Vision India 2020 Book Review: Entirely Appropriate To The World’s Largest Democracy

Here is William Carter’s terrific review of Sramana Mitra’s Vision India 2020 for Amazon.com:

“Although I am not a business specialist, I do have a permanent passion for India and a lively interest in the globalizing economy. Ms. Mitra’s book is unique in combining her impressive background, her pointedly focused yet wide perspective, and her method of seamlessly fusing future projections with present case studies. Assuming, as she does, that the period of India’s emergence as a world leader in routine backroom operations is rapidly leveling off, she offers an inspiring vision of a deeper, more creative phase now getting under way, a vision which sensitively links hi tech skill and modern business savvy with a broadly based humanism — an amalgam entirely appropriate to the world’s largest democracy.” >>>

Entrepreneurship Education: Idea Validation

Every Thursday morning, I coach five entrepreneurs with many more listening to the sessions. And like a parrot, I keep asking these entrepreneurs to validate their ideas. I give them a framework with which to do so. I give it to them ahead of time hoping they would use it and come prepared.

And yet an abysmally low number of them do so, making lack of validation of the business idea the single biggest reason for Infant Entrepreneur Mortality (IEM). >>>

Forbes Column 2010: Intel In The Untethered Era

Intel excelled in bringing high-performance computing to the masses. Can it succeed in the wireless era? Read more in this week’s Forbes column, Intel In The Untethered Era.

On The Way To 100 Million Dollars In SaaS Revenue: Vocus CEO Rick Rudman (Part 2)

SM: Why did the deal fall through? Sounds as though they had commitment issues.

RR: We never got a good answer regarding their rationale for cancelling the deal. >>>

1M/1M: Internships

As I have written in column after column, there is a very serious crisis brewing for our youth. This recession has made it very difficult for young people — students and recent graduates — to find jobs and internships. Last summer, I received about 100 internship applications, and took on about 25 as unpaid interns. Some of them are still working with me.

This year, we have a great program in 1M/1M that can absorb a much larger number of interns — in the thousands, globally – because we have a team of 50 1M/1M ambassadors who can work with them and groom them as Internal Ambassadors (IAs). 1M/1M, as you know, is our initiative to help a million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue, build a trillion dollars of global GDP, and create ten million jobs. >>>

Next Strategy Roundtable for Entrepreneurs on Thursday, March 25

Sramana Mitra is offering this free online strategy roundtable for entrepreneurs looking to discuss positioning, financing, and other aspects of a startup venture. Up to 1,000 people can attend, but only the first five who register to pitch will be able to present their business ideas. All attendees are able to join in on the conversations via a live chat. This hour-long session will begin at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/8:30 p.m. IST. Please note that the start time for those in India is now an hour earlier, 8:30 p.m., due to the change to Daylight Savings Time in the United States. We hope you will join us and let other entrepreneurs know about this roundtable. You can find more details and register here.

Roundtable Starting In 5 Minutes

Today’s roundtable is starting in 5 minutes, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/8:30 p.m. IST. Click here to join in.

1M/1M: Ambassadors Finalized

I wanted to give you a quick update on 1M/1M. We had an unexpectedly large number of people who applied to become 1M/1M ambassadors. Over the past six weeks, we have worked together, ironed out what we’re going to do with the program, and figured out who is going to do what. >>>