Hooters 'All-American' girls to be franchised in India

Hooters is planning to open restaurants in India. I wonder how would they go about screening waitresses!! Would RSS and other radical elements go after this american icon (of course McDonald and KFC are in a different league)? Definitely going to be interesting to see this happen.

S&P acquires Capital IQ for $200 million

Standard & Poor's acquired Capital IQ last week for $200 million. This was an interesting move on the part of S&P but came as no surprise to me. I have heard that couple of other players were interested too. It shows the desperation on the part of established data providers (S&P, Bloomberg, Reuters etc.) to move up the value chain and add more value. They have, for too long, taken their customers for granted and not responded to the new needs. Capital IQ was proving to be a tough competitor and S&P really had no choice. And Capital IQ really scored big - and one big reason was their acquisition of SimplyStocks last years.

Here is what one expert had to say: "Standard & Poor's Gains Strong Positioning with Capital IQ Score. Standard & Poor's has been working hard lately to align their capabilities more with the real-world decision support needs of their investor clients, so their announced plan to acquire Capital IQ, Inc. comes as no great surprise in terms of direction but a very pleasant one in terms of quality and emphaisis. Capital IQ is a powerful desktop analysis tool that facilitates both financial analysis and the complex human relationships and activities oftentimes required to complete financial deals and manage portfolios and sales prospects. It has a highly intuitive interface to high-quality fundamental data and research, a deep and wide business taxonomy extended well beyond standard industry SIC codes, drill-down research tools, project management and relationship management tools. Many financial content products talk workflow and some do it pretty well but Capital IQ goes further than most to look at the business of generating value in financial transactions from the human and market side on in rather than from specific data sets on out. As Standard & Poor's searches for a better front end to leverage its own deep analytical relationships with the financial industry it could hardly do better with Capital IQ for its own good - even as other traditional financial publishers wonder what good ideas are left to purchase."

Notice the phrase "real-world decision support needs of their investor clients". We, at finEye, have developed the best decision support system for equity research. I am not talking about basic charting, looking at ratios etc. Our software performs actual in-depth fundamental analysis. It thinks and learns. In contrast to Capital IQ (and others), our software is intelligent. This acquisition reinforces our belief that we are well positioned in this underserved market.

Exciting Entrepreneurial Stories

Rajesh Jain has an interesting post on this topic. He says "There are plenty of business books and entrepreneurial success stories which can provide insights into how interesting ideas became big hits. Like many of you, I too have read some of these. And I have a problem. Years later, these stories read like they were sanitised and glorified. Few capture the daily struggle that defines the life of most small and new businesses. Fewer still point a way forward in a world that needs to be navigated not with maps but with compasses. "

Paritosh and I often discuss this topic. These stories are like the TV show NYPD Blue. The hour long entertaining and exciting drama occurs over a period of time (months/years) in real life. Is the life of a NYPD detective exciting all the time? NO. Not all the time. I am sure it is exciting but is also filled with lots of highs and lows that the show of one hour fails to capture. It is the compressed version that is exciting - similar to the entrepreneurial stories referred to by Rajesh Jain in his post.

Vikes to SuperBowl!

The NFL season starts today. Looking forward to an exciting season. Vikings are high powered again and hope to go be playing late in January '05. A sold-out Metrodome will greet the Vikings for the season-opening game against the Dallas Cowboys this afternoon, along with great expectations, the likes of which have not been met since the days The Purple People Eaters. Randy and Daunte, you can't let us down this year. Time to show what you are made of. Yes, you have gone to the probowl and have great stats but what we need to see is the SuperBowl. Nothing less. The defense is revamped and the O-line is better than I have ever seen. No excuses this time. The offense can score in a hurry. What more do you need. So, Randy and Daunte, its all up to you now.

Interesting facts about India

I woke up this morning and walked to the dining room to see Panditji reading some incredible facts about India. I found these pretty amusing. There are many more interesting facts on the website.

Here are a few:

• 38% of Doctors in America are Indians
• 12% of Scientists in America are Indians
• 36% of NASA employees are Indians
• 34% of MICROSOFT employees are Indians
• 28% of IBM employees are Indians
• 17% of INTEL employees are Indians
• 13% of XEROX employees are Indians

Gilroy

Today I spent the evening shopping at the outlet mall in Gilroy, CA, the garlic capital of the world. What a tag line to have. "Gilroy - Garlic capital of the world. We stink!" This so-called "Garlic Capital" produces over 200 million pounds of garlic a year. They have a garlic festival every year in July and I plan to go next year. Should be interesting.

Presidential debates

I don't get it. Why are the negotiations for these debates so high profile? Why does President Bush's team insist on having not more than 2 debates? Don't the citizens have the right to hear where the candidates stand on issues before casting their votes?

I have always admired the political system in America. But now that I am a veteran of two presidential elections, I have mixed feeling. It is not as free and democratic as it is made out to be. Strong words but I have my reasons. There are many issues - campaign financing (i.e. big money influance), more rhetoric than substance during the campaign, creating vote banks (African Americans always vote Democratic and conservative christians vote Republican) etc. What happened in Florida in 2000 really bothered me. And talk about the Supreme Court? They stopped the recount. Why? Some stupid technicality. They don't do that even in a "3rd world" (as they like to call) country like India where democracy is still evolving.

Since I grew up in India and spent 22 years of my life there, I always compared the two great democracies. India is the world's largest democracy. I always wished that India would get to the point where the parties would talk issues and crooks won't get elected. I wished that people's voice will be heard more. I wished people would vote on issues rather than ideologies and religious/caste affiliations. Now that I know more, Indian political parties seem to be pretty alright and the system works. Electronic voting was introduced for the first time (first country in the world to have electronic voting machines) with great success. People wanted change and the BJP govt. was booted out. US can definitely learn a few things from the Indian electoral system!!!!

