Archit Shrivastava

10 most useful browser addons for product managers

2017-04-22T18:01:00.000+05:30

Edit this cookie

As product manager if you do drive a lot of A/B experiments based on cookie values, this extension is of great help. This can help you quickly set the desired cookie value and see different experiences/features attached to that cookie value and change everything related with cookie

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/editthiscookie/fngmhnnpilhplaeedifhccceomclgfbg?ref=producthunt

Tag Assistant by Google

This extension is handly tool to check all the Google analytics events which are firing on a particular page or a certain action. Once you enable the extension, perform the action for which you need to analytics and review the extension pane to see the tracking details

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tag-assistant-by-google/kejbdjndbnbjgmefkgdddjlbokphdefk?ref=producthunt

Effin UTM builder

Tracking the traffic and conversions coming through various campaigns is really important to understand the effectiveness of campaigns and realign the budgets. Using UTM parameters is a widely accepted method of tracking campaign performance. This extension provides a quick way to save time and create URLs with UTM parameters

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/effin-amazing-utm-builder/eoaapiimcaimddnfhfnifgkinmpcbccp

Perfect pixel

It helps you understand the variations in the final page/screen from the initial design to begin with.

PerfectPixel allows you create a translucent layer on the page to add the final mock. This way you can easily compare the output and decide whether there are any variations and if in the acceptable limit

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/perfectpixel-by-welldonec/dkaagdgjmgdmbnecmcefdhjekcoceebi

SEOquake

Very handy tool to understand the SEO related metrics for any page instantly. It tells you the Keyword density, internal and external links, etc. It can also do a quick SEO audit of the page for quick and easy optimizations as it give out the tips for fixing the highlighted issues

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/seoquake/akdgnmcogleenhbclghghlkkdndkjdjc

Rapportive

This extension is most useful for PMs or ppl in outbound role where they have to interact with a lot of external folks. This extension shows rich social networking profiles of the email sender right inside your gmail account with the actional CTAs. Useful for networking.

http://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rapportive/hihakjfhbmlmjdnnhegiciffjplmdhin

User-Agent Switcher

This extension adds a quick button to your browser to allow you to switch and mimic different user-agents. It pretty much has all popular browsers and devices and I like it because of its simplicity

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-g/ffhkkpnppgnfaobgihpdblnhmmbodake

Awesome screenshots

As name suggests, this extension lets you take a screenshot but what makes it awesome is the ability to capture the entire scroll, add annotations, comments, blur sensitive info, and share with ease

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/awesome-screenshot-screen/nlipoenfbbikpbjkfpfillcgkoblgpmj

Product hunt

is a new-tab chrome extension, it replaces your default tab with latest product releases with summary and links to try them out. A good to keep track of what’s new products are getting released

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/product-hunt/likjafohlgffamccflcidmedfongmkee

Sortd

This is not only useful for product managers but for anyone who uses gmail and is a fan of trello. It is basically a smart skin for gmail which allows you to drag drop and categories emails. It also embeds some useful buttons in the regular gmail UI for you to prioritize, set reminders, follow-up or snooze emails.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sortd-smart-skin-for-gmai/aohlfneeliakfcefeffppfplagbccbni?hl=en

Other than these the 2 more extensions which I find really useful increasing the productivity but are more generic in nature are Toomanytabs and Wunderlist.

Hope you find the list useful. Do share your fav. add-ons in the comments section as a product guy

Reinvent the Wheel

2017-01-17T19:45:00.001+05:30

Whosoever popularized the phrase "do not reinvent the wheel" obviously failed to anticipate the fierce competition and market dynamics of 21^st century that are causing wear and tear to the famous old wheel. Today, if a product needs to stay competent it not only needs to build on the existing services and product offerings but reinvent them all together. Hitherto, the phrase is so deeply imbibed in corporate language that one fails to properly think through it.

This article talks about 2 scenarios where it makes more sense in the long run to go for reinvention/redesign of the product or service. It also introduces the concept of ‘Reinvention Trap’ and how to avoid the same

Let us look at product examples from not only IT but other sectors to help conclude that the deriving conditions will hold good for all types of products, irrespective of the industry

First example is from Pharmaceutical industry, of a chronic disease of‘Asthma’. There are several drugs available in the market that treats it, so does it make business sense to develop another one? Well, yes as the existing Asthma drugs causes a lot of side effects like swelling on face, abdominal pain, increased blood pressure, etc. and if the new drug has less side effects and is more or even equally effective, then definitely yes. A management analogy from this will give us the first condition

Condition 1: If your product/process/service achieves its desired output but consumes resources (time, money, manpower, machinery etc.) superfluously, there is a need for reinvention

As second example, take a look at what Apple is being doing for a while. All the fantastic products of its portfolio were being reinvented whether it is i-pod or i-phone. Neither an mp3 player nor a touch screen phone was a new concept. What Apple cashed on is their reinvented design clubbed with latest technology. This allowed Apple to build proprietary products and scope to charge licensing fee.

Now come to – Auto industry for third example, Tire segment where ‘reinventing the wheel’ makes most literal sense. When the basic auto tire was invented it fulfilled only the current need of transportation but ignored the latent need of users – elucidation of flat tire. So in 1846 - Robert William Thomson invented pneumatic vehicle tire or run-flat tire design and eventually over centuries it has evolved with science. So the second condition for reinventing the wheel is

Condition 2: When the existing product fails to account for latent needs of users

One should be careful of the ‘Reinvention Trap’, where at the abstract level you might think that reinvention is good approach though the problem lies somewhere else. The actual problem will be downed in system in a subtle way that on first scan it may go undetected. For example - Information asymmetry could create such impression. Here process re-engineering would be a more effective approach

Managing App constellation and App unbundling

2015-09-10T22:30:00.000+05:30

App unbundling is nothing but carving out specific functionalities from the app and offer them as stand alone specialty apps under the a single umbrella and in turn create app constellation. It is not necessary that App constellation will always be created by carving out some feature from the existing app, a new feature can also be launched as a new app. Unbundling has received a lot of attention from big and small players equally in the recent past.

