Namit Nangia » Observations

NCERT school syllabi will focus on health

namit — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:30:08 +0000

For ages I have thought the reason we all know so less about being healthy is that we are supposed to read subjects like History (which gives us important lessons, but nothing as valuable as knowledge about Human Body and how to be healthy) but nothing about Human Body and how to be healthy.

Finally it is here… NCERT school syllabi will focus on health

This is the best news I have read so far in 2010 !

Marketing, Advertising for Startups

namit — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:57:00 +0000

For the past 5 – 7 years I have been trying to observe companies and how do they grow their business. I have never categorized what I found, but I can see a few key things that people do to promote their business. I want to start putting all that stuff on my blog.

The intent is that I would be able to find a few low cost techniques that startups (both in the online and offline world) can use to grow !

(I do not know what is the best way to put it up, probably a diff blog / some other way to represent this information; but I don’t have a lot of time for that right now. So I would just try to update as and when something comes to my mind. Probably one company a day…)

And I would keep updating this Blog with Links about interesting posts…

Update: installed wordpress for blackberry. Hope to get a bit regular with blogging now…

Viral Marketing – we need more of guy #3 s

namit — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:46:46 +0000

Seth Godin – Permission Marketing Guru, shared a video on his blog. This is an amazing example of how things become viral.

Here is what I see – observe [and the equivalent for a startup like LifeMojo]

When there is just 1 guy doing it – it’s weird. [When founders, close friends and family uses the product or service]
When the 2nd guy joins him – then they start to get attention. [When the early adopters join-in]
When the 3rd guy joins in – it becomes something worth trying out. [When the first few customers join-in because of the early adopters]
And then the crowd joins in – it becomes something socially acceptable and it becomes worth doing. [When people start appreciating the product or the service and start bringing in more customers – this is the time when you build reporting as part of your product or service to start counting customers and sales ]

Tea has more caffeine than coffee

namit — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:58:55 +0000

Something interesting about Tea, Coffee and the stimulant caffeine

Dry tea has more caffeine by weight than coffee; nevertheless, more dried coffee is used than dry tea in preparing the beverage, which mean that a cup of brewed tea contains significantly less caffeine than a cup of coffee of the same size.

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea

Decathlon BTwin RockRider 5.2 Review

namit — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:05:39 +0000

I wanted to wait for a month and ride it before I write a review on my bike. It has been close a month now and I have ridden close to 300 Km on it till now.

The Lot: Before buying this bike I had considered Trek 3700 and 4300, Marida Sub V10 and V20, Cannondale F9 (All around INR 17 – 23 K) and finally settled on RockRider 5.2 because of the following reasons.

What’s good?

Suspension – it is better than most of the bikes I tried out.
Cost – it costs least amongst the lot I was considering.
Brakes – better than the rest.
Frame – I have absolutely no idea how people judge the quality of the frame. I guess you have to take manufacturer’s word for it. Decathlon claims to have same quality of frame as others.
Gear Shifters – I have seen trigger shifters, wrist shifters and thumb (push) shifters on a MTB till now. Of these 3 I personally prefer the thumb shifters because the fingers are busy braking, wrist is busy supporting me and thumbs are free, so it is great that 5.2 has thumb shifters.
Looks – If this is something that matters to you, 5.2 comes in a rocking grey and black and looks slick!
Chain Stay cover – 5.2 is the only bike of the lot to have a rubber + form covers over the chain stay to prevent scratches on the frame. To me this shows they have cared enough to bundle this essential but most often overlooked accessory along with the bike.

What’s not so great?

Gears – I tried playing with them and I think I screwed them a bit, but overall, I think the entire gear assembly could have been a bit better. It is a bit noisy.
Weight – it weighs around 13.5Kg and is a bit heavier than some in the lot but when I look at how much I weigh, I can’t complain

Everything else I guess is similar to the other bikes in the same range.

Overall: Great value for money (In Bangalore, India it costs INR 15.5K if you are a reseller)

Where is this world heading

namit — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:21:28 +0000

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less. We buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life, not life to years.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better…

Indigo sharing database of customers with Lufthansa Airlines

namit — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:20:38 +0000

I got a call from Lufthansa about some survey they are doing on air travel. When I asked them how did you get my contact details, the dude said “From Indigo. You had traveled to Hydrabad on XXX date via flight XXX”, which was correct!

I always had respect for Indigo becuse despite being a low cost airline, I have never felt that they messed up, ever, in their service (For the past 50 flights I think I would have used Indigo to fly).

They just lost the image that they had in my mind…

Run to survive

namit — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:02:49 +0000

Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve.

It doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be running.

Why would Headstart be a hit this summer

namit — Sat, 23 May 2009 06:18:54 +0000

I am not one of the volunteers for Headstart, neither have I nominated LifeMojo for this summer, but I know why Headstart be a hit this summer.

Two of the people (I know are working hard to make Headstart a success) Amit and Kartik whom, I had met some time 5-7 months back called me to take feedback about the Headstart event.

Amit wasn’t willing to take “Yes, it was all nice” kinda feedback as an answer, he wanted details!

“What is it that a startup thinks about before participating in such a event?” came the next question…

This, and the series of questions that followed me made believe that folks @ Headstart are working hard and smart to make it a success!

All the best guys! Have a rocking show!

Understanding Glamour

namit — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:10:15 +0000

Nice talk on TED that explains what makes something glamourous…