Finally, CloudMagic thinks monetization. Launches its biggest product release till date (Office Exchange)

I have been a big fan of CloudMagic products and at the same, have questioned the team’s monetization focus (or the lack of it). They have been mostly building cool apps for Gmail, Twitter accounts – but that’s hardly monetizable (though it gives you a lot of media/blog mentions/awareness).

Today, Bangalore based CloudMagic has launched its biggest product release till date – i.e. support for searching through Microsoft Exchange and Office 365 Exchange accounts.

Why Microsoft Outlook? It’s ‘still’ the number 1 email client globally. And add to that, they grew the market share by double digits last quarter.

“We guess every iPhone+Exchange user on this planet has been a victim of “Continue search on the server?” message (which still fails to fetch search results most of the time). CloudMagic eradicates this problem by introducing support for Exchange emails.” mentions team CloudMagic.

The service competes with existing products like Xobni, but given that Microsoft Exchange is quite a global product, there still is a huge opportunity in this space. And importantly, a monetizable opportunity which may not be the case with building search apps for Gmail/Twitter products.

What’s your take? If you use Exchange, do give CloudMagic a spin and share your experience.

Aside, the company has also launched the service to search chat conversations through ClougMagic.

Link to full article

Read More

Lessons From a month old startup : Perfect product is a myth

We have finally launched. MyPriceIndia is live with comparison of mobiles, cameras and laptop prices. It took us more than the expected time and this still looks like a bare bone launch. An alpha version we would say. It’s been 1 month since the site went live and we are still struggling with Data, SEO, UI and everything else. All this when we have only a product and no company or employees to worry about. What we realized after weeks of launch is that it was good that we did not wait for a perfect product before we launch. The perfect product would have never happened. In fact, even the right path would have never be chosen without launching. It’s like learning how to drive, you get better only when you hit the real roads. Thinking of your speed and turns when practicing in an open ground is worthless, as that is not where you are suppose to drive. You need to take your product to the roads and then work towards perfection.

Everything that people ever said about minimal viable product and iterations were all true. Now that the product is live we know more things that need to be fixed and things where we completely went wrong. Good that it’s happening early. Launch and fix is the only way out for startups, a perfect product is a myth and is never launched. Though, we are still scared of getting this product reviewed by bloggers or sharing with our friends as we think this won’t get us the best reviews. Not sure if this is the right approach but we will wait for version 2 before we start marketing.

A lot has happened since we decided to do this price comparison engine, which we earlier thought of starting as a quick-money-content-farm. But now it seems the game needs to be played more seriously. We have discovered more competitors than we had initially listed, including some giant ones. Existing competitors are raising some serious funds. We denied a decent funding offer as it seemed too early for too little. We realized that there are a lot of other stuff we want to do. Heck! we even thought of abandoning this product as someone told us this a very fragmented market with narrow growth.

Then it all boils down to your gut feel and focus. Everyone who advised you was right but then they were right according what they have already seen. None of them were psychic forecasters. Even if they were, forecasting has rarely worked for internet startups. Who knew people will get excited about 140chars of random updates. Also, we realized that when the been-there-done-that people advise you, they judge you on their levels; on the lines of the risk appetite that they have and the upsides that are big on their scale. They put you in their shoes instead of the other way around.

Now what?

We have realized that this is not the version we wanted to build. Rather, this is not the version that we will survive with in the market. So, while we fine tune our backend processes, the new version is being worked on; with better user experience and more scalable design. We haven’t yet worked on fine tuning from a revenue PoV. May be that is for version 3.0, or 2.1, if you will.

We are not abandoning this any time soon.

Quick Take Away:
1. Never wait for the perfect product. Start shipping. It’s easier for startups that don’t ask for upfront money/commitment from users.
2. Don’t get scared of the market. Nothing is as bad as it seems at first.
3. Don’t get too happy about investors knocking on the door. No one is giving you free money. They are doing their job, you do yours – build the product.
4. Listen to everyone but be clear of their intention. Decide for yourself.

