Delhi Mentoring Session

Kamini Auditorium, one of Delhi’s finest auditoriums generally used for theatre and music came alive this time with a session designed to inspire young aspiring entrepreneurs.

The scorching Delhi heat didn’t deter the participants and even before the registration desks opened there were more than 400 excited faces abuzz in the auditorium’s lobby. Soon everyone was herded into the cool comfort of the auditorium and a relay of advertisements on the ‘Power of Ideas’ looped impatiently.

The mentoring session began with the introduction of the esteemed panel of investors from the Indian Angel Network who shared their experiences, learnings and success stories with a rather enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience.

The panel included Mr. Pradeep Gupta, Mr. Mohit Goyal, Mr. Sunil Kalra, Mr. Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Mr. Sanjay Bhasin, Ms. Anupama Arya and Mr. Aseem Chauhan. Mr. Pradeep Gupta of the Indian Angel Network began the session by answering a vital question regarding ‘start ups’ in a potentially volatile economy. “At times like these, there is a need to be innovative since there are no free rides anymore.” He also stated that, “The quality of ideas get better during an economic downturn because everyone is trying to get a piece of a shrinking pie. And the customer is also more critical of products and services.”

Talking about what happens if a start up fails to receive money, Mr. Sanjeev B. states that, “It’s not good to assume that success depends entirely on external funding. There are a lot of very successful companies that started out without any of that.” He goes on to state that, “Getting funds is just one of the battles won in creating a successful business.”

“So what makes a good business plan?” Ms. Anupama Arya wittily summed up what seemed to be a long explanation in a few words, “If you can manage to get a customer to pay you, you’re on the right track.”.

Mr. Pradeep Gupta went on to talk about the mistakes people make and how the lack of passion is potentially one of the biggest reasons for a failed business model. Adding to that, Mr. Sanjay Bhasin emphasises on the importance of having a scalable business idea, since ideas needs to grow and mustn’t stagnate.”

After the first round of discussions, Ms. Padwaja introduces the ‘Elevator Pitch’ and facilitates the discussion onwards. The rustling of the print-outs of the ‘Elevator Pitch’ take prominence as the eager audience tries to grasp this bounty of knowledge. Mr. Aseem Chauhan emphasises that one doesn’t need to force fit their idea into the elevator plan. He says, “It’s OK to modify the plan to fit your idea.”

The session was soon made open to the house and audience questions began pouring in.

Mr. Sunil Kalra states the importance of the ‘first’ pitch. He says, “For the first pitch YOU only need to give us YOUR idea and tell us who YOU are and what your team is.”

Another question that was raised was, how does one figure out when to go for Angel funding and when to go for VC funding? To which, Mr. Sanjeev B. stated that Angels generally come in at an earlier stage and will invest far lower sums of money than a VC would. One should aim to raise VC money at a much later stage.

The final few questions discussed the importance of timing and luck and how apart from funding, persistence and the belief in an idea would eventually determine the success of a business plan.

Bangalore Mentoring Session

On 17^th April, the Elevator Pitch Mentoring Sessions moved into its Bangalore Edition. Kicking off with its trademark entrepreneurial celebration, the session left aspirants inspired and no questions unanswered. Bangalore's contribution to The Economic Times - The Power of Ideas contest is noteworthy- the maximum business proposals came in from this city.

At the session, the panel comprised eminent names including Mr. Sharad Sharma, Mr. Joseph Fernandes, Mr. Puneet Vatsayan, Mr. Revathy Ashok, Mr. Amitabh Srivastava, Mr. S. Nagarajan, Mr. Subhash Menon, Mr. Harsh Ramesh Angeri and Mr. Sanjay Anandram.

Mr. Pankaj Mishra from The Economic Times kick started the session, quizzing panelists. “Why is the recession the best time to start a business?” Mr. Subash Menon, Founder and Chairman- Subex Systems answered: “All crisis will eventually pass. And whatever happens, happens for the good. After all, an individual willing to face uncertainties makes an entrepreneur. So believe in your idea, ensure it possesses a commercial sense, make sure your customers fall in love with your idea.”

