Personal and professional development for technology professionals.
» Bringing Ideas To Life. With Love!
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 08 Sep 2008, 1:55 PM - 5 Comments
I saw this notice at the TechCrunch50 conference (which is simply awesome)
It says:
“$500 replacement fee for lost badges. NO EXCEPTIONS”
You can ask people to be careful with their badges because if they lose it, it adds cost to the organizers. Or simply announce a powerful (dis)incentive to make sure that they ARE careful with the badges 
Have a great afternoon!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 07 Sep 2008, 9:51 PM - 2 Comments
You can say something
OR
You can say something in a way that is memorable
Obviously when you are making an important statement, the second option is preferable. However, wanting to make a memorable statement alone won’t be sufficient to make a memorable statement. For one, it requires you to PREPARE.
Raj Raheja from Heartwood Studios pointed me to a video from the recently concluded NVision conference where the organizers made a “memorable” statement about the difference between a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
Watch this video (it’s only about 2 minutes) and you will see..
Have a great week ahead!
Posted under Main Page, Uncategorized.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 04 Sep 2008, 4:00 AM - 3 Comments
The typical rule is that higher the risk, higher is the reward.
It seems like people know this.
And many people say that they are willing to take the higher risk to get the higher reward.
However, lots of people will opt for conservative approach in terms of “risk tolerance” but still expect a higher reward.
The sad part is a large majority of people want higher rewards with almost no risk however odd it may sound.
At all levels, I think the probability of success is same.
In one case (high risk, high reward), small percentage of people win just because it is “high risk” and one thing going wrong may derail the whole project. Brilliant strategy and great execution by a superb team may provide a big win.
In the other case of fantasy world (very low risk, high reward) one may still win because there are always the case of lottery winners.
In both cases, media will scoop up the news and report it as if this is common – almost saying that “if they can do it, you can too”. In reality, the fact that media picked this up shows that it is uncommon – meaning “if they can do it, you may not be able to”
The big difference though, in the first case you, even when you fail, you will BECOME something that you will be proud of later.
All the best!!!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 03 Sep 2008, 8:02 PM - 2 Comments
Learn.
I caught you there if you thought I was going to say “Lose”
As I am getting ready with my new book to be published soon (a few months away actually), my last book “Beyond Code” is still getting reviewed online. Here are two positive reviews and one negative review
Prem Rao at People at Work and Play says
One of the best books I have read in recent times has been Rajesh Setty’s “Beyond Code“. A little over 115 pages and an easy read. Written in a simple yet effective style, the book delivers what it seeks to do: Give the reader ideas to “learn to distinugish youreself in 9 simple steps.
Read more at “Prem Rao: Beyond Code by Rajesh Setty“
Adam Peterson at VipePower blog says
I’m not a computer programming consultant, or a computer programming anything really, but to be honest the book is more in the personal help genre and as a result, a valuable read for a broader audience. It brings up several great points – one of my favorite being the concept that “There are only two types of relationships, long term and very long term”
More at “Beyond Code – A Good Read“
Vimala Arul at Vimala Arul Blogs says
I did get bit of time to read Rajesh Setty’s “Beyond Code”. I didn’t get much out of that book. Whatever he has said, I have read it in the Opportunity supplement of “The Hindu” news paper. I follow most of that as well!
More at Vimala Arul Blogs
Like I said, sometimes I win and sometimes I …. learn
Thanks to all of you for reviewing the book. It means a lot to me. Special thanks to those of you who have gone the extra mile to sign up on my Facebook Fan Page.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 03 Sep 2008, 4:00 AM - 6 Comments
I am big on personal branding. As I have observed before, it is now going to the other extreme. People are trying to make the most of the social tools available out there but they are skipping a step. I want to write on that topic again and possibly simplify the message. So here we go:
I have seen personal branding process in many angles and the boxes change but the process almost remains the same. One approach can be DAARE:
1. Design (Knowing what brand to build)
2. Accomplish (make really meaningful contributions to the world and/or marketplace)
3. Amplify (using social tools)
4. Build Reputation (create a lasting impression)
5. Experience Benefits (It’s payback time)
The barrier to entry to social tools is quite low. That is making people follow a different approach – DAMN
1. Design (know what brand to build)
2. Amplify (use social tools right away – skip the accomplishment part)
3. Try to Monetize ( try to get an ROI)
4. See No Results (Of course, you know what happens)
In other words (and, on a lighter note) –
DAMN if you don’t DAARE!!!
