Muses of Murari

MLM networking – book store strategy

saithilak — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:34:57 +0000

I had this repeated experience. I go to Landmark, Forum Mall, Bangalore. Browse through books. Some one turns up. Quotes some book name and ask me if I’d read it. Negative answer and then starts introductions and continues with questions on work, family etc.,. After some 10 mins of speaking, gets visiting card and leaves. After a day or two, I pick up the call from that fella. He tells me that there’s interesting business he’s doing and he wants to share with me. He asks for an appointment.

This happened four times. First fella visited my house and explained his MLM business. He took very long time, beating around the bush and finally said that he is marketing Amway products. Wah! get off! I had bitter experience with a MLM company. After much struggle, I came out of it. And then in short time, I met this fella who started all those motivational stories. I got irritated but I waited patiently to let him complete. At the end I told him my bitter experiences and my lost interest in MLM models. After listening my story, he again started to convince me and I showed him the door.

Same way other three set up conversation in the same Landmark store and later called me up. I showed them my outright rejection to their scheme. I could see only one thing positive from my personal experience and dealing with these Amway fellas. That is, one can pick up networking skills with these MLM models & its strategies! If any one wants to learn art of networking, may be joining MLM business is a good idea!

I am not sure whether anyone else had gone through this. But the fact that rare visitors like me, have gone through this four times at the same place, suggests me that a network of people are running this in more organized manner. I cannot guess how many people had fallen for this trap. Let this post be piece of warning bell. Be aware of these strategies and save your time and money.

“Buffett : The Making of a American Capitalist”

saithilak — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:14:25 +0000

One thing that surely going to happen when you complete reading this book – you will get inspired.

This auto biography of world’s greatest investor Warren Buffett, blows you away how with simple nuggets one can make money. This books peeks in to intriguing and yet extra-ordinary life of Warren Buffett.

This book covers life of Buffett, his unusual burning desire to make money from his childhood, his education, his personal life, his encounter with his master Ben Graham and his growth from $ 105,000 initial investment partnership fund to gargantuan $ 45 billion wealth. And more awing, I found is, his very amazing simple life and approach towards investments. This book also details on the deals Buffett made and his involvement in other business encounters. Inspiring!

Those of you have interests on stock markets, investments or anything related to business, this book is must read.

Few thoughts on “Blood and Oil”

saithilak — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:04:56 +0000

I’d confusion regarding connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda, while I was at college. This was when America invaded Iraq after 9/11 incident. I thought that there must be some link. Later I was told stories on WMD. Months later, Saddam Hussein was persecuted, Iraq became more dangerous place to live in and posed no major threats. I sniffed some other motivation behind America’s invasion. After reading this book, everything is becoming clear. America went for Oil and not for the reasons it had stated.

This brilliant book by Michael T. Klare, explains history of America’s oil dependency. Right from second world war, the author traced oil consumption and production rates in US and how latter oriented its foreign policies in order to secure oil reserves for it own future.

Author elucidates America’s increasing dependency of oil imports and how that could cost dearly in terms of money & blood. In order to diversify the sources of oil, America has supplied military, technology, artillery and money to the nations in Persian gulf and near Caspian basin. After George W Bush took over presidency, when America’s imported oil touched 50 % of its total consumption, the decision of securing oil reserves even with military action, was made. The decision made after much so called deliberations on pursuit of old oil economy vs new Eco-friendly energy sources. Shocking to know that the energy companies like Enron had close tie ups with Republicans and funded Bush election campaign before he became president. Oil and security policies were then unified and American government declared to do whatever it takes to secure oil reserves and secure American economy. So we saw deployments of American forces in central Asia, in Caspian basin and in Persian gulf.

Author also gives detailed picture on other countries like Russia and China pursuing oil to meet their own demands. The ethnic conflicts in oil producing countries like Nigeria, Angola and troubled nations like Iraq can worsen the situation of oil production. In order to avoid any attack on oil reserves, more American troops are employed in places like Kuwait, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and others. Already world has seen alienation of American forces and attacks on them in the places like Saudi Arabia, Iraq. Now, if more American forces are deployed to secure the oil reserves and there could be more blood shedding. Moreover, author points out the fact that oil nations need to ramp up their production massively in next decade or so in order to meet world oil demands in 2025. Oil nations cannot do it by themselves. They need technology know-hows from America. This again demands more money and men to flow to oil countries. At the end, he explains the ways America can reduce their dependency on oil to cleaner energy technologies.

