Emergic

I recently attended ad:tech, a digital marketing conference and trade show, in San Francisco (April 15-17). My motivation in going for it was to understand what is happening in the world of Internet advertising, and to see what ideas can be applied to the evolving segment of mobile advertising. Here are some thoughts from the event:

Online Advertising is expected to be a $50 billion industry globally in 2008. The industry has two primary segments: Search and Display advertising. Search will account for $30 billion and Display for $20 billion. The US market is about the same in size of the rest of the world put together. Google is the biggest player in the online advertising, with revenues in 2008 expected to be over $17 billion. Compare these figures with the Indian online advertising market of $125 million in 2007 (growing at about 50% per annum, and part of an overall advertising pie of $6 billion). As someone commented, the size of entire Indian online market is probably equivalent to that of just San Francisco!

Online Advertising is now a complex landscape. In the traditional world, between Advertisers and Publishers are Ad Agencies. In the online world, there are many other entities all vying for a piece of the burgeoning pie that Google doesn’t take away. There are ad networks, ad exchanges, ad network optimisers (for publishers), ad Servers, ad optimisers (for advertisers), and a whole slew of analysers. While Ad Networks remains the biggest category (there are over 300 of them), there are many companies all working on the same premise of helping get the right ad in front of the right person at the right time. All this becomes possible in the online world because of the ability to target and measure.

Online Advertising has become a science. There is so much technology now evolved in getting that single ad on a page - all in the hope of either perfect demographic targeting or a click which results in the desired action. The emergence of Search which surfaces user intent, and the process of attaching bids to keywords have also changed the landscape making it much more analytical. Almost everything can now be measured and improved. One of the key drivers is the huge disparities in CPMs that publishers realise when they sell directly and when remnant inventory is sold via ad networks. There is a lot of room for improving efficiency in targeting. Another area discussed was to go beyond just measuring the last click, but go through the consumer action trail and give appropriate credit to all ads and interactions that may have helped in the final click or action.

In the US, there is a big mismatch between time spent online and ad dollars. US Consumers are now estimated to be spending over 20% of their time online, while online ad spend ($20 billion in 2007) is only 7% of the overall ad budgets. This is seen as the big opportunity to dramatically grow the size of the online ad pie. As the US economy slows, there is a feeling that advertisers will move more money to where it can give better RoI. Print and TV are the two media which will feel the impact and pain of this shift.

Display Advertising is emerging as the Next Big Thing. In the early days of online advertising, it was all about Banner ads. And then, along came Google with its Paid Search solution. Now, even as the pay-for-performance industry linked to search continues to grow, Graphical Display advertising is making a comeback. (Google’s purchase of DoubleClick is a reflection of this trend.) Display advertising can do much for brands than the text ads linked to keywords being searched. And the big money is with the brand advertisers. Bringing targeting, measurements and engagement to richer ad units is what is going to drive the growth in Display ads. The mantra going ahead is not Search or Display, but both.

There are many other emerging growth areas for advertising. Video, Social Media, Mobile, Widgets and Games are five new segments which are likely to start pulling in growing ad revenue in the coming years. At the heart of it is the ‘digitisation’ of media and our interactions. And as the quantum of digital in our life grows, so will the ad spends on these new media. Video is seen as a much more near-term opportunity but needs some standardisation of ad units and creation of better engagement opportunities than just the pre-roll (an ad shown before the start of the video). Social networks (built around user-generated content) have got large traffic but very low CPMs because it is not clear still what is the best way to monetise these interactions between people. One opportunity mentioned in the context of social networks was ‘distributed commerce’ where consumers talk about products they like (or don’t). In that sense, Social networks may be better marketing platforms than ad platforms. Mobile has been ‘happening’ for a long time - there is a certain staleness creeping into the discussion on opportunities around the mobile. (My personal thinking is that publishers haven’t succeeded in creating ‘media on mobile’ and that is a prerequisite for generating audience and advertising.) A line of thought mentioned was that the use of mobile in a campaign (for example, sending an SMS to a shortcode) makes other media interactive. Widgets and Gadgets have grown in popularity over the past year, and are creating new monetisation opportunities. Video Games are also being targeted by advertisers because of the time being spent by consumers. In other words, there is still plenty of room for innovation and growth. Many of these new media require new definitions - among the buzzwords heard often were engagement, conversation, buzz and accountability.