Mr. Sharad Sharma, CEO at Yahoo! India R&D added: “In recessionary times, there are two things that become clearer: if the idea is good and if competition can be tackled.” While Mr. Harsh Ramesh Angeri, Head Strategy & Initiatives- HoneyWell added: Only when a tide is low, can you determine who's without the swimming trunks!”

However, there's nothing quite like a live entrepreneurial example. Mr. Janesh Janardhan, CEO and Co-Founder Robhatah reminisced his own experience whilst stating: “When we started out we presented our idea to a number of investors. The feedback helped us refine our business idea.”

Mr. Puneet Vatsayan, Co-Founder Mobera Systems, went on to add: “A basic mistake start-ups make is investing across parallels at the same time. It's important to phase out your business spends based on its needs.”

Another piece of advice came in from Mr. Menon: “A good idea has three components: What? When? Who? As long as you get these three right, you're on track.”

This knowledge sharing session was followed by a question-answer round thrown open to the audience. Questions included:

Question:

What’s the kind of ROI that makes an idea attractive to investors?

Answer:

It's difficult to put a firm number on the return on investment. The panelist assesses the idea based on how quickly it can be monetized and its scalability.

Question:

It's not possible for me to conduct a research to ascertain consumer acceptability of my idea. What should I do?

Answer:

In such a scenario, base your answers on observations without second guessing.

Question:

Are we allowed to extend our Elevator Pitch submissions beyond six slides?

Answer:

Stick to the preset limit! The shorter your presentation, the more crystallized your idea is likely to be. And, the clearer your proposition!

Question:

How important is SWOT vis-a-vis competition?

Answer:

While answering this question ensure you include how you will tackle competition. Ensure your business story is presented in the most compelling manner.

Question:

What is an investors involvement in the company's operations?

Answer:

An investor needn't play a passive role and their experience and knowledge can be used to drive the business from time to time.

Mumbai Mentoring Session Part-III - 'Q&A - The panelists take on questions from the audience'

Question:

Post submission and shortlisting, I have refined my business idea thereby altering critical data. Is this likely to be negatively assessed at The Elevator Pitch?

Answer: Of course not. The panelist expects you to alter your business proposal,and refine it to include more accurate data and learnings.


Question:

The panelist talks of consumer acceptance to guage profitability of our business venture. Does this hold true for as yet undiscovered products?

Answer: In case of products/services that have not yet been launched in the market place, entrepreneurial aspirants are advised to attach a dip-stick survey to depict potential market need and consumer acceptance.


Question:

My educational background varies from my chosen area of entrepreneurship. Is this likely to negatively impact my performance at The Elevator Pitch.

Answer: Entrepreneurs are judged basis soft skills and a diverse background often helps enhance skill sets. At the Elevator Pitch, you are judged, not just your business idea. It's therefore important to be confident whilst presenting your idea.


Question:

What is the minimum return on Investment below which an idea will not gain Investor acceptance?

Answer: A minimum of 10x return is likely to attract a venture capitalist to your business proposal.


Question:

My business proposal centers around a design service. In lieu of this, will we allowed to include photographs in our Elevator Pitch submission?

Answer: Preferably, do not include photographs in The Elevator Pitch. In necessary situations like the one above, you may include photographs as long as the file size of the PowerPoint does not exceed 1MB.


Question:

What do you think is the primary reason for the failure of start-ups?

Answer: Businesses fail due to indigestion and not starvation! If a business is going too many places at one time, it is likely not to succeed. Persistence and passion are critical to business survival. Also, it's not so much the Power of an Idea, but the Power of Execution that helps realize an entrepreneurial dream. Remember not to be disheartened and conserve cash! Cash is critical to harness your entrepreneurial venture. After all, it's a marathon not a sprint race.


Question:

In the Financial segment of The Elevator Pitch submission form, are we allowed to include data in a spreadsheets format?

Answer: No, spreadsheets data cannot be attached in this segment. However, a six line table can be included in the PowerPoint itself.

Question:

What should I keep in mind whilst choosing an Investor?