Drop us a comment if you like.

[Reproduced from MyPriceIndia blog.]

Link to full article

Read More

Tencent CTO: Facebook Took a Page from Our Biz Model Book

As Facebook’s imminent IPO (initial public offering) became the talk of the Silicon Valley and Wall Street, you might have read from the social networking site’s SEC S-1 filing that it pulled in more than US$ 1 billion in profit on revenue of 3.71 billion. What Facebook’s prospectus will not tell you is, that the social giant has taken a page from Tencent’s business model book, at least, that is the case according to the Chinese giant Internet company’s CTO.

 

Xiong Minghua, Tencent CTO said in a speech gave at the ChinaBang Awards ceremony initiated and hosted by the leading China TMT-centric English blog media TechNode, that five years ago or even earlier in its early stage Facebook countered with serious pitfalls such as where Facebook was heading to (product direction), how to make money (business model) and funding (who was willing to invest in an online alumi), which Xiong believed are the common problems concerned Chinese entrepreneurs. So how did Facebook solved these problems then grow to become the Apple of the Eye of both the bankers and the geeks?

 

“Frankly speaking, it(Facebook) learned a lot from Tencent with regard to business models”, according to Xiong, “Facebook and Tencent has communicated in depth on that front in Facebook’s early stage. I visited Facebook back in 2006 and they cared a lot about Tencent’s business models – especially our micro payment, they studied it thoroughly. Their staffs visited us many times and we had lots of communications in the past few years.”

 

He also mentioned that before Facebook’s inception, U.S. Internet companies’ one and only business model is online advertising. Then Facebook came to rescue with micro payment and virtue item selling solution, the first of its kind back then.

 

On the other hand, Xiong sang high praises for Facebook’s part in ushering in a new age in the history of the Internet - to open up to the outside world rather than seal off. He said that the “Facebook open platform” marked the beginning of a new era, and there’s nothing like this before that could help the proliferation of startups.

 

At the same time, it seemed to him that the The Apocalypse of Facebook, and even of Tencent, is that you don’t have to as well as can’t afford to wait for a perfect team, the best user experience and a proven business model to start your own cause. These are the things to be solved while on-the-go, they’re part of the entrepreneurial path rather than the prerequisite. It might take longer time for some to figure everything out, or shorter for the others. The point is to stick to it. Tencent once considered selling the company, but luckily, it didn’t and hence it built up the Penguin Empire.

(The story is also co-published on TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/22/tencent-facebook/)

Related posts:

1. Sogou Outruns Google in China by Usage, for the Time Being?
2. Updates on Startup Leadership Program Beijing:Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk
3. Announcing ChinaBang Awards 2011, the Most Respectable Chinese Startup-Focus Annual Awards

Link to full article

Read More

Manta Ray Diving

Manta ray diving is a popular Maldives holiday activity

Over the past few months, we have been swamped with reports of manta ray diving and sightings in the Maldives, with overjoyed divers and dive guides agreeing that it has been a bumper year for manta lovers. Many of our boats, such as Theia and MV Aquarius, have responded by launching special “Manta Madness†cruises, which take guests to be best Manta spots of the Maldives.

It seems that thanks to numerous conservation efforts, the Maldives manta ray population is doing well these days. This is great news, especially considering that manta rays are an endangered species in most parts of the world.

The recovery of the manta ray population in the Maldives appears to be evident in the dive logs of all of the liveaboard diving cruise ships we work with, as well as from anecdotal evidence we’ve received from crew members and guests over the past few months.

Link to full article

Read More

FAQs: App Hackathon ["I don't have a team, what shall I do?"]

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Do we have to bring our own laptops?

Ans: Yes, we expect to come prepared with your own systems. All other logistical support will be provided by us. (Power sources, Desks, Chairs, Coffee, Food!)