Mobile Advertising needs to combine Search, Location, Permission and Push. Search provides intent, and is natural given that it has worked so well on the Internet. Location provides great spatial context - something that is not necessarily available on the Internet. Permission is important so that consumers do not feel that their private space (on their very personal device) is being violated. Push creates the opportunity for repeated touchpoints. Mobile also has a wide variety of channels that can be targeted by marketers: voice, SMS, MMS, applications, widgets, WAP (mobile internet), Bluetooth-based proximity marketing, and using QR or 2D codes. The US has been slow to move on the mobile front, and it is likely that some of the pathbreaking ideas will come from countries like China and India where the mobile is at the centre of people’s lives. The iPhone is seen as an interesting new platform because it breaks the barrier between the PC-centric Web and the mobiles as we have known them. The last seven years have all been ‘the year of the mobile’; it is not clear how many more such years will need to elapse!

Advertising Agencies are evolving. Two key points that came out were that unbundling (creating separate digital units) does not necessarily work well, and that ad agencies of tomorrow will need to look more like financial firms of today by combining portfolio managers (who strategise and plan given the multitude of options available) and traders (”button pushers”).

Vertical Ad Networks are starting to emerge. Two examples mentioned were Glam.com (which focuses on women by content aggregation across blogs) and ad networks targeting Hispanics in the US. In addition, many US sites have international audiences and many international sites have US audiences - both categories are poorly monetised as of now.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics will likely be a watershed moment for Digital. NBC, which has the broadcasting rights on the Olympics, is pushing the idea of ‘Your Olympics’, giving consumers the control of seeing the content on any device of their choice. Given the nature of the event, the Olympics will drive a lot of global viewership and it will be across multiple media channels. It will become a testing ground for many new digital advertising initiatives also.

Dear Abhishek,

Happy Birthday! You are now three years old. I am not there today for your birthday — am in the US for work.

I am continuing the tradition of writing letters to you on your birthday. To refresh your memory, here are the first three letters (2005, 2006, 2007).

This has been a fascinating year. You’ve grown so much. You have your own mind - at times, much to the consternation of your mom! You understand enough of the world now to interpret it and make your own choices. From making decisions for you, we now have to guide you to differentiate between what’s right and wrong. This is perhaps, for me, the best part about being with you.

Of course, it doesn’t mean you don’t act like a baby. Like that Sunday morning, when we had to take you for a haircut. It was almost as if you had made a clear link between haircut and grumbling. For a change, you didn’t yell while the hair was being cut, even though that grim face was a clear reminder that you’d rather be anywhere else. That’s what’s so endearing about you at this age - you are both a little grown-up and a baby at the same time!

Memories are many of the year gone by. And as one of your favourite songs from “The Sound of Music” says, let’s start at the very beginning.

The maximum time I get to spend with you is when we travel. This past year we’ve done a fair bit of that. We went to Dubai last April, then to the US in August, to Rajasthan and Pune in October and to Surat in December. The US trip was great fun. We took the non-stop Air-India flight to and back from New York. You slept through most of the two flights, but when you were awake, you were jumping all around. We went to Central Park and did some rock climbing the day after we arrived. At Macy’s you insisted on buying some toys which I figured you’d never use again. We also went to Washington to meet Anne and Henry and of course, Fifi, whom you still remember. Then, on to Atlanta to spend time with Ram, Nirmala and Vaishali. You really came into your own at the swimming pool when we went to meet Anand, Shivani and Nisha. For the first time, the water was not something you wanted to stay away from. You played in the pool with those rubber ducks. We strolled through New York with you in your pram, watching the street signs change. The last day, you had a roaring time at the Children’s Museum. And of course, who can forget the three dinners at Vatan - you gorged on the puris, and roamed around the restaurant as if it was your own! Somewhere, we bonded.

I still remember sitting at Atlanta airport watching the planes land and take-off. For you, it was a delight because of your fascination then for anything and everything to do with “transportation” and vehicles. We collected dozens of cars and trucks of all sorts during the US visit - now you don’t even touch them. But for that phase of your life, you only wanted to buy cars and taxis and buses and autos and garbage trucks and dump trucks. And trains. Trains! That’s something we have in common. So, now we have these wooden train tracks from the Thomas collection which we put together every two or three days. When I come home, either you (or your cousins, Siddharth and Maya) have broken them and you want me to help you put them back again. That’s one of our early morning activities between you waking up and going to play school.

Play School…! You started it in September, and after a few days of going happily, you went through a few weeks when you just would not want to go. In school, you were fine. It was just the act of going to school which depressed you. And as quickly as that had started, it ended. Now, you happily go to the school, which is all of three minutes walk from home. The three hours that you spend there everyday are compressed into a couple sentences when I ask you what you did. All you seem to want to remember is what you ate there!