Answer: It's important to understand that you don't choose an Investor, an Investor chooses you. However, the best Investor is one who shares synergy with you, whilst believing in your business idea. Also, if the Investor has Invested in businesses similar to your area of operation, it is likely to stand you in good steed. Additionally, how a venture capitalist responds to distress situations is also critical.

Question:

Does the Investor bet on the jockey or the horse?

Answer: At The Elevator Pitch, 2/3rd importance lies with the individual and his/her conduct while the rest is given to the idea. The aspirants' gumption for risk is critical to attracting a potential Investor.


Question:

How critical is it to include patents in the business proposal?

Answer: Patents are “good-to-have” to a business proposal; they give you the edge to stand out in the market place. However, venture capitalists eventually will choose a good idea, irrespective of whether it is patented or not.


Question:

In case of multiple years of operation, what data should I include in the Financial Segment of The Elevator Pitch form?

Answer: Three years financial data, and three years financial projections should ideally be included in The Elevator Pitch form.


Should you have any additional questions, or if you haven't received any critical communication material from The Power of Ideas Team, do get in touch with us at: etideas@indiatimes.com. We'll be pleased to help answer your queries.

'Mumbai Mentoring Session-Part II' - '6 by 15- An in depth guide to getting the Elevator Pitch right'

Download The Elevator Pitch Format, by clicking here.

Once you've downloaded The Elevator Pitch Form, here's some useful tips to ensure your submitted form matches panelist expectations.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

In this segment, begin by including a clear and concise description of your product/service. Also include how your product/service fits into your potential consumers' need. What sets your product apart from competition?

What is the one distinguishing factor that sets it apart from other businesses? Answers to these questions should help refine your business proposal.

With respect to the target audience, make sure your business is well-targeted and well-defined. Include a sharp description of your target consumer to the extent that the venture capitalist can visualize who you're talking about.

Answers should be presented in an attention grabbing tone.

MARKET ANALYSIS

Define your target audience not just in terms of geographical location but also a clear description of the market space your business will occupy, preferably citing leading examples/names. Ensure the challenges your business will face are outlined, and more importantly include how they will be overcome. Your market should be accurately defined, down to its narrowest most relevant description. In this segment ensure the information entered is original and relevant.

SALES STRATEGY

A detailed description of your sales strategy and distribution model should be included in your submitted form. How will your product reach the consumer and how will you sustain delivery are critical questions. Distribution is an oft neglected part in any business proposal and it's important to determine whether you will reach out to your consumer or vice versa. This helps ascertain the economics of what businesses are possible, and what businesses aren't. In case of a digital portal, do include how customers will be attracted to your portal.

A marketing strategy that helps differentiate your offering from others is also critical to a good business proposal. Make sure you include a sharp, unconventional marketing approach that'll help set your business apart.

THE TEAM

A category B idea with a category A team easily shines over a category A idea from a category B team. It's important for the team to have the right educational background, domain expertise and share synergy. A well-founded team helps add to the business venture, and especially stands steed in turbulent, stressful times. It is after all, not just a matter of coincidence that the greatest businesses in the world come from strong, nurtured partnerships. Strong partnerships help balance opinions and build stronger ideas. Just like a good marriage partnership, the right chemistry is essential!

FINANCIALS

In the Financial segment it is critical to include three years financial projections. It's important to pick the right numbers so your business isn't OVER FUNDED or UNDER FUNDED. Both are potential problems. Determine where your revenue is coming from, and where your costs are being incurred. When submitting financial data, be frugal, recheck facts and remember CASH is king. If you're worried about how to calculate your projections, consider the first rung of investors- the 3Fs- your friends, family and fools. And, base your calculations on how you manage your first rung of investors.

Mumbai Mentoring Session - Part I

At the Mumbai leg of The Elevator Pitch Mentoring Sessions, the auditorium was abuzz with potential entrepreneurs hobnobbing with other aspirants and angel investors. A crowd of 350 plus turned up for the two hour Mentoring Session that included insights and learnings from experienced, successful entrepreneurs across the country. The session took off to a ceremonious start with Vinod Mahanta, Editor-Corporate Dossier, saluting all the entrepreneurial hopefuls that had the courage to believe.

