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Author: Andrine

The Guy who talks @saltmangotree | Branding guy & Speaker | Working on building an Internet Video Studio & writing a book on Entrepreneurship | Connect with me on Twitter(@Andrine_mendez) & Google+<a rel="author" href="https://plus.google.com/u/115432452213456952015rel=author"

During my agency days ( not so long ago), the March campaign calendar would mean coming up with woman’s day campaigns.  No, not because it’s International Women’s day, but as it’s an opportunity to celebrate the greatest customer segment for a brand and remind women that ” they need to be reminded about how great & equal they are ….” . 

Now, I am not against the concept of woman’s day.  However, I find most of these campaigns that brands come up with, lacks substance.  Probably because it’s mostly done with a ” oh !  we have to do this ” attitude. 

If you want to have a look at all the campaigns executed by National brands, you can find them here. 

It’s mostly a lot of copying, attached with more cliches that comes in a brand new format every March, with absolutely no benefit to women.  What good is a marketing campaign, if it does not produce any action?  One might argue that it’s just meant to change your thought process or capture the emotional essence of the day. 

Emotive marketing

Titan is the clear winner if that is the case, as they have nailed it right in terms of making one think or rethink about our own attitude.  Watch the video & let me know, what you think. 

Another powerful campaign I came across on a similar note was led by director Lal Jose via a local radio station in Kerala.  I do not remember the specifics of the campaign but days before International woman’s day, Lal sir came with a promo on the radio claiming he wants the public to choose a name for the next character in his next movie.  He described the character to be someone very strong and capable , strong hearted , who faces life wholeheartedly and yada yada yada. 

On March 8th, the radio would then play the suggested names publicly and as expected most of the names or all of the names suggested where male names when the director never specified about the character being male or female.  He then gave an end message as to how, changes need to take place within ourselves.  One can notice a lot of similarity there, with Titan’s campaign. 

Do you know which radio station created this campaign ? 

P.s :use the comment section wisely 😉

Now, my argument when it comes to such campaigns is that there is no space for action or to be more precise, there is a lot of talking and zero activity.  Basically what it means is , ” Hey !  I want to sell something to you .. i want to tickle your emotions and leave you at that and get back to selling something..I want to celebrate womanhood but I really don’t want do anything about the campaign I am evoking ….  and I am just interested in the views of my video or how viral or how many people spoke about it on social media.. my success metrics is about numbers & not the real deal”

Yes, as brands your business motive might be only to inspire change and not to follow up on, whether any changes happened or if there is a trickle of vitality as a result of the campaign.  That’s where, I have a problem. 

Action orientated marketing

Most of the time, one makes it look like the women that needs to be celebrated are the unsung heroes while the other makes it appear that the achievers or the CEO’s or the social activists or the entrepreneurs are the ones to be acclaimed. 

Watch this video here.  Until the 43’rd second I was all awestruck and happy, ‘ Wow !  Here is a brand that’s talking some sense ‘ & then BAM!  disappointment hits.  So not only does the character’s mother have to do all these chores, but also has to be in a wheelchair to be qualified as an unsung hero.  So, my wife, who works her arse off around our home, isn’t hero enough material, as what she does, is just so ordinary and what a woman with no disability should do anyway, right?  You just lost a prospective customer.  Bang !  The campaign microsite has further details. 

I am not against giving awards but when it comes to the theme of International Women’s day, I feel womanhood in general should be celebrated.  You don’t need to be a glorified CEO or social worker or disabled or have an inspirational story to deserve this acknowledgement. 

Disclosure : I have worked with Eastern condiments in the past & I have immense respect for the brand and the team involved in the brand development..

Summary

As a marketer my take on all the woman’s day campaigns executed by brands in 2016, is that it clearly misses a strategy or follow up.  Simply put, it’s not action orientated marketing.  There are lot of brands who have done action orientated marketing like Hindustan Lever, Paper boat and P&G.

Yes, they have connected it to sales or what one might call shameless promotion, however as an end user, you are forced to take part in the cause and there is a clear follow up. 

So when you choose to support a cause, don’t just get on with a cliche approach or ‘me too’ approach.  What you need is an action orientated marketing strategy, where the action might be in form of people pledging support or sharing or buying products but the important part is that both general users & people for whom the cause is created for, participates equally.  By that I meant if you are celebrating womanhood, you don’t discriminate or patronize the category.  Understand that the biggest media platform or media for your brand is your consumers. 