Thanks to school, you’ve now started with these Nursery Rhymes. Every evening when I come back from office, you ask me to make a “half-tent” with a blanket, and you will sit there with your old, non-functional Casio piano and we will sing a “thousand” songs. Songs, did I say? You will promptly correct me, “Papa, they are not songs. They are nursery rhymes.” Indeed.

There are two interesting events that you participated in school - the Christmas concert and the Sports Day. You were so smartly dressed in white and black for your concert! We were right at the back - worried that if we came close and you saw us, you’d come running to us! For the sports day, you ran your two races well - nice to see you follow some instructions!

As I look back at the year, it has been about Phases. You seem to migrate from one Phase to another. Like there was also this Phase recently about buying and reading the Topsy-Tim story books. Everytime we went to a bookshop, you’d go looking for one to buy. You knew exactly which ones you had. And if you found two new ones, you’d remember to keep the second title in mind for the next time. Then, we would come home and read that new book many times a day. And before I realised it, you had memorised the entire book. And then, it was time for the next book. If Boowa Kwala (from UpToTen.com) made you sit in one place and listen to songs, it was Topsy and Tim who made you develop a fondness for being read to.

Another Phase was when you wanted to go for bus-train-taxi rides. Given that you’d wake up quite early (just after 6 am), we had plenty of time in the morning to do this. We would take a bus from Kemp’s Corner to Churchgate, then take a train to Grant Road station, and finally take a taxi to come home. This was on the days when you didn’t want to go on the swings in Tata Garden. This ended when your mom figured that all of this activity was quite draining for you as you went to school. I mean, kids barely can get their eyes open in the morning and there you were having done a full tour of South Mumbai in three different transportation vehicles! Of course, we still do this every once in a while but only on holidays now. And when we go the suburbs, you want the auto rides. It’s fun because I guess you get to see a lot more of the world and its people than sitting in a car!

On school days, you wake up sometime between 6:30 and 7 am now. On most days, I give you a bath. Every second day, we have to create a new game to convince you to get into the bath! And then, you growl as the soap comes on to your face. But I am now sensing that this is yet another fun activity that you’ve created. After the bath, you have the standard discussion with your mom on what clothes to wear to school. Given that she’s made decisions even for me most of the time we’ve been together, it is quite something for her to find you refusing to wear the clothes she’s picked for you! Anyways, that’s for you and her to sort out.

You come back from school around noon, and are hungry for your lunch. On most days, you will sleep for a couple hours. Unless you decide to play through the afternoon. In the evening, your Mummy will take you down to the building compound where you play some more. I come home around 7:15 pm on most days - and it is such a joy to see your happy, welcoming face. You almost sense that I’ll be coming around that time of the evening. On the days you haven’t slept in the afternoon, you’ll end up going to bed before 8. Else, we then end up chatting and playing till you sleep around 9:30 pm.

Sleeping remains a big challenge for you. You need your three blankets (”biyas” as you call them), and the ‘toy of the day.’ You also need your mummy to keep patting you till you fall asleep. Anything more than fifteen minutes, and she loses patience! I think you better start learning how to sleep on your own. And while we are on that, please start drinking milk on your own also - it is a strange sight to see you now being fed milk through a straw from your cup everyday. You are a Big Boy!

Last June and early July was a difficult period for both of us. I fell sick for about two weeks (influenza) and so did you. You almost completely stopped eating and drinking milk. You lost a lot of weight. Your mummy was extremely worried. And then, as suddenly as you had fallen sick, you recovered. But those were two difficult weeks for her. In fact, I can make out how well you are by just looking at her.

Your Mom and you are quite a sensation together. The way you open up to her is amazing. I do feel a little envious seeing the relationship between the two of you. For you, she is everything - perhaps, a bit too much. She gets really irritated when you tag along pulling her dress when you are outside! But for these small quirks, the deep love and interplay between the two of you is something which words cannot describe. You seem to have also made her a decade younger! She’s always there for you, and yet gives you the space that you need. She blends the right amount of love and discipline. (You already have figured out that I am the softie.) I know I’ll probably say something which is true for every mother-child relationship, but let me say it anyway. You have the world’s best mother, and she has the world’s best child.

When it comes to talking, you have adopted English as your first language, even though you are quite comfortable conversing in Hindi also. Your English is quite good, and you do pick up the nuances of the language quite quickly. Still, it is fun to see you make these little mistakes here and there which make for fun conversations with others!

