Thought Garage

One of the best Talks I have ever listened to on Entrepreneurship, may consider this as the Entrepreneurship 101, not for how to become an Entrepreneur but to understand what is Entrepreneurship is all about. Of course, the definition may be biased and based on what valley firms are doing, but a much better definition overall. Part of the annual GSB Entrepreneurship Conference. As traditional barriers to scale erode, product life cycles compress, and the costs of starting a business fall, the opportunities for entrepreneurship have expanded. Steve Blank , the author of "Four Steps to the Ephiphany" and leading advocate for the "Customer Development" model of entrepreneurship, focuses on the new opportunities and challenges in a world in which entrepreneurship has become democratized.

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Love this quote. "I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not" - Kurt Cobain via 28896959@N05@Flickr

Schools used to be all about learning by doing until Industrial age shook them off. Well, we must go back to the roots of true meaning of education by trying exactly the same again. And enough evidence and efforts to prove why we must. http://www.ted.com Some kids learn by listening; others learn by doing. Geoff Mulgan gives a short introduction to the Studio School, a new kind of school in the UK where small teams of kids learn by working on projects that are, as Mulgan puts it, "for real."

It is most probably surprise you to know that for a full decade, Gandhi and Nehru got almost equal attention from the world of books. Between 1960 and 1970, based on number of times their names were mentioned, they both score about the same for about a decade. While Nehru went down-under, Gandhi remains at those levels even now. Gandhi & Nehru in the world of Books Can't believe, try yourself here . Tongue in cheek ? I guess so.

In many ways, India can only catch up with China in economic growth if China slows down. There may be other areas, where China is catching up with India precisely for that reason. One of those yardsticks is how many times it is mentioned in various books. Thanks to Google Books NGram Viewer, we can compare China and India based on how many they are mentioned in various books. View at Google's Ngram Viewer   Most probably this is not an intended use of the Ngram viewer or may not be accurate, but aligns with my earlier thoughts on how India can catchup with China in economy, so can't be an outlier :-)).

Has anybody tried Flight Search on Google ? Its pretty cool. Flight search is a feature that helps you explore air travel options for a number of cities, and plan your trip with just a few clicks of the mouse.

I started blogging back in 2004 on Blogger, went out to Wordpress.com and then moved to Wordpress hosted on my a host and finally came back home to Blogger at the beginning of the year. The convenience, unlimited flexibility and absolutely zero maintenance, I fell in love again. Did I mention, all this awesomeness is also totally FREE? Yes it is. Few weeks back, I switched to the coffee time theme as I simply loved the theme and customized with none other than Google's web fonts that add style to the blog even within the browser. IF you don't like the theme of my blog, for any reason, try http://thoughtgarage.muralim.com/view to see 7 other different crazy stunning formats that you can read this blog. Watch the following video or try it right away . An overview of the seven new dynamic views in Blogger that use to customize your blog. Built with the latest in web technology (AJAX, HTML5 and CSS3), Dynamic Views is a unique browsing experience that will inspire yo...

Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks -- including death itself -- at the university's 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005. Transcript of Steve Jobs' address: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html Stanford University channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/stanford

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. For more on Randy, visit: http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture Learn how to support the Randy Pausch Memorial Bridge, visit: http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/images/extras/emails/pausch/pausch_bridge.html

Part 2 of the March 20, 2007 meeting featuring Mike Cohn, Agile Estimation

The March 20, 2007 Meeting. Featuring Mike Cohn, Agile Estimation

Aptech promises Job ready in 75 days { java or .NET } ?? Really? via 89861183@N00@Flickr

Many people say we can not change the world until we change the people. But you can see, how a change in the environment around changes the people around. Talk about raising expectations of good behavior by setting up the environment that encourages it. Want to do a SpotFix? Watch these first-timers! Team Asha is a random group of people who asked The Ugly Indian to arrange a SpotFix. Many other such random groups have come forward. For more details, visit www.theuglyindian.com or go the The Ugly Indian on FaceBook. If you want to do a Spotfix in Bangalore, write to theuglyindian@gmail.com

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Quote: "The only time Apple ever lost the plot was when it put the M.B.A.s in charge." via Driven off the Road by M.B.A.s

It's always so inspiring to watch a sunrise. These days it is lot easier to catch it early and enjoy it longer too. Beautiful sunrise up.

Entrepreneurship is an emotional and economic roller coaster, says venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur Mark Suster. In this candid and informative lecture, Suster defies some of Silicon Valley's conventional wisdom. Based on his extensive experience with multiple companies, Suster shares his thoughts on the real day-to-day life of startups, smart ways to raise the right kind of funds, and offers honest advice in making your way as an entrepreneur. – Stanford’s e-corner Source : Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner

Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it's the moments that take your breath away - From the movie, Hitch Here is an amazing and breath taking art form and fitting concept. I just can't believe it. A new sand art from Ilana Yahav for 2010 - "Our Man is sitting in his office, worn down by the weight of life in this hustling, bustling city... He dreams of the simple life and nature, peace and tranquility. One man's short dream and then . . . back to reality." www.sandfantasy.com , Music by - Georges Chatelain

http://www.ted.com Every new invention changes the world -- in ways both intentional and unexpected. Historian Edward Tenner tells stories that illustrate the under-appreciated gap between our ability to innovate and our ability to foresee the consequences.

