Shrikant’s Blog

Professor from IIM Bangalore and political aspirant Rajeev Gowda gives tips on learning from failure. The article also conveys  the difficulties in doing business in India. Does India provide a level playing field for new entrepreneurs ?

Keen on investing in India, Murdoch arrived in Delhi and met key officials manning the licence-permit raj. He then met Dhirubhai and told him he was satisfied and ready to get started, now that he had met all the right people. “Aha!” Dhirubhai replied, “to succeed in India, you must meet all the wrong people!”. One can elaborate meet to other actions while conducting business.

Indian rarely conduct postmortem of failed companies. He recommends investigating the 5Ps, people, product, pricing, place or promoter. >>>

In India how do you become rich or richer ? How do businessmen become more powerful ? Why is intellectual property development negligible ? Why is it that the little that gets developed in the campuses of multinational companies does not proliferate  the local markets ?

If you look at the largest industrial houses in India, none of them have any core technology that India or the world wants. Probably one reason why India has not produced any global brands. All large companies private and public  have access to some resource or rights that is scarce, popularly called the unfair advantage. It could be land, spectrum, natural resources like gas, coal, aluminum, iron ore or an exclusive license where no one else is permitted to get in.

India has become very difficult for honest people to do business. With liberalization everyone would have thought the involvement of the government would diminish. It hasn’t. The good opportunities in business are controlled by the government.

The death of YSR is very unfortunate but he was the guardian to the biggest fraud in corporate history. I have read so many obituaries, not one highlighted the fraud, only  as a great leader  who knew the masses, felt for the poor and  did for them etc. Have you ever bought a piece of land in India ? can it be done without government support ? Raju acquired 17,000 acres of land around Hyderabad, was it without the participation of the late YSR. Maytas bagged the Hyderabad Metro project again was it without the support of YSR. It is very likely Hyderabad will see the Metro last, till all the financial issues are sorted out. They should thank the right person for the delay.

If you go to the richest areas of Delhi and ask, who stays here ? Have these residents created products and services which the world is using ? Of course not. They are basically dalals or pimps for the next big contract the government will dole out. These agents will collect money from the service provider and of course give the due share to the various bureaucrats and politicians in power.  These dalals will even sell the country for money. How else could the bullet proof jacket of martyr Mr Karkare of 26/11 fame be made of bamboos. If you do find a professional in these upmarket areas, it is an exception rather than the rule.

I have a prediction that in 50 years, India will go the Pakistan way, where 50 families will rule this country, govern the scarce resources, everyone else will be a bonded slave to these families directly or indirectly. The question to ask is whether you want this environment for your children, where they live in fear of speaking their mind and doing what their heart wants them to do.

Some wise man said, India is not a poor country, but is poorly managed.

The film Nirop produced by Amit Abhyankar of Outreach Media Services won the Siver Lotus for the Best Marathi Film at the 56th National Awards.

India’s first true microbrewery will start serving beer at the 1st brew pub  in Amchi Pune in the last week of September. Now experience fresh beer in your own city.

Clover Greens has launched a new cafe, ” Belly Bunker” that will serve snacks and beverages. We have tried to be green and used old containers to construct the kitchen and toilets for the cafe.

(via nytimes) Gerald Graff describes what most successful college students do. In his experience they cut through the clutter of jargons, methods and ideological differences to locate the common practices of argument and analysis hidden behind it all.

1. Recognize that knowing a lot of stuff won’t do you much good unless you can do something with what you know by turning it into an argument.

2. Pay close attention to what others are saying and writing and then summarize their arguments and assumptions in a recognizable way. Work especially on summarizing the views that go most against your own.

3. As you summarize, look not only for the thesis of an argument, but for who or what provoked it — the points of controversy.

4. Use these summaries to motivate what you say and to indicate why it needs saying. Don’t be afraid to give your own opinion, especially if you can back it up with reasons and evidence, but don’t disagree with anything without carefully summarizing it first.

full article >>>

I saw this version of the National Anthem before Kaminey was screened at Fame Adlabs, searched and found it  on youtube. Spine tingling rendition by AR Rehman.

I was keeping tab of the YSR drama till the bodies were found. There was speculation that either the Naxalites had captured him, he was in the forest waiting for someone to reach or dead. But what happened after his death was most amazing. People started rioting destroying public property, committing suicide (more people died than swine flu), many sycophants started demanding his inexperienced son of 36 years become the next CM. His death is a sad incident but all the other acts are unpardonable. Destroying public property is an offense, committing suicide is an offense, taking up a important job without the right experience and credential is just not done. It is sad that no senior members of our society or media is pointing this out.

All I can say is that we are like that only, crazy.