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October, 2008

iPhone - Spoiling Personal Relationships

Submitted by sorabh on 4 October, 2008 - 17:24
in

Seems that people carrying iPhones, and Blackberry's, and other such super-devices are literally carrying their offices with them. For people whose entire business depends on networking and replying to emails in time, there could be nothing better than one of these gadgets.

However, sometimes these super-humans can be turning-off. At times, I have had to prepare huge word documents, or presentations, or at times nurture an important discussion by compiling a huge email. While I expect the reader to be generous with his/her opinions, all I normally get back is something like, "Great! Tx. Will get back to you." ... or "I like your opinions. Nice." (since these gadgets don't give you a laptop-like writing interface, it's difficult to write more than this) ... 

Well, thanks for liking my opinions. If you really like them, have the courtesy to respond with some more matter and, hence, some more substance. 

 

The desire to have things done quickly invariably prevents them from being done thoroughly.
Jody C Burnett
 
 PS: See the comments section of this post to read some interesting thoughts that Sanjay Kamble has on this topic.
 
 

Tottenham Hotspurs - A Joke

Submitted by sorabh on 4 October, 2008 - 19:59
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 Heard this joke on "Football Crazy": 

 
Q: What's the difference between Tottenham and a triangle?
A: A triangle has three points.
 
:)
 
Probably one of the reasons for Spurs' bad start to the season is that they have been playing against teams that are so unpredictable (Wigan, Boro, Villa). When you play against the top 4, or the bottom 4 too, you know what's coming your way and you are mentally prepared.
 
They did play Chelsea - and they played well against them taking a point at Stamford Bridge. That's half their total points till now.
 
They play yet another unpredictable team today - Hull City. My bet - this might be Spurs revival game. Hope so, because I do like Spurs. My boss at Sports Business was a hard-core Spurs fan, and then Carrick and Berb have some Spurs history too.
 
When ESPN asked some user (watched this today) for a football joke, he said, "Tottenham Hotspurs!" ... and added ... "they *are* a joke!"
 
 

Scientific Advertising

Submitted by sorabh on 5 October, 2008 - 17:55
in

 cover of Scientific Advertising

Author: Claude Hopkins
Recommendation: Definite Read!
 
"Nobody, at any level, should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life. "
- David Ogilvy
 
Sorries, David, I have read it just once till today.
 
This 70 year old masterpiece is precise/concise (around 75 pages if I remember correctly), well segmented (10 chapters), and every sentence in it seemed to be a commandment about sales and promotion. Download the pdf of the book at www.scientificadvertising.com  ... thank me later ...
 
"Life is like a box of chocolates, Forrest.  You never know what you're gonna get."
 
 

MeraSport.Com

Submitted by sorabh on 6 October, 2008 - 14:36
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Recently, we decided to relaunch MeraSport for the nth time. That's the way it happens in the new industry - a lot of RnD on various products and then one fine day you feel that the market curve is converging with your product curve.

(I don't believe in the concept of, "... he was plain lucky - got there, at the right place, at the right time ..." ... The mantra is to persist - and persist till the right time comes. Everyone persisted, waiting for the market ecosystem to oblige - very few people got lucky.

Saumil and me have started to believe that we may be sitting somewhere around the sweet spot finally. 

When MeraSport started, it was like a multi-channel new-media sports destination. The mistake was, we started with what we wanted to end with. Hence, it took time. The upside, though, was that we were putting our resource-eggs in many baskets - so much a requirement in an uncertain industry of new media and sports, especially in India.

It's going to be a joy ride - and this time I am more hopeful, and focussed on one product, than ever.

The website was supposed to be our main product once upon a time - but is now just a marketing tool. Have a look - the entire site was designed using MS Power Point 2007. BlueVoda was used to implement it. Time taken: 3-4 hrs. Fairly simple job - especially when you realise that such simple tasks can be made multi-complex by being over-ambitious.

You don't wanna get laid, man. It leads to kissing and pretty soon you gotta talk to 'em.

 

 

Viral Marketing - Some Learnings

Submitted by sorabh on 7 October, 2008 - 20:14
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Since ever, we've felt that the best way to scale MeraSport's user base is by word-of-mouth and other viral marketing methods. Yesternight, I stayed up till 2 in the morning/night to add this fantastic free tool from Social Twist to fire MeraSport's online viral effect. The results (check the implementation here) in one day have been no less than encouraging - though, there's a long distance to cover. 

