Something to Chew On

MoBlogging

2007-02-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

Trying out this new MoBlog feature.

--
Samir R. Shah
skype: samir.r.shah

Elements of Sustainable Companies

2007-02-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

I came across this data when doing some research for work; and think it is extremely useful in building your own company. I'll certainly use it in building my own company.

Elements of Sustainable Companies

Clarity of Purpose
Summarize the company's business on the back of a business card.

Large Markets
Address existing markets poised for rapid growth or change. A market on the path to a $1B potential allows for error and time for real margins to develop.

Rich Customers
Target customers who will move fast and pay a premium for a unique offering.

Focus
Customers will only buy a simple product with a singular value proposition.

Pain Killers
Pick the one thing that is of burning importance to the customer then delight them with a compelling solution.

Think Differently
Constantly challenge conventional wisdom. Take the contrarian route. Create novel solutions. Outwit the competition.

Team DNA
A company's DNA is set in the first 90 days. All team members are the smartest or most clever in their domain. "A" level founders attract an "A" level team.

Agility
Stealth and speed will usually beat-out large companies.

Frugality
Focus spending on what's critical. Spend only on the priorities and maximize profitability.

Inferno
Start with only a little money. It forces discipline and focus. A huge market with customers yearning for a product developed by great engineers requires very little firepower.

George Orwell - On Writing

2007-01-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

Someone recommended this short essay to me to improve my writing. It is extremely well-written and best of all, easy to understand. Here are a few lines that stuck with me:

The whole tendency of modern prose is away from concreteness.
A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions:

(1) What am I trying to say?
(2) What words will express it?
(3) What image or idiom will make it clearer?
(4) Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

And he will probably ask himself two more:

(1) Could I put it more shortly?
(2) Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
The sole aim of a metaphor is to call up a visual image.
...political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.
When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer. I should expect to find—this is a guess which I have not sufficient knowledge to verify—that the German, Russian and Italian languages have all deteriorated in the last ten to fifteen years, as a result of dictatorship.
But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.
Probably it is better to put off using words as long as possible and get one's meaning as clear as one can through pictures and sensations.
...one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:

(1) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(2) Never use a long word where a short one will do.
(3) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
(4) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(5) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everday English equivalent.
(6) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Language [is] an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought.

Millionaire thoughts of the day

2007-01-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mitubhai:

People who say they want to become a millionaire but are unwilling to back it up with hard work are only fooling themselves.
If you want to be wealthier, start thinking like you’re already there.
If the financial advice you’ve been getting hasn’t proven itself effective, then toss it out and rebuild your financial beliefs from ground zero. If you want to become a millionaire in 10 years or less, you can’t subscribe to the 40-year skimp-and-save approach. Sure you can save your way to a million in 40 years, but you can earn your way there a lot faster.

Books I want to read

2006-12-16T19:22:00.000-08:00

The Power of Nice - Thaler
The Kindness Revolution - Horrell

Quote from Stephen Levine

2006-11-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

"If you had an hour to live and could make just one call, who would it be to—and what would you say—and why are you waiting?"

What I took from "The World Is Flat "

2006-11-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

So I finished the popular "The World Is Flat" book by Friedman a few months ago. I try to take notes and jot down the interesting things from the book (so I don't forget it). And instead of piling up sheets of paper, I type all those ideas up here:

