Month: November 2008

We have been having some issues over the past few months with people subscribing to MyToday services because of what I believe is a misinterpretation of the National Do-Not-Call (NDNC) rules by a mobile operator.

At the heart of the issue is whether an explicit SMS Opt-in done by a subscriber overrides an NDNC registration, or should it be the other way round. Logic would dictate that even if I have registered for NDNC, I should still be able to opt-in to any SMS service that I desire. Else, I am going to have to unregister myself from NDNC to opt-in to an SMS service — opening myself to every spammer in the country, and thus creating the very regime of spam that NDNC was supposed to have avoided in the first place.

Well, this logic that Opt-in should override NDNC doesn’t seem to hold as far as Airtel is concerned in the case of MyToday. Airtel has blocked the longcodes we use for people to subscribe (9845398453 and 9845298452) because they received some complaints from people. [We did try and address the issue as to why people would complain, but that didn’t seem to help.] What we are being told is that the 3.7 million MyToday database needs to be scrubbed to remove all NDNC-registered users (about 10% of the base). This just doesn’t make sense to me.

The alternatives Airtel has given us: either get in writing from the 370K subscribers that they want to get MyToday SMS channels, or get TRAI to issue a clarification on the NDNC rules they have issued. I don’t know which is more impossible! I have tried speaking to TRAI officials. All they say is that this is an issue between the operator (Airtel) and NetCore. So much for that.

The net result: existing MyToday subscribers cannot opt-out (because their numbers are blocked), and new ones cannot opt-in. I don’t know if we have been singled out for our pioneering services in India, but all I can say is that this ridiculous situation needs to be resolved. We are caught between Airtel and TRAI, and it has been like that for the past couple months.

The irony is that a service like ours which has showcased innovation and new monetisation opportunities to the world (I presented this at both the GSM World Congress in Barcelona in Feb and the Web 2.0 Summit a couple weeks ago) is not being allowed to function properly in our own home country!

Here is a presentation I had sent to Airtel and TRAI outlining the issues involved and giving recommendations on the way forward.

As I have said before, India has the opportunity to lead the world in the creation and monetisation of mobile data services. This is important if the telcos are to counter falling voice revenues. But if we have short-sightedness like this, we are not going to get anywhere.

Yesterday, I was on the road in Mumbai doing 4 back-to-back meetings and presentations talking about our Mobility platform to enterprises. As I made my way home late at night, memories from similar days 12 years ago came to my mind. Then, I was talking about the Internet and what it could do for their business. Now, it is the mobile and the power of SMS subscriptions.

In the early stage of building new revenue streams, it is one’s passion and vision for what can we done that can help generate the first customers. One has to convince the person on the other side to give this next new thing a try – and see what magic can be created. There are not that many case studies or references yet. One has to think on one’s feet to come up with solutions for the problems that the potential customers talk about. And that is the best source of new ideas.

On the way home, I reflected on the meetings and realised that this one full day of continuous customer interaction had done more for making me aware of how to grow the platform we are creating than the dozens of hours spent in the office thinking about what to do. I used to do it a lot 12 years ago. Like I said last week, I need to do more of the OOO thing! I may be 12 years older, but I still feel like that same person going out to sell a vision that can Change The Way Business Is Done.

The iPhone has an “Airplane” setting which turns the radio (phone) off but keeps the rest of the device working. We all need the equivalent of an “Airplane” mode which turns off all distractions and leaves us free to think – uninterrupted, for long periods of time.

I thought about this on my long flight from Mumbai to San Francisco (via Shanghai) on Jet Airways. I always find long flights very productive for thinking. It is hard to get this kind of disconnectedness on earth. (Hopefully, it stays that way, and they don’t start Internet and mobile access on airplanes.)  During our regular day on Earth’s surface, we end up having plenty of beeps and all that – people probing us via email, SMS, phone calls or popping into cabins for discussions. It is hard to get a few hours where all one can do is sit in the same place, get food delivered, and thus have the mind free for long stretches of time.

I find these periods very good for deep thinking. There is a certain timelessness about long-distance airplane travel – which was similar to how trains used to be once upon a time. One has one’s space and is left completely free to do as one pleases.

I think we should all go into Airplane mode every once in a while – can do wonders for the mind.

I think there is a great opportunity in the US around SMS. Just like Facebook made waves first in the younger generation and then moved to the older set, the use of texting in the teenage segment is exploding. The older people still don’t use it, and tend to stay with their smartphones and the mobile Internet. My feeling is that SMS usage across the US will grow substantially in the next couple years and will cover all segments. The key driver for this, besides P2P SMS, will be SMS Subscriptions. This is one area in which we in India lead, and not lag, the US. So, can some Indian companies use SMS to get an entry into the US mobile data market? It is something that is worth exploring seriously.

My belief is that SMS subscriptions can be the foundation to build a mobile data play. India can be the ‘laboratory’ and the backyard in which new services can be tried out. The US market is different, but when it comes to SMS usage, there will be enough similarities which can help create the openings.

This series was written almost exactly five years ago. I write about Vision, Compass Thinking, Multi-tasking, Deciding and Problem Solving. Here is an excerpt from the section on Compass Thinking:

When we embark on a journey, the normal course of action is to equip oneself with a map. But what if the terrain one we were going across was uncharted and no maps were available? All one has as a guide then are the stars and one’s inner intuitions. This describes the path the entrepreneur needs to traverse. An entrepreneur must learn to travel with a compass, knowing only the general direction.