Mr. Harish Mehta, Co-Founder Nascom and Founder Indian Angel Network, then kicked off the session that included prominent panelists Mr. Priyank Garg, Mr.Satya Bansal, Mr. Bharat Banka and Mr. Vipul Mankad among others.

Commenced Mr. Mehta, “In today's turbulent financial times, the Entrepreneur will act as a change agent in society and create jobs, not the existing multinational companies.” Moving on, he encouraged the audience to believe in their talent, passion and keep intact their ability to convert an idea into a business reality.

Adding to Mr. Mehta's learnings was Mr. Rayver Khan, Founder-Flora2000.com, an international flower delivery specialist. Mr. Khan asserted the importance of building a core business team whilst embarking on an entrepreneurial venture, “My top team took time to build. It was critical to find people who would aid my venture, who would take charge. Finding people you can rely on is half the battle won.”

Mr. Krishna Jha, Member-Indian Angel Network, took on from Mr. Khan stressing the importance of luck, getting it right, and discovering your entrepreneurial call. Facing rejection too, is of utmost importance in Jha's books. “When you're an entrepreneur, you have to face rejection. You get paid for the trauma, get paid for listening to people say: NO! This is what sets you apart from merely being an employee.”

Concluding a round of introductory speeches, Mr. Mahanta then opened up questions to the panel, starting with one on everybody's mind: Is this the right time to take on an entrepreneurial challenge? The panelist responded with an uproarious yes: “Irrespective of when the question is asked, the time is always now. Of course, it's important to have a cracker of an idea.”



Mr. Satya Bansal, CEO-India Barclays Wealth, advises that the financial downturn is the best time to test an idea. “The power of an idea gets tested in tough markets, allowing it to then thrive when markets open up.” Mr. Vipul Mankad, President-SIDBI Limited, pointed at two parameters for adjudging a business idea- customer acceptance and profitability. And Mr. Bharat Banka, CEO-Aditya Birla Private Equity, stressed how it was important to determine if you wanted a large share of a small pie, or a smaller share of a larger pie.

The discussion then moved to discovering the entrepreneur within you. The panelist believed this was critical to attracting venture capitalists. It's also critical to test yourself, minus the pretensions and to allow for flexibility whilst continually keeping your eye on the goal post. “There's a difference between being passionate and obstinate!” the panelist pointed out. Mr. Mankad too, addressed the importance of staying focused. “Be resilient, and quickly adapt to changing environments,” was his mantra.

The final question to the panelists addressed the importance of adapting to Indian markets. While there was nothing wrong in being inspired by Western counterparts, the panelist believed it was critical to adapt suitably to India's distinct needs and mannerisms. Lastly, entrepreneurial aspirants are adjudged largely basis soft skills, the process is also emotional as much as logical. This, the panelist believed, was important for aspirants to understand.

This message was brought out successfully in Mr. Krishnan's speech. The founder of start-up Quench, an Online Library, Krishnan spoke of his journey from the pitch stage to finally attracting venture capitalists. “Nothing quite prepares you for the challenges to come when you convert a great idea to its scalable form,” said Krishnan. He spoke of the passion, the emotion whilst emphasizing the need to remain objective especially when taking in distilled wisdom from varied sources. “The process was rigorous, as it was painful and yet the process helped us to evolve and crystallize our own thoughts into a realized entrepreneurial dream. Conserving cash was a handy decision.”

Shortlisted Candidates Prepare for Elevator Pitch

With the results of the first short-list declared in The Power Of Ideas initiative, it is time now for the short-listed candidates to gear up for the second round of the programme. In order to proceed to the final stage of meeting investors, all short-listed participants will be required to make an ‘Elevator Pitch’ in the next few days.

What is the Elevator Pitch?

It is just a brief dialogue between a potential investor and a participant so that the investor gets a quick grasp on the robustness of the business idea and the ability of the participant to execute it. The date and time for the individual Elevator Pitch will be made available on our website, http://ideas.economictimes.com/, starting Apr 10, 2009. Short-listed candidates should make a note of the schedule. Investors will call you within the given time band and you will be required to complete the Elevator Pitch telephonically.