This post will not only ask the right questions to help you decide on your app strategy, but also give you the pointers which could make all the difference

Why create App constellation?

Mutually exclusive user segments primarily use only selected functionalities of the app. Hence it makes perfect sense to unbundle the app for specific users. Also assimilating more and more features into a single app makes it bulky, clumsy, prone to more crashes and requiring more frequent releases then what users would tolerate.

It is also an effective way to use your established app with a large user base to drive traffic and distribution towards your newer app.

When to unbundle

It is easy to see the need of unbundling if you have strong use cases for separate apps or even when the app you are splitting into is not just a feature, but a full fledged service. But the need is not this clear. Some of the subtle cases which are easy to miss include

1. The prime spot dilemma - Competition arising among different functions for the primary CTA and all are equally important for a great user experience.

2. The Growth boost selective blindness - User base and feature set combination grows beyond initial focus but continues to serve the original mission

Advantages of Unbundling

1. Faster Iterations - Less the usecases an app caters, lesser the QA cycle will be and the time to market will be slightly faster

2. Robustness - Less the features in the app, lesser will be the complexity and in turn lesser the number of crashes

3. Specialized and Simplified experience - Mobile app user is often task oriented. In other words users almost exclusively use selected features. Unbundling allows you to concentrate on more targeted user base and what they want

4. Increased ad inventory, Controlled update cycles, App size arrest are some added advantages of unbundling

Challenges in App unbundling

1. Increased cost of user acquisition - App user acquisition cost easily ranges between $1 - $10. So the more the number of apps, the higher the spends will be.

2. Navigating the development and design requirements - Since every organization has limited set of resources, the more apps you add in your portfolio the difficult it becomes to deal with the versions, interoperability and keeping pace with the app upgrades.

3. Keeping the engagement high over time - It becomes difficult to keep the users always excited about your app with a limited set of features and specialized offerings.

4. Play store visibility - Gaining visibility in the app stores can be magnified when dealing with multiple apps. Though with the latest Play store desktop revamp, I believe it turns to your advantage. At least the right rail of your app page will not be taken over by competitors apps showing up there.

5. Network effect - Demand-side economies of scale can go for a toss if the existing user base starts splitting in unintended fashion

6. App rank - Play store rank is an indirect is a function of download, which will go down with split in the marketing efforts & users

7. Authentic experience confusion - A confusion can easily arise in users mind if he sees multiple apps from a same developer to which one would fit his needs in the best possible way

8. Also, lets not forget about the fact that should matter most - Inconvenience to users. As more storage is needed for installing multiple apps, the chances of app cannibalisation increases drastically

Types of App constellations / Ways to Unbundle

1. Based on User segment
(Zomato for business, Zomato order, Zomato restaurant finder, Linkedin Recruiter)

2. Based on a strong specific use cases

(Linkedin’s Job search, Linkedin Pulse, FB messenger)

3. Based on operating Market
(OLX Brazil, OLX Indonesia, etc.)

4. Based on Premium features
(Nova Launcher prime, CamScanner License)

5. Based on Verticals
(Gdrive – Sheets, Docs, Slides,)

Best practices

1. Keep it light - Constellation apps should be lightweight as the overlapping user segments will probably need to have more than 1 app now on their devices

2. Have a Transition period - Before you require your users to download the new app, ensure they understand what it is and how the new app is going to better serve their needs. The additional benefit of this approach is to work out any kinks in the new app

3. Cross App login - Automatic profile transition and login helps with the user adoption as they can directly start using it

4. Avoid the Nuclear approach – Don’t force the download with the approach of download the app or loose this feature. Forcing download results in –ve app rating and can potentially lose a user segment

5. Cross promotion and interaction - Create the communication bridge between different apps. Surface the entry to other apps at right places but in a subtle way. Keep the path open for cross app back and forth

Stats that matters

Following are some numbers that you should consider before deciding on going down the unbundling road

1. Apps used by users per month : ~ 20-25 (varies depending upon the user market)

2. Average Apps installed per phone: ~ 20-25

3. Most users generally use ~20% of overall experience of an app (except the game apps)

4. The amount of time users spend on apps increased from 2013 to 2014, but the average number of apps actually used remained flat year-over-year at roughly 26

5. Finally, do an analysis identifying the overlap of users between the usecases you are planning to separate. If the number of users is high, take a pause and re-assess the whole strategy

References
http://sodaspeaks.com/2014/11/app-unbundling-simplifying-apps-by-breaking-out-their-experiences/
http://www.imore.com/just-deleted-foursquare-come-me-facebook
http://www.tune.com/blog/unbundling-multi-app-movement/
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/01/an-upper-limit-for-apps-new-data-suggests-consumers-only-use-around-two-dozen-apps-per-month/
https://gigaom.com/2014/05/11/mobile-divided-why-social-media-app-unbundling-still-has-risks/
http://www.affino.com/blogs/my-blog--stefan/is-facebook-mobile-app-unbundling-a-good-thing

Right time to release mobile app update

2015-04-20T17:10:00.000+05:30

Mobile apps were already taking over the center stage for consumer web products but with the latest trend from major players of closing down the websites and offering app only experience is reshaping the way companies do business. With limited storage capability of mobile phones and data plans still being precious, it becomes even more important to understand the frequency at which you should publish updates to your mobile app irrespective of the mobile platform (Android, Windows, iOS)

In case of websites, the updates are less intrusive. Users generally do not even notice them unless they includes user facing changes and all the users automatically get the latest experience as soon as they visit the site. So weekly or twice a week releases are fairly accepted practice. Companies even strive to attain CISD (Continuous Improvement Continuous Deployment) state.