And there are many more chilling facts and figures. That can strongly make you to think that it is high time to switch to other energy sources and reduce the world dependency on depleting oil reserves. Luckily, India has not taken this route, in the scale taken by China or Russia, and we are at a critical juncture to take right decisions.

Let money maketh money

saithilak — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:28:32 +0000

A couple years of ago, I had an item in my ToDo list. That is to learn stock market and make money. So I bought a couple of books on stock market and started to read. Slowly I learned various aspects of it (still learning) through online blogs, forums and websites. After a while, I started investing with mutual funds, as I had planned. I learned and analyzed many funds to pick right ones to invest. I decided on a couple of tax saving funds.

I was very sure that I picked the best funds in the market. But due to last minute influence of one my acquaintances, I modified one of my pick. And when I did my first investment (read bulk investment), market tanked big time. That was January’ 08. Even after this current rally, that last minute ill-fated fund is in 12 50% deep red!

In January’ 09, I invested a small amount in one of the IT stocks. I strongly felt to do so, though market was depressing. Now, that small investment is standing at good returns. Now, I am kicking myself for not investing more in that stock.

These two instances leave me with few questions – Is returns in stock market depends on just a chance? or does it has any room for intelligence? or hard work? “Money making Money” concept – I don’t know how this fits in work & earn tradition. I want to know where it fits the bill. Until then, I will let my money make money.

Random musings

saithilak — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:15:31 +0000

I find it amusing – names of some of the Indian Nobel laureates.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan.

And also surprised to see this year’s Nobel peace prize winner!

It’s all in the family

Embrace or extinguish

saithilak — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:03:24 +0000

I read an interesting TOI article today. It talks about how Indian businessmen and other businessmen around the world finding cultivable lands in countries like Ethiopia, Namibia, Argentina and growing oil seeds and other commodities to help their native countries in cases of shortages and also making a new wave of export businesses. Fascinating to learn.

In one instance, the author mentioned about a person holding an astonishing 3,000 sq km of cultivable foreign land! Many people are trying hard to form associations, forums and raise huge capital to venture into this lucrative business. And countries like China and India are in support too for these private companies. Earlier, India, it seems, was reluctant to support this kind of venture because of political backlash, but slowly it is inching out from its stance. This affirms my belief that businesses influence our world more than political systems do in the current age.

Without digressing, coming to my point. This particular venture of buying cultivable lands and exporting from the foreign countries is there for a while, but our mainstream media picked it up, what I would say, ages late! Yes, in this age of instant news and information, this piece of info is too late. Let me give one example. Recently gold prices surged and many in India went mad buying securities tied up with the yellow metal or bought the gold itself. This incidentally happened after a national pink paper published gold’s immediate future prospects. But, in many online blogs, this information was roaming for a couple of weeks before the newspaper had published its article and in this window period, there one already saw a steady increase in the precious metal.

In yet another business related example, few weeks before, tea stocks were smartly gaining for a period of time. In online stock market blogs, forums & financial sites, there’s a lot of discussion about the escalating tea prices and future prospects of tea stocks and technicality of stocks movement. I was tracking all the news and to my chagrin, I failed to make most of the gain. (that is another story) After few days of handsome increase in tea stocks, the same pink newspaper published a news article about the growth of tea stocks. By that time, prices went way up. Of course, one cannot expect every kind of business news in finance newspaper and that is my point. In the current age of instant news & opinion making, Newspapers cannot deliver all the latest news to its readers with their current model. See what happened in after Iran elections results are announced. Twitter broke the news first and not any big traditional news organization.

Since we are in age of Long Tail, where people wants to fill their unique apetite and varied interests, we need news, expert opinions to reach faster, in bare truth format and more efficiently. As experts say, newspapers will need to revamp with the current age otherwise they would wither away. And already few media houses (including some TV news media) are integrating internet enabled delivery models. When Apple tablet and other similar devices enters & dominate the market, where news can be delivered and monetized efficiently, the next generation would view newspapers as modern age relics, something we may not be privileged to see.