While you try to get rid of this bug from the screen, here's a list of some learnings about viral marketing. Obviously, as time progresses, I plan to keep updating this post with newer learnings:

  1. If you want your subject to tell N other friends about you, give him/her an altruistic reason to do so. Of course, that altruistic reason has to be true too. We felt that continuation of MeraSport's free alert service was a reasonable incentive for our subject to promote the concept. It's true, too.
  2. The best time to request (you have to request) the subject to spread the word is when he/she is at the peak of his satisfaction while in your territory. We felt that on MeraSport, this is when he/she gets the confirmation about the subscription for the free service. I think we'll soon identify a much better occasion, though.
  3. If you have the right product, and you are absolutely sure that it has viral capabilities, the users will find you. They will find you like it was their only mission of existence. Once this is done, wou will have just no control over the word-spread - so make sure your supplies are plentiful, and distribution network on red-alert.

 

2 + 2 = 5, for sufficiently large values of 2.

 

 

Getting Rich in the Bust: Save Money, Store Cash, and Learn

Submitted by sorabh on 7 October, 2008 - 22:30
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I may not be obsessed about over-frequenting the "self-help" section of the local book store and parking myself there for hours. , but I love to glance through "self-help" books once in a while.

This blog caught my attention - and the simple, basic suggestions presented herein make good sense, and are also very encouraging. The blog has three basic suggestions to make for aspirants in this burning economy: save money, store it in CD's, and learn as much as you can about your chosen business domain.

 

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
- George Carlin
 
 

The IPL Rub-Off: Sponsors may find it tough

Submitted by sorabh on 8 October, 2008 - 09:13
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Though Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural, historic IPL, Bajaj Alliance (team sponsors) maintained a low profile. Wondering why they didn't cash-in ...

One reason for not cashing in: they spent quite a pocketful on sponsoring RR - didn't leave them with much cash to follow the win with more marketing. 

Another reason: probably they were scared that a marketing campaign pegged around Rajasthan's win would have impressed just the Rajasthani's. 

Regional team sponsors, by nature, can get only one big thing out of such sponsorship arrangements: brand awareness. A little bit of regional brand-loyalty as well ... but nothing great on the national front. (The story would be different, of course, if the team is actually a big-time brand in itself - the rest of England might hate AIG for it's ManU association, but AIG was out there to impress the world).

Moreover, when the league is an infant, it's the the teams that normally look upto the established brands for some personality rub-off - not the other way round.

The greedy guys at the BCCI went after creating money, not value. I would have loved it if the BCCI played a waiting game with IPL as far as the revenues are concerned.

The maximum value would have been created if one team was given to the Ambani's for a lower price, another to the Tata's, and yet another to the Murugappa group. They could have easily roped in Walt Disney too. Each match, then, would have been a contest of a different kind - with drama, and more interest from the drama-loving junta (finally, during the second half of the IPL, these guys had to resort to creating a Oh-My-God-Bhajji-Slaps-Sreesanth act to excite the disinterested mob).

I thought when launching a new sports product, the synergies should be towards making an appropriate brand, not money. IPL, could have been much better. However, today, at least I perceive it as just another league.

I also feel that it was imperative for the BCCI to bring a western brand like Walt Disney to be a substantial part of the IPL. They would have brought all the unique competencies of advanced sports marketing - something that a product like IPL would have desperately required in the first 5-6 years.

I had once interviewed (for my dissertation) some top-notch BCCI professionals, some budding cricketers, and a very famous columnist. Everyone spoke low about BCCI, and the reason they cited: is it's inherent greed.

I am sure the BCCI's aim is not to make a 'professional league' out of this whole IPL thing. It's to make money. They would love to shut it down as eagerly as the started it - if it stops bringing short-term revenues. Knowing BCCI, and it's modus operandi, I am pretty sure that the bubble will burst without fail, and it will happen very soon, *if* professional sports marketing efforts are not put into it.

Especially because IPL is not about the sports business and the emotions attached to it off-field - it's just another entertainment option for the average consumer. It's not sports business - it's purely an "entertainment business". It's competing with "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" - not with the English Premier League.

Moreover, in sports, we Indians really care only if the national team wins, and also if a bunch of star players are involved consistently.No body would watch India play if the Dhoni and Yuvi won't feature. Even if it's Ind-Pak.

Then, we Indians don't find our own, Indian brands very seductive. We love and endorse the West (name 10 Indian "brands" that we are proud of, and I will pay for your next coffee). We love ManU-Chelsea, but don't care about the far bigger rivalry of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal (ofcourse, the latter hasn't been promoted as well too) ...

If you are not an idealist by the time you are twenty, you have no heart; but if you are still an idealist by the time you are thirty, you don't have a head.

