Archive for March, 2008
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 12 Mar 2008, 9:57 PM - 2 Comments
Guru, founder of Boomer411 has a nice write-up on the difference between a discovery engine and a search engine.
Here is the link:
Boomer411: What is the difference between a discovery engine and a typical search engine
Disclaimer: Boomer411 is one of the portals powered by Rawsugar (owned by the company where I spend more than 100% of my time – Suggestica)
[Sidenote: How is more than 100% possible? Simply because Silicon Valley Workaholic License mandates that I spend 200% of my time working 
]
Partial list of sites powered by Rawsugar is here:
1. Invincibelle – discovery part is powered by Rawsugar – focused on multicultural women
2. All About Steak – built in partnership with Kansas City Steaks. It’s all about steaks
3. Theologika – It’s all about theology
More soon…
Posted under Announcement.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 12 Mar 2008, 7:14 PM - 7 Comments
Time flies. Really. It has been 1122 days since I started blogging. Never thought that I would last this long. Today is a big day (for me at least) as this is my 1000th blog post on Life Beyond Code.
I really don’t know how long I will continue to blog but my goal continues to be the same – 90% of my blog posts have to provide a high ROII for some time to come. I have thought of quitting blogging several times in the last three years. I did not. If I have to think about one good reason, it must be because blogging provides a high ROII for me to justify to continue blogging. It is one exercise where I see that the more I GIVE, the more I GET.
What have I got in the last three years:
* Great friendships: Meeting some of the most wonderful people on the planet. I might have met them anyway (but I doubt it very much)
* Clarity: It helps me clarify my thoughts and ideas. Having an idea in the head is one thing, translating it into words is a whole new thing.
* Reach: I have friends from places that I am sure I can’t spell or pronounce. What a blessing.
* Increased capacity: Blogging amplifies your capacity but rarely creates new capacity. That puts me on the spot to perform and produce results outside of blogging.
* Increased responsibility: I can write whatever I want in my notebook but a blog is a public notebook. It has to make sense for someone else to read.
I can go on but it is too much to list.
Thank you list:
1. My family (sorry, it’s not the readers yet): Every time I spent my time blogging, I could have spent it with my family. Kavitha (my wife) and Sumukh (my son) know how much I love this. Thanks to them for accomodating this and many other pursuits I have.
2. My teachers: I have a few of them. I am blessed and fortunate to have these great teachers.
Without #1, I wouldn’t have the time to blog and without #2, I wouldn’t have got anything good to blog.
3. Readers of this blog: Without you, the blog does not exist. So a BIG thank you. Every email you send me and every comment you post – makes my day.
4. Supporting friends and extended family: There are many more people that I have to thank and it is a VERY LONG list. The people that I have on this category already know it and I am blessed and thankful to be around them.
Over these years, I have learnt a lot from all of you – so much that I know there is so much more to learn. Whenever you have a moment, please send me your feedback (via comments, email or on my Facebook page).
THANK YOU.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 06 Mar 2008, 1:52 PM - Leave Comment
Take this test for fun. Score a point whenever you get “caught” (agree to a point). If you score more than 10, you need HELP!
1. Looking to build “long-term” relationships in the short-term [eBook: Lasting Relationships]
2. Getting frustrated because it is taking a long-time to “get rich quick”
3. Wanting the prize without paying the price
4. Sacrificing long-term priorities for the short-term and vice-versa
5. Thinking you can do it all alone
6. Thinking you can’t do anything alone
7. Expecting it’s OK with others for you to take them for granted
8. Thinking that your “good intentions” will make up for your inaction
9. Breaking your promise to others
10. Breaking your promise to yourself
11. Forgetting to live in the moment
12. Deciding to live ONLY in the moment
13. Calling someone ONLY when you need them (similar to #7)
14. Not calling someone when they really need you.
15. Not knowing when to persist and when to quit
16. Forgetting to enjoy the journey to your “destination”
17. Crying over losing something that you didn’t have anyway
18. Belieiving that you don’t need teachers and mentors to get where you want to go.
19. Not having time to learn how to make the most of your time [eBook: Making the Most of Your Time]
20. Not knowing how to detect your fantasies
21. Believing that learning ends when you finish school (Hint: It really starts there)
22. Choosing to be miserable for no reason
23. Wanting a reason to be happy
24. Not reading enough to gain knowledge or Not putting enough to use of whatever knowledge you already have.
25. Expecting a premium for engaging in commodity work [eBook: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself]
Have fun!!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 04 Mar 2008, 9:34 PM - 1 Comment
I heard about the launch of Biographicon – where everyone can create their biography. The value proposition – if you can’t get into Wikipedia, no problem – you can get into Biographicon.