Product Development - User Centric Focus

I have heard this many times and so have you. Business schools beat this topic to death and consultant types preach it to the point where you feel bad about inadequacy of your product development process. What does "user centric focus" mean"? Is there a "one fits all" approach? Should "user centric focus" be a guideline and just that? It is one of those topics that can be argued both ways. My take on it is that it all DEPENDS on the context.

Dr. Kevin Scoresby has an interesting article on Seven Deadly Excuses for Poor Design. It is a must read for anyone involved in product development activities.

If you feel that the article is too long, here are the seven excuses:

1. We have to be first to market. Translation: “We don’t have time to make sure the product meets our customer’s needs.”
2. Our budget doesn’t allow for design specialists. Translation: “We can’t invest what’s needed to maximize long-term company revenue."
3. The requirements make it clear what has to be done. Translation: “Simply including certain features is more important than how those features are implemented.”
4. Well, it makes sense to me. Translation: "I’m a representative sample of our customer base."
5. It will be so cool if we do it this way. Translation: "My personal target audience is my co-worker (or resume) rather than the customer."
6. Customers will get used to it. Translation: “Customers will continue using the product long enough to lose touch with how difficult it is."
7. That’s what the help desk is for. Translation: The design issues will soon be someone else’s problem.

In principle I agree with Dr. Scoresby but have a different perspective on some of the points. His points are extremely relevant for a mature company that is struggling with an inward looking corporate culture. In a mature corporation user centric focus should be more than just a guideline. It should be a requirement and people should be held accountable using metrics that are user centric (adoption, customer satisfaction etc.)

But for an early stage company things are very different. First, an early stage company is truly innovating (read "trying to create a revolutionary product"). Otherwise it doesn't stand a chance. Don't curb the free flowing innovation early on by forcing a process into the system. Don't get me wrong here. Innovation is still user centric because the premise of a startup is to provide a valuable solution for an existing pain point (well, most of the times). Second, understanding the type of product is crucial. It may be important sometimes to build enough before the potential customers get excited. Till that point is achieved appropriateness of Dr. Scoresby's 4th point is questionable.

User centric focus is important and should be part of the company culture. No exceptions. But the degree and the type of "user centric focus" depend on stage of the company, type of product and your typical customer's profile.

Software and Equity Research

Technology is powerful and if used for the right reasons can help transform the way things work. A good example is the use of software in Equity Research. By software I do not mean simple database applications where data is stored, retrieved and presented nicely. Software applications have to become smarter. I strongly believe that intelligence in software will dramatically transform how we work.

Seth Goldstein has an interesting post on how institutional money management will evolve in the coming years. Sell-side firms that leverage technology will come out as winners. Buy-side firms will have to invest in research activities to distinguish themselves. Seth believes that next generation of great Wall Street franchises will be created by software developers and information brokers rather than by equity analysts and sales traders. He is right on the money.

We, at finEye, from the beginning have believed in transformation capabilities of technology. Our software is intelligent and powerful and I hope that finEye comes out as one of the big winners when the dust setlles.

War in Iraq

Pat Buchanan was on Meet The Press on Sunday. I don’t agree with majority of things he says but the guy had an interesting take on the events in the Middle East. He thinks that there are more terrorists because of the war in Iraq and I agree with him . Militancy cannot be solved with weapons. A lot of hard work has to be put in to win peace.

I have observed this in India with the militancy in Punjab. The militancy lasted almost a decade and hundreds of people died. In the late eighties and early nineties the leadership in India worked towards brining the disgruntled youth back into the mainstream. Strong and compassionate leadership helped solve the complex problem. People wanted peace and the leadership made some bold moves. Compassion is the need of the hour in Iraq. The people in the Middle East like people in other parts of the world surely long for freedom and democracy. They will get there if the situation is handled with care and compassion. There is no choice or crazy people like Bin Laden will take the disgruntled youth in the wrong direction.

US is a great nation and the success of democracy here has had positive impact world over. How the world shapes up in the coming years will depend to a large extent on the outcome of the elections in November and the policies of the next administration.

VC's and Startups

I have been asked by many friends about my interactions with VC's. Some of them have opinions (mostly negative) and want an outlet while others really want to know how things are progressing with finEye. In my opinion it is the one of the least understood industries and people really don’t know how the whole thing works. I don’t blame them one bit. Till recently I had no clue myself. A lot of people think VC’s add very little value and are “vultures”. I DISAGREE.

I have had many interesting interactions in the last few months with some very smart VC’s (yes, these folks are smart). These guys really listened and tried to understand what we are trying to do and provided some good feedback. Luckily for us, most of the VC’s we have talked to have been extremely candid. Venture Capital is the fuel of the Entrepreneurial Machine. They key for an entrepreneur is to somehow meet the right type of VC’s.

Things are progressing at a decent pace for us. I would like the whole thing to move faster so we can focus completely on the product. But the pace might just be right. We don’t want to rush into anything and make costly mistakes now that we have come this far. Choosing the right VC, who will help us in making all the right moves, is critical!

Curbing the enthusiasm

One big challenge I have faced in this fantastic startup journey is to curb my enthusiasm for innovations! It is so tempting to keep adding new things to the product. The key in my opinion is to ALWAYS think of "how to" and just not "what to". Drawing the boundaries (read defining the scope) and getting the product shipping ready should be the sole goal of an early stage company. Nothing is more important than getting feedback from the customers.

Guy Kawasaki's famous quote is quite appropriate for our situation - "If your product is what the first toilet paper was to crumpled leaves, ship baby ship".