Now in case you want to have a look at the action orientated campaigns I have created in this segment, google #patontheback campaign by Volini, a marketing property I created for the brand , they have extended it to mainstream media and have continued the campaign for sometime. 

Let me know what you think or if there are any campaigns you think is worth being mentioned here. 

Following up on previous article about asking the right questions and looking into details , let me start with a topic which is close to my interest. 

Kerala jumped into the startup race even before any other state or the startup India campaign even got conceptualized.  But for the state which also launched India’s first IT park, the trend is to fall back in policies it pioneers in.  The initial run of guts and glory soon loses its steam and the state becomes a mere spectator whereas neighbouring state marches ahead in quantum leaps. At least this is what has happened in most of the cases. 

I was both amazed and shocked to read the first startup policy in the country but then I was convinced about one thing that it’s a cause worth fighting and it required more hands to make it reality and government alone cannot do much and that’s how i ended up starting kitchen. This was then followed up by the student entrepreneurial policy.  and then the Frying Pan happened. 

I been working with the team at kerala startup mission which is the nodal agency responsible for implementing the policy as per document and i must say that the leadership team under its CEO has done quite a remarkable job in past two years.  And i admire the passion and vigour of the work the team does.  And what i am writing here is very little to do with KSUM and more to do with the vision/plan of the state machinery towards entrepreneurship in general. 

The timing of such a policy was important, on one side a state fighting the highest unemployment rate in the country & on the other side a shade of a looming recession in the middle east which is the major income source for the state. Imagine 3 million NRI’s living in the gulf countries and how this could affect the state economics.  One would argue that the oil crisis is just a temporal fracture and for those, here is some food for thought :

Now, i have invested 12 months in trying to contribute to startup eco-system of the state.  And having seen it all, i thought i had to pen down some important things that needs to be fixed or addressed if we are to see any of these big goals to be reality.  I am proud that the government has taken such steps and taken the leap of faith but like i wrote in my previous article its time to look into the details and ask questions.  And here is what they are :

Start with the basics : the Vision

Now, I have always used the vision statement of the startup policy in all my presentations in the past 12 months in highlighted form and this is what it says “ Kerala to emerge as the No.1 Destination in India for Startups and amongst the top 5 startup ecosystems in the world “.  As i always say the most strategic part of this document or statement is that we don’t really set a target as to when we want to get there.  But having said that, we really need to ask ourselves on how we want to get there be it even 100 years from now.(  starting up village like model and spending Rs.2500 crores is definitely not the answer ) I have full faith in the talent that this state produces but i feel that people who created this document hasn’t really looked at the chart of top 5 startup ecosystems in the world. 

No vote bank politics in startups

We also have a special program for SC/ST who wants to start-up.  I am nor against or for reservations based on caste but entrepreneurship is one thing which does not or should not be brought under this ambit. 

Too much or only focus is on IT driven product startups

The policy is termed ‘technology’ policy and is extremely sided for technology product startups. Now, let’s recap and look at our state.  We launched India’s first IT hub but missed the IT growth bus but then world’s biggest producer of value added spices , Asia’s largest producer of blood bank ,biggest manufacturer of footwear but yet we choose not to bring in the expertise and accomplishment of these businesses and focus extremely on IT/technology driven products because, ” hey, that’ what everyone is doing ! ”  Now, one might argue that KSIDC,KFC are working in the space of manufacturing but the domain Kerala government chooses to focus/project however is of a IT driven startup policy. 

Lenient Student policy with no ground mechanisms in place

The student entrepreneurial policy & the technolgy university setup to steer this notion has even more bizarre ideas to promote entrepreneurship.  One of the points from the policy is ” KTU permits the concept of Student Entrepreneur in Residence.  Students will be permitted to apply for grant of official leave of one year at a time for entrepreneurial initiatives during their study. ”  I believe that entrepreneurship cannot be taught, incidentally that’s what i teach in my orientation classes for entrepreneurship clubs via Frying Pan ( another oxymoron perhaps 😉 ).  Now,points #5 ,#6 & #10 are collective reasons of why i feel that there is no real ground mechanisms in place but simply a general notion to observe and copy silicon valley entrepreneurs and their ideas. 