Randolph Bourne 

 

 

Me ...

 

मुख मिष्टा, ह्रिदय दुष्टा, रग रग मैं बस्ती ठगेश्वरी,
वणिक पुत्रम्, सभी दुष्टा, महादुष्टा महेश्वरी

 
Name
Sorabh Sodhani.
A recent conversation with babu-ji (my grandpa) confirmed that we could have gone ahead with Maheshwari instead of Sodhani, had one of our ancestors not chosen to start a business of dhani's (granaries). He made 100 of them as a start, which got us the name so-dhani.  
Phew! So much for the name! There's another huge story about "Maheshwari" 's etymology, but will keep that for some other time ... 
 
click the pic to enlarge
 
Real Names
Topi (IITB)
A name which was my identity throughout the golden era of my life - at IIT. I still remember, the not-so-pg-PG Satish (of DN wing) started calling me this in my freshie year. (Wow! 1997 ... it's been 11 years now)! Ofcourse, like with all freshie-related-keeda, this too happened around the H2 carrom table ... 
 
This name has had its derivatives. Bharat has many-a-times called me "2-pi" ... which also tempted me to have "6.284" (which is two times pi). 
 
Toby (UK)
My name, the one pair of syllables that make 'So-rabh' up, was too difficult for those firangi fellows to pronounce, so had to ask them to call me 'Topi'. They started calling me Toby, though. The irony is, even my Czech and Slovak house-mates would find my name hard to pronounce! I mean ... they had names like KZSHUTYHSECKA ... 
 
Monty (IIT CoffeeShack)
Till today, the guys at the shack call me Monty, and I call them Monty in return. Till today, we don't know each other's names - except for Vijay - but whenever we meet, we meet like we're the best friends. God knows why Monty, though!
 
Tubby Boss (IITB)
It's normally Bunnu, Bharat, Sari and Neha who call me so ... and I love this derivative of topi. Will find time to write the story about this very soon. The most recent development, though, is that I have established a brand of tee shirts, which I call "Toube Bas" ... an exotic French derivative of "Tubby Boss". Check www.toubebas.com!
 
SoSo (Guido)
Guido Barbatto (Chelsea supporter, Italian) is one of the two great friends I made in the UK. The other one is Craig McKenna (Liverpool supporter, Englishman), my boss-cum-manager at William Hill, Tollgate. The only guy who actually calls me SoSo, and pretty consistently, is Guido.
I chose SoSo when the CC at IIT asked us to choose less-than-5-letter names for the new email accounts. I wanted topi, but since that was ticked-off as unprofessional, had to go with SoSo. 
 
click the pic to enlarge
 
Number
13.
I just can't help but remember Piyush Singhal here! Apart from the love for Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and Tulsi, we shared an unparalleled love for the number - 13. We were lead proponents of the trescadecaphobia (fear of number 13) concept at IIT ... and I am sure, the next time we meet, we are going to share quiet a few laughs about that!
 
Whenever I can, I try to include the number 13 in my life - my room at IIT (131), my phone number, my jersey number in volleyball (I chose to go with number 1 in football, being a GK), my vest number in athletics. Incidently, my roll number at IITB was 97D11013 (a string usually found adjacent to another string, "FF"). 
 
Country
India.
Usually, I am proud of India. Very much due to the history, but also a lot on grounds of the general attitude found on the streets here. The moment I start digging deep within, though, the pride takes a momentary backfoot. It happens rarely, but happens nonetheless.
 
Mother-Tongue
Marwari.
A language which mellows me everytime I hear it in a song - especially the "padharo mhaare des" line in Kesariya Baalma by Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sultan Khan. Listen to it here.
Irony: I have no clue of the majority of the language. My nani speaks with me in Marwari, but I can barely make real sense out of it. One thing I would want to be corrected in my childhood would be the distance from the language. I can still learn it - but you know how difficult it's going to be.
 
Mother-Land
Sikar, Rajashtan.
Actually, that's where my paternal family hails from. My mother hails from Molasar, Rajasthan. Rajasthan is one place where I have spent not more than two days of my conscious life (during Chadha's brother's marriage). But very, very soon, I will. If all goes well, Dec 2009 will see me cycling all through the sandy Rajashtan, India's own Texas. Until I do that, I am not going to feel truly Rajasthani! No .. I didn't say that ...
 