The past couple months has seen me away for more than a third of the time — travelling to Barcelona, and within India. Whenever I travel abroad, I try and see what toys I can get for you. You still remember the vehicles I got for you from Vienna and the blocks from Barcelona. You also want sweets whenever I travel within India. Being away from you is not easy - I have become so used to the morning and evening time we spend together. But now work will require me to travel more. For the first three years of your life, I had curtailed my travel drastically. Now as you grow up, I’ll be free to be away a little bit more.

There’s lots of family in your life. We stay with my parents and every so often we go to Santa Cruz to meet your mummy’s parents. You are especially close to both your grandmoms. Then, there are the siblings in your life. Siddharth and Maya, my sister’s kids (who are 3 and 1 year older to you, respectively), live next door and you get to spend lots of time with them. It is good that you have now outgrown that phase when you wanted to get after Maya for every small thing! In Santa Cruz, there is Hriday who is a few months younger to you. You and he have a gala time every time the two of you meet. In Surat, you have Niyati, who is a year older to you. This December, you spent a week with her - and even saw two movies (Welcome and Taare Zameen Par) there which you sat through! In TZP, you were all over the theatre, but then what else could one expect!

One big worry your Mom has always had is about your eating habits. Her nightmare scenario is that you’ll end up like me - saying No to almost everything. It hasn’t been that bad - yet. As long as you get your dal roti, you are quite happy. That you managed quite well in the US was a big thing. You still don’t eat everything, but I think you now can eat more things than I do! We take you out at least once a week. Your favourite restaurants are Soam and Little Italy. In Soam, you like the space that’s there to move around. You eat the pani puri and dosa. In Little Italy, to which we go less often, you love the nachos and pizza. You are starting to develop a fondness for chocolates and ice cream - I will let your Mom deal with that developing situation.

When I got the iPhone from the US, it quickly became your toy also. The ease with which you use it (especially flicking through the photos) is a delight to watch. You’ve also now started scribbling, painting and drawing - so that’s a good sign. You do have a ear for music - definitely not from my side of the family! On the TV front, you do match some programmes - at one time, you liked Cbeebies, the BBC Children’s channel. But it is quite hard to get you to sit still in one place.

So, plenty of memories of a year gone by. You are growing up fast, absorbing the world around, and also giving back in your own small way. Your smile and laughter is a joy to behold, and I hope that always stays with you - irrespective of downs that come your way. As parents, your Mom and I are quite happy to see you grow the way you want - instilling in you a good understanding of what’s right and wrong, and setting the boundaries. Life is full of choices, and you’ve already started making yours. I love the way you look at life - living for the moment, with everything that’s past being “yesterday” and everything in the future being “tomorrow.”Happy Birthday, Abhi. Welcome Year Four of your life.

Here is the interview I did with agencyfaqs! in Delhi recently.

I had written this last year around by birthday. But since I was not updating my blog then, I didn’t publish it then.

The Early Years

On August 15, I turn 40. By standard life expectancy measures, I have probably crossed the half-way mark. Birthdays are a good time to reminisce and look ahead. So, here are my thoughts on my life so far and what I’d like to do in the future.

I was born in Pune in 1967. My father, a civil engineer, had returned from an educational and work stint in the US. He had grown up in Rajasthan. My mother had grown up in Pune. She was 19 years old when she married my father in February 1966. After I was born, she continued to spend more time with her parents in Pune to complete her studies in Arts.

Sometime after that, my mother and I moved to Mumbai (Bombay as it was called then) to be with my father’s family. Ours was a small home, first at Chinchpokli (Byculla), then at Nepean Sea Road, and finally at Mahim. My father had quit L&T a few years ago to start his own consulting practice - as a structural engineer helping design buildings, especially tall skyscrapers.

Mahim was where I spent much of my early childhood. I went to St. Michael’s High School. We lived in Mahim till I was 7 years old. Then, we moved to Siddhartha building on Nepean Sea Road - which was to be our home for the next 30 years. With that, I also changed schools - shifting to St. Xavier’s High School (near Metro).

I was a quiet, studious child. My younger sister, Neeta, was born when I was 5. My mother’s sister lived on the floor below us in the same building. Neeta and my cousins were more of the same age, and interacted a lot more with each other than I did with them. In the building, I was the youngest by a wide margin - and so never quite had deep friendships. It was school and books that brought out the best in me.

I discovered new worlds through reading. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with the radio. Listening to BBC World Service enriched my life. I’d sit at the window, close my eyes, and listen to the radio for hours. My favourites were the two science programmes, Discovery and Science In Action. I used to even be able to identify the news readers just by listening to their voices!