Mobile apps world is totally different.
Every time you need to introduce a new feature, modify existing flow or fix a bug, it needs an app release. Now your existing users need to upgrade to the latest app version to benefit from the new update.
Since it is user dependent, the adoption to new releases varies dramatically from app to app
(depending on the nature and size of the app). Though Google is working on the smart app updates project since 2012 but it is still not perfect. Currently it is not possible to publish only the newly added functionality/code. The complete app needs to be downloaded again for every app update. Though some engaged users who have easy access to Wi-Fi or do not worry about data, have auto updates turned on but majority still don’t. Hence, companies are rightly particular and conscious about their app updates. There are multiple schools of thought on what should be right frequency of app release. Some say that once is 3 weeks is optimal but I personally feel that below 3 rules should be followed by all types of apps:

3 Rules of thumb to decide right time to release an app update

1. Update release frequency should be lesser than your app usage frequency

- If your app is of the nature that people use it multiple times a day (like – Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Gmail, etc.), then you can probably afford to release couple of times a week. On the other hand, if you app is very specific and of transactional nature, then it is better to restrict the frequent app updates as users will not see the value in updating the app if they are not going to use it immediately. In this case, users can become blind to your frequent updates or even uninstall the app. Both of which you will not want as we all know how prized the installs are.

2. Release when the update creates significant user perceived value

- If you are adding additional instrumentation in the app, fixing some edge cases bugs which user is unaware of or not likely to encounter, basically doing anything which user can’t see or appreciate, then you are better off by holding the release till the time you add perceived value for your users by clubbing more changes together. Users are more likely to ignore the update if they do not see anything in the ‘What’s New’ section

3. Release immediately for critical issues

- This is a no-brainer. If your app is crashing or showing high ANRs (App Not Responding) or has a critical bug or security issue, then fix it as soon as possible and release the update. As this will ensure better user experience whenever the user open your app next. You could overlook the above 2 rules in this situation

Feature ideas for YouTube

2014-07-12T19:56:00.000+05:30

In one way or the other every internet user has used http://youtube.com. Either for entertainment, learning or for cant speak in public purposes. I also believe that the feature offerings from the YouTube has always being on the minimalistic side. Below are few interesting feature ideas which I would love to see assimilated in YouTube in near future

1. YouTube premium - I wonder why Youtube does not have an ads free, paid subscription version with some added benefits? I am sure there is significant audiance out there who value time more than money and would happily pay for an ads free video watching experience.

2. 'You still there' feature - A lot of times when users are playing videos from a playlist, it is impossible from the application to identify whether users are sitting in front of screen and watching video or left, slept, got busy in something else. A good way to save valuable user internet bandwidth here would be to take a response back from users in case of no click or cursor movement from user for multiple videos. This will also give true value to advertisers and will make sure that there ads are being watched or skipped :) . In case if no response just stop playing and buffering.

3. Video preview - This is again a simple and wildly know practice to show video preview in the form of several stills taken at different time and shown on mouse over on the video. Here YouTube can actually go a step ahead and generate a 2 minute real video preview of a 2 hour movie (like a movie ad) which users can see and make up their mind whether the video is worth spending there next 2 hours or not.

4. Clipping and sharing the clipped video - Ability to select a fixed time interval clip from a specific video and then sharing the clip with friends over social networks. This will address all the usecases where users share a clip and give a comment and say - 'rest of the video is boring but piece between 3rd and 4th minute is amazing'

5. Movie room - One of the great experience of watching movie in a theater is you watch it with your friends/family and you can laugh on every comment you friends are making and make them laugh with your wits in between or ask them on what just happened. Imagine if the same concept can be brought to you on your laptops and gives you a chance to watch movie with your distant friends. You can schedule a movie, invite friends online to watch it together and have all the tools like group chat, voice and video of friends and even advanced editing tools to put a patch on superman's eye in 'Superman returns' or make dinosaurs wear diaper in 'Jurassic park'. Imagine what fun will that be.

6. Topical navigation - Another important aspect which I find missing in YouTube for a UGC (Use Generated Content) site is - Topical navigation. You can browse YouTube by top level channels like music, movie, sports but sub level categorization is still at preliminary stage on YouTube.

7. Official video Downloader - There are a lot of browser plugins/add-ons available which lets you download the videos from YouTube. In this situation would it not make sense for Google to actually launch a YouTube video downloader through which user can download all the royalty free. Also for videos which are not allowed (copyrighted/restricted) for users to download the 'download button' simply should not appear. This will also make users aware of which videos they are not suppose to download

If you have thought of some features which would be good addition to YouTube, please let me know with comments. Also I would love to know of what you think of the features listed above.

Technical Product Manager- What, Why and How ?

2014-07-03T09:59:00.000+05:30

What is Technical product manager - Role, expectations and responsibilities?