All participants have been sent the Guidelines and Format for completing the Elevator Pitch by postal mail, besides some literature on entrepreneurship. Please complete the Elevator Pitch format and email it to etideas@indiatimes.com.

The timelines for submission of the Elevator Pitch format is:

Mumbai - on or before April 12, 2009

Bangalore - on or before April 21, 2009

Delhi - on or before April 25, 2009

Note: The submission of the Elevator Pitch format will be followed by an Elevator Pitch made telephonically, the date and time for which will be published on The Power Of Ideas site, starting April 10th, 2009.

This email will be shared with prospective investors so they too, are better prepared for the Elevator Pitch.

To get you up to speed for the Elevator Pitch, we have also put together a Mentoring Session. You are invited to meet experts and entrepreneurs at the following Mentoring Session:

Mumbai

Date & time : April 8, 2009 4:30 PM onwards

Venue : St. Andrews Auditorium St. Andrews College Campus,Domnik Road, Off hill Road, Bandra (west) Mumbai-50

Bangalore

Date & time : April 17, 2009 4:30 PM onwards

Venue : Nimhans Convention Centre, House road, Dharmaram College, Bangalore

Delhi

Date & time : April 21, 2009 4:30 PM onwards

Venue : Kamani Auditorium No.1, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi 110001

Note: Short-listed Entrepreneurs wishing to attend a Mentoring Session in a city other than that assigned can email the change request to etideas@indiatimes.com. In the email specify the assigned city, and the city they wish to be reassigned to. At the venue they'll be required to produce their acceptance letter and photo-id as proof.

Participants can bring only one additional guest as a team member. All short-listed participants are requested to be at the venue ahead of the session and present their acceptance letter along with a photo ID card at the Registration desk as proof of identity.

PS: The venue and time for Mentoring Sessions are final. Please do not write to seek changes in either. No communication will be entertained on this subject. However short-listed candidates can request to be reassigned to a Mentoring Session basis city of convenience.

Open Source Software Potential for Entrepreneurs

Increasingly Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) is being seen as a cost effective solution, more so in entrepreneurships looking for cost effective deployments for their business ideas. Open Source Software is a given among entrepreneurs from technology backgrounds, but among the rest, entrepreneurs in Finance, Agriculture, and Education among other disciplines, OSS may not be as well known vis-à-vis its potential and deployment possibilities.

The implications of this can be serious for the success of an entrepreneurship. Financials, a critical component of any entrepreneurship, is the first to be impacted, with costs going up significantly.

Power Of Ideas spoke with Brajeshwar for insights into FOSS and the benefits to be had for the entrepreneur in adopting FOSS. What intrigued me was when Brajeshwar mentioned that his start-up, oCricket, was based entirely on FOSS, implying that except for the development effort there was no other cost involved.

Power Of Ideas: What potential do you see Open Source hold for startups in the prevailing Economic situation? Examples you can state of startups that used Open Source and the kind of cost savings that resulted?

Brajeshwar: Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) holds a lot of potential for startups irrespective of the economic situation, since it's much more about FOSS being "tweak-friendly" than FOSS being "cheap". A startup attempting to build a product to challenge market leaders would mean having to push the boundaries of software to be able to build something which is twice as fast but at half the cost. It would involve either building something awesome from scratch or taking something which is great (and FOSS) and taking it apart and tweaking its parts to squeeze out the last ounce of performance. That also means leveraging on the plethora of existing FOSS projects and building on top of them. FOSS empowers you to do that.

Having said that I must add that FOSS also has a distinct economic advantage, especially relevant in these times of Economic Depression. Using cutting-edge technology and not having to pay any license fees is "good" for a startup.

Examples of successful startups abound and they don’t come any more famous than Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, all of which run entirely on Open Source Software. Most successful startups (9 of 10) will have used Open Source. Perhaps the only successful startup/website that uses MS product .NET is StackOverflow.com.

Power Of Ideas: What kind of startups can best leverage Open Source software, and what kind of startups cannot?