Religion
Manchester United. Sport. Friendship. Football. VolleyBall. Running. Hockey. (In no particular order)
 
Paternal Hierarchy
LaxmiChand Sodhani > Bhairon Lal Sodhani > Madan Mohan Sodhani > Chandra Mohan Sodhani > Sorabh Sodhani (Oh c'mon! I had to show this off - that I know my great-great-grandfather's name)!
 
Favourite Films
Hindi: Golmaal, Chashme Buddoor, Angoor, Hip Hip Hurray, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Chupke Chupke, Khel, Karz.
Others: The Shawshank Redemption, Life is Beautiful, Cinema Paradiso, Remember the Titans, The Monsters Inc., Forrest Gump, 50 First Dates.
 
Favourite Shows (Current)
The Simpsons, Whose Line Is It Anyway, Friends, Seinfield. 
 
I go crazy if I stay away from these things for long ...
Playing Football. Watching Football. Occasional Running. General Chatting and Farting with Friends. Writing. Coffee with Bourn Bourn biscuits. Music. Watching my fav. Shows.
 
 
There are some other direct roles that I am trying to fulfill in life (apart from being a proud son, a spoiled brother, an ignorant mamashree of a carefree bhanjashree, a forgetful friend, and Topi):
 
  • MeraSport Business Head, Co-Founder;
  • SportzVillage Employee - International Business Head
  • IIT Bombay Alumni Association, Bangalore Chapter: Exec. Comm. Member
  • Football Club of Urban Koramangala (FCUK): Player. 
  • an emotional Manchester United fan who also supports Valencia, Juventus and Werder Bremen in their respective leagues and hates Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Roma, and Bayern Munich;  

Earlier roles that I have, fairly successfully, played:

 

  • 1796 reads

3 Brazilians and a Ball - what else do you need!

Submitted by sorabh on 10 October, 2008 - 09:05
in

and there's Eric-the-Cantona too!

 

 

Life's Buffer Space

Submitted by sorabh on 10 October, 2008 - 20:25
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I recently realised the importance of having a 'Buffer Space' in life - and have been using it to solve many problems of mine. I am still to get rid of the really nasty problems, but the typical clutter has definitely reduced considerably.

Analogy: if you want your desk to look tidy, and want your drawers to be organized - then find a space which you can officially mess-up with. I keep my desk and 3 drawers tidy by dumping all the mess in the 4th drawer.

Hence, in an urgency, if I don't know where to keep some papers, or some recently collected business cards, or perhaps my mobile charger - I just dump it in the messy drawer. The desk and the other drawers remain tidy, and I still know where I will definitely find something that I can't trace easily.

Similarly, I have a "messy" buffer space in my wardrobe, and a similar buffer space in the kitchen, and a buffer space in my backpack too.

Probably, even problems need to be organized.

I have started marking buffer spaces in my daily calendar too - this is the time when I give all the time to my problems in whichever way I can - sulking, sighing, or solving. I stop consciously attending to these problems beyond this duration. Normally, this buffer space conincides with my 20 min walk back home, and continues till 15 minutes after that. 

 

Dilbert's Words of Wisdom:
"Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue."
 
 

DIY: Retire Early

Submitted by sorabh on 12 October, 2008 - 17:10
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There are so many "Do It Yourself" tutorials on so many things ... wouldn't it be great to have a DIY kit for life.

Tapan Siwach, one of the directors of SportzVillage and a rival IIT alumnus (Delhi) recently argued about us SportzVillagers (heard this from Saumil, btw): we guys are already living a retired life!

We guys are doing something we like (sports), the way we like it (our work is a kind-of a seven-day-weekend), and we are having a nice time doing it. Then, there is a lot to reflect upon and feel good! Isn't that what one does after retirement?

Of course, the proverbial Vitamin 'M' is missing - that would come in soon anyway, won't it?

[No really .. won't it? Money will come in, right? Friends, console me!]

Writing all this in the middle of work on a Sunday afternoon! Yes - working on a Sunday afty! Well - it's not so bad as it reads: the TV is keeping me good company. Watched Mr. India in the morning, and am 're-living' some very nice memories while watching Kal Ho Na Ho.

 
C:\GRAPHICS\GIF\NAUGHTY\FILTHY\DISGUSTING\WOW!
 
 

The Wall Street, the Yankees, and the Dutch Connection

Submitted by sorabh on 24 October, 2008 - 21:52
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I realise it's been a long time since I have done something substantial on this space. First, it was the very unexpected trip to Bombay for the Mobile Marketing Summit, and then the much awaited trip back home to Gwalior. I have been on my toes for the past 10 days (Bombay can be so taxing after you are spoilt by Bangalore's comfort), and away from a nice connection to the www.