'Technical Product manager' is a variation of Product manager's role and as name suggest expects the candidate to be technically strong apart from being able to perform regular product functions. A general misconception is that a 'Technical product manager' (TPM in following occurrences) need to know how to code. While it is true that a TPM should have good understanding of the product he is managing from the technical standpoint like - API standards the product is using/offering or what the data model for the product is, but as a TPM you are never expected to code even though you might know coding. TPM is expected to get deeply involved in the design and architectural discussions to shape the product as customers need it. You should know the capabilities and limitations of the your technical stack. This in turn will empower you to take decisions like when to prioritize tech debt over new feature development.

Why is Technical Product Manager's role needed?
Well few might argue that when the organizations have dedicated technology specialists - Engineering leads, Architects, Engineering managers etc., what more value will TPM role add?
The fact is there also be a need of people who can understand the technology and match it with the business requirements. It is just that because of the nature of organizations and industries sometime this role is more important and carved out separately. In the dynamic industries with ever evolving technology standards and break through innovations (for example: Internet space) generally you will see the need of this role. Product managers perform both inbound and outbound activities with few product managers focusing on one more than other depending upon their personal inclinations. The inbound product managers role will come close to match technical product manager.

How can one excel at Technical Product manager's role?

1. Keep up with emerging technologies and industry trends - Read tech blogs - Tech crunch, Next big what, think digit are few examples to follow. Network - attend tech gatherings, generally these are the places where new technology unveils.

2. Get involve in engineering discussions and know the tools which can aid you in your decision making processes. For example - Instead of depending on Analyst to pull and process data, try to do it yourself. This way you can avoid the number of iterations on what information you need and what is served to you.

3.Most importantly don't lose focus from your core responsibility which is to be users advocate. If you are involved on technical side of things it is easy to restrict your thinking to your current engineering capabilities and compromise on features which users are demanding. Remember that engineering is there to empower you to deliver value to your users. Make sure you stay ahead of the curve and not become a laggard adopter of technology

image credit - http://www.aha-soft.com

Paradigm shift in advertising with pay per performance

2014-06-19T10:30:00.000+05:30

Marketing executives in television work with a relatively stable advertising medium. In many ways, the television ads aired today are similar to those aired two decades ago. Most television ads still feature actors, still run 30 or 60 seconds, and still show a product. However, the differing dynamics of the Internet pose unique challenges to advertisers, forcing them to adapt their practices and techniques on a regular basis.

In the early days of Internet marketing, online advertisers employed banner and pop-up ads to attract customers. These techniques reached large audiences, generated many sales leads, and came at a low cost. However, a small number of Internet users began to consider these advertising techniques intrusive and annoying. Yet because marketing strategies relying heavily on banners and pop-ups produced results, companies invested growing amounts of money into purchasing these ad types in hopes of capturing market share in the burgeoning online economy.
As consumers became more sophisticated, frustration with these online advertising techniques grew. Independent programmers began to develop tools that blocked banner and pop-up ads. The popularity of these tools exploded when the search engine Google, at the time an increasingly popular website fighting to solidify its place on the Internet with giants Microsoft and Yahoo, offered free software enabling users to block pop-up ads. The backlash against banner ads grew as new web browsers provided users the ability to block image-based ads such as banner ads. Although banner and pop-up ads still exist, they are far less prominent than during the early days of the Internet.

A major development in online marketing came with the introduction of pay-per-click ads. Unlike banner or pop-up ads, which originally required companies to pay every time a website visitor saw an ad, pay-per-click ads allowed companies to pay only when an interested potential customer clicked on an ad. More importantly, however, these ads circumvented the pop-up and banner blockers. As a result of these advantages and the incredible growth in the use of search engines, which provide excellent venues for pay-per-click advertising, companies began turning to pay-per-click marketing in droves. However, as with the banner and pop-up ads that preceded them, pay-per-click ads came with their drawbacks. When companies began pouring billions of dollars into this emerging medium, online advertising specialists started to notice the presence of what would later be called click fraud: representatives of a company with no interest in the product advertised by a competitor click on the competitor's ads simply to increase the marketing cost of the competitor. Click fraud grew so rapidly that marketers sought to diversify their online positions away from pay-per-click marketing through new mediums.

Although pay-per-click advertising remains a common and effective advertising tool, marketers adapted yet again to the changing dynamics of the Internet by adopting new techniques such as pay-per-performance advertising, search engine optimization, and affiliate marketing. As the pace of the Internet's evolution increases, it seems all the more likely that advertising successfully on the Internet will require a strategy that shuns constancy and embraces change

Ramanagara: Silk City, Vulture Sanctuary and Sholay Hills

2014-06-12T11:01:00.000+05:30

Ramanagara, known as the Silk City of Karnataka is situated at about 60 kms from Bangalore. It is a small town between Bangalore and Mysore but has many attractions. Some of the main attractions are Asia's largest raw silk market, Vulture Sanctuary and the famous Sholay hills.

You should start from Bangalore early in the morning to enjoy the cool morning breeze and definitely to avoid the notorious Bangalore traffic. Once you leave the highway the rural stigma of the place is mesmerizing.

We started our day with a small trek on the Ramadevarabetta hills or famously known as Sholay hills (Ramgarh of movie Sholay is actually Ramanagara :) ).

This place is a paradise for Bird watching as you see a lot of exotic bird species.

Paradise flycatcher

blue Rock Thrush

Yellow-throated Bulbul

Hoope

The Sri Rama temple is located on top of the hill and near a pond. You can view other neighbouring hills and complete Ramanagara from top of the hill.

The hill is also home to two of the endangered vulture species in south India and hence is declared as a Vulture sanctuary and VSZ (Vulture safe Zone). This implies in 100 km radius of the village no Diclofenac should be found in cattles (Diclofenac is a veterinary drug which is fatal to vultures. If a vulture eats from the carcass of an animal that has been treated with this drug during its lifetime then probability of survival becomes zero). Local people helped us in spotting Long billed vulture and Egyptian vulture. The size and flight on these birds is breathtaking.

