Sukshma

Big Bazaar and the culture of always low prices has finally arrived here in India. The question is - does Big Bazaar match consumer expectations, or are they just making empty promises.

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We all (who have been born and brought up here in India) love a discount!

Hold on a second, we don’t really just love discounts - we absolutely adore them. Our daily dose of adrenalin relies on relishing a good deal. I remember walking into Landmark not so long ago. The book section was decked with tags proclaiming 60% off. It got me going! As the cashier rung up my sale, I watched as he applied a price discount of 10%. For a moment, the actual price of my purchase was suspended in disbelief. All that remained was the price reduction. Honestly, it makes you feel good in a way no other scheme can.

The only other word that can trump discount is, yes, I can already hear it creep out - FREE.

And yet, retailers end up messing with our discounts.

Should Innovation-focused online Indian Startups look to Advertising for Revenue?

2007’s most common refrain I hear is that the online advertising is not lucrative. This I have heard from Investors, Founders, including those with Media industry experience. The obvious deduction that one would draw from it is that it is not probable for most startups to attain profitability the advertising model.

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Costing is a Science.
Pricing is a policy.

- Long-time businessman, trader and friend.

I will be attending the TiE ISB Connect 2007 for entrepreneurs on November 14th, 15th and 16th at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. BookEazy co-founder (and author here on Sukshma), Anjali Gupta, has been invited to participate in a panel discussion on Funding Software Product Ventures. Anjali will be talking about her approach and experience with closing funding, selecting the right investing partners and deciding on the right amount to raise for a product oriented startup.

Also keep your eye out for the Business Plan Showcase track where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and businesses to VC’s.

You can watch a live stream of the event here.

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I’m trying to keep only the best Startups from India in focus here. In order to get listed, a product has to be Remarkable, early stage, in sync with our times, and address a significant need which many people have.

SysInclude is a social network dedicated to IT professionals in India (and elsewhere) who work with the top IT shops.

Why does the idea rock? In our turbulent and confusing times, when everyone is vying to be a Facebook, SysInclude is a refreshing idea. They are focused on identifying and solving the needs of a large (enough) niche. They have wisely selected an audience with growing requirements.

They have restricted their registration to folks with a working e-mail address from a recognized IT shop. All other registrations are blocked. Their aim is to keep their resources and targets focused on their target audience.

Monetization should not be very hard for SysInclude. IT professionals are obvious targets for advertisers who wants to reach out to a high-spend, technology-savvy class of youth making anything from Rs. 5 lakhs p.a to the insane. Advertisers and sponsors will definitely include companies that recruit for IT, Startups looking for talent and advertisers from the retail, travel, automobile and real estate sectors.

The devil is definitely in the details. The team at SysInclude is geared to execute the idea with passion and perfection. They will need to work hard and innovate features that stretch beyond the ordinary. I am yet to see how they intend to make the idea compelling enough to draw in the audience through word of mouth. One possibility is to focus on answering the many questions that IT pros have including housing, services, work conditions, local information and networking.

What can they do better? I’d suggest that they open up a little to include professionals who aspire to either work in IT and are currently placed abroad (and have been invited to join by a friend). I get a number of requests from returning Indians every year with questions about jobs and companies.

I have not been able to gain access to screenshots of features for Sukshma. You can get a peek at a few shots on WebYantra here.