Merely a breeding ground but no real ecosystem

So we want to follow silicon valley but do not want to create a similar ecosystem.  Our blind focus on tech based products is like the achilles heel of our startup policy.  So i have a tech product, i figure it out and implement it but then India’s first & only digital state doesn’t have enough market or user base or demand for such a product.  So what do i do ?  Move to Bangalore or anywhere else !  Exploride, slated to be the biggest crowd sourced campaign , or Neyya ( Finn technologies ) another crowd funding success or Dexetra which started off in Kerala is now termed a bangalore based success story , all these are startups who was bred here and then its IP/value/tech was exported to bangalore or US.  Just as how we are the biggest exporters of human capital to the world we now started exporting high value startup tech to other cities. 

Blind Eye to the Indigenous

While we are busy exporting human capital from the state, there were some people who were trying to turn a different stone.  We forget our own strength in the battle to be a silicon valley ( which we truly cannot become ) , the state completely ignored or lost eye to detail for indigenous industries.  Be it spices or coir, production has fell back dramatically as quoted by the world’s largest producer of value added spices.  Not just these, people who took up indigenous products are still being ignored, take for instance Lifetree Agro who has been working on bringing forth tender coconut water as a brand for the last 5 years has found very little or limited support from state machinery.  It’s funny, how yet players from thailand sell the same product in Lulu Hypermarkets at Rs.99. 

Ease of doing business

I am not going to keep saying about low score on this particular index.  Forget private business, what’s the status of government infra projects which gets stuck due to petty political differences. Even an ambitious project like Kochi metro has hit delays due to delays in land allotment.  Smart City which is really supposed to be live in early 2004-05 was somehow launched last month and now imagine doing your startup in such a climate. 

Uncertain government policies

So a startup comes with a tech product to find lifestyle destinations or things to do in Kerala or a tech product for MICE industry & Boom !  Enter new alcohol policy and there goes your prospective customers to other states/cities owing to govt.  policies.  Every policy is interconnected however remote things might look. 

Lack of Lifestyle options

Now this is a issue startups & MNC’s face. People don’t want to work in the greenest IT park in the country, forget people from other states even our own youth doesnt want to stay back and work.  a dipstick i did with 1000 students from professional & arts colleges had a shocking 60% youth wanting to migrate outside kerala for work or higher studies.  So what does the state with the biggest coastal line in the country offer as lifestyle or entertainment options ?  There is more entertainment or lifestyle options per sq.inch in a small state like Goa compared to Kerala or be it even bangalore. 

Lack of Mentors

So we want to create entrepreneurs & more jobs in the process.  What does successful people or businessmen from the state do towards this ?  Are they brought in to the picture or given a role ?  Let me tell this again, entrepreneurship cannot be taught !  All we can do is show a direction & leave to the individual to find his/her calling.  But to do this we need veteran businessmen or successful startups to return to their state and spend time with incumbent entrepreneurs and share collective wisdom.  In case you are one of them who wish to do it, I have created Kitchen & Frying Pan Academy just for that. 

To sum up, i think we have a very good chance to be a good breeding place for innovation but that necessarily needn’t be like another silicon valley.  We have created ‘Kerala model’ in human development index, one of city is voted to be the place in live in.  We have so much good things happening around due to good work and vision of the people of this beautiful state.  I point out these things, cos I want to see our state overcome these and march forward. 

I’d like to know your thoughts too on these points ?  Is there any point i missed ?  Like to hear your thoughts on the same. 

Disclosure : I have spent 12 months executing Kitchen CAN events with a small team , doing orientation classes for Entrepreneurship clubs in colleges via Frying Pan Academy.  While the CAN events have been FREE events, the college sessions were charged classes. 

God’s own country is gearing up for elections & the political reality show is heating up day by day.  The opposition party has chosen to expose the shades of scam & corruption by the current ruling party to win the hearts of voters. 

Now,before we get to that topic, what intrigues me is the complete silence any of the political fronts have taken on serious issues, which really grips and holds the key to the growth of the state.  Let’s have a quick look at these topics :

Smart City Kochi : Is it really Smart ? 

There has been reports of how some major IT companies stayed away from Smart City and most of the companies who leased out space in the IT SEZ (Special Economic Zone) don’t really require to be in an IT SEZ area.  The ruling party has been in the forefront in terms of announcing how smart city was made a reality under their leadership and in a rush to inaugurate the project before poll dates were announced.  One might debate that had the project taken off as planned during 2004-05, things would have been very different. 

More than 60% of youth prefers to work outside Kerala post their UG/PG. 