Academically, I did very well - topping my class. Two of my closest friends are the ones I went to school with. One of the events which brought us close was the Nehru Science Centre Quiz Contest. We beat out everyone else to win that in 1981. I was also fortunate to have some wonderful teachers - and till date, I try and maintain contact with a few of them.

I would spend vacations at my grandparents’ home in Pune. Once a year or so, my parents, sister and I would go to Rajasthan - where my father had set up a marble factory. When I was 14, we went on a packaged tour (SOTC) of Europe. It was around that time I started keeping a diary - a habit which lasted many years. (Even today, every so often, I will write out a page or two of my thoughts.)

College Days

In 1982, after completing the SSC exams, I joined St. Xavier’s College. College was not particularly exciting. Maybe it was the environment. It was a big change from school. I didn’t study as much in the first few months - spending more time in the library reading. I remember getting the shock of my life when I ended up getting 59 out of 100 in Maths! That was it. Back to academics.

Around that time, as I was getting quite bored, my father bought a computer for his office. And that changed my life. Until then, I had wanted to be a civil engineer - just like him. I would accompany him on site visits to see the new construction. The computer came into my life when I was looking for some alternate outlet for my creativity.

I leant BASIC programming from a book. After my classes at college, I would go to my father’s office and write software - mostly games. I remember three games that I created - one which simulated a one-day international cricket match, another one to play Monopoly, and a third one which I called “Mindermast” after the Mastermind game (also known as Bulls and Cows).

I loved spending time on the computer. It was around that time I decided that I wanted to become a computer engineer when I grew up. Perhaps, I thought that my logical thinking was made-for-programming. Or maybe, the reading that I did convinced me that computers were the future. But it would be still many years before I really go to do more programming.

Twelfth standard studying meant joining Agarwal Classes. I also started preparing for IIT. That left very little time to do anything else. My father was also keen that I go abroad for studies - and so I applied to various US universities. As it turns out, I got into IIT (193^rd rank in JEE) and had an admission from Carnegie-Mellon. After talking to various people, I decided to stay in India and join IIT - even though I had to settle for Electrical Engineering rather than Computer Science.

It was the four years at IIT that brought out the best in me. Luckily, I didn’t do well academically in the first semester. I focused completely on studying - and ended up not topping my class. That shook my confidence - if after all this time spent studying I could not be the best, then what more could I do? What started as a ‘timepass’ volunteer effort in Mood Indigo in 1985 led me down the path of extra-curricular activities, and I ended becoming the General Secretary (Cultural Affairs) in my final year.

More than anything, IIT helped me open up. I learnt very little in the classroom, but everything outside it. The ‘cack sessions’ with wingmates in the hostel, the late-night chess sessions, participating in student government, organising Mood Indigo 1988, the Himankan trek in the Himalayas - all helped developed aspects of my personality which have stood me in good stead in life.

American Journey

Even as I participated in all the other activities in IIT, I did reasonably well academically - passing out with a CPI of 7.93 on a scale of 10. I got into Columbia University, New York, and in early September 1988, took a Lufthansa flight to JFK. I was now completely on my own. I was 21, but in many ways, had led a fairly protected and sheltered life. School and college had been fun and somewhat carefree. Now, I had to go out and build my career.

When I left India, I was very sure that I would come back within a few years. My father had done the same in the mid-60s, and that was what was expected of me. He did not have any expectation that I would join him. All he said was come back and become an entrepreneur. “Doing something on my own” was what I wanted to do. I had seen my father experiment with many ventures - a few succeeded but many failed. Yet, he never stopped trying.

I completed my Masters in Electrical Engineering in 9 months at Columbia. I took half my courses in Computers - rekindling the love from seven years ago. I still remember the Operating Systems course I took in the first semester. My advisor warned me against it - since I did not the prerequisite of C Programming. I told him - give me a few weeks, and I will learn C. Which is what I did - while I was doing four other courses. Programming came naturally to me - and I enjoyed it.

Living in New York was something else I liked. I discovered Calvin and Hobbes, and a deeper love for books (including Poetry). I also discovered Cooking - no choice there! New York was so much like Bombay - a fast-paced buzz that never left you.

After Columbia, I started looking for a job. It was a tough market - the summer of 1989. Luckily, I got an offer from NYNEX Science and Technology in White Plains, an hour or so from New York City. I accepted and joined in September. NYNEX was at that time one of the Baby Bells, created out of AT&T.

NYNEX was a wonderful learning opportunity for me. I combined my love for programming with ‘business development.’ I got to travel and meet people, make presentations, and build ‘relationships.’ It was as good as it gets - until I reminded myself of my India commitment. And so, in December 1991, I walked into my manager’s cabin and handed in my resignation. It wasn’t easy - the team at NYNEX had become like an extended family. And yet, I knew I had to return to India. Entrepreneurship beckoned - though at that time I had no idea what I would do. After a few months with a company on the West Coast, I returned to India in early May 1992.

