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Philanthropy – Google Style

September 18, 2013 2 Comments

wealthymatters When Google went public, it set aside three million shares,which are now worth close to three billion dollars, for philanthropic causes.

Google has also committed an additional 1% of its profits to philanthropic endeavors.It has been donating this money to the community and using it to engineer solutions to the global problems of health, poverty, food, and energy.

A group called Google for Entrepreneurs mentors and supports entrepreneurs in different parts of the world.

Points 1 and 3 ,especially,are well worth emulating in our businesses.

Filed under Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy Tagged with CSR, Google, Google for Entrepreneurs, Google's CSR, Google's philanthropy, postaday

Why All The Fuss About Section X?

September 17, 2013 Leave a comment

wealthymatters

Have you been following all the animated discussions about Section X of the HBS?

If you haven’t,here’s the gist :Apparently in HBS there is an ultra-exclusive clique of students from uber-wealthy backgrounds .They are mostly male and mostly international students from South America, the Middle East and Asia. They organize parties where there’s a really limited list of invitees and organize supposedly extravagant vacations such as weekends in Moscow. The Instagram feed of Michael Hess, a member of the class of 2013, who posted photographs of Mick Jagger close-up in concert, courtside seats at a Knicks game and stops on his trips around the world is cited as evidence. Apparently,these men of Section X drink hard,party hard and have their pick of women on the campus.Some live in penthouse suites of top end hotels and the group drives round in luxury-cars.There are surmises that Section X’ers never need work in their lives and that they are in HBS to mark time and get credentials,There is also criticism against women who decide to play the dating game with these men,in the hopes of landing a rich catch.In fact there are complaints that these men have their own lists of hot and not so hot women. Read more of this post

Filed under Tidbits Tagged with HBS, Michael Hess, postaday, Section X of the HBS

G-mail Bowls A Googly

September 17, 2013 7 Comments

wealthymatters

Even in the age of Twitter posts and Instagram photos, e-mail is still the way marketers reach the hearts – and wallets – of consumers. And that is why retailers are up in arms about Google’s latest tweak to Gmail.

Google has gradually introduced a new inbox with an assortment of folders for different types of messages, including a main inbox and ones for social networking alerts, e-commerce promotions, updates from businesses like banks. For Google, it’s another moneymaking avenue (note the ads that look like emails that now appear at the top of the promotions folder). Also, the company says it wants to fix email overload.

Yet any tiny change that the Internet giant makes has cascading effects for businesses across the Web. Online retailers don’t like this change as a person might log on to Gmail 20 times a day, and look at promotions once a week. Read more of this post

Filed under Entrepreneurship Tagged with e-mail marketing, g-mail, postaday

The Economics of High-End Tractors

September 16, 2013 Leave a comment

wealthymatters

In the past, many progressive Indian farmers opted for customization to make tractors more comfortable because manufacturers didn’t give any standard options in those days.For example some Punjab farmers retrofitted air-conditioned cabins on their 75 HP John Deere tractors in the absence of any standard option.By doing so they enhance efficiency. With an AC tractor, they could plough their fields for more than 15 hours a day compared with the 5-6 hours on a regular tractor. To modify tractors,people downloaded the design from the internet and customizes their machiness for varied needs.

These days,high-end luxury tractors,make such effort unnecessary.Unlike regular tractors, these luxury machines are not defined by their engine horsepower and other technical specifications alone. The customization options and other high end features make them different from the regular tractors. Eg,Ferrari allows farmers to have 4-wheel drive options on equal size wheels (regular tractors comes in different wheel sizes) and front-engine mounting for low turning radius and ideal weight distribution. The famed oscillating chassis gives the machine the flexibility to navigate on hill slopes and terraced farms. Others offer higher-powered engines, heat ventilation and air conditioning in the cabin , air suspension seats and tiltable steering, Read more of this post

Filed under Alternative Assets Tagged with 75 HP John Deere tractor, air suspension seats, Ferrari tractors, four wheel drive, front engine mounting, high end tractors, Kubota tractors, Lamborghini tractors, luxury tractors, M&M Arjun tractors, oscillating chassis, postaday, tiltable steering

CTC And Take Home Salaries

September 16, 2013 1 Comment

wealthymatters

The early days of your business are likely to be pretty lean ones money-wise.At the time,if you get discouraged by all the great salaries your contemporaries are raking in and are thinking of giving up,find out if people around you are talking of CTC or take home salaries.Then consider how much they keep post-tax,and then compare it with what you manage to keep for yourself and then decide.

CTC or cost to company is what a company spends on an employee. If something is an “Expense” for a company because of an employee, its part of his/her CTC,

So,companies often add their contribution to the EPF,gratuity(which is payable 5 years from the date of joining),superannuation,leave encashments etc. to the CTC. If employees leave the company after a short while they may never see these incomes. Read more of this post