Since our inception a year ago, we have been relentlessly working toward the cause of creating an amenable ecosystem for software products development in India. We greatly appreciate your support in helping us reach where we are in such a short time. We have done a great deal over the last one year to implement and achieve our goals and the pursuit of our vision is our primary and unwavering...
January 1, 2014
iSPIRT wishes you a Happy New Year!
01January
December 31, 2013
"Potential of Software Products from India" – Insights from an interview with Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, IIM Bangalore
31December
In an interview with Govindraj Ethiraj on the changing paradigm of the Indian software industry, Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, IIM, Bangalore, talks about how the software industry is getting transformed from a services oriented model to creating successful products. He cites FusionCharts as a great example of finding a niche market and moving to the cloud as an efficient mechanism to deliver...
December 31, 2013
The Ad Business
Saikrishna Chavali posted the following question on my blog post about Data & UX being two ends of the product spectrum: I’ve got a question: how did you understand the user when you were in the ad business? Did you ever meet real users? In PM theory, one is instructed to empathise with the user by actually “getting out of the office”. Since it’s quite an important question, I thought I will...
December 30, 2013
Common Questions about Founders
30December
Is there a right age to become an entrepreneur? Any age is a good age. The founders of Microsoft, Google, Facebook started their companies when they were very young. Steve Jobs, who founded Apple at an early age, continued to show amazing entrepreneurial capabilities in his second stint at Apple which began in his 50s. Young professionals in their twenties have amazing energy, and understand the...
December 27, 2013
Dear Marketers — Let’s create more value, not more marketing
27December
Yes, you are going to lose weight, stop smoking, learn a new language and spend more time with your family next year. And while you are in the make-a-bunch-of-resolutions-to-be-totally-awesome-next-year phase, there’s another resolution I want you to consider. As a marketer, do not create more marketing. Create more value. [Warning: This is going to be brutal. So come along only if you are not...
December 26, 2013
CricketNation to ProductNation
26December
Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement was a event marked with a great outpouring for the man and for Indian Cricket. Our cricket team has come a long way and we are both the commercial power and in many format ; the leader. Sanjay Anandaram shared an article which has a more balanced take on Tendulkar. It is useful for us to be realistic in our appreciation as well as criticisms. Infosys a former darling...
December 24, 2013
The Emergence of a Product Nation
24December
In the last ten years, IBM, perhaps the world’s most iconic maker of the personal computer did two things that made people sit up and take notice. First, in 2004, it sold its PC division to China-based Lenovo Group in a deal valued at $1.75 billion. Then, around nine years later, it sold Daksh, its voice-based BPO to Synnex Corp. Both sales had one glaring similarity: They both involved flogging...
December 23, 2013
Innovate Delhi Entrepreneurship Academy: Apply to the June 2014 class.
23December
One of iSPIRT ProductNation central goals is to build a vibrant ecosystem for the next generation of Indian software product statups. That is why we are so excited to partner with Innovate Delhi Entrepreneurship Academy. The three-week long academy, which takes place in June, works with aspiring entrepreneurs to hone their skills in innovation, team-building, and strategy. Complementing the...
December 23, 2013
Deepinder Goyal of Zomato on “ethics, respect, attitude and skill”
Deepinder Goyal is the founder and CEO of Zomato, India’s first online food guide to go global. Founded in 2008, Zomato recently raised Rs. 227 crore from Sequoia Capital and InfoEdge in one of the largest funding rounds for a consumer internet company in India. This deal values the company at over Rs 900 crore ($150 million) and has “best positioned” Goyal “to build a formidable global internet...
December 21, 2013
The evolving roles in product ecosystem
21December
I was catching up with Avinash (@avinashraghava) earlier today and we were chatting about product startups in the country. If you’ve been in this ecosystem, and seen the evolution of product companies, some interesting changes happened over the past few years. Back in 2001, at AdventNet, the Product Manager role was created, and so was the Usability Engineer role (which were primarily UX...