One of the best info graphics that I have ever seen, and the only one on Org Charts.  Quite vividly illustrates the informal organization structure of Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and Oracle. Just awesome.  via  Getting serious about your org chart

This video takes a look Y Combinator's successful efforts in transforming startup companies into multi-million dollar businesses. By taking a close look at the past 6 years of Y Combinator data, it highlights the numbers that show how successful they have been so far and ends with the outlook for potential continuing success.

How Netflix uses WebKit and HTML5 for connected devices (via GigaOm ) Netflix Webkit-Based UI for TV Devices View more presentations from mattmccarthy_nflx In a post on the Netflix Tech Blog , device UI engineers Matt McCarthy and Kim Trott shared a presentation that gives a peek behind the curtain in how it’s able to do so. The key is standards-based development using WebKit, JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS3.

Finally here is a Blogger application on iOS devices. Primarily its an iPhone (iPod) application but can be run on iPad as well. Google announced the app on the blog and you can download the app from the App Store .  Read more about the announcement and features here :  Blogger Buzz: Announcing the Blogger app for iOS .  Here are a couple of quick screenshots from iPhone using the Blogger app. List of Posts Composer Screen Glad, they made it compatible with all iOS devices by making it compatible on iOS 3.2+. The work flow is smooth and intuitive to work with. However, the composer doesn't support rich text, so you will see all HTML markup when you are trying to update an existing post. But big deal for me is it makes life lot easier now to post pictures directly to Blogger blog. Emailing a picture wasn't working as Blogger has difficulty in parsing images embedded in emails.

It was an amazing presentation by Garrett Dimon at RefreshDallas last night, took us through the memory lane of bootstrapping SifterApp , filled with full of choices they made (both right and wrong) and occasional anecdotes. I made it little late but I am glad I went in.   If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.- Isaac Newton I have just kicked of building my software product a couple of days ago and the timing of this presentation couldn’t be any better. It cleared so many clouds and answered quite a few questions. I was too tempted to include ‘custom statuses’ and now its totally off the list.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is among the greatest innovators of our time. And yet his genius for understanding business is rarely explained in any public way. Rarer still is to hear the advice he would give to the CEO of another hugely successful company: Nike. But that's exactly what you'll learn from this video, in which Nike president and CEO Mark Parker tells about the advice that Jobs gave him shortly after the release of the Nike+ product line. It's a simple bit of wisdom that any entrepreneur can relate to: "Get rid of the crappy stuff." Easy to say, hard to do."I expected a little laugh," Parker says of the exchange. "But there was a pause and no laugh at the end." The setting here is Fast Company's Innovation Uncensored conference on April 21, 2010, in New York City.

With Rick Perry promoting Texas as the model state to create jobs, the political backlash begins with numbers showing Texas in limelight, not in any way that favors the Perry team. via 32052247@N00@Flickr

Little surprised, that Ron Paul bagged 50% support. Read more here on  MSNBC . via 95652583@N00@Flickr

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This year almost all Ganesh Idols hide one otherwise quite visible features of Lord Ganapati (or Ganesh with love), the big tummy. Seems he went on seriously strict diet since last year . And even the pose is quite different, more of a relaxing on a lounge style.

The Talk: "The hallmark of any great brand is authenticity -- just ask Harley-Davidson, Coke or Apple, especially when all of these brands lost their way and learned from it. Same thing applies to Brand You. In every tweak of a template, upload and keystroke, you have an opportunity to be authentic or disingenuous. Know what makes you special and unique, and tap into those qualities as you build your personal brand online. Most people can spot a fake when they see one, so remember that being genuine is more important that presenting yourself in an artificially glossy manner. It used to be important for bloggers to "find their voice" -- now it's relevant to all of us." Bio: David Armano is both an active practitioner and thought leader in the worlds of experience design and digital marketing. Author of the popular Logic + Emotion blog, he has been invited to speak at events hosted by organizations such as Google, Microsoft, OReilly and Ad Age. David curren...

The Talk: Marketing by Sharing Jason Fried is the co-founder and President of 37signals, a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary. 37signals' products include Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, Campfire, Ta-da List, and Writeboard. 37signals also developed and open-sourced the Ruby on Rails programming framework. 37signals' products do less than the competition - intentionally. Jason believes there's real value and beauty in the basics. Elegance, respect for people's desire to simply get stuff done, and honest ease of use are the hallmarks of 37signals products.

