next big thing but are afraid that others may find out and copy it - on the basic assumption that the rest of the universe are “non-thinkers” and will not figure it out on their own. These folks skill fully conceal the innovation, often to the point of obsolescence. My advice to this group is there a lot of smart people out there and that it is “doing” that makes money and not “hiding” – To capitalize on a good idea you must first share it.
The Enforcer
Well, these folks are skillful, mechanical and hard workers. They are intelligent and astute. They particularly shine in large corporate settings. They are not necessarily “first idea” people or original tinkers, but they can find a 1001 ways to expand an idea, open up markets for it and lead an organization to results. However, they often fail in start-up situations – naturally they would disagree. My advice to this group is that being a great corporate entrepreneur does not necessarily qualify you to be a start-up executive / founder. Be very careful; make sure you fully understand the differences between the two before you jump in.
The 100% Genuine thing
The genuine thing, although a risk taker can walk away easily if the opportunity does not make sense at a gut level. Is constantly planning the next step and most often has a passion that transcends “dollars.” A genuine entrepreneur prefers smaller organizations that can be turned on a dime. They like to be in the middle of things and can motivate people with their vision and passion to accomplish unordinary things. They are always looking for new ideas but are fairly grounded with respect to execution – can it be done? Is it worth doing? My advice to this group is “don’t” fight it!

Which one are you??? Should I develop an “Are you an entrepreneur test” ?

Why bootstrap your business? 2- Some Good Reasons [Sid Mohasseb]

2007-10-04T22:55:19Z

There is just too much to say about the topic and I have been warned about being too verbose with lengthily postings so this is a 3 posting series. Following is the first posting:

Some Good reasons to Bootstrap

1- Bootstrapping ensures that you build your business on legitimate, real world value propositions. You truly focused on customer value from day one.

2- Bootstrapping initiates the critical sales learning process sooner, not later.

3-Bootstrapping does not waste money: the focus here is on the early and closer customer contact.

4- Bootstrapping accelerates time to market and time to profitability – if you can not possibility wait for the next version to get ready, you compromise and try to make money from what you have.

5-Bootstrappers are less likely to make big, fatal financial mistakes. Being alert about survival makes people much more alert about catching fatal mistakes.

6- Bootstrappers are forced into unconventional thinking – necessity is truly the mother of invention.

7-Bootstrappers have more freedom and flexibility – when you take money you become slaved to the business plan.

8- Bootstrappers end up owning much more of what they create – and that is a good thing.

Coming next a few words about when you should not bootstrap & some of the negatives.

Why bootstrap your business? So when is bootstraping not a good idea? [Sid Mohasseb]

2007-10-04T22:54:35Z

There is just too much to say about the topic and I have been warned about being too verbose with lengthily postings so this is a 3 posting series. Following is the third and last posting:

So when is bootstraping not a good idea? Almost never!

However … there are times that injection of external funding is crucial to the delivery of value and no revenues can be generated unless significant investments are made. In these cases the bootstrappong duration may be shortened but not eliminated.

When things are not in your control or costs are very high:

1- You are in the pharma or medical devices business and an FDA approval is needed before you can sell – these ventures usually involve significant upfront research and multiple scientists , require expensive lab equipment and need to have trial results from hundreds to thousands of people. In this cases the SBIR and other grants are critical and should not be overlooked – not only they are non-dilutive, they help provide credibility – building university and commercialization partners are also critical.

2- Chip design – regardless of the simplicity of semiconductor chip ventures, the need for working with fabs and uncontrollable time periods between testing cycles is a killer – every time you make a revision in design you have to wait for 4 to 12 weeks for a turn around – the wait is expensive. These ventures almost always need a lot more money – in these cases the market must be very very large and the innovation very very novel for the investors to engage early – SBIR grants are also often feasible.

3- Situations where the time to revenue is a function of “mass traction” – these would include social networking and some internet projects – this group of ventures will benefit significantly in terms of valuation and funding chances if they can show traffic traction – the novelty in these type of projects is slowly wearing off and targeting and niche play is becoming paramount. A word of advice do not worry bou technology scalability – worry about getting traffic first.

And here are a few against the grain comments on the topic!

Although some are believers in the first to market argument – I am not one of them. If your value proposition is solid, you can be the second to market and win - often is the second mice that gets the cheese. We need significant money now or we will lose market share is an argument against the strength of the value proposition!

I am also not a believer in “we are losing customers” argument either – if your value proposition is compelling converting an opportunity into a sales should be the focus. Customers are your best source of cash (surprise) and they are non-dilutive.

And that is one man’s opinion.