Go ahead and create one.
Have something to say?
You have several choices. Few of them are
1. You can create a page on Squidoo OR
2. You can create a page on HubPages OR
3. You can create a page using Google Sites OR
4. You can create a Wiki page with PBWiki OR
5. You can create a page on Google Knol (soon, I think)
Go ahead say whatever you wanted to say.
BUT
If you want to gain competitive advantage, please remember – you have to have something REALLY GOOD to say.
Having an opportunity and ability to create something on the web won’t give you a competitive advantage automatically.
If it’s easy for you to create something ordinary, it’s easy for someone else too. Also, you may be interested in creating something ordinary – does not mean that people are out there looking for “ordinary” stuff. Again, why would somebody pay a premium for anything that is available in plenty – it’s a simple “supply and demand” issue. The more the supply, the lesser the value.
Thank GOD – there are tools available (for FREE) to create something ordinary or something remarkable. Choose ordinary and the tools provide ZERO advantage. Choose remarkable and the tools make it easy for you – but you still have to DO the work!
Have a great Wednesday!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 04 Mar 2008, 8:29 PM - 1 Comment
David’s book “Managing the Professional Services Firm” was my Bible when I was managing professional services teams in the late nineties. Since then, I have read almost all of David’s books and I am really glad I did.
His latest book “Strategy and the Fat Smoker” is a treat to read. The basic premise of the book is about “how to do what’s obvious but not easy” (It can be quitting smoking or executing a strategy)
Now, David has a campaign that will make it easy for you to give a copy of the book as a gift to your leader. In return, you will get a gift too (a pre-release copy of Fat Smoker Executive Summary eBook)
Here is the link tot he campaign site
http://davidmaister.com/management
There are only 100 copies available – so please hurry!
Posted under Announcement.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 03 Mar 2008, 9:35 PM - Leave Comment
Hari (CEO of Jiffle) sent me a link to this brilliant piece of advice for entrepreneurs from Jason Goldberg (of Jobster fame)
There is a lot of uncommon wisdom in that short blog post. Here is the link:
12 Learnings From My First Run as Startup CEO
Enjoy!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 03 Mar 2008, 8:35 PM - 5 Comments
I have been thinking about Social Objects. Social Object in simple terms is something on which you can have a conversation. For more thoughts from bright people on this topic, please refer to these links
1. More Thoughts on Social Objects by Hugh MacLeod
2. Social Objects in Education by Martin Weller
One of my heroes, Seth talked about this too in the context of his new book Meatball Sundae. If your company happens to be offering a service or a product that is close to a social object, congratulations! You have a good first step to building a community. But what if you are company does not have such a product or service.
In a recent interview at US News and World Report, Seth answers one such question
How should old-line companies approach these technologies?
First, companies have to decide: Either they’re in or they’re out. You either make meatballs, or you’re part of this new regime. But if you only want to use the regime to just sell more [meatballs], you’re going to fail. Gillette invented the safety razor on the back of two things: a really good factory and aggressive mass marketing. And they’re really good at it. The question is: Why do we think Gillette deserves to succeed in this new medium? My answer is: They don’t. There’s nothing about what Gillette does that makes them worthy of conversations online, that makes their ads in Google clickable, that makes you want to visit their website.
Read the full interview here (it’s simply great)
This is where Adjacent Social Objects will come in. Ajdacent Social Objects are those that objects that are not directly related to your product or service but are close – they are in the periphery.
Let me take an example (thinking out loud here) – Considering the same company (Gillette) mentioned above, let us think of a few adjacent social objects. I can think of two:
1. Gillette could start/sponsor a site related to anything and everything about grooming.
2. Gillette could partner with a world-renowned modeling agency to create a contest for “best face on earth”. One of the rules would be that it has to be clean shaven face.
Our own example is a site called All About Steak (which is a site that’s all about steak – recipes, grilling tips etc.) which was built in partnership with Kansas City Steaks. All About Steak is an adjacent social object for Kansas City Steaks. You can’t make people talk about steaks but may be people will talk about a discovery engine for steaks?
Adjacent social objects need not thought of only when your company can’t create social objects. They can be perfect add-ons and complement existing social objects. I can think of one more example. My super-smart friends Gautam Godhwani and Dave McClure created a site called SimplyFired (stories of people being fired for odd and not-so-odd reasons) to complement the site SimplyHired. SimplyHired (vertical search engine for jobs) was a social object already – but Gautam and Dave brilliantly complemented it with an adjacent social object – SimplyFired.
What about in your business – what adjacent social objects can you create?
Posted under Business Models.
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