Though I don’t have an official record to make this claim.  Having done a dipstick myself with a sample size from professional and arts colleges with 1000 students, a staggering 60% students does not want to stay back and work in the state and prefer to migrate to to other cities.  One might argue, when the state has the most pathetic unemployment rate in the country, what choice does the young generation have ?  I fear that the trend has more to do with the uncertainty in policies/direction and also lifestyle restrictions the younger generations have within the state. 

Has the first & biggest IT park in the country & yet IT exports fall short behind Karnata

Now 7 SEZ in Kerala Vs 17 in Karnataka is not my point of discussion here.  Even after pioneering into IT when other states were taking baby steps, Kerala and its infrastructure didn’t grow to match the industry growth and naturally the opportunity was lost to cities like bangalore,Gurgaon & so on.  Different governments and public policies ensured that the concept of technopark has not grown at the pace it deserved.  Now, we have the ruling party advertising about Smart City in its election communication but the point irrespective of who comes into power, our leaders lack the eye for detail and going far with whatever they start. 

First state to unveil Entrepreneurial policy in the state but the ease of doing business score is 18

What good is Rs.2500 crores kept for promoting the startup eco-system when the state’s machinery puts itself in exactly the opposite direction.  The ease of doing business score of the state, is at a level which really needs to be relooked at if the government is serious about these policies.  I have a had detailed look at why startups fail in Kerala, though this certainly is only, one of the problems there’s more to be looked upon beyond setting up a policy.  The fact is successful companies from Kerala, eventually moves out taking the IP and everything else away from the state. 

Highest deficit in India yet fiddles with major revenue sources

When Taxes from liquor sales ( 120% ) & tourism being major revenue source for the government machinery, one would think that they might be areas where some level of stability might be observed.  Yet, in a surprising spin the ruling government has done the unthinkable, to certain voter segments.  The nightmare is just beginning, from what it looks. 

The biggest remittances might be soon cut short: the NRI syndrome

The recent report of remittances from middle east touching 1 lakh crore followed by oil price crisis which resulted in a recession like stage in the middle east is a time bomb ticking fast.  The ‘ Money order economy’ as it is called relies too much on these foreign remittances and with instances of crisis hitting hard on the NRI community, this is a sign that it’s time to rethink about the ease at which economic policies are shaped. 

Model governance, UN award , Live video for Transparency yet a government trapped by scams at the highest level

The UDF government has had the goodwill of the people, that’s the only explanation on how it managed to be in power for two consecutive terms.  We have seen populist programmes like CM’s outreach program getting the UN Award and the recent one where Kerala & Karnataka tops in the good governance index.  However, towards the end of its term it seems that the machinery or people within have got a bit sloppy and have found itself between scams & corruption charges. 

For now, I shall stop with this. 

P.S : I have always been a pro congress voter but irrespective of who forms the next government what is important for me is that we march forward as a state and not get blinded by power greedy politicians. 

Let’s not make this about politics, this state requires good people to lead the show. 

[pullquote cite=”author and environmentalistBill McKibben” type=”left, right”]Its infant mortality rate is very low, its literacy rate among the highest on Earth, and its birthrate below America’s and falling faster.  Kerala’s residents live nearly as long as Americans or Europeans.  Though mostly a land of paddy-covered plains, statistically Kerala stands out in social development; there’s truly no place like it.[/pullquote]

It’s good to see LDF side swinging in from their deep sleep with what looks like an eye for detail, their campaign communication though mostly dig on UDF have some well thought ideas of welfare for the elderly population. (  11.2% of Keralites are age 60 )

If you are reading this, I have only one request.  For once, forget your pedigree for left or right politics and ask the right questions.  Ensure that the people who are going to run this state, know what it means to have such a responsibility.  To start with, let me give some points to start these questions :

Kochi metro is all set to change the face of the city & all this is possible because of the 24/7 efforts of emigrant workers for whom Kochi is now their second home

Just another day with the Kitchen crew and we were working on a CSR campaign for a brand when my colleague Nitheesh Mohan came up with an idea for thanking the metro workers.  He coined the idea as “thanks bhai” to thank the Kochi metro workers for their hard work and 24/7 effort in bringing the much dreamt about project of the city to Life. 

And its only coincidence that all this happened just as Diwali was in the corner & ‘voila’ we had our #makesomethingnew moment just there ! 
Although our discussion with the particular brand is still underway, we decided to go ahead with the campaign anyway. 

we are raising money & looking for partners for executing this.  a website to collect the messages for workers will be live this week as well. 