It is not all that difficult. When one starts, all paths seems to be headed to the destination — or to nowhere. This is where the trial-and-error process starts. The entrepreneur needs to start looking around, making short forays, developing a sense of the surroundings, being alert to the environment around. Over time, the entrepreneur will develop the appropriate antennae which will work as the compass for going forward in the right direction.

That is how we began in our mobility business — three years ago all I knew was I wanted us to be in it, but didn’t know the specifics of what we would do.  We started with a compass, and drew the map out as we explored the terrain.

This weekend’s links:

• Management by Seth Levine: A cliche that is worth repeating — great management trumps a great idea.
• VC Business Model by Matt Marshal: Is it broken?
• Predictions 2009: Todd Bishop reports on the WTIA’s annual predictions dinner.
• Trip Chowdhry’s Comments: on what’s coming in the world of tech (via Barron’s).
• Disruptive Innovation during an Economic Crisis: An article from Knowledge@Wharton.

It has been rightly said that the one of biggest reason for failure small businesses is (deteriorating) Cashflow. This is especially true in times like now when there is a slowdown that is imminent / happening. If billings take time to convert into cash, then it can lead to a difficult predicament — expenses continue to happen on schedule, and incoming cash slows down (even though sales numbers may hit their targets). So, keep a watch out for collections in the business, and monitor aging reports of debtors (especially those over 60 days) closely.

A couple  articles to read on this topic from More than Business and Small Biz 101.

I returned on Sunday morning from a 9-day visit. I was in Chicago for a day for a business meeting, and then in San Francisco for the Web 2.0 Summit. It was my third trip to San Francisco this year, so the Union Square territory is getting a little too familiar! With two book stores (Borders and Stacey’s) and a toy store (Jeffrey’s), these short stays allow me to indulge a little also – besides the business meetings.

As I was in the cab going from San Francisco airport to the hotel, I got that eerie feeling that it only seemed the other day that I was driving on the same highway – even though a couple months had passed. I guess we have all felt this “time compression” once in a while – when the memories of the previous period same so fresh in the mind.

The travel on Jet Airways was extraordinarily good. It is a pity that they are shutting down the Mumbai-SF-Mumbai service from mid-January. (From what I understood, the weekend flights do quite well, but the weekday flights have low occupancy.)

So, this year has so far seen six international trips (Barcelona, Phuket and Singapore besides the three US trips). Except Singapore, all the others were on business. Looking forward to staying tethered in Mumbai till the end of the year!

It was a terrific experience being in the US the night Obama became President-elect. This election energised people across the US – and the world. There is great hope and expectation. I wish we could say the same about India’s leaders.

Here, there is an air of resignation, of politics as usual. We need a leader who can energise us, whom we can relate to, and who embodies a vision for the New India. We need to get a large percentage of our citizens involved in the community process – which is what Obama managed to do.

So, who can be India’s Obama? We have elections happening in the next 6-odd months. We need change, but will probably not get it this time. The three choices this time are likely to be Manmohan Singh (who has disappointed more than delighted), LK Advani (let’s hope he governs as well as he writes), and a dark horse in Mayawati. I think we will have to wait a few more years before India’s Obama emerges.

What helped Obama was the Internet – in raising cash for the campaign and mobilizing millions of supporters across the country. In India, that change will come in 5-6 years with the mobile platform. But we also need leaders who can think big and put India first.
So, who will be India’s Obama? Any ideas? If I had to pick one person, it would be the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He is much older than Obama at 58 years, but that’s still relatively young compared to the people we have now.

The video has now been put up was there, but doesn’t seem to be available now. so you can check it out. (Here are the slides and the prepared text of the talk.) There must have 750-1,000 people in the ballroom at the Palace Hotel – it was standing room only. I was the second speaker on the first day of the event — after Mary Meeker, and followed by John Doerr.

I was more than a little tense during the presentation, and could have done a lot better. I had practiced quite a bit, but just walking up there in front of so many people on so important an occasion for someone like me who is not so used to it can be quite a challenge! As I sat through various other presentations, I had the occasion to observe others and learnt a lot watching them. Next time, I will be a lot better. It is important for one to go through the experience and then only can the ideas for doing better come – else it is all theory.

Of course, from a content and presentation perspective, I said all that I wanted to. Many people came up to me over the course of the next two days and complemented me on the talk and discussed some of the ideas I had mentioned. So, that was very positive. I think what I missed in the talk was an emotional element – showing how the Nova NetPC’s computers and the MyToday SMS subscriptions actually are making a difference to people’s lives. I could also have showcased the bigger vision better on what we can do in India.

I need to work on my presentation style. Looking at some of the other speakers, I thought I was like Windows v1.0 compared to their MacOS style! I will work hard now on improving.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience. Meeting John Battelle and Tim O’Reilly was great. And it was sheer delight watching John in conversation with the various people. The diversity of topics covered and breadth of information that came across was astounding. I think we really need a Web 2.0 Summit equivalent for India – getting together our best minds in a single forum over 2-3 days. Not like the conclaves organised by India Today and Hindustan Times, but one where the best thinkers converse and share their views on the present and future.