Entrepreneurship

I have chronicled my fifteen years as an entrepreneur in detail in an earlier Tech Talk. All I want to say here is that these fifteen years, with all their ups and downs, have been as exhilarating as anything I could have imagined. For me, it is about creating new things, it is about the journey. I have tried fifteen different things in these fifteen years. There has only been one big success. But that has never stopped me from trying or dreaming big. Failure, for me, has been a learning opportunity. And that will never change.

I am currently involved in running Netcore. We are doing some interesting things in the mobile data space. I have also invested in more than a dozen companies - with a thesis that we need to build the digital infrastructure for the India first, and then take these solutions to other emerging markets. I think of these ventures as the Emergic ecosystem.

In the next five years, I hope many of these ventures will succeed. If they do, I will benefit in two ways. I will not only have significant financial resources (and here I means, access to billions of dollars) but also I have the ‘operating system’ for layering the applications that can transform life in India.

For me, money is an instrument of change. I have no interest in leaving a financial legacy and a fat bank balance for our only son. I want to bring about change in India in my lifetime. I want to spend all the money that I earn in my lifetime and while I can - because we are running out of time for India. But I do not have enough for what I want to do (more on that shortly). So, I am using entrepreneurship as a ‘money amplifier.’

The Emergic ecosystem companies will also help create the core elements for building out India’s digital infrastructure. From network computers to broadband equipment, from mobile data services to mobile payments, from leveraging video over broadband to creating books for an increasingly literate population, from rethinking healthcare to using solar energy - companies in the Emergic ecosystem have various elements which can help lay the foundation for the change we want to bring about.

As I look ahead, I would like to help build the New India over the next two to three decades. That, for me, means three things. And in all three ideas, my guide has been Atanu Dey. Atanu has helped me think deeply about the issues that need to be addressed for the development of India - and Indians.

Three Goals

Here are three things I’d like to do in the rest of my life and which will require investments of hundreds of millions of dollars. This is not about philanthropy, but about building the right systems and foundation - in a sort-of self-generating way. Ideally, the Indian government should have been the enabler - but I don’t see that happening with the politicians we have. Indian business has started taking the lead but is not doing this fast enough - and in some cases, is not even doing it right.

First, ensuring access to quality education for hundreds of millions of Indians. Education is a life-enhancer - and nothing comes close. My father was helped by his education to get out of the village he grew up in and created opportunities for himself. How can we do the same for millions in India who are otherwise resigned to a life devoid of opportunity? This is not about trying to build the world’s best school or college, but ensuring that a sustainable and scalable system to provide quality education for everyone in India. For more, read Atanu Dey’s series on Doing Education Right.

Second, we need to build hundreds of new cities to house the hundreds of millions of people who we need to get out from the villages. Our current cities are bursting at the seams. Creating urban slums in not the answer. We need 600 new cities of a million each or 6,000 towns of 100,000 each - or a mix of both. But there is no way we can provide any reasonable future to pockets of 1,000 people living in 600,000 villages. In other words, India cannot afford its villages - and needs to urbanise fast. Else, the demographic dividend will turn out to a big nightmare. Creating these new cities right - in a clean, green, and self-sustainable way - is what I’d like to see us do. For more, read Atanu Dey’s series on Creating India’s New Cities.

Finally, I want to create a Santa Fe-like institution in India. It should be a place where multi-disciplinary thinking is the norm. It should be a magnet for smart people to spend time interacting with the best in different areas so they can forge multiple mental models which can then go out and solve problems right. We go wrong in solutions because we have partial knowledge and so we do not understand the real problem. This leads to what I call brain-dead decisions. An institution like this will ensure that we make the right decisions for the future. It will create a platform for the innovations we will continue to need.

The day after we had sold IndiaWorld for $115 million in November 1999, my wife, Bhavana, told me: “We are custodians of God’s money. If God has given us money at such an early age, there must be something He has in mind for us. We have to utilise this wealth for the greater good.” These are words which have formed the bedrock of my life since then. Till then, I was an entrepreneur trying to prove that I could, even after repeated failures, be successful at least once. Since then, I have come to believe that what good we need to do, we have to do in our present life - while we still have the physical and mental energies.

Here is the presentation I made at the Mobile Innovation Marketplace (part of Mobile World Congress) last week where Netcore was awarded the Runner-up in the True Mobile Start-up category.