Egyptian Vulture

Long billed vulture

Next we visited Cocoon market or Raw silk market, the largest of its kind in Asia. There is not much to do here but to see the initial stage of silk production and the magnitude of the business. We got a chance to speak to a silk businessman who had recently bought tons of cocoons to process silk out of it. 6 -7 Kgs of cocoons (priced about Rs. 450/Kg) yields 1 kg of raw silk threads, which is then dyed and processed. The merchant was kind enough to let us carry a cocoon souvenir (which still has live silkworm inside the shell :-O)

We were all exhausted and wished to head straight back home but the trip would have been incomplete without a sumptuous meal at Kamath.

Photography Calendar 2014

2014-01-01T09:57:00.000+05:30

Here is the 3rd edition of my Photography Calendar. 12 selected photos which I clicked in 2013.

Download link for high resolution images -
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B82_w_tmJn5ub3ZBVDVEMFpQcXc&usp=sharing

Wallpaper Calendar 2013

2012-12-29T17:18:00.000+05:30

Here is the second edition of my photography calendar. It has 12 selected photographs which I clicked this year. The calendar also has major Indian holidays listed for easy reference.

As always suggestions & feedback are welcome

Download Link : Archit Shrivastava's Photography Calendar 2013 (go to File and then Download)

Bangalore Roaming Guide

2012-08-10T11:49:00.002+05:30

Hi All, After a long break (as I was busy with college/placements and later shifted to Bangalore) I am back to blogging.

As now i am kinda settled here in Bangalore so I started looking again for places to roam/eat/hangout etc.

and one of the forwarded email became one stop solution for all my search. Kudos to whoever consolidated this list below as it seems pretty exhaustive to me. Probably Bangalorians who are here for a long time can comment on the up to date nature of this.

Anyway I thought to share it online as I know many of friends are new to Bangalore and this sheet will be helpful

The MBA underworld - MBAhack.com

2011-07-03T01:19:00.003+05:30

Guys i am very happy to share the good news that finally after so many days of delay the website http://mbahack.com is up and running. About an year back when I was sitting with Kiran and Krishna and struggling to find right resources at right time to keep pace with hectic MBA life, I got this idea to build a website so that at least the following batches need not go through the same trauma :-/ The idea was so intimidating that Krishna instantly told me to book the domain name and luckily I found mbahack.com available.

I discussed the same idea with two of best friends (Noor and Gautam) who also keep poking there entrepreneurial souls. I knew they will definitely be in and so we 3 started discussing and building the website in our not-so-free free-time :P

here is the brief about the site:

MBAHACK.com is the only survival guide for few of the world's toughest MBA programs. Website is one of its kind which focuses on providing all the necessary resources you may require in your MBA program.
MBAHACK gives competitive edge to its users by providing a platform to its users to share their solutions, resources, key learning and experiences. Thus enabling students to truly harness Peer learning and global diversity to transform them into competent global manager.

I hope you ppl will like and support the site by contributing :) thanks

An ad Idea

2011-05-03T16:53:00.002+05:30

*this is written in hindi english mix as i was planning to post it on FB

Kindly visualize the story to get the feel

Ek middle class family ki subah ka sceen (dadaji aram kursi pe bethe paper padh rahe hein, wife parathe bana rahi he aur husband tayyar ho raha hai. Husband ka mobile bajta hai (husband ki mnc me job karta hai). Wo late hota rehta he to speaker pe dal deta he aur tie theek karne lagta hai. Udhar door bell bajti he wife darwaja kholti hai. Dekhti hai ki raddi wala hota hai. Usko gate pe hi rukne ka bol ke wo raddi (newspapers, purani magazines etc) lene chali jatai hai.

Uske client ka phone hota he, husband jaldi jaldi me ghar se nikal rha hota hai par jaese hi pata padta hai ki US se client ka call hai wo saham jata hai aur wahin gate ke pass rakhe sofe pe baith jata hai. Idhar pass hi me uski wife raddi wale ko raddi tulwati rehti he. Client husband se poochta hai..”tell me what do u think will be impact of recent japan catastrophy on India”. Husband ke tote udd jate hein. Wo stammer karne lagta hai. Client ko kuch samajh nahi ata. Wo hello hello bolta hai. Itne me neeche raddi wala (aged person) farrate daar angrezi me US client ka jawab deta hai “falana falana dheemka dheemka” US client ko lagta hai husband ne hi jawab diya, client bolta he “good ,I am glad that we are doing business with you” aur phone rakh deta hai.

Ghar me bethe sab logon ke hosh udd jate hein- husband bar bar phone ko aur raddi wale ko dekhta hai, wife husband ko aur raddiwale ko dekhti he aur dadaji apni kan ki machine and raddi wale ko dekhte hein. Fir husband raddi wale se muah aur hath ke ishare se poochta he “ ki kaese”. To raadi wala conscious ho jata he aur ishara karta he neeche taraju me rakhi purani “business magazine” magazine ki taraf.

Break in story and focus on magazine ( business magazine ki tag line and some line solid awazz wala insaan bolta hai)

Back to sceen //adami sari raddhi wapas utha leta hai, aur phone pe kisi kisi ko usme se kuch kuch padh ke sunane lagta hai. Raddhi wale to raddhi nahi milti to wo gali deta hua wahan se nikal jata hai.

so what say??? hows the ad?

Photography workshop for students of Y! Parikrama School.