Q2. Is it necessary to register as a team?

No, it is not necessary to register as a team. In fact, although we encourage you to join in as a team, it is not a compulsion. Also we’ll be having a short interactive session on 23rd evening where in you can meet other participants and who knows you might just as well form your own team there itself.

Q3. Is this is “Windows Phone” only Hackathon?

Ans: Yes, this Hackathon has its theme based on Windows Phone. Thus, it will be expected that the apps comply to the specifications required by Windows Phone OS.

Q4. What is the basic system requirement to run the Windows Phone SDK?

Ans: Your system should fulfill the following needs:

• Windows Vista (x86 and x64) with Service Pack 2 – all editions except Starter Edition
• Windows 7 (x86 and x64) – all editions except Starter Edition
• Installation requires 4 GB of free disk space on the system drive.
• 3 GB RAM
• Windows Phone Emulator requires a DirectX 10 or above capable graphics card with a WDDM 1.1 driver (available on Windows 7)

Q5. I haven’t worked with Windows Phone yest. Will you be providing some tools and tips in advance?

Ans: Well, there is nothing to worry if you haven’t developed for the Windows Phone yet. We believe if you have developed apps for some mobile platform, you’ll do perfectly fine here as well. We’ll share the APIs and SDKs very soon and give tips to help you get started. But, come prepared, otherwise it will add no value to you.

Q6. Can we actually get our own beer?

Ans: Sure you can!

If you still have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section and we’ll answer to all your queries.

———–

Event Details

• Date: 24th and 25th March, 2012
• Time: 9.00 AM to 8.00 PM
• Venue: Kuliza Office, 11/3, Bomanhalli, Hosur Main Road, Opposite Oxford Engg. College, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560068

And did we tell you this, MICROSOFT will give away Free Windows Phonesfor all developers who complete the ‘Port To Win‘ challenge during the Hackathon. All you have to do is Port two Apps and the developer gets a Windows Phone.

It does not end there. We have two Prizes for Best Designed App and Best Idea App which is also a Windows Phone, at the Hackathon event itself!

Register now: http://event.ayojak.com/event/appnomy-hackathon
(use EARLYBIRD discount code, expires on Feb 28th).

- For more details on the event check out the event page, Hackathon.

Link to full article

Read More

Pudding.to Photo App Hits 500,000 Downloads in One Week

Made in South Korea by KTH (KOSDAQ: 036030), the photo-sharing app Pudding.to has proven to be really popular, and the company behind it claims to have attracted more than 500,000 downloads after its iOS and Android launch last week.

Pudding.to allows users to apply filters and ‘emotions’ to their pictures. The Korean photo app claims to have been downloaded 1.65 times per second on both app stores. KTH, which is a subsidiary of KT, the largest mobile carrier in Korea, might have given the app some merketing push to help it achieve such download figures.

Pudding.to differentiates itself from Instagram – and a number of Instagram-like apps in the region – by providing its app on both iOS and Android platforms. It has a panorama feature which could be popular because it’s unique in this kind of app. It also allows people to tag an emotion to their picture, to express how it makes them feel, which in my opinion is kind of redundant.

I agree that the app is sleek and easy to use. But it feels just like any other Instagram clone. As most of my friends are on Instagram, it gives me more incentive to post my pictures there instead. I’m sure many of you feel the same.

Nonetheless, Pudding.to’s growth is still pretty amazing. KTH also has its Pudding Camera app, for simple snapping and sending to Twitter without the whole social network element that Pudding.to brings to it. It also means that all of the original app’s know-how and funky filters are brought into its popular new SNS.

But I’m not entirely convinced that its users are really enjoying themselves. Some comments that I read on the Android app store were a little nasty. Or perhaps everyone is just waiting for Instagram to launch an Android version while using other clones (including this) as a substitute for the time being.

