Bangalore has a thriving entrepreneur community and it amazes me the ingenuity and innovation these folks bring along. While most tend to be in software/IT sector, there is a lot of stuff happening elsewhere. I see folks who have given up their IT careers and venturing out into a new area. If you drive around the town, you see a lot of new cafes, bakeries, clothing line, niche stores targeting babies/moms-to-be, new chains for electronic items.
Mobile applications are the craze these days and from what I have been hearing from a few folks running their own app-dev companies, demand for mobile app developers is out-stripping supply. Mobile sure is the future and I expect to see a lot of tablet-based activity as it makes in-roads into businesses and drive efficiency and cost-savings.
I had the opportunity to meet Vinod Khosla one of those stalwarts in the VC industry and hearing him speak at close quarters was inspiring. There were a few messages which stuck in my brain as I walked out :
"learn something radically new every 5 years"
"Hard problems mean big opportunities if you're arrogant enough to believe you can solve it"
"Don't tie your ego with your ideas. Manage your failure. Evolve your ideas"
"Fail"
"Analyze your failures"
"Go around in circles for a little while before taking an exit on a road"
"Prepare Plan A, Plan B, Plan C...but don't be reactive to events"
One other lesson for me was his ability to be upfront (and not diplomatic about certain issues). He bluntly called someone's question as being 'stupid' (though he had apologized before making that statement). He also openly said that he does not believe in NGO (not-for-profit model).
It was money and evening well-spent !!
Mobile applications are the craze these days and from what I have been hearing from a few folks running their own app-dev companies, demand for mobile app developers is out-stripping supply. Mobile sure is the future and I expect to see a lot of tablet-based activity as it makes in-roads into businesses and drive efficiency and cost-savings.
I had the opportunity to meet Vinod Khosla one of those stalwarts in the VC industry and hearing him speak at close quarters was inspiring. There were a few messages which stuck in my brain as I walked out :
"learn something radically new every 5 years"
"Hard problems mean big opportunities if you're arrogant enough to believe you can solve it"
"Don't tie your ego with your ideas. Manage your failure. Evolve your ideas"
"Fail"
"Analyze your failures"
"Go around in circles for a little while before taking an exit on a road"
"Prepare Plan A, Plan B, Plan C...but don't be reactive to events"
One other lesson for me was his ability to be upfront (and not diplomatic about certain issues). He bluntly called someone's question as being 'stupid' (though he had apologized before making that statement). He also openly said that he does not believe in NGO (not-for-profit model).
It was money and evening well-spent !!
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