2011-05-02T11:21:00.002+05:30

Recently I conducted a Photography workshop for students of Y! Parikrama School.

school wall painted by students

I along with Madan, Shakira and Abhinav (all Yahoos) visited Yahoo! Parikrama School last Friday. During our visit apart from conducting the workshop we also got a chance to meet the principal madam. She is a very energetic and charismatic lady. She explained us the way they are running the school and the kind of fantastic result they are getting. The school helps to identify and groom the talent in the students. They keep on conducting acting, music, sports, painting etc. workshops and trainings for their students and even support them to participate in state/national level events. They are trying to build a school in which a child will always happily look forward to go to.It actually reminded me of the school ‘Amir Khan’ build in ‘3 idiots’.

a budding photographer

After little chit chat it was time to get started with my workshop. They escorted me and Madan to the A/V room where students were already sitting and waiting for us. They greeted us – “Good Morning Anna” and I was reminded that I am in Karnataka :P and so we began. I gave them basic information about the history and evolution of Photography, different types of cameras, how to compose a photo and showed them few of the photographs i took to help them understand better. I wanted this workshop to be entertaining for them so after presentation we decided to take them to a nearby park and let them handle the camera. To make it more interesting we announced a competition for them. As we had 3 cameras with us we divided them in 3 groups of 10 and asked them to click 10 photos each member. The group with the best pics will win.

1st price winner

We spent about an hour in the park, sun was scorching but still the children were not ready to leave as they were really enjoying their time over there. Finally we took cameras from them to make them leave and come back to school. While coming back a boy asked me to visit them again, listening to which another boy asked to come daily :P


Principal Madam & Yahoo team

After reaching back, along with the teachers we all saw their clicks. By that time Shakira and Abhinav also joined us as they were done with their workshops (painting and astronomy). I was continuously appreciating good clicks and also giving tips as how it could have been better. We did a public poll in the end and decided the winner. Before leaving Principal Madam gave each one of us a greeting made by students and appreciated our efforts J

It was time to leave now as it was already past 1 and we all have to attend 2^nd half of the office. So we left with a feeling of completion and hoping to come back and do more for the children

Visit to Bannerghatta National Park

2011-04-24T11:05:00.002+05:30

On the lazy Sunday morning I along with my friends –Aditya, Shiva and Vipul, left IIM Bangalore campus to check out Bannerghatta National Park. Before starting we googled for directions and reviews and it really helped. We now knew that we need to catch bus no. 365 that will directly drop us at park’s gate.We reached there around 11 a.m. but by that time queue had already taken shape of the largest reptile :P It would have easily taken 1-2 hrs had we also lined up. I did some “Jugaad” :P and we got the tickets of grand safari in minutes. Now we have to wait for the forest bus which came in about 15 min.

Grand Safari
I was praying that there should not be any children or girls in our bus because they cannot keep quite even for an hour. But as it was Sunday so I guess God was also sleepy by that time. Finally we started for a 16km safari. Bannerghatta National park is divided into fenced zone and roads covering every part of zone. So citing is almost sure. In around 15minutes bus reached in dense forest area and we started spotting animals. Spotted dear, Sambar, Ducks were among the first few. I took out my camera and figured that I did the biggest blunder of the day. I forgot the batteries at my place…ahhh. Luckily I had an extra set in my bag but it was not fully charged.

joint family

Other few minutes passed and we entered the ‘Bear zone’. What we saw there was breath taking –a sloth bear was charging towards the bus. It came very close to bus and even stood up and tried to peek in as if he came to see us. Later we saw few more sloth bears. Next was the ‘Lion zone’. Soon a cat crossed our way and it was a big one – lioness. We keep tracking her and soon discovered there complete family. This was the time my batteries died and I was left with my 2MP mobile camera.

White Tigers

Last in the list was ‘Tiger zone’ which I found very small in area. We saw 2 rare white tigers. Other tigers were in their cage. I found it a bit odd to keep tigers in such condition in a national park. I would rather call that place hybrid of zoo and national park. After that we returned and bus dropped us at ‘Butterfly Park’

Butterfly Park

The park was full of variety of flowery plants to attract butterflies. It also had a green house like zone which was very beautiful and full of butterflies. It also has a small man made waterfall and a pool full of fish. They have also put boards to help you in identify the butterfly. There was also a movie show on butterflies but it was in ‘Kannada’ so of no use to us.

By this time we were hungry and finished roaming so we went to a hill view restaurant over there and had some snacks and after getting blessings from ‘Lord Ganesha’ we headed back to IIM B.
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Visitor’s guide:
Overall rating: 3/5
How to get there: bus no. 365, G4 goes directly to park
Safari fee: 180/person
Best time: before 10 am to avoid the queue, any season as the area is enclosed so does not matter.

Shivsamudram Trek and waterfalls

2011-04-17T12:26:00.007+05:30

It was my 2^nd free weekend in Bangalore and I along with 3 other friends Aditya, Vipul and Satyam, decided to go to Majestic Shivasamudram Waterfalls. While deciding the place I asked many bangalorians about whether it is the right time to go there as it was midsummer. Most of them either said no or said they don’t know. Oh what the heck, finally we decided to go ahead with the plan. We hired a cab and reached there at around 12 in the noon. It was a sunny day and at the first site the place looked only OK as neither the valley nor the fall was visible.