“Buddha: A story of Enlightenment”

saithilak — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:36:16 +0000

I picked up this book to get immersed in much needed peace. Rather I got a fictionalized story telling. Although the book didn’t quenched my expectations, it gave me a bit of inner calmness.

Generally, in my opinion, books leaves lots of impressions. When I read a book, it stamps lots of thoughts and ideas on my mind. For a while, it mesmerizes me and convince me that nothing is more important than the topic at hand. For example, I read this book, it left me with lots of inner observations, thoughts related to peace, suffering, life etc.,. For a while it went like that, till I started reading another book. Then I read a Jules Verne’s light-hearted fiction. Then thoughts like life-to-be-taken-at-ease started to take shape and all the Buddhism knowledge went to background. Later I read more serious books like Muhammed Yunus’s autobiography and now reading Engaging India, which orient my inner mumbling towards more serious thinking.

This pattern I observed in my five year reading habit. So it leaves me with a thought that reading books of all kinds will take me nowhere, if I keep getting seduced to them. May be there’s a choice. To choose one genre and continue reading all authors in it. Will I not miss some really good ones outside the shell? I will.

As far as these good companions keep me informed and help me in broadening my thinking, I’ve no regrets.

“Banker to the Poor” by Muhammed Yunus

saithilak — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:04:54 +0000

Many of you must have heard about Grameen Bank. This book is the autobiography of the founder of Grameen Bank. For those who are not aware of Grameen Bank, let me give a short gist of its background. Grameen Bank started by Muhammed Yunus in Bangladesh. It basically provides micro-loans to the poor people, whom the traditional banks shun considering them as not-credit worthy. Poor people would use the money lended by Grameen bank and work on their ideas or skills and make money and repay the amount with interests periodically. To the surprise of so called traditional bankers, the repayment rates are as high as 97%!

This book written in direct and simple language, speaks on how Grameen Bank shaped and how the idea of micro-lending started in the times of adversity, during famine of Bangladesh in 1974. Started by an economic professor as an experiment, slowly and steadily, Grameen Bank, revolutionized the under privileged and helped them to earn their own dignity. The book described many heart rendering examples about how poor people suffer from blood sucking money lenders and live in cyclic poverty life. Initially, Yunus supplied a loan of $27 from his own pocket to 40 odd families. These people not only repaid the money, but also started to live with hope, ate meals everyday, sent their children to schools and reaped the benefits they deserved. Later determined to experiment in larger scale, Yunus approached traditional banks to sanction loans for an entire district. Encouraged by further success, he established a bank and spread his idea across the country. After seeing the astonishing results, many an organization including World Bank supported other countries to setup similar micro-lending institutions. Result – success everywhere.

I had one thing that was creeping in my mind while reading. The book is all painted green. I thought there should be negative side too. Without knowing it, one cannot come to drastic conclusions. But, the book is about the story of micro-lending and transformation of societies. This idea as such worth a book and other things can be dealt elsewhere.

Coincidentally, the bookmark I am using has an advertisement of RangDe, an micro-lending venture! I tried their site and found it interesting. RangDe allows anyone to invest their monies as low as Rs. 500. In the website, there are listed profiles of candidates who are looking for micro-loans. RangDe does managing or have tie-ups with other institutions to pass the loan amount to the genuine people, recover payments and other administration work. Overall it charges 8.5% interest, of which only 2% goes to the social investor. Considering the purpose of the investment, 2% is acceptable, though it is loss when the year-on-year inflation rate is considered. RangDe also has educational investment vehicle. Here, any social investor can help a poor parent by lending certain amount, for which RangDe or its partners, buys educational vouchers and passes on to poor parents. Children and their parents can choose a school of their choice and use these vouchers to pay the fees. Parents pays off the loan with the interest of 5% odd. In this case, social investor won’t receive any returns at all. Instead of donating the entire amount, social investor would end up donating interest, which he would have gained if he had invested somewhere else.