Brajeshwar: I think the best kind of startups that can really benefit from FOSS are the technical, web-service oriented ones. They need to be 'technical' since you need some kind of a tech-team with people who really can bend and twist the software to do your bidding. Web oriented startups will also benefit since the Web as a whole is one platform and FOSS really dominates the scene with numerous web frameworks, libraries, and servers of excellent pedigree. You can really push the envelope with a fast, easy to maintain, website built on top of FOSS tools and technologies.

On the other hand, startups which develop some kind of desktop or niche software may not be able to benefit from FOSS as much since the desktop market is still dominated by Microsoft Windows (TM) and you can hardly use much FOSS technology to built applications on top of a proprietary platform (though a sizeable number of options certainly exist today). Similarly if you are developing something for a niche market (iPhone applications, for example) you don't really get to choose the platform as those are dictated by the platform itself.

Power Of Ideas: Do you see entrepreneurs in India taking to Open Source sufficiently enough? If not any reasons you can assign as to why they don't?

Brajeshwar: They slowly are, but that mostly because many think it's better because it's free and not because it's simply better. The main reason behind that being the fact that a FOSS ecosystem doesn't exist and India and people are mostly ignorant about the alternatives. Also the technical know-how among the majority in the Indian IT industry is not upto the International level. But things are changing slowly though. There are many initiatives being taken up by various organisations to improve the situation and it will improve with time.

Many large corporations like SUN have a good initiative going called the SUN Startup Essential. They even respond to your technical questions if you've technical problems. Of course, you get discounted Hardware from them and most of their softwares are free anyway. Check out Startup Essentials at Sun.

Power Of Ideas: What Open Source software would you suggest that startups take a look at?

Brajeshwar: It depends on the type of startup really, but off the top of my head I can name the following FOSS applications which are considered to be among the best in the world in their own categories:

Web Server
- Apache
- Lighttpd

Relational Database
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL

Programming languages
- Python
- PHP
- Ruby

Web frameworks
- Django (for Python)
- Ruby on Rails (for Ruby)
- CakePHP (for PHP)

Content Management Systems
- Drupal
- Wordpress
- Joomla

User Interface / Browser Programming
- jQuery
- YUI
- Dojo
- BluprintCSS

... and may more

Power Of Ideas: In oCricket did you use Open Source yourself? (oCricket is Brajeshwar’s startup)

Brajeshwar: oCricket is built on top of 100% Free and Open Source Software.

Power Of Ideas: With OpenMoko Freerunner what kind of possibilities do you see in mobile applications that entrepreneurs can take up, now that it is open for Open Source development.

Brajeshwar: More than the OpenMoko Freerunner, I think Google's Andriod platform holds more promise. Android is not tied to any particular mobile hardware and can be ported to almost any modern handset. Large companies like Motorola have already decided to slowly move to the
Android platform. Android is even getting ported to the OpenMoko hardware as we speak. So yes, the future is very exciting for the whole mobile platform. The kind of applications that one can build is endless; in short, it's pretty much everything. People are building tonnes of applications for the Apple iPhone ranging from games to high-precision medical applications. I don't see why the same can't be done on the OpenMoko or the Android platform.

Power Of Ideas: Do you consider your startup, oCricket, as a Media startup? If yes, what other kinds of Media startups do you feel India needs?

Brajeshwar: Well, it’s the environment that we're in that can eventually mark us as a Media Startup. Nonetheless, we're are very technology oriented and will use technology to the best we can to make things easier and useful to our users. Consider it an endeavor to marry Media and Technology.

Bollywood is definitely another sector that can be tapped and nurtured. And even the TV (Video) paradigm is something so massive that there is huge potential and India is just waking up to that. We can learn from the likes of iTunes, Netflix and model something relevant and perhaps even competitive to them.

Power Of Ideas: Can entrepreneurs really make a difference to the country as a whole without them addressing the diversity of languages?

Brajeshwar: For mobile applications languages will come into play as a factor affecting reach. So what lessons do these hold vis-a-vis them presenting opportunities for Open Source development.

