India’s Labor Arbitrage Strategy

It has been an interesting few days of being on the receiving end of tremendous hate mail due to my widely syndicated and (looks like) read and discussed Death of Indian Outsourcing article.

Deal Radar 2008: hi5 Going Strong

Last week we took a look at Xanga and today we will take a look at hi5, another popular social networking site. hi5 has an Alexa traffic rank of 8. hi5 is more popular globally than it is in the US. It is the number one site in Peru, Dominic Republic, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Portugal,

Read Full Article »

Trend Radar 2008: Emerging Markets

This morning, as I was doing the HP piece, it struck me how big an impact Emerging Markets are having on companies right now! “HP has done well globally, a strong reason for it to be unfazed by the slowing US economy. In 2007, 67% of its total revenue was from outside the US. In

Read Full Article »

Trend Radar 2008: Offshoring

Did you know, China now offshores manufacturing to Vietnam? If Pakistan behaved itself, may be India would start offshoring some call-centers over! In 2008, outsourcing, offshoring and globalization are likely to continue as major trends. Rising wages in the most popular offshore centers (especially Bangalore), are eroding the cost advantage that drove this business to

Read Full Article »

Kiva Needs Businesses to Fund

This holiday season, if you are looking to make a contribution, find a micro-entrepreneur to fund through Kiva. Kiva brings together microlenders with microentrepreneurs at 0% interest. MFI’s can access this debt capital to finance businesses in their portfolio. Watch this video. Or if you need someone really persuasive explain the concept to you, listen

Read Full Article »

Buenos Aires Trip: MALBA

On my recent Buenos Aires trip, I stayed a few extra days after work to walk around, look at art, listen to music, and to dance. After I returned, at least four sets of friends asked me for references to what I did in Buenos Aires, and what they should do on their ensuing trips.

Read Full Article »

eBay of Latin America: Mercado Libre CEO Marcos Galperin (Part 8)

SM: How does the entrepreneur network in Latin America work? Are there many entrepreneurs in Latin America now? MG: Yes, there is a foundation called Endeavor Foundation. They select entrepreneurs in their region and then supports them. This foundation was founded by Linda Rosenburg and Peter Kelner, two Harvard graduates. They got the big private

Read Full Article »

eBay of Latin America: Mercado Libre CEO Marcos Galperin (Part 7)

SM: Does PayPal operate in South America? MG: You can withdraw money but you cannot fund a PayPal account. They do not have a Spanish speaking site either. SM: What is your dynamic with eBay today? Competitive or collaborative?