Instead of donating the vouchers, RangDe lends loans to buy vouchers. I am not sure how effective this lending loan to buy vouchers work in principle. The people who will be looking for this kind of arrangement are already poor. If you lend a loan, which is not revenue generating, is it not that you further increase the burden of loan? Instead, why not simply allow people to donate generously towards this cause. My good guess is the interest charges, are for the intermediary(social venture). Well, it looks to me as negating the intention of the cause. Of course, I am partly fed with information and one demands to see things holistically.

“Around the world in eighty days”

saithilak — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:54:39 +0000

Around the world in eighty days. A Charming novel.

I picked up this book, once I saw the author’s name on it, Jules Verne. I still remember reading his other brilliant book, “Twenty thousand leagues under the sea”. When I first read “Twenty thousand …”, I was simply blown away. Verne written a masterpiece. A great science fiction. No wonder he is considered father of science fiction.

Coming to the topic, “Around the world…” is about a rich person taking up a challenge of going around the world in just eighty days. At the start of the journey, he is accompanied by his servant, later by a cop who chases him till the end assuming the latter as a robber and by an Indian lady, whom he later marries. He uses various means to travel such as steamers, trains, boats and even elephants!

During this travel, hero faces various obstacles. Once, he tries to cover the distance between two Indian cities by an elephant ride. In meantime, he rescues an Indian lady, who were about to be sacrificed on her husband’s funeral pyre. And he later gets arrested in Calcutta for a charge, inspired by a chasing cop. And he misses steamer in Hong Kong and tries to cover the distance by a boat. The train, in which he travels in USA, gets attacked by a local bandit and due to which his servant goes missing. He saves his servant and in meantime he loses precious hours. And at the end, he gets arrested for a false charge of roberry in England and later released after several hours and eventually he loses his bet. And after that, there is a twist that ends the story in a happy note.

The way the author pins the story by introducing many obstacles, twists gives a pleasure reading. And also author did assiduous work, maintaining the nature of the character intact and true, throughout the episode. For example, posing the protagonist as unassuming, unemotional, strong, ethical, kind and tranquil character. And the lady as beautiful, always adoring the main character and the servant as mischief, loyal and troublesome nature.

I couldn’t keep the book down till I finished reading it. Nostalgic. Pure read. Go ahead and assimilate it with joy.

Talking to BrainVilla’s founder

saithilak — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:31:16 +0000

Today, I had a chance to meet an entrepreneur, who until recently was my supervisor-like. He recently bootstrapped a book and toy lending venture, BrainVilla. This start up is kinda unique one, in the sense, it not only rents & sells books, which other companies like librarywala.com, flipkart.com does, but also rents toys. Interestingly, he has opened a physical store in a residential locality in Bangalore. He said he is running various activities like brain games, puzzles to the members in the store and he claims he already has impressive number of customers in short period of time.

It was nice half an hour chat with him. I learnt quite a few aspects about running one’s own venture. He told me how it all started and how he struggled to get things going so far. His current worry is about getting right staff to run his venture. Like need for developers to develop & maintain the portal, sales people and support staff. Now, he is playing all these roles himself!

Despite his HR issues to handle, he displayed quite a character, which I think is an entrepreneurial one. He is ambitious and yet has practical goals. Every time he mentioned that he will be achieving this goal & other goal, he specified few months time period. And if the goals are bit higher in reach, he mentioned longer time frame like a year or two. He told me that he is planning to open more stores in Bangalore. He told his competitors are moving into the market fast and he also wants to race before them. And if he gets a chance, he said he can participate in the consolidation phase in the market. Phew! quite a gutful thinking. He has vision to try on few interesting things in a year or two and at the same time he wants to scale his current business and become one of the leading book & toy store in Bangalore city.

Wonderful. Though he looked weary, his warm smile, his open way of talking, his attention to details and the way he handled my advice that to involve his company activities with the social media early, reflected his maturity. I understood from the conversation, that running a company needs relentless dedication, tremendous patience, never ending enthusiasm, constant focus and personal sacrifice. In his case, he repented for only one thing. He said he is not able to spend enough time with his family, which he had expected.

Later, I tried to relate his current role, businessman talking to a customer with the one earlier, which commanded his subordinate to do project tasks. What a turn around!