Trek

We had to leave the vehicle and walk for around 1 km to reach the end of valley. As none of us was familiar with the place and route we decided to explore. We went on hoping the rocks and started to enjoy our trek downwards to the fall. I took out my camera and started capturing some scenic beauty around the place. I was left behind by my friends as I was busy clicking. Soon they came back I asked “what happened”. They said there is a big snake there and we have to find some other way. I asked them to show me the snake but none of them were ready to go back that side :P

While getting down we crossed many small streams of water which made the trek even more exciting and risky (stones were really slippery). Many times we were at the edge of valley and really cautious while crossing.

While we almost made our way to fall there was a big problem waiting for us. We hit a dead end – it was a straight steep fall of 10 meter. We were able to see the people on the ground. As asked them as if there is any way to get down there and they said no we have to climb back and go round the valley to get to stairs. We were shocked as in there were stairs too? No one told us..crap. We were about give up when we saw a tree root going down to the ground. It was a thick root and could be used as a rope. Finally we decided to go down by the root. That was the most thrilling moment of the trip. Thank god we all made it to ground safely.

Waterfalls

The view of waterfall from ground was breathtaking. Later we figured that we trekked down along the ‘Gaganchukki falls’ and finally were near the ‘Barachukki falls’. The fall was hard to resist and soon all 4 of us were dipping in the water. We swam, dived and spent around an hour in water and got out only when hunger struck us.

While we were getting ready we saw small round bamboo boats called ‘theppas’ in kannada. We decided to give it a try too and it turned out to be a good decision. Boat took us very near to a neighboring fall and when we were just below the fall boatwala started roatating boat like a wheal. Except the initial few seconds of panic it was fun.

For coming up we took stairs and realized it would not have been that much fun if we have taken the stairs for coming down as well. After reaching up we ate a lot of Mangoes as it was the only thing available for Mango people like us. They were so appetizing that Aditya and Vipul gone mad and ate at least 1kg each. It was then a 3 hr drive back to Bangalore with stop at ‘Punjabi Dhaba’ in between.

Pic: red line: the trek path, blue line: stairs

Find more photos here

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My Findings:

Overall rating: 4.5/5 (a must visit place)

How to get there: 130 km from Bangalore so better take a cab.

Best time to visit: depends if you only want to see the falls, go after monsoon (july-aug) but if you want to trek and take a dip in waterfalls, I will suggest go b/w nov-feb.

Photoshop cs5: Top 5 features

2011-02-11T22:48:00.001+05:30

I realized lot of my friends are interested in photography and design. So I thought it might a good idea to post some of the useful Photoshop tutorials available over internet. In this series here is the first video showcasing the power of Photoshop cs5. Top 5 features

Printable Photo calendar 2011

2011-01-31T17:15:00.000+05:30

I know it is a bit late to publish a calendar now but as it is said its better to be late then never. So here is the link for an easily printable photo calendar 2011 with few of my selected photographs, marked Indian holidays and plenty of notes space. hope you all find it useful.

thanks to Krishna for suggesting this.
let me know what you all think of this :)

http://www.4shared.com/file/NaEJr0o9/Photocalendar.html

How to decide Vision and Mission Statements for your company

2011-01-11T20:11:00.001+05:30

Parameters which should be kept in mind while making Vision and Mission statements for your company:

Clarity: A Vision statement should be clear in the terms what company wants to achieve and what are the goals it has set for itself
Motivation: Vision statement must be motivating for the associates working for the company. they should always feel proud and get propelled to work every time they read it
Ethical: Vision statement should also portray that company will always follow ethical practices in order to achieve the goal
Comprehensible: A vision statement should be easily understandable for all the stack holders (vendors, clients, employees and society). For the same reason it should not use any jargon, industry specific terminologies or complex sentence structures
Sync with business: company’s vision statement should be in sync with the kind of business it does. For making a flashy vision statement company should not depart from the sole reason of its existence
Guiding Star: A company’s vision should always provide guidance to its employees in situation of dilemma.

Let’s take a company and analyze its Vision statements

Company name: Mahindra Satyam

Vision Statement: To be the world’s most valued information, communications and technology (ICT) company

My Rating for company’s Vision Statement (on scale of 10): 6

Analysis: company is clear in the vision statement in the terms what it wants to achieve but statement lacks the ways through which it is planning to achieve the same. In order to reach the top company may adopt unethical practices which eventually it did. Also vision statement here only talks about the ultimate target where it wants to be but does not talk about the thinks it would like to achieve in the pathway like delighting customers, associates and society.

There are very few MNC which will score high this way. Do the same kind of analysis for the organization you have worked/working for and post your company and ratings.

Mystery of dead birds falling from sky

2011-01-05T22:14:00.002+05:30

First of all a happy national bird day to all the bird lovers. As I was surfing web, checking photos and reading the articles about the day a shocking piece of news grabbed my attention. It was about the dead birds falling from sky in Arkansas and Louisiana, NA. Now when I searched deep in this matter I found similar incident took place in other countries too like Brazil and Japan. Though all the govt. and local agencies have given different reasons and theories for the massive deaths but none of them is sure about what has actually happened.

It all started on the very 1^st day of 2011 in Arkansas where an estimated 5,000 red-winged blackbirds dropped dead from the sky. In the small town of Beebe in central Arkansas, scientists said celebratory fireworks on New Year’s Eve likely sent thousands of discombobulated blackbirds into such a tizzy that they crashed into homes, cars and each other before plummeting to their deaths. "The blackbirds were flying at rooftop level instead of treetop level" to avoid explosions above, said Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

But there are certain facts which still needs explanation, like why only one particular species out of 9800, why only this time I mean people celebrate the new year with crackers every year, why only in particular locations, whether trauma was caused by something hitting them in the air or by hitting the ground.

