Category: Archives

I had a chance to be in San Jose and be a part of the Prime Minister’s event in San Jose. Friends from India, at NASSCOM including Sangeeta Gupta, R Chandrashekar and Ravi Gururaj, who I worked with for the product conclave for many years, gave me an opportunity to be the Master of Ceremonies… Continue reading Some Observations on the PM Narendra Modi’s Visit to Silicon Valley

I am not good at bargaining. I was taught by my mom years ago to bargain well when she sent me grocery and produce shopping but after being in America for ages, those skills just wore off. I think I try to do the win-win negotiation, but quite honestly that does not work in India.… Continue reading Negotiating, Bargaining and Haggling in Bangalore

Being a hobbyist is an awesome way to keep learning and test “theories” you have. Most cases, when I have a theory I’d like to prove or disprove, I’ve found the best way is to just try it out. That applies to a new product idea, new marketing technique or a new sales strategy that… Continue reading The Art of Disciplined Experimentation

I am in the beautiful city of Udaipur for the weekend to participate in the IIM Udaipur Prarambh hackathon. The IIM itself is only 3 years old and is located within the campus of MLS university in the city. There were about 70-80 participants from various cities and towns near Rajasthan and a few from outside the state as… Continue reading Interesting Ideas from the #Prarambh #Iimudaipur Hackathon

There are 3 numbers that determine if your mobile app has reached product market fit. The “Time to Wow”, “Time to Refer (TTR) and Viral Coefficient. Once you have achieved product market fit, your TTW should be short (preferably in minutes or hours), your TTR should be hours or days and your viral coefficient should be greater… Continue reading Going from Product Market Fit to Traction – What Works in Mobile Apps?

Yesterday, Accel partners had an event in Seattle as a follow up to their events in San Francisco and the Bay area. This was a part education and part recruitment event for Indian technology professionals who want to move back to India to work at a startup. As the Indian startup ecosystem matures, there is… Continue reading 3 Critical Questions Technology Professionals

The most frequent question I get asked about a SaaS busines is pricing and sales growth. With pricing the biggest question is how to covert more free customers to paying customers. While there is no average, I have seen companies focusing on consumers having as low as 1% conversion to a max of 10%. Companies… Continue reading What I Learned from Looking at 89 Saas Companies

Most startup founders who are looking to launch their product or are figuring out ways to grow their usage / customer traction come with a plan that includes “a little bit of everything”. The assumption is that since they dont know which technique works best, (or in other words – gets the most customers with… Continue reading The Liberating Power of Focus on the One Thing for Marketing

We moved to India 6 years ago from the valley. I started BuzzGain and then wanted to start another company, but ended up at Microsoft instead. Now we are moving back to the US in July or August. We are heading to Seattle. I will still come to India every couple of months and the team here… Continue reading So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, But Not Really