Decided finally to start blogging

I've been thinking of blogging for sometime now and got to it finally today, 11/01/07. Idea is to make my thoughts on almost everything that's happening around the world or just in my own life and even abstract stuff in my grey matter, public. If you care to read my ruminations and make something of it in life, great; if not, still ok since at least you know what I think - not many people in this world get to do even that ..... make their thoughts accessible to others. My feeling today is that my blog will have more on business and entrepreneurship than any other topic. This could change since the whole world and everything around us is about change - people running around chasing cheese (due credits to Spencer Johnson) and making or breaking themselves in the process.

Hey, I read about the Stubhub deal by Ebay! Cool stuff. The founders have about 26 - 28% stake in it and they stand to make a good chunk of money out of the $310 million deal. And they both are in their early 30s, younger than me by 3 - 4 yrs, but already contemplating retirement! The deal's at 30 x EBITDA and the guys started it straight out of Stanford GSB. Try WSJ online if you need more info. Anybody out there got ideas about replicating this business model in other parts of the world?

I saw a cool video at forbes.com on Ecoupled, the company that has come up with wireless charging. This means you can charge an Ipod or a mobile phone without wires - all you do is place the device on something like a hot pad that charges anything laid on it. And, the hot pad has versions for the home, the car etc. They even showed a kitchen that runs on this technology and even a 100 watt bulb lighting up without wires. Seems like a cool, sexy technology to make life merrier.

Read several articles on the Iphone. Did not find even one critic so far. Cisco did sue Apple on rights to the 'Iphone' name. Waiting to lay my hands on one the second it comes out.

Anybody got thoughts on being a free agent and working away from the office? Recently there was an article about how that has reduced employee turnover at BestBuy (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_50/b4013001.htm?chan=search). They call it the ROWE or the results-only work environment (check out www.culturerx.com and www.nunomad.com). I love it. I have been doing this for sometime now as a consultant on contract and it suits me super. If anyone has ideas on how this will pan out in the future or know of other companies that encourage it, let me know.

Genentech announced 4Q results with net income rising 75% over last quarter, mainly through increasing use of Avastin and Herceptin and the launch of Lucentis.

And sure, I need to talk about stuff in India, being an Indian...........

Arun Sarin is there to do a deal with Essar Hutch and is meeting up with the ministers (Kamal Nath and Dayanidhi at last count). The business press is in hyperactive mode over his visit.

NYSE, Goldman, General Atlantic and Softbank are together buying up 20% of the National Stock Exchange. Before long, NYSE will have its arms in exchanges around the world including London!

Infosys announced Q3 net income up by over 50% over last quarter, pulling the whole market up along with it.

Mukesh Ambani is apparently bidding for GE Plastics at $10 billion (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Mukesh_goes_bidding_eyes_GE_Plastics/articleshow/1140687.cms). Also heard Ranbaxy is looking to acquire the generics business of Merck KGAa for $5 - 6 billion. Add to these the news about Tata's move toward Corus and Vodafone's potential acquisition of Hutch's stake in Essar Hutch, and you know that India has arrived finally. With so many cross border deals involving Indian companies, the economy is going to move to the low teen growth rates very soon.

Need to finish off some work now. Will be blogging soon again. Thanks for reading.

Comments

zen said…
Good stuff man, I am a gizmo freak myself!!
January 26, 2007 at 2:10 AM
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