Smartphone Ecosystem (Part 3): Devices

By Guest Author Nalini Kumar Muppala The next three posts in the series focus on the hardware components of smartphones. Let’s now take a look at some of the flagship devices from major handset vendors. Getting under the hoods of these devices will give us a reasonable idea as to which handset chip providers are

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College Bootstrapping Buddies: Grasshopper Cofounders Siamak Taghaddos And David Hauser (Part 3)

SM: The two of you worked on the project and did creative financing deals to get started. What time was this? ST: We got started in January 2003. At that time we set aside six months to focus on the technology and work with various vendors creatively. We did that from January to June and

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Outsourcing: West Corporation Interview (Part 1)

The Future of Call Centers Last week I talked about the double-edged sword facing outsourcing companies that are playing a pure labor arbitrage game because of lower cost of communications and the potential to virtualize call centers. This week I’d like to share with you some of my interview with several senior executives from a

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Smartphone Ecosystem (Part 2): Profitability

By guest author Nalini Kumar Muppala So, what makes smartphone an attractive business to be in? In short, smartphones, at least so far, have been a high-profit business. Consider Apple, RIM, and Nokia. While Apple and RIM are pure-play (as far as phones go) smartphone makers, Nokia makes phones that serve customers across the entire

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Forbes Column 2010: The Promise Of E-Commerce

Main Street is no longer the place to set up a retail store. The Web is. Read more in this week’s Forbes column, The Promise Of E-Commerce.

College Bootstrapping Buddies: Grasshopper Cofounders Siamak Taghaddos And David Hauser (Part 2)

SM: What were the dynamics of involving your family in your venture? ST: Entrepreneurship runs in my family. My father ran an accounting firm when he was young in Iran. He had been in a similar situation as David and I had.

Smartphone Ecosystem (Part 1): Market Share

By guest author Nalini Kumar Muppala Smartphones have been the handset market’s savior in the market slump of 2009. Although the overall handset market shrunk nearly 7%, the smartphone market grew at a healthy 15%. The significance is clear, and every company in the phone business – hardware, software, carriers – wants to be part

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Roundtable Recap: April 8 – A Focus On E-Commerce

This morning I worked with three new entrepreneurs, each at a different stage of validating who their customers are and building their businesses accordingly.  Two have e-commerce businesses, which I love. In fact, my Forbes column tomorrow will discuss the shift from brick-and-mortar shops to e-commerce and how such businesses are so well poised for

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