My 4hr train journey from Delhi to Gwalior got stretched to 8! It would have been terrible, but the pain was lessened by some very interesting company: Philipp and Anya of the Oranje country - The Netherlands. 

My keen interest in European soccer gives me a common ground to start a conversation with the Europeans ... and then it's just a matter of connecting the dots. Philipp happenned to be an Ajax fan - and the one team I really admire for its youth system is Ajax. So, we hit it off!

Since I am in a hurry to end this post, here's a very interesting fact-list Philipp related about NewYork.

  • Dutch had a huge influence on America during its pre-independence era. Like, the Wall street borrows its name from a locality in the Netherlands: Walle.
  • After independence, the states gathered to vote on the primary official system. The Dutch system lost to English by a solitary vote - else Dutch would have been the primary modus operandi in America.
  • Jan is a very popular name in Netherlands. So is Kees. There were a lot of Kees, and even more of Jan in New York before the independence. Hence, the residents of New Yorks were cordially related to as the Jan and the Kees ... or the Jan-Kees .. or the Yankees. (Jan is pronounced as 'Yan' in Dutch ...  ) 

 

"Life without you would be like a broken pencil." "How's that?"  "Completely pointless."

(Blackadder, Series II)

 

 

X% Literacy, Y% Education

Submitted by sorabh on 26 October, 2008 - 23:29
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Disclaimer: This is one of the most unstrcutured blog-posts of mine. Read it at your own 'riks'

Ever since the start of my MBA, and even today while I am knee-deep into the corporate gutter, I have come across the term, 'BRIC' more than 100n times. Every piece of literature seems to be predicting that India is one of the economies to be, and that it's *the* time to make the most of this emerging country.

The way we Indians are proceeding, though, I am sure that many of these asserters would like to think twice. 

Philipp, whom I mentioned in the last post, informed me about his current job with a bank in Holland. He enlightened me about a growing trend in the West - that of companies tempted to 'in-source" all operations that they had outsourced to India. The reason: the growing Indian economy and, hence, the rising salaries within India - a trend that fails the purpose of outcourcing in the first place.

Couple this with the credit crunch, and the BPO industry might have to play on the backfoot for some time.

Anyway, this post is about my general observations and frustrations with the typical India. For me, the big barrier in India's problem (we would do well to identify the real problem we want to tackle) is not money (or lack of it), or literacy, or health or poverty ... it's the 'habit' of an urban or semi-urban citizen.

The other day, I was loitering around in 'Landmark' to locate some books. It was hard for not just me, but even for the Landmark staff to find a book I wanted.

One would assume that the majority that flocks stores like Landmark are 'educated'. I guess they (we) may all be literate, but not everyone is educated. Being able to read the books is literacy, but being able to replace the books on their rightful places on the shelf is education.

Similarly, being able to drive a car is prosperity. However, the ability to drive in lanes is progress.

The real problem is 'habit'. Give us an 8-lane road, and we will end up with the same traffic problems that we have today. That is, unless our habits improve.

I was having a discussion with Radhika didi, and then with my dad too, on the topic of plastic bags and how we can increase some more awareness about the issue.

The real problem is not the use of plastic bags (plastic bags are more eco-friendly than paper bags - if we want them to be). The real problem is how we dispose them. I find us to be very careless when it comes to disposing plastic bags. They should be in the right garbage bin ... but they really are in the drains, on trees, under public seats etc. etc. That's what pollutes the environment. It's the abuse of plastic bags that hurts, not their use.

This is not about India - this is about Indians. The Indian locality in Coventry (UK) had the same water-logging problems that we see in India - while the rest of Coventry was as clear as the desert sky.

 

Aayush (my 4.5yr old bhanja while hopping on one foot): "Mama, see I can hop on one foot!"

Me: "Can you hop on 0 foot?"

Aayush: "Wouldn't that be like flying?"

 

 

My GameDay Tweets!
8 weeks 3 days ago — Manchester City vs Blackburn Rovers (ESPN, 0124hrs)! Next set of games on the 16th!
8 weeks 5 days ago — ESPN: Hul-Che (1810), Ars-Eve (2025), Bir-ManU (2255); STAR: Wig-Ast (2025) Check the new football tshirt at www.toubebas.com!
9 weeks 4 days ago — FA Cup on PIX: (1830) ManU-Leeds; (2330) WHU-Arsenal. Y'DAY's FA CUP: Ast 3-1 Bla, Mid 0-1 ManC, Rea 1-1 Liv, Wig 4-1 Hull, Tot 4-0 Pet

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