And so we are looking for more support in here.  click on the link/image below to know more on how you get a piece of the action. 

[blockquote cite=”Mr.  Abdul Vajid KT” type=”left, center, right”]the most important part is that the agenda of bringing together people from different directions is met till date.  VARIETY of the people is how this event stands different..[/blockquote]

Kitchen is a collaborative platform that connects marketers,designers,tech geeks,startups & businesses to explore projects and work together in the process create meaningful partnerships and business value for each other. 

Who should attend ? 

Businesses who are looking for strategic partners for advertising/digital/ ecommerce/social/mobile/IoT/payments/publicity/consulting domains

Investors or Individuals who’d like to invest in new ventures/concepts

Kitchen 2.0

June 12th, Friday was the second edition of the Kitchen hosted by Centre A Offices. There were 80+ in attendance for the event which was graced professionals , businesses & startups alike. 

The event started 15 minutes late, thanks to the audio vendor getting in stuck in traffic which meant more time for people to network and exchange visiting cards. And 7 PM we started off with the panel discussion with Alex Thomas (MD,Tierra foods) ,Faraz Javeed ( Director, WildFish, Abad Fisheries ) , Vijay Nair ( MD, Taxio Radio cabs ) , Harsha ( CEO ,Masala box ). 

Mr. Alex Thomas spoke about how he setup Tierra foods from scratch even with no experience in food industry and credited his success to his team who have worked passionately for the success of the company.  The crowd asked him about the technicalities and support from government missionaries in setting up such a venture.  What was a surprise info in this context was that he has face very little or no problems due to labour issues or the harthals or strikes which usually are known factors for anti-industry tide in Kerala. 

Mr.Faraz Javeed spoke about the journey of the brand Abad and how he finally arrived at launching a premium store : Wildfish and Club wildfish for Kochilites who wants to get Fresh fish in its most hygienic form.  He also walked thru the launch activities and experience in setting up such a venture. 

Harsha ,Founder,Masala Box

Mr. Vijay Nair shared his journey as an NRI who had a strong passion for entrepreneurship and creating 200+ jobs for people in Kochi.  He spoke passionately about how Taxio is creating a dent in the taxi cab scene in Kerala and how compared to his peers he has greater control on the quality of service of his fleet.  He even pledged that he could pay back a flight fee if you missed the flight because of a delay by Taxio.  He shared is expansion plans and how he wish to be the numero uno brand in Kerala in the segment. 

Mrs. Harsha Thachery from Masala Box was eager to show us her expansion plans in India and as you can see from the picture, its quite an extensive one.  She shared with the crowd in her enthusiastic self how she arrived at doing something like this after having the idea and complete a phase of pregnancy.  After Kochi, they have recently launched in bangalore and soon coming to your city. 

The panel was also joined by Nithin Rajagopal from Kitchen Treasures, the brand that which has found a special place in the minds of Kerlites within just one year of the launch. Nithin walked us through the launch and various learning curves in launching the brand.  The star of journey wa their TVC created for Fish masalas which has had a huge organic growth on Youtube. 

Gokuldas from Voteran

So these are the businesses #madeinkerala and something we are all proud of. The next part of the event focussed on upcoming startups. 
First one on this list was Voteran represented by Gokul ( Founder & CEO ) whose wife is also an entrepreneur .  He shared the struggles of convincing his family on the path he had chosen and about his latest venture which is one of a kind social network for politics.  He’s just got a round of angel funding for the product as well. 

The next on the list is Jb Mathews who has taken a different spin of entrepreneurship by launching his sports IP called the Kerala Beach League.  After the successful launch of first season JB is scouting for partners/investors to further scale up his venture. 

This was followed by a talk by Mittu Tigi on Jagriti Yatra and the ‘Pitch my Idea’ session where startups raising funds presented in 3 minutes their idea to prospective investors.  We had 3 startups who presented during the event. 

At 9;00 PM the speaking sessions was closed and another round of networking continued till 11;00PM. 

We are now working on planning the Kitchen 3.0 , the theme of the event would be around Raising funds & marketing and is scheduled for Jul 10.  Follow the event updates here. 

There are a lot of presentations tool’s out there in the market like Prezi or Haiku deck but at the end of the day when you look at various factors and daily usage friendliness very few make the cut.  Microsoft Powerpoint is undoubtedly the leader in the space, at least in terms of usage and adoption. 