Link to full article

Read More

China is About to Break 1 Billion Mobile Phone Users

China has the most people of any nation on earth, and it’s hard to imagine that at this point it doesn’t have the most cellphones too. According to the latest data from MIIT, China will break the one billion mobile phone user barrier this month. In fact, it may already have happened.

This shouldn’t be a big surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Just yesterday the chief engineer at MIIT said that China had reached 986 million mobile phone users by the end of 2011. That number increased by over ten million in January of this year according to MIIT, putting China on pace to break a billion mobile users before February draws to a close next week.

There are currently about 137 million 3G users in China, meaning that at present about 13.7 percent of China’s mobile users are on 3G.

It’s not hard to see why everyone from handset manufacturers to mobile developers is trying to break out in China. The market is gigantic, and by every measure it is still growing.

[Via Sina Tech, Image Source]

Link to full article

Read More

[CHINABANG] Sarah Lacy Encourages Chinese Start-ups and Investors to Take China to the Next Level

Former Senior Editor at TechCrunch and now Founder, CEO and Chief Editor at PandoDaily, Sarah Lacy generously took some time to send a message to us at our ChinaBang event last weekend.

Since Lacy has an affinity with the Chinese start-up scene. She was the lead advocate in creating and making TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing a reality and claims it as one her proudest moments in her fifteen year career. She has also been to China at least six time to perform research for her book “Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky – How the Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit from Global Chaos”.  Given her fascination with China and the amount of time spent here, Lacy is one of the few Silicon Valley based start-up bloggers to really understand China.

China – entrepreneurial roots to tech giant trees

Lacy opened by explaining the origin of her new blog, PandoDaily. To Lacy, Pando Trees are the perfect metaphor for the Silicon Valley start-up ecosystem, “The root system is all interconnected and no matter what happens above ground, the root system stays alive, and continuously sprouts up new trees.” Metaphorically of course, the roots represent the entrepreneurs who operate below ground who are creative, bold and ambitious to start new ideas and projects. The trees are the result of hard work, proof of concept and happy customers. Now it seems the roots have spread to Mainland China and the Chinese giant trees are Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu.

Chinese entrepreneurs are misunderstood

Lacy also said she has “fallen in love with Chinese entrepreneurs” and feels like they are “misunderstood” particularly by America who sees Chinese start-ups as “nothing but copycats”. She says after drilling down into very successful and powerful tech companies such as Tencent, Baidu or Youku you will find “very different companies underneath” which has stunned her with their Chinese innovation in delivery, business model and process.  She also praises some Chinese start-ups who pitched at Disrupt Beijing Battlefield last year and says some were even better than in America.

So difficult to get things done in China

One key takeaway Lacy learned when undertaking Disrupt Beijing last year, was “just how hard it is” to get things done in China. Cultural differences play a big part in why many foreign people and companies fail in China. Last November I explored some of the key difficulties foreign entrepreneurs in China have to overcome.  Yes China is a bountiful land of opportunity with a large market size and many underdeveloped industries, but it is still extremely difficult for everyone, including Chinese. Competition is extremely fierce, rules and regulations are blurry and there are of course many things people can’t control. China is indeed a land of contradiction.

Let’s take China’s start-up ecosystem to the next level – more jobs, money and innovation

The second key takeaway Lacy learned fascinates me more. She explains that despite the large amount of investor money flowing into start-ups, many on both the start-up and investor side still don’t embrace risk and think crazy. “When it comes to these derivative business models that are similar to those in the West, I heard over and over again from Chinese entrepreneurs that, that’s what investors want to fund…but it was the Westerners [at Disrupt Beijing Battlefield] that really seemed to embrace innovative, new, crazy concepts that didn’t have a clear business model or path to the customer but most Chinese VC’s only liked businesses that had been proven in some other place.” Said Lacy.