Bin Laden is to the Arab masses what O.J. was to many American blacks—the stick they poke in the eye of an unfair America and their own leaders.
HUMILIATION MAKES PEOPLE DO NASTY THINGS
Dyab Abou Jahjah - the "Malcolm X" of Belgium's alienated Moroccan youth
Salman Rushdie - The Satanic Verses
16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China. Approximately 1,000 cars are being added EACH DAY in Beijing.
China's foreign policy consists of 2 things: preventing Taiwan from becoming independent and searching for oil.
On an average day, Dell sells an average of 140,000 - 150,000 computers.
"Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe" by Graham Allison
A challenge to our will and convictions, not our capabilities. It can be done!
MEGALOMANIACAL
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein
"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog"
David Needelman - founder of JetBlue Airways
Apropos(?)
Do you have more memories than dreams or more dreams than memories? (Look forward)
The country with the largest Muslim population in the world is Indonesia. 2nd Largest - India.
RESEARCH: Lenin, Mussolini, Polpot, Ho Chi Minh, Marxism, Arun Sarin
If you don't have goals, you keep on running from one side to the other on the field without scoring any goals.
the BEST companies outsource to win, not to shrink. They outsource to innovate faster and more cheaply in order to grow larger, gain market share, and hire more and different specialists - not to save money by firing more people.
Today, my first management job out of B-school could be melding the specialties of a knowledge team that is 1/3 in India, 1/3 in China, and 1/6 in Palo Alto and Boston. That takes a very special kind of skill and is going to be much in demand in the flat world.

Ladder Theory

2006-11-17T08:36:00.000-08:00

For all the males out there, check out this site:

www.laddertheory.com

HILARIOUS!

Females: this website is very useful for you too.

Web 2.0 Company

2006-10-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

So I've been really into starting up a Web 2.0 company lately. For those of you who don't really know what a Web 2.0 company is, read this: Web 2.0

I mean, many Web 2.0 companies such as Flickr.com, Blogger.com, and Myspace.com have been bought out by larger companies and the creators are now MILLIONAIRES. Recently, I read in the news that Myspace.com will be valued at around 15 Billion dollars(!) in the next few years--and Rupert Murdoch bought it for around 600 million. I mean, I wouldn't mind if I got a couple of hundred million dollars...sure, take my company. I'm RICH, BITCH!

I'm looking for people who have the same drive...and want to work on a website that allows collaboration, sharing of information/knowledge, and social networking. If you are interested, let me know. I'd love to start brainstorming for ideas soon. The image that I have posted with this blog will give you a good idea of what a Web 2.0 company .. or the Web 2.0 industry for that matter is all about.

In the future...

2006-09-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.
Something I came across in Rotterdam, NL while studying abroad there.

Some words of wisdom...

2006-09-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

So, I get an e-mail from Angela--a girl from Barcelona who I met in Maastricht, NL studying abroad. She sends me a link to a youtube video of this song called "sunscreen"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebHLQz2Buvw

Here are the lyrics to it..listen to it a few times while reading the lyrics. It definitely got me grounded. With all the stuff going on around me recently, it definitely helps to hear these words of wisdom...

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99:

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…

I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you. Sing. Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Some quotes for the day....

2006-08-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

After all is said and done...more is said than done. -Aesop

"I know you are doing the right thing. Everyone may tell you that you are wrong. But nobody knows which situation you are in. Only you can decide in your situation. Do whatsoever you feel is right. I will support you. I love you and respect you as well." – Osho Rajneeshji’s Grandfather"

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your tricks of war. - Napoleon

Cheb Khaled - Live in Concert?

2006-08-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

So I am a huge Cheb Khaled fan. For those of you who don't know who he is, you'd better find out. For those of you who DO know who he is, read on....

I went to see him LIVE IN CONCERT last year in Groningen, The Netherlands. He was AWESOME. I mean, he had the whole crowd going crazy. All of his songs were incredible--even though I had no idea what he was saying. The band with him was phenomenal as well. I tried to tape most of the show with my digital camera but needed enough space on it for the Aicha performance (which of course was at the end).

So my question for tonight is: why doesn't he perform here in the States? I know most of his fans are not from here but I'm sure if he performs, he'd fill up the venue--no doubt about it. I read somewhere a while ago as to why he doesn't come here to perform--and that's because he's scared someone is going to kill him. Seriously, I mean he ran away from Algeria and from the fanatics who KILL because they don't like the music. I don't blame him for that, but how about Canada? Can't he perform there? I know fans from here would travel to go see him there.

Any thoughts?