We are not gonna discuss things for mainline presenter’s or Keynote speakers here but even for everyday presentations.  In my job as a Strategy Head and CEO i have done endless number of presentations be that for clients or prospects or colleges and so on.  Though making presentations was occupational activity, at some point i fell in love with making presentations and since then my presentation decks and style of presentation have evolved in a healthy way. 

I have created 1000’s of presentation decks using my iPad on Keynote.  And it’s not another look alike of powerpoint, trust me when i say this.  The video embedded here would give you a sneak preview of why it is unlike any presenter’s tool

Keynote began as a computer program for Apple CEO Steve Jobs to use in creating the presentations for Macworld Conference and Expo and other Apple keynote events. Prior to using Keynote, Jobs had used Concurrence, from Lighthouse Design, a similar product which ran on the NeXTSTEP and OpenStep platforms. 

The program was first sold publicly as Keynote 1.0 in 2003, competing against existing presentation software, most notably Microsoft PowerPoint. 

Now having a kickass software is one thing but there are other certain simple steps to evolve your presentation decks and style of presenting too. 

Create your own Templates/layouts

Powerpoint presentations are all about templates, sme can be said about most of the tools out there.  Not that keynote doesnt support templates.  But if you start using keynote on iPad you will be able to make your own templates like i have shown in the video. 

Making a presentation sounds or looks like a boring job when you repeat or do the same thing or follow a standard template.  Now certain people might be glued on to have their logo or company graphics, i aint against it but if the presentation does have your personality and aura in it, then it wont sync with you and in the end it all looks like a mundane job.  There is no heart or zero passion there. 

I know this cos i have a Frenchman who is obsessed with it.  There is nothing wrong in maintaining a flow or a standard pattern or arrangement in the topics you cover but if you start using templated, it all end like a mundane activity. 

Creating your own templates or layouts is easy using Keynote on iPad & you dont need any design coaching for it.  Use elements that matches your personality and the context of presentation. 

It’s all in the Font’s

I am sometimes play with fonts in terms of spacing and overall typography in my presentations.  The sub headings or titling is normally played with this treatment.  Using the right set of fonts changes the entire tone of presentation.  Apple Keynote has the most professional and comprehensive set of Fonts thanks to Steve Job’s obsession for crisp fonts. 

I normally play with Helvetica Neue or Condensed Din in my presentations and use different color toning to match the mood. 

If you can’t explain in one line, then don’t

Now this is something the Frenchman taught me ( though he seldoms practises it ) !  Your presentation is an extension of the presenter and no one is gonna sit and read all that bullet points and lengthy explanation. 

The secret is in using minimum number of words along with a crisp title. 

Make it Visual

Now i ain’t talking about using swanky visuals or images but more about use of icons/vector based graphics.  I have a ico set downloaded just for this to illustrate some points.  Icon sets make the presentation look classy compared to use of real images which has its own tone or mood attached. 

Keynote lets you to easily play around with these icons, change opacity or even size at ease.  The fluidity of the user experience in what makes the cut for me. 

A bit of Show off hurts no one

Presentation is 40% show & 60% content and now that we have the content in good shape lets talk about how we present.  I use Keynote in my iPhone to present to a client by connecting it to a projector and sometimes when i have both iPad & iPhone, keynote remote does wonders for you. 

People go by first impressions and the way you approach things.  i am not a technology geek myself but whenever i have used a remote to present and go thru slides it has made a huge difference in how people perceive your presentation plus even your own body language. 

The video has the remote featured highlighted in it for you. 

If you religiously follow this, i can promise you that making presentations will be an act of creativity for you than mundane. 

No, we are not talking about Fintech ! 

Everyday we hear about how E-commerce companies are taking over the world, the big numbers of evaluations and take over and buy outs. Far from all that noise, there are a group of people who are working on real problems and finding opportunity in the indigenous .We are talking about the unlocking the 90% of commerce that’s not on the Internet and thats where the next big thing is shaping up : messaging. 

To put at length its more of a convergence of the biggest themes in tech: mobile, messaging, and the on-demand economy. 
The latest edition to this field is Operator headed by Chan, the former head of Zynga’s Asia Business Division and a prolific angel investor, who describes Operator as “The switchboard for goods and services”.  He explains that “You used to dial ‘0’ and there was a human being on the other end.  Why isn’t there an app on your phone where there’s a group of people helping you?”.  Read more on that here. 