I have also noticed such behaviour from both entrepreneurs and VC’s and to some degree it frustrates me. Chinese start-ups and investors appear to be more short-term focused and want the quick win. Investors think, ‘What will make me the most money the quickest?’ and entrepreneurs think, ‘What business can I get funded the quickest?’ That’s why there are so many clones of usually American companies that have either raised a lot of money or become highly valued. The drive and passion to solve really significant problems in China, doesn’t really exist. I mean do we really need more social networks, group-buying or coupon discount apps?

That’s why I support Lacy in urging entrepreneurs and investors to realize the reason they are doing something and be prepared to think a little crazy. Lacy says “To really take it to the next level, you need to start pushing on [feature, product, idea] and not just start with a familiar idea and localize it.” Lacy believes the daring entrepreneurs in China do exist but it is the investors who are more reluctant in backing them. Lacy urged the investors at ChinaBang to “get with the entrepreneurs and start funding the ones who are pushing the envelope, if you want this eco-system to get to the next level. We all know what happens when eco-systems get to the next level. There’s more jobs, more money and more features that change all of our worlds.”

 

Related posts:

1. Energetic Entrepreneurs in China, Ed Tsai from DCM VC
2. Interview with Taiwan Start-Up Incubator, AppWorks Ventures
3. Hong Kong's Cyberport Creative Micro Fund Announces Winning Startups

Link to full article

Read More

Maligned Rip-offs of Successful Businesses and Why We Need Them!

Mr. Copy-writer

I like using Flipkart. They have a decent collection of books and they offer quality service. Their checkout system is efficient and customer service is pretty good. So good, that I’ve had to only ever use it once so far. Yet at times, I see people complain about how Flipkart is a rip-off of Amazon. I totally agree with the rip-off part. What I don’t get is the complaining.

I’m nowhere near as good as I need to be in order to analyse businesses. However, I think I have sufficient reason to opine that rip-offs are completely alright. Agreed, there may be barely any innovation, differences in products, services and operation, yet I still believe that if you pull of a good marketing strategy, or choose the right set of customers to sell your product to, or even name your product appropriately, you’re doing good. Innovation is brilliant. Competition is brilliant because it drives innovation. Rip-offs are good because it means competition.

I’ll take Flipkart as an example. Because I’m familiar with it and so are others.

Flipkart, supposedly, copycatted everything from Amazon. From the UI through to what it does/offers blah blah. Umm.. people (haters), how else do you run e-commerce? Amazon tried and tested their UI for a millenia to finally perfect it. It made a lot of sense. Perhaps they got it from analytics, or maybe from behavioral consultants or maybe just plain experience. Flipkart didn’t want to spend the time or money to discover that the Amazon UI works. They just replicated it, and decided to improve on from there. It’s simple. Someone sets the precedent, others follow. Do you follow? And then their working model. I mean seriously, how can you be radically different from another e-commerce company. Note, I’m not talking about internal functioning. I’m not privy to such information and not many are. And it has no relation to the discussion at hand.

Flipkart did innovate however, in their own little way. They adopted Amazon to the Indian business and consumer ecosystem. They didn’t like being charged like a Bangalore rickshaw by the courier companies and decided to build their own delivery model. That in turn will be copied by other Indian e-commerce companies. Which is a good thing.

Rip-offs exist for many reasons. Maybe there is a huge f**king market that hasn’t been tapped (was Amazon in India??), maybe whoever was in the market wasn’t doing a good enough job, maybe they were doing a good enough job but someone felt they could do more than that, or maybe the rival product/service was overpriced. Rip-offs exist. I can’t see any way they destroy the marketplace. In fact, they make it more competitive and consumer-friendly.

What’s your take?

[PS: The catalyst for this article was reading this. I had heard of the transaction between Zendesk CEO and Freshdesk].

[Guest article contributed by Justin Alva/Reproduced from his blog. Image credit:wikipedia]

Forum Discussion: What should you do in case you see a me-too-copy-cat company within weeks

Link to full article

Read More