The just-concluded annual event of the GSM mobile industry in Barcelona threw up a number of interesting trends, some of which could be particularly useful for Indian operators and companies creating content and solutions in the mobile space.

Dominance of Voice and SMS: The mobile can do many things, but for a mobile operator it is voice and SMS which generates, in most countries, 90-95% of the revenue. This is likely to go down as new services emerge, but for now, the mobile is used for, as someone put it, “calling, texting, and as an alarm clock.”

Operators as Customer Relationship Managers: Mobile operators are in a unique position given the data they have on consumers. They can graph our social networks, identify our likes and dislikes based on what we do on the mobile, and also integrate this with the information they collect on us when we register. All of this puts operators in an excellent position to manage - and monetise - the customer relationship they have. But for this, they will need to look beyond the pipes business - never an easy transition to make. This market transition will create opportunities and challenges for not just mobile operators, but also the entire ecosystem.

Mobile as Internet Machine: That is how Masayoshi Son of Softbank thinks of the mobile. As mobiles become more powerful and networks become faster, it opens up the vast world of the Internet - on the go. The same sentiment was echoed by Vodafone’s Arun Sarin. But this will mean investing not just in 3G networks but going to 3.5G and beyond. India needs to think hard creating the regulatory environment to facilitate the creation of the next-generation wireless infrastructure and service.

Hot Topics: On the mobile services side, perhaps the two areas that elicited the maximum interest and discussion were mobile advertising and mobile payments. Just as the advertising model has had a deep impact on the Internet, there is a growing belief that the mobile is becoming a medium and advertising will create value for customers, operators and businesses. The models are still emerging. On the payments side, there is great interest on enabling money transfers, facilitating banking and driving transactions. There was also recognition for “mChek on Airtel” which won the award for the Best Customer Care and Billing Solution.

Importance of Communities: As John Chambers of Cisco put it, the market is shifting from “You to Us.” People want to connect to other people, new sources of information and with the communities they are already part of. The mobile is becoming an integral part of this connected life, with the desire to share photos, videos - and moments. As tomorrow’s world is shaped by convergence, the mobile will be the real-time window to our family and friends.

Importance of Emerging Markets: The fulcrum of innovation is also starting to shift from the developed markets to emerging countries like India. One of the keynote speakers pointed out that while big companies are good at evolutionary innovations, it is the smaller companies which drive revolutionary innovation. Indian companies and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to create the next big models in the mobile space - leveraging a large domestic market to expand internationally.

Let me start with some great news. Netcore has won the Runner-Up position in the GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Awards. I will be in Barcelona next week (along with Netcore CEO, Abhijit Saxena) to make the presentation. Will have more details about MyToday soon.

PRESS RELEASE:

Netcore Solutions declared as Runner Up in ‘True Mobile Start-Up’ category at GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Awards ’08

While the telecom world is abuzz with the upcoming GSMA Mobile World Congress, India’s Netcore Solutions has already quietly scored at the GSMA 2008 Mobile Innovation Global Awards, sponsored by Ericsson with Netcore’s path breaking MyToday service. Netcore was selected, last week as Runner-up in the ’True Mobile Startup’ category.

Netcore Solutions was selected from hundreds of entries as a Top Innovator in the first round. GSMA then selected 10 finalists over 5 categories who will compete in front of a judging panel at the Mobile Innovation Marketplace that is due to be held in Barcelona between February 11-12 2008.

Netcore Solutions has acquired a place in the runners-up list of 15 nominees over 5 categories. Netcore is the first Indian company to be recognized at the GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Awards. Netcore’s MD Rajesh Jain will present MyToday to a global audience in Barcelona on 12^th February 2008.

The GSMA Mobile World Congress ’08 convenes in February this year at Barcelona. Founded in 1987, GSMA is a global trade association representing over 700 GSM mobile phone operators. GSMA Mobile World Congress which convenes every February is the world’s largest and the most prestigious mobile industry event.

The Mobile Innovation Global Awards were launched by GSMA in year 2006 to recognize excellence and showcase innovation in the global mobile industry by presenting emerging companies on a global stage.

The Mobile Innovation Global Awards 2008, sponsored by Ericsson, are judged in multiple stages with participations from across the world. The 2008 shortlist has been chosen by a panel of expert judges. The judging process evaluates the innovators on crucial factors that can make, or break, the success of a truly innovative idea.