But then, Operator is not the first in this space.  In India homegrown Haptik has been doing this for a while.  And then there is Lookup who is also getting into a similar space but with a more distributed approach. 

The space is gonna get hotter in days to come because we have some good players joining in too.  Uber has already launched a food delivery called Uber Fresh and there have been rumours that taxi companies like Ola will follow suit. 

Each of these though different in terms of approach or USP’s fall into the space of on demand economy & mobile, which is good news for customers who is up for a lot of pampering with services like these. 

What do you think ?  You found any other model in same lines ?  Let me know. 

If you want to talk about serious subject like bullying and yet look cool doing it, then you have to talk the same language as of the TG the communique is meant to be.  And that’s exactly what the folks at VH1 have done with the “I will survive ..” campaign.  The idea of the campaign is to raise awareness about bullying, speaking directly to those “cool” kids who watch the channel. 

We have all read of how essentially people are pulled back from things they want to do, by the society or family around them.  Thanks to such celebrated notions, everyone has a reason for not ‘starting’ or ‘doing’ things they want to.  I used to think the same & believe in it, till some time. 

The idea is so celebrated that if there is a success story, going back the timeline will for sure have a tale of how the person fought all odds or resistance around him. For instance the article here, the article quotes the instance from the founder of Zomato.  Every biography or story ever published on such instances talks and focus on the, social fabric to be a major hindrance.  Not that it’s not true, but I’d say its just not completely true. 

I am not just talking about Entrepreneurship, but more generic things that stall our lives or make you cemented, with just one way forward with whatever you want to do.  Be that being a nomad traveller, penning down that book , starting the gym or even getting married.  As humans we are bound to factor exterior blocks, before looking at that log of wood in our own head. 

The jump from getting ‘stuck’ to moving ‘forward’ is very tricky.  After selling the company I constituted to a French group, I have been wanting to do so many things with my time since I didn’t have to run the company.  That was 12 months ago.  Now, when i look back, I have done nothing of that sort and I have been blaming everything and anything for it.  It is not like I have been faking or making up these reasons or trying to hide my ‘laziness’ with a visual story that fits into the puzzle.  I have considered my state to be that of a, ‘ Middle class syndrome ‘ , a state where you feel stuck , with not much going forward or a state where your emotional or mental growth is almost nil.  I have been wanting to write blogs regularly, darn, I have even been wanting to pen down a book. 

I keep saying to myself, I don’t have the inspiration or encouragement required to do all that, but when I look at it, I have it all.  a perfect setting in my Life.  My company got acquired, I get paid good, ( my startup journey was what got me nearly bankrupt ), I have spare time and I am committed to the most beautiful woman I have ever known.  The point is by the looks of it, there is nothing wrong.  Exactly how a middle class guy should be, he has a home loan, a car, a decent life; everything that would look perfect in one glance. 

However, I figured out something intriguing !  We do not get cemented in life due to the things around us or the social fabric or lack of inspiration.  We get stuck because the activities we undertake regularly in our lives are monotonous and lacks our own individuality and magnetism.  It has more to do with, our own log of wood that’s blocking us from doing the things we want to do, while we blame external factors to be the reason behind our own hindrances. 

We will do great things if we put ourselves into a system and circle which has our personality and flavour.  A easy version of this is ‘ Doing things you like ‘.  This is what makes the difference.  I agree, it sounds like a chicken and egg situation, because we all try to do things we ‘love’. 

The solution is to, put our hearts into what we are working on at present, and most importantly to do it with passion.  As our everyday actions have a lot to do with our sub conscious mind.  If there is no passion in your existing career or whatever you do , find a task, job, hobby which can be combined with your current situation. 

[blockquote type=”left, center, right”]The idea is simple, hack or cheat your mind into actions that feed your soul with passion , love and excitement everyday so that your subconscious mind helps you to focus on what you really want to do.[/blockquote]

I have been stuck because my soul now lacks that excitement it had when I was developing this company.  I have been doing mundane things which just got my head into building this huge log of wood, which I failed to surpass till this time.  I am putting this to a test, I am taking some time off work to do something that fuels my passion and excites my soul in a way that, it does not hurt my career.  The dig with Frying Pan is just that, and it is about time I made efforts for it.  Who knows maybe soon, I might even be able to pen down that book of mine, with the help of my editor in chief ! 

I thought of sharing my thoughts to know more about people who have been through this phase or still fighting to come out of it.  Let me know, your thoughts and experiences !