By any and every measure, the whole Jan Lokpal and/or Anna Hazare movement against corruption has been phenomenal. Tremendous response and discussions all over. Do not know what triggered so many people to come out and support in their own ways. I am not sure even today, everybody really understand the whole issue and what this bill is practically capable of. Some don't know what it is all about. Some understood a little. A whole majority of people are yet to read the bill.   via  78638509@N00@Flickr However, the movement as it is, some thing of huge importance, we need to think about. The bill may take a while to come into existence and actively enforced. But if we can leverage the rage and support of general public, we may be able to do something immediate and that make a difference in common man's life. May be, we can encourage more participation in other civic issues, enlist greater participation in politics in general. May be we can start focus groups to resear...

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David Allen speaks on GTD and the two keys to sustaining a healthy life and work style.

David Allen, author of "Getting Things Done, " one of the best-selling productivity books of all times joins Robert Scoble to talk about the future of work and how to make the most of productivity while minimizing stress. Allen also talks about his upcoming GTD Summit.

The Epic that redefined the Indian TV is now available on Youtube. Watch all episodes or pick your favorite one at the Youtube Mahabharat show page.   B.R Chopra's Mahabharat is a show that has left an indelible impression in the hearts and minds of viewers worldwide with its timeless values and teachings. This classic tale of the victory of good over evil is available exclusively on the Internet at Rajshri.com.Written by Brahmrishi Ved Vyasa, the ancient philosopher thinker who was known to be the fountain of all human knowledge, it has been translated into many languages and even presented in ballet form in far off western and oriental countries. But the MAHABHARAT is not an abstruse philosophical or religious tract. It encompasses all shades of human nature from the utterly base to the completely divine; its high point is Lord Sri Krishna's message to humanity, the Song Celestial the divine BHAGVAT GITA, acknowledged to be the quintessence of all knowledge embodied ...

Its totally breathtaking documentary. No matter, how many times I watch it, I fall in love each time as if I watched it for the first time. Internationally renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand makes his feature directorial debut with this environmentally conscious documentary produced by Luc Besson, and narrated by Glenn Close. Shot in 54 countries and 120 locations over 217 days, Home presents the many wonders of planet Earth from an entirely aerial perspective. As such, we are afforded the unique opportunity to witness our changing environment from an entirely new vantage point. In our 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has hopelessly upset Mother Nature's delicate balance. Some experts claim that we have less than ten years to change our patterns of consumption and reverse the trend before the damage is irreversible. Produced to inspire action and encourage thoughtful debate, Home poses the prospect that unless we act quickly, we risk losing the only home we may eve...

http://www.ted.com MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits works on self-assembly -- the idea that instead of building something (a chair, a skyscraper), we can create materials that build themselves, much the way a strand of DNA zips itself together. It's a big concept at early stages; Tibbits shows us three in-the-lab projects that hint at what a self-assembling future might look like.

More on the series A financing. Going back for another round with a series B financing.

Series A funding from a seed venture capitalist.

Raising money from an angel investor. Pre-money and post-money valuation.

If you like genuine spicy hot Andhra style Mutton (Goat) curry, you will love the Mutton curry at Jaiho restaurant. Its pretty unrealistic to see all those 4 keywords, genuine, spicy, hot and andhra in the same line in any other Indian restuarant in the DFW metroplex.   Its hardly less than a month since it opened doors to public, but it already successfully enticed me 4 times. And not surprisingly I am yet to taste most other dishes that are on the buffet table. Every time I went, the Mutton curry spoils my resolve to try different items and see how overall the food tastes.  If you like spicy and hot andhra curries, precisely, mutton curry, give it a try. Its on NE corner of Coit & George Bush turnpike in Plano  (Used to be Asian Grill in the same buliding). 208 Coit Rd, Suite # 700 and 500, Plano TX 75075 If you do not eat spicy food or have been in the US long enough, get ready to wake up your taste buds to s...

“ T here are about 6.7 Billion people in this world that we know of.  Whether you believe in ‘Creation’ or ‘Evolution’, this human race started with a tiny number. It is quite amazing to see how fast it multiplies. What is more amazing is that every single individual in that 6 billion crowd is born ‘unique’.  Quite literally, you are born to be  one in a billion , whether you believe it or not. “ This was the Introduction to my latest and last speech in Toast Masters club, ‘One in a Billion’ as part of International Speech contest.  As much as I believe that each one of us can be that 'one in a billion' personality, I admit the reality as I perceive it and some times feel alone in that belief . A famous quote says 'You are what you think'. It is also true that ' you are what you think people think about you '. If you think people think you are smart, then you act smart and become smart. If you think people think you are dumb, you will become dum...

In 2003, the Palestinian village of Budrus mounted a 10-month-long nonviolent protest to stop a barrier being built across their olive groves. Did you hear about it? Didn't think so. Brazilian filmmaker Julia Bacha asks why we only pay attention to violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict -- and not to the nonviolent leaders who may one day bring peace. Check out this amazing TED Talk: Julia Bacha: Pay attention to nonviolence http://www.ted.com/talks/julia_bacha.html

Its funny. We watch this and see how foolish it would be to be part of the crowd that believes in. And yet, the religion, the biggest trick of all, lives on world wide. So rational and reasonable for a moment and yet so gullible for a life time.