postaday | wealthymatters

No Regrets

October 2, 2013 8 Comments

In the very early days of Facebook, when it had fewer than 15 employees, a guy named Steve Chen decided after working there for only a few weeks that it just wasn’t for him.

He wanted to leave to found his own company, and his plan was to do a video startup.

Matt Cohler, the guy who had hired him in the first place, tried to convince him otherwise. “You’re making a terrible mistake. Facebook is going to be huge! And there’s already a ton of video sites. If you do this you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life!”

Chen wasn’t convinced, so he decided to do it anyway and left to start a company called YouTube.

Filed under Entrepreneurship Tagged with Facebook, Matt Cohler, postaday, start-up, Steve Chen, YouTube

The Story Of Raphael Tudela

October 2, 2013 2 Comments

wealthymatters If you have ever wondered how to start-up when you have no money,here is an idea from a story in ‘What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School’ by Mark H. McCormack:

Several years ago I met a Venezuelan oil and shipping businessman by the name Raphael Tudela. As I have come to know, respect, and admire him, he has impressed me as the quintessential street-smart executive. He has built a billion-dollar business from scratch in less than twenty years. He seldom deals in written contracts because his word is his bond. He has always made his own breaks. And his principal business, which is oil speculation, relies on his constant process of seeing opportunities where no one else does and taking advantage of them.

In other words, Raphael Tudela is a genius at taking the edge. One of the best illustrations of this –of how he has the facts, knows what people want, and figures out a way to give it to them- is the story of how he got in the oil business in the fist place. Read more of this post

Filed under Entrepreneurship Tagged with British Petroleum, oil speculation, postaday, Raphael Tudela, Shell Oil, Sun Oil Company, Venezuelan oil and shipping businessman, What they don't teach you at Harvard Business School by Mark H. McCormack

Ticketless Travel Insurance

October 2, 2013 2 Comments

wealthymatters

Here is an interesting post I came across today via the Freakonomics blog.I’m struck by the deshi jugaad-an ingenious solution to save a few rupees and avoid wasting time and energy waiting in the serpentine queues at the ticket window in case you’re not a regular monthly pass holder

.\In a crowded (understatement) local train in Mumbai, where there’s hardly any breathing space, what are the chances that a TC (ticket checker) walking into the train and checking for tickets?

Mumbai suburban railway system daily carries more than 6 million commuters on 3 corridors – central, western & harbour. 6 million commuters on these trains means that the task for the authorities is extremely difficult. Ensuring that all these commuters pay for the tickets is next to impossible for the railway authorities. The system to discourage ticketless travel has to rely on random ticket checking and the chances are that you will escape getting caught more often than not, while travelling without a ticket. However, if more and more people think that ticketless travel is harmless, the chances of them getting caught in the random check will obviously increase. This keeps the number of ticketless travellers in check. Read more of this post

Filed under Entrepreneurship, Tool Kit Tagged with postaday, saving on transport costs, ticketless train travel, ticketless train travel insurance

The Best Is Yet To Be

October 2, 2013 2 Comments

Today there are a lot of people writing off the India story. The graph above is reason to believe differently.Yes,India has major problems,but the best is probably yet to be.The 7.3% growth in GDP that Mckinsey assumed may not materialize,but inflation still might produce or exceed the threefold increase in household incomes (As a proxy for national household incomes why not use the income of government servants?Link and since then a 7th pay Commission has been appointed).Its hard to say what exactly the increased incomes will purchase in real terms.But its certain there will be more money floating round.Enough for enterprising people to set up businesses and flourish,Entrepreneurs just need to survive and adapt.