Society seems to scoff at selfish people. But is there anyone who is really not selfish at all? Is altruism practical?
While some people appear to exhibit unselfish behavior, when you dissect the situation almost always you will find a selfish motive. One of my friend told me about "five why's". Keep asking "why" till you get to the root. Usually you could get to the root when you have asked "why" five times!
I can not comprehend why many people consider saints to be altruistic. Are they really selfless? Would they really pass up their meal to some hungry person on the street? Will they do this day in and day out? May be saint is less selfish than a wall street capitalist. But still selfish, isn't it?
I do not have problem with people being selfish. In fact, its good to be selfish. If people are not selfish, they most likely do not have a motivation to wake up every morning. There is no reason to work hard. Everyone would sit idle and the society would perish in no time!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Should we donate to celebrities?
When I was buying something at a store the other day, the lady behind the counter asked me if I would you like to donate a dollar to some charitable foundation. When asked her what they would do with the money, she explained how it would be spent and how it would help so many under-privileged kids. I was moved and chose to donate.
When I contemplated what just transpired, I realized that not only was a donating for helping the under-privileged, I was donating a fraction to a multimillionaire celebrity and his/her agent as well. If you are wondering if I bluffing you, I am not. The shoes that I bought were endorsed by a big celebrity. The shoe maker gives millions of dollars every year to this celebrity. The shoe maker does not give that money out of his pocket. Its my money that is being handed over to the rich celebrity. Even worse, without my explicit approval.
Does the rich sports celebrity really need money from me? Whether s/he needs or not, why would s/he refuse if they are given the money. Why should they?
You can argue that if don't like that celebrity, then I should refrain from buy the products endorsed by him/her. Why should I? I really like the shoe that I bought. Why should I be forced to donate to the celebrity when I buy my shoes. Why doesn't the shoe maker stop giving money to the celebrity and sell the shoe for a lesser price?
I always bought the same brand of shoes. I don't need to be "told" by the celebrity to buy that brand. If I am already loyal to the shoe maker, why should my money be siphoned out to the celebrity. The celebrity did not provide me any value. As a customer, can't I question the efficiency of the shoe maker's spending?
The celebrity could have worked very hard to get to his/her current position. Well, does that mean I need to donate to him/her? If I am going to watch the celebrity play, I will buy the tickets to watch the game. That money can go to the player. I am fine with that because I chose to watch the match and pay for it. Similarly movie ticket money can be given to a movie star. But it does not make sense that I have to pay/donate to the celebrity because I bought some household item.
The celebrity might be helpful in bringing in a the new customers. In the old times when people where living in smaller communities, people bought stuff from local vendors. The vendors did not need celebrities to endorse the products. But in the modern age, you no longer need to buy from the local shop. You can buy from someone on the other side of the planet. If you are a vendor, your customer base is suddenly increased dramatically. That leads to competition. Many vendors want a piece of the pie. Now these vendors need to compete and promote their products. Vendors differentiate themselves by shouting out loud or by using a celebrity's fame.
I am not a new customer. Why should I have to subsidize newer customer finding of the brand? Why is the repeat customer being penalized? Is it a mistake to buy from the same shoe maker again? Doesn't the shoe maker want me to come back? Shouldn't the shoe maker incentivize me to come back instead of penalizing me?
The celebrity is already rich. S/he spends lavishly and leads a luxurious life while I am just a common man. Who should be donating to who? Me to the rich guy or vice-versa?
Would you rather donate your money to the under-privileged kids or to a rich celebrity?
When I contemplated what just transpired, I realized that not only was a donating for helping the under-privileged, I was donating a fraction to a multimillionaire celebrity and his/her agent as well. If you are wondering if I bluffing you, I am not. The shoes that I bought were endorsed by a big celebrity. The shoe maker gives millions of dollars every year to this celebrity. The shoe maker does not give that money out of his pocket. Its my money that is being handed over to the rich celebrity. Even worse, without my explicit approval.
Does the rich sports celebrity really need money from me? Whether s/he needs or not, why would s/he refuse if they are given the money. Why should they?
You can argue that if don't like that celebrity, then I should refrain from buy the products endorsed by him/her. Why should I? I really like the shoe that I bought. Why should I be forced to donate to the celebrity when I buy my shoes. Why doesn't the shoe maker stop giving money to the celebrity and sell the shoe for a lesser price?
I always bought the same brand of shoes. I don't need to be "told" by the celebrity to buy that brand. If I am already loyal to the shoe maker, why should my money be siphoned out to the celebrity. The celebrity did not provide me any value. As a customer, can't I question the efficiency of the shoe maker's spending?