While reading, I found one interesting theory relating all these events to changes in earth’s magnetic field. You can read it here. http://www.naturesmell.com/blackbirds-dropping-from-the-sky-dead-and-not-just-in-arkansas/

Next incident took yesterday, 3 days after the 1^st one in Louisiana. The same species, same deadly event and this time the number was around 500. Surprisingly this time there were no indications of physical trauma in the samples of dead birds like the last time. Brazil and Japan have also reported high number of bird deaths. According to some Japanese reports likely reason of these deaths can be bird-flue.

The birds were the second mass wildlife death in Arkansas in recent days. Last week, about 83,000 dead and dying drum fish washed up along a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River.

The reason is unknown but the consequences are real and disturbing. Whatever may be the reason may it be fireworks or disturbance in earth’s magnetic field, one thing is for sure –it is because of us. It is the ugly preview of the what the future is about to unfold if we do not stop our ecosystem disturbing activities

Next generation email and messenger system

2010-11-23T13:14:00.002+05:30

Given the pace of technological revolution I don’t see bandwidth or mobility be of any problem in the future. So what should be the features of email and messenger services 10 years down the line.

Let us start with analyzing what all we have now..text, audio and even video (as video resumes have already picked up). So I think it is now time to add feelings and Intelligence to computers and mobiles.

Imagine you are chatting with your girlfriend and your system automatically adopts according to mood. It starts paying slow romantic music, turn the screen pink and start popping heart shapes from every corner of screen or if you are on mobile your mobile becomes cold adding the sensational effect.

All this will happen automatically without bothering you. Let’s take another scenario – imagine your mom or boss yelling at you and mobile starts vibrating and becomes a bit hot,your computer screen turns red or automatically changes themes and wallpaper to suit the context

You might be thinking how can it be possible. I say it will and sooner then what you are expecting. Based on certain parameters like the text, voice modulation and pressure in the key strokes a mood and context recognition system can be developed. For example if you are typing or saying “I love you” or “I miss you” or some romantic stuff then it will know that you are talking to your GF and react accordingly. Similarly if you are talking in low voice i.e. your lower decibel waves than normal then it may recognize that you are in sad mood.

Guys what else you think should be the features of next generation mail and messenger systems?

Or which can be the parameters (as few suggested above) to make the feeling system work?

Local Language Products

2010-11-17T02:35:00.001+05:30

Finished writing a 2 page business plan in 2 hours (constraint). I am writing this post because i found the case interesting and smoking. so thought of posting my plan here to get a feedback on how i did and how it can be improved.

case was about local language products. Internet users in India are only 10% of the total population as compare to 40% of that of China. The main reason is lack of regional content on net.

I am using X in place of original company name to avoid complexity

javascript:void(0)

Motivational factors for entrepreneurship

2010-08-20T00:19:00.001+05:30

General perception towards entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is generally considered an uncertain and difficult carrier path. One has to face problems and frustration associated with new business development. There is also a misconception that a large number of entrepreneurial ventures fail within few years. A study carried out by Kirchhoff in 1994 shows that only 18% of the small firms surveyed reported loss to creditors.

Research: Motivational Theories and factors for entrepreneurship

Herron and Sapienza (1992, p. 49) stated, “Because motivation plays an important part in the creation of new organizations, theories of organizational creation that fail to address this notion are incomplete”.

A lot of research has been done in this field to identify the basic motivational factors for entrepreneurs and identify the common traits in them McClelland in 1961 argued that a high need for achievement was a personality trait common to entrepreneurs. In spite of the plethora of research it is still difficult to say what actually motivates entrepreneurs as they are highly idiosyncratic and innovative.

The motivational theories for entrepreneurship can be divided into two categories 1. Content theories: search for the specific things within individuals that initiate, direct, sustain, and stop behavior. 2. Process theories explain how behavior is initiated, directed, sustained, and stopped. Gilad and Levine in 1986 proposed two different theories- Push theory and Pull theory. The “push” theory says persons are forced to opt the way of entrepreneur as there is no other way left for them. External factors such as job dissatisfaction/loss, incapable of switching the job, low salary, or inflexible and boring work. On the other hand The “pull” theory suggests that individuals are attracted towards entrepreneurial activities because of the high independence, prosperity and self-sufficiency attached to it. A research done by Keeble et al., 1992; Orhan and Scott, 2001 indicates that pull factors are more prevalent than push factors.

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Often decision between a career of self employment or working for others is taken considering the three factors shown below in the diagram

Research of Gerry Segal, Dan Borgia and Jerry Schoenfeld

In a research done by Gerry Segal, Dan Borgia and Jerry Schoenfeld, they found that risk taking capabilities has direct correlation with individuals engagement in entrepreneurial activities. Even though the individual have interest in self employment and might posses the self confidence to carry that but if the risk appetite is absent then there is high probability that he or she will keep on postponing the start. They concluded that there are five outcomes emphasized as criteria in the decision between self-employment or being employed by others: income potential; financial security; independence; need for achievement; and escape from corporate bureaucracy.

Measures to promote entrepreneurship

Educators and policy makers should highlight the advantages of taking moderate, calculated risks to get ahead. Examples of the rewards that can result from risking an entrepreneurial endeavor abound. Many of our most successful executives, including Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and many others achieved their success by taking the risk of launching their own ventures.

Disclaimer : Article is Based on the research paper “The motivation to become an entrepreneur” by Gerry Segal, Dan Borgia and Jerry Schoenfeld

Wolf-Moon

2010-03-01T01:47:00.001+05:30

Wolf-Moon or Full moon when it is closest to earth

Albino Peacock

2010-01-22T01:38:00.001+05:30

dancing white peacock