Check out Burrp

Its a cool site that has people rate restaurants and eateries…

Talk about exploiting the changing environment and world that we live in. If I were a frequent traveler in the US I would sign up in a jiffy.

A cool service that allows frequent travellers to the USA pass through security easier. Check it out.

An interesting concept that is aiming at Social Networking and possibly commerce at the neighbourhood level.

Check them out. Register

Interesting name. Found out about them through RP who left a comment on Startupreneur.

The readers themselves are a community that contribute to the news. Compare this with the print media.

Take the example of Churumuri. Its a blog that is fed by people from the journalistic field and has built up a loyal following. People like Anand Balaji are Journos who now share their views on their blog.

Heres an interesting take on the Print Media by Don Dodge.

The businessman in me thinks theres a new business model here

Is that what we have come to? Use any excuse to make money even if it means dragging a dead person into the picture?

Looks like the media (TV, Newspapers etc), and Communication companies revel in making money out of sensationalism. How else can you explain the gory pictures you see on TV and in the papers?

Have we really stooped so low?

We have had a couple of posts on this issue, one was whether the small retailer will survive and the other was some reasons why he would.

Last weekend I accompanied my friend Raghu to a local store. He has a bag with a list inside that he drops off. We then proceeded on our walk. In the meantime, the bag filled with goodies from the list had made it to Raghu’s house. Account to be settled at the end of the month.

Do you think the big boys will do that?

This got me thinking. Six months later, I am convinced that what they are saying is true.

Over the last few months, I have been installing more and more Open Source packages to help us in our business. This includes HR Systems, Resume Management, Knowledge Base. All of them I have found on Open Source. Here are my observations:

1. The very nature of Open Source ensures a better thought out product. People comment on features, beat down on useless software. So if you look properly, you’ll find very good products.

2. I have found installs are much easier and documentation is very good (at least in the ones that I have installed)

3. Extending functionality is easier.

4. You can ask for features that you want and if it makes sense they’ll add it for you.

How do they make money? Typically through support, customization, and consulting.

One of my favorites is WordPress. Really love their famous “Three Minute Install”. Especially like the message that comes up after their installation that says something like “Installation complete. Sorry to disappoint you but thats all there is to it..”

In addition to blogging on WordPress, I use it a lot internally on our Intranet for collaboration, Knowledge sharing, and Knowledge Management.

Nothing highlights this fact than the banking industry today. My best experiences have been with our Nationalized Banks. Granted there could be a few starting problems. But once you establish your credibility, the service levels are unmatched by anyone.

At my company we bank with Bank of India. Three years ago, they were the only Bank willing to give a small BPO company a break by giving us a loan for equipment and working capital facilities. During those three years, they have bailed us out of some tricky financial situations when payments from customers came in late and cash flows were tight.

What really impresses me about them was the human touch to their service right from the Bank Manager upto their Zonal office. Compare the same with some of the more market savvy International Banks and their computerized call centers.

I still remember Infosys CEO Nandan Nilikeni was the chief guest at a function last year to commemorate Bank of India’s 100th year. In his own words, the only people who gave Infy the time of day when they were growing were these very Nationalized Banks.

Give me a Nationalized Bank anytime.

As a small business you stand a better chance of success there.

Cross posted on Startupreneur

I have always been a big fan of hosted application services especially for productivity tools like email. Beats installing it on your in-house servers and hiring people to manage them.

Microsoft has started changing its licensing policy as well. Whether its in anticipation of competition from companies like Google and Zoho or whether they realize that market dynamics are changing, it augurs well for the end user.