The celebrity could have worked very hard to get to his/her current position. Well, does that mean I need to donate to him/her? If I am going to watch the celebrity play, I will buy the tickets to watch the game. That money can go to the player. I am fine with that because I chose to watch the match and pay for it. Similarly movie ticket money can be given to a movie star. But it does not make sense that I have to pay/donate to the celebrity because I bought some household item.
The celebrity might be helpful in bringing in a the new customers. In the old times when people where living in smaller communities, people bought stuff from local vendors. The vendors did not need celebrities to endorse the products. But in the modern age, you no longer need to buy from the local shop. You can buy from someone on the other side of the planet. If you are a vendor, your customer base is suddenly increased dramatically. That leads to competition. Many vendors want a piece of the pie. Now these vendors need to compete and promote their products. Vendors differentiate themselves by shouting out loud or by using a celebrity's fame.
I am not a new customer. Why should I have to subsidize newer customer finding of the brand? Why is the repeat customer being penalized? Is it a mistake to buy from the same shoe maker again? Doesn't the shoe maker want me to come back? Shouldn't the shoe maker incentivize me to come back instead of penalizing me?
The celebrity is already rich. S/he spends lavishly and leads a luxurious life while I am just a common man. Who should be donating to who? Me to the rich guy or vice-versa?
Would you rather donate your money to the under-privileged kids or to a rich celebrity?
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Idea Vetting Criteria
If I have a business idea, what criteria should I run it against to see if its worth pursuing?
- Customers
- What is the value proposition to customers?
- Dollar savings (wages, expenses)
- Time savings
- Increased revenues
- Increased customers satisfaction
- Increased employee satisfaction
- How many potential customers have you talked to?
- What did they say?
- How many are willing to pay?
- How much are they willing to pay?
- What enhancements do they want?
- Who else can be your customers? Can you use this product in other industries?
- How will you categorize your customers? Paying/non-paying, silver/gold/platinum, etc
- Profitability
- When will it become profitable?
- What the projected revenues in the next 1yr, 2yrs, 3yrs and so on.
- What are the upfront costs and ongoing expenses?
- People
- Hardware/software
- Overhead
- How much can the sales, profit grow year over year?
- What will the profit margin?
- Technology
- Is the technology available to make it work?
- Ease of use/operating for the customer
- Ease of install
- Ease of upgrade
- How soon can you roll out beta version?
- How much will it cost to roll out beta version?
- Suppliers
- Who are your suppliers?
- Do you need license any technology?
- What are your hardware and software costs?
- How do you keep current with all the upgrades to the tools used?
- Competition
- Has any one already done it? If so, why should the customers choose your product?
- Who are the future competitors?
- What are barriers to entry?
- Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Growth
- Where will you advertise? How much will it cost? Adwords, cold calling, etc
- Whom can you partner with to increase your revenues?
- What trade shows, conferences can you attend to promote?
- At what point would you consider selling partially or fully to investors?
- Can the Angels/VCs add any value? Provide contacts, etc
- Constraints
- Location
- Hours
- What are your dependencies? Key skills needed, capital required, etc
- Contrarian view
- Where could you go wrong?
- How can this fail?
- How much are you willing to risk if this flops? Time, energy and money
- What costs can you cut?
- What can you improve?
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Enterpreneurship
Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, has done a marvelous job in explaining how to start a startup.
Fred Wilson explains various topics in forming and running a company through his MBA Mondays Blog.
Jason Cohen:
If you can’t find ten people who say they’ll buy it, your company is bullshit.
How to find that first big customer?
How does Steve Jobs present to inspire?
A Stanford professor's list of recommended books for startups
Providing world class facilities in Tier 1 city is a given where as a previlege in Tier 2 city. Employees will respect you for that and stay with you longer; If you don't fall asleep in a minute on the bed, then you are not working hard! Pay it forward - provided free advise to clients, wrote on blogs; No 1 skill to look for an in an employee should be attitude; team effort - not a one man's company; Dont allow people to discourage you from pursuing your dreams...Prasanna Zore
Fred Wilson explains various topics in forming and running a company through his MBA Mondays Blog.
Jason Cohen:
If you can’t find ten people who say they’ll buy it, your company is bullshit.
How to find that first big customer?
How does Steve Jobs present to inspire?
A Stanford professor's list of recommended books for startups
Providing world class facilities in Tier 1 city is a given where as a previlege in Tier 2 city. Employees will respect you for that and stay with you longer; If you don't fall asleep in a minute on the bed, then you are not working hard! Pay it forward - provided free advise to clients, wrote on blogs; No 1 skill to look for an in an employee should be attitude; team effort - not a one man's company; Dont allow people to discourage you from pursuing your dreams...Prasanna Zore
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)