Diversity in language and culture is a thing of beauty and is something which cannot just be addressed with mere solution. Technology can be just one of the many drivers for unification in this diversity. So, instead of trying to tie them up first and apply, why not start off and let it unite on its own.

Even for the mobile sector, one solution won't fit all. I would love if someone comes up with a flawless way to convert English to a vernacular language and vice-versa in a realm like SMS.

Parting Note

Brajeshwar: One should keep in mind that Open Source is just the beginning to successful Startups, saving money and making them economical. There are lot to being a successful Startup and an entrepreneur should not forget that. Open Source is just a means to an end.

Brajeshwar blogs at Brajeshwar.com.

Blog Aggregators, an Entrepreneurial Option

With blogs fairly exploding as a medium of choice for expression among over 100 million netizens who use them to document everything from the personal to the professional, it was only a matter of time that initiatives to filter blogs on their content came into the picture.

It is the way of the world that no sooner chaos begins to manifest itself in steps order.

Since the time the first Blog Aggregator (BA) came into being others have followed suit, building communities, gathering contributors along the way to help with scouring the blogosphere for quality content to bring to their readers. And occasionally, now fairly regularly, they’ve stepped in to defend the right to free speech while mobilizing the blogging community into one voice, sending ripples across the Internet. And their readers have grown, first exponentially, then thick and furious.

At some point they become viable entrepreneurial propositions if you understand the space they operate in, and are prepared to dedicate yourself to the task. As content continues to grow on the Internet the need for content filtered by Blog Aggregators (BA) will continue to grow as well.

DesiPundit, arguably India’s largest Blog Aggregator, is a case in point. With over 12,000 RSS subscribers, and over 2500 page views daily, DesiPundit is a model for how to run a blog aggregator. Founded by Patrix, it’s the morning cup of chai for thousands of people looking to catch up on their corner of India.

Nikhil Narayanan, a contributor with DesiPundit, and who blogs at Nikhil's Musings, shared his thoughts with Power Of Ideas on the issue of blog aggregators as a viable startup option for entrepreneurs.

POI: Can Blog Aggregators be viable business models?

Nikhil: Yes, but since such models work on Ad based revenues the 'when' of becoming viable cannot be easily answered.

POI: What goes into building a Blog Aggregator, the technology behind it? And the social effort that goes into building it up among the targetted audience?

Nikhil: A Content Management System like WP/Blogger, Plugins/Widgets to read RSS (for auto feeds and publish) are needed. It is always better to have a self hosted Blog Aggregator as it can help build the brand. A Blog Aggregator is a win-win. Bloggers are never unhappy with the publicity.

POI Adds: AJAX and Widgets (largely operating on XML, allow users to aggregate OPML files, feeds etc. through a single interface) are used to aggregate feeds and form key components of BAs.

POI: What's the cost of setting up a BA, and what kind of manpower effort is needed for running it since man-hours also cost money. What did DesiPundit (DP) cost to build?

Nikhil: Hosting space and a domain name would cost around 1200 INR annually. Wordpress and Plugins are thankfully free. One can use automatic aggregation like DP's Community Section and/or manual aggregation like DP's New & Upcoming section.

In automatic aggregation, the only task is setting up the list of blogs for the BA. Manual aggregation is just linking interesting posts and the time involved depends on how much time one is ready to spend surfing blogs. Linking a post hardly takes more than two minutes. Designing a template would cost some more money, again depends on the template design.

POI Adds: WordPress is Open Source. Plugins are developed by programmers to aid those who may not be able to write their own PHP code etc. Plugins can range from those that aid with Feeds, Video, Forums, Downloads, Advertising, and Admin tools you can install.

POI: What kind of an entrepreneur expertise is required to start a blog aggregator?

Nikhil: Zilch! Some experience on the blogosphere, and the time and effort to find good blogs is all what is needed.

Note: Nikhil also added that there could be a reason for conflict between Content Generators and Blog Aggregators since the latter base their business model on the efforts of others, something he opines is "unfair" (on the bloggers).

