categories
HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
strategy
Happily Bootstrapping: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu (Part 6)
Here we begin to explore the current status of Zoho a bit further. Impressive numbers considering there has been no advertising campaigns conducted. The business model is simple – let users try the service for free, when they are comfortable they will migrate over. Afterwards, they compete based on pricing (less than 20% of the
Efficiency—The Key to Microfinance Success
By Robert Lowry, Unitus, Guest Author Microfinance reaches fewer than 20% of the people who could benefit from it. Only 2% of microfinance institutions serve more than 100,000 clients. Why is the impact of microfinance, after more than 30 years of effort, still so limited? A big reason is efficiency—or lack thereof. Inefficient microfinance institutions
China’s Corruption Prevention Strategy
Here’s an article from New York Times that tells the story of a government official who was recently executed for taking bribes: :: BEIJING, July 12 — Zheng Xiaoyu once ranked as one of the most powerful regulators in China. He rose from modest beginnings to help create and lead Beijing’s version of the Food
Entrepreneurship Case Studies
You have read many of my interviews on this blog. Here’s a synthesis of some of the case studies I have done, in an interview format. These differ slightly from the series that I have titled Role Model Interviews, since in this series, I go into the company and its strategy, market, financing, etc. in
Happily Bootstrapping: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu (Part 4)
AdventNet provides a safety zone from which to launch Zoho, which is why I was looking to gain an understanding of the revenue and cash position of the company. While competition will be stiff from Google and Microsoft, as well as other CRM and group meeting companies, Zoho seems to have a unique philosophy of
eBay’s Vertical Classified Strategy
The WSJ reports that eBay has quietly opened its classifieds site, Kijiji (what a lousy name!) to the US audience, positioned to compete against the wildly popular Craigslist, in which it owns a 25% stake. One wonders why eBay doesn’t just buy Craigslist; the answer to that question is that Craigslist’s founder, Craig Newmark, has
iPhone Competitors: Nokia’s Convergence Device Strategy
WSJ has a good roundup on the various iPhone competitors. One of the top iPhone competitors is expected to be Nokia’s N95, a high-end smart phone that, like the iPhone, has a relatively large color screen (2.6 in), can surf the Web and can play music and DVD-quality video. Unlike the iPhone, the N95, however,
Blue Nile’s Remedy
David Philips wrote an article on Seeking Alpha, called On Blue Nile’s Lackluster Business Strategy last week. Those who have followed the company for a long time, know, that Blue Nile (Nasdaq: NILE) is one of those rare gems, a dotcom era survivor. In many ways, they are a posterchild of a business that exploited