Service Supreme

Netcore’s MyToday is a bold and visionary effort to reach out to all of the 250 million or more Indians who possess a cell phone with innovative data services on SMS and GPRS, - with ‘something for everyone’. Through MyToday Dailies, Netcore offers unique content services on SMS. A comprehensive mobile portal, MyToday.mobi offers relevant content to Indian mobile users on the go. While through the community group and chat services – called MyToday MOBS and Mytoday Chat, it reaches out to the fast growing mobile youth segment of Indian market. Netcore has been able to establish mobile as a medium that caters to need of consumers and also offers path-breaking modes of mobile advertising and marketing.

MyToday Dailies is the largest non-telco, direct-to-consumer Mobile Service, with over 2.5 million subscribers spread across the country. With 25 successful channels that have succeeded without mass media campaigns, MYTODAY DAILIES has grown virally through pure word-of-mouth.

Abhijit Saxena, CEO Netcore says, “Mobiles are emerging as one of the strongest and largest medium in India to directly address the fast growing market of over 225 million mobile users. With strong technology platform, we are able to reach to every Indian mobile user who is hungry for information but has no access to internet on the go. We have the capability and the proof of concept to showcase the strength of the fourth screen that every Indian views, which is mobile.”

The Second Life of SMS

MYTODAY DAILIES is a free, direct-to-consumer, opt-in SMS subscription service that is making SMS into a habit with its timed delivery. Since most users subscribe to multiple channels, the cumulative reach of MYTODAY DAILIES is 8 million every day.

“At Netcore, we pro-actively put the user in control, to eliminate any chance of spam and unsolicited communication which is highly detrimental to the brand and the medium. In the DNC environment, where the consumer, advertising fraternity and regulatory systems are grappling to fight the monster of tele-marketing and SMS spam, here is a company that has designed its services to the subscribers’ conveniences, needs and driven purely by his choice.” - quipped Abhijit Saxena.

What is more important is that besides being a strong feasible concept, it is their unique channels that give them the edge no media has in India today. They are as strong in the semi and sub urban zones of India as they are in the Metros and Tier 1 cities

About Netcore

Netcore has been founded by Rajesh Jain, who had earlier created IndiaWorld, India’s first and largest family of internet portals, which was acquired by Sify in 1999.

His new venture, Netcore, has been getting recognition in the global mobile fraternity for its innovation in giving SMS a second life and pioneering new business models in mobile advertising and marketing.

Rajesh Jain, Founder and MD said, “Mobiles are the true convergence device of the future, and they will be the ultimate marketing platform of tomorrow. In Consumer Marketing, you can’t get more direct.” Known for the success of his futuristic vision and ventures, he added, “Recognition from the 2008 GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Awards is a timely endorsement of our vision for the future in new-world media and markets.”

Netcore’s Mobility division has been creating benchmark mobile products and services. Created under the umbrella brand of MyToday - MyToday.mobi, MyToday Dailies and MyToday MOBS provide an array of services to millions of users across the length and breadth of the country. Their huge success is an acknowledgement of Rajesh Jain’s vision to bring about an information and communication revolution using the mobile as a medium.

CEO Speak

Abhijit Saxena says, ““All we had to do was to find a method to marry the largest proliferated device with a service which is sincere to the user’s sensibilities, needs and conveniences. When we put it all together, we knew we already had a winner with long-term potential.”

“The medium and the market are very large and lucrative, and being hurt by ad-hoc tele-marketing and SMS spam. We decided to conserve and cultivate this market by example.”

He added, “We respect the DNC environment, because true consumer-based marketing deserves weaving our services into their lifestyle while adding intrinsic value. And we hope we start a trend that will encourage companies to market strategically, not forcefully.”

It has been an extraordinarily long break from blogging. After six years of daily updates, I took a break last June-end, necessitated by a bout of influenza which left me bed-ridden for a couple weeks. Around the same time, work became very busy. Also, my son, Abhishek, (growing from 2 to 3 years) made sure that mornings and evenings were his time with me. And, I had just gotten bored of the format of one weekly Tech Talk series (which was becoming repetitive) and giving links to interesting articles. So, I stopped – hoping for a magical makeover and some inspiration! That never happened – until now.

This time around, I will blog more on what I think – rather than giving only the links. So, the posts will be less frequent, but hopefully more meaningful. I have also migrated the blog from MovableType to Wordpress. All in all, time for a new beginning.

There’s lots to talk about, so let’s get started!

Thanks for all your emails. I will re-start the blog in September. Meanwhile, take a look at the right panel on the blog and perhaps you will find something interesting in the archives! — Rajesh.

I will be taking a short blog break. Spent the past 5 days in bed with a severe viral infection. So, there’s a lot of work to catch up upon. Have also been thinking of doing some innovation on the blog itself…this break will help me think that through. Back soon!