POI Adds: Blog Aggregators are moving in to address this very issue. Lonely Planet's Blog Sherpa program is a step in this direction where content generators receive payment from the Adsense program on their content tagged to Lonely Planet's Blog Sherpa project while the host platform gets to showcase their content.

In addition to DesiPundit, Blogbharti is the other major Indian Blog Aggregator.

Other Indian Blog Aggregators

1. Chitthajagat (Hindi Blog Aggregator)
2. Blogadda
3. Blogvani (Hindi Blog Aggregator)

An Entrepreneur Story - Pop Goes The Art

Glossed over by catchwords like ‘innovation’, ‘drive’, ‘passion’ etc. what is often not spoken about is the fact that many turn into entrepreneurs because they hated their day jobs. In the glut of technology options available it is something as simple as escaping the clutches of a day job that drives many down the entrepreneurial path

Six months into her job as an investor relations executive, it was dislike for her day job more than a passion for entrepreneurship that got Nidhi Karnavat to start Pop goes the Art. In the slump after a flurry of numbers, returns and financial figures, Nidhi began to rediscover her passion for art and reinvent her approach to how she would bring it back into her fold. And, in two weeks she decided to hone her passion into an enterprise; giving birth to Pop Goes The Art.

A delightful collection of personalized gifts including paintings and cushion covers, Pop Goes the Art came out of Nidhi's love for creation and a simple realization: “In today's word, people are often willing to spend large amounts of money for personalized gifts.”

In the months following her decision, Nidhi focused all her energies in developing the business, theorizing, creating pieces of art and deciphering how and when to reach out to people. Besides setting up her website, Nidhi also made some quick decisions- like booking a stall in an exhibition to be held six months later!

In November 2008, Nidhi held the first exhibition of Pop Goes The Art at the Blue Orange Exhibition. Besides she also distributed fliers and visiting cards designed by her- suitably showing off her logo, and the brand.

Starting out with an initial investment of Rs. 53,000/- (Rs. 50,000/- towards the stall and Rs. 3,000/- towards website development) Nidhi painstakingly steered Pop Goes the Art towards visibility, and in time to popularity. Among the studied decisions she took it was her decision to price her creations appropriate to age groups, styling and otherwise, that paid off. It was a decision that came in handy given the current financial meltdown. The premise behind the decision was to retain an interested customer by allowing them to pick up a cheaper variation of a design they like. Nidhi's latest expansion of her collection to include lower price variations- laptop covers, laptop sleeves and knick-knack boxes is a step in that direction.

Nidhi recalls another business move that has worked in her favor- the brand building exercise. Nidhi designed tags- with a point of contact that were attached to every product she sold. It ensured anybody who viewed her work, and liked it, knew how to reach her. Nidhi's clientèle includes friends, contacts, and friends of friends' as well as a recent splurge of customers on the web. “About 10% of my customers come from the Internet,” says Nidhi.

Twelve-hour work days seems like little work to Nidhi, who loves what she does. She is constantly innovating her brand- her latest move includes incorporating care labels and branded packaging. “My ideas are often born out of listening to my customers, and answering their queries,” explains Nidhi.

Her next move, Nidhi reveals, is tying up with boutiques in Mumbai that give credit to individual designers. “To reach varied price points again, these boutiques will exhibit digital prints of my products. But, there won't be digital prints of my range of personalized products, ensuring my digital market doesn't cannibalize my market of personalized art work,” says Nidhi, pertinent as always.


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Query Update I: Financials Section in the Business Summary

In response to purogovind on Twitter

Purogovind: “Am wondering how important are financials. I just have a vague picture of it.”

(Context: filling up Financials section in the Business Summary for submission to The Power Of Ideas)

The Economics Times response:

“For those with an existing business, please use a table to summarise your past years’ revenues and profits and project the same for the next three years (if applicable). Also, state the funding you have received to date (whether venture capitalist, family, etc) and the funding that you are now seeking and how you plan to use the funds. Please give forward projection of your funding requirements for the next three years. If you are planning a new venture, please give projected financials, investment sought and plan for use of funds.

Essentially, it is important to have a sense of financials. This will help the VC to understand how much he needs to give out.”