Note:
You can download the eBook “Personal Branding for Technology Professionals” (PDF, 40 pages) for FREE. The eBook has been downloaded around 165,000 times so far. Thank you for your support. While the eBook is targeted at Technology Professionals, the concepts are applicable to any knowledge worker.
Have a great week ahead!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 02 Sep 2008, 9:47 AM - Leave Comment
This presentation designed by Jeff Brenman of Apollo Ideas won the first prize in the SlideShare presentation contest. Apart from the presentation being brilliantly designed, the message is compelling.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Congrats Jeff!
Hat Tip: Guy Kawasaki
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 02 Sep 2008, 4:00 AM - 2 Comments
Be it for a commodity (like gas) or for something new like Apple iPhone or Amazon Kindle.
In case of a commodity offering, the baseline is always the price for a period in history. So if the price of the gas was hovering around $2 for a while and touches $5 and then goes back to $3, the increase from $2 to $3 is forgotten. What is remembered is the decrease from $5 to $3 – sounds like a bargain.
In case of new offerings like iPhone and Kindle, there is no precedence. So the best would be to set a higher price first and then get all the early adopters to get in the game. The people on the fence are waiting for the price to drop and after some time give them what they want – drop the price. Make it look like a SWEET DEAL and expand the reach.
Think about it. Apple says “iPhone 3G is twice as fast and it is half the price”
Or, in other words, the earlier version of iPhone was “twice the price for half the speed” as compared to this version ????
What can we do?
Actually, nothing. That is the way mind works.
The real question is whether you need any of those products. The reason to buy them should not be because there is a DEAL there but because you need it. If you can prove the ROI, then the price differential really does not matter…I think!
Posted under Business Models, Compelling Offers.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 01 Sep 2008, 8:28 PM - 3 Comments
“Real Estate” is precious
Take Retail – The competitive advantage is in owning real estate
Take Transportation – The competitive advantage is in owning the Oil “Real Estate”
Take Web 1.0 – The competitive advantage was in Operating System “Real Estate”
Take SaaS and Web 2.0 – The competitive advantage is in Browser “Real Estate”.
Of course, hindsight 20/20 – we see that Google is entering into the “real estate” game in a big way.
Take a few things that people do normally online.
1. They search
2. They communicate
3. They share
4. They manage their businesses (they use tools)
In the web 1.0 world, the “real estate” needed to do these things was the operating system.
In the web 2.0 and SaaS world, the “real estate” required to build a big empire is the browser. The power is slowly being taken away from the operating system. Google’s move to stake a big claim makes a lot of sense (for Google, for sure)
More about Google Chrome from Michael Arrington here and here.
More from Google’s Official Blog here.
This is a very nice lesson about extending the value chain one step at a time. Not just Google, every business can design and execute on this. Of course, not at this scale but the thinking has to be the same. For a brilliant explanation of the concept, please refer to Adrian Slywotzky’s work. Overview can be found in this book “How to Grow When Markets Don’t”
All the best!
Posted under Business Models, Innovation.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 01 Sep 2008, 4:00 AM - 3 Comments
My friend Hanley Brite (of Authentic Connections) gave a simple but “to the point” definition of what is a killer app. Here it is…
A killer app is a product or service that nobody knew they wanted but once exposed to it, they could not live without it.
Think about some of the killer apps that you know and probably the definition fits quite well.
Have a great week ahead!
Posted under Main Page.
If you are from the Press or if you are from a Speakers Bureau, you can schedule a meeting with me using Jiffle.
Like Jiffle? Get it here.
Recent Comments