Blogs

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon on the first of March this year that Citizen Matters, Bangalore's first online community news publication went live for the city public. The two of us at Oorvani Media, and Gokul Janga at Tecdost, our technology friends, had had a frantic week. March 1st was our final deadline, and we were not going to miss this. Working furiously at our keyboards, it was around 5.30 p.m, that we had addressed the last of the publishing wrinkles that were fighting for our attention, and gave the finishing touches for the launch version of www.citizenmatters.in. We…

Bangalore has many angel investors these days. In the last six months, I have come across several persons and groups who have expressed interest in funding start ups in the city. While this is good news, an entrepreneur needs to tread carefully before accepting money. In addition to the quantity of money, the quality of investment may also be important. Entrepreneurs need to understand what they need. Sometimes it may be more than money; they may need customer contacts and advisory inputs.Entrepreneurs also need to view this from the angle of the angel investor. Why would the angel be interested…

Many persons in Bengaluru are becoming entrepreneurial and venturing on their own. We also have many venture capitalists (VCs) who are here in the city as well as those outside looking to fund promising start ups. However, sometimes, even if an idea is promising and the team is good, the venture may not be ready to go to a VC. Kumar and his start up are a case in point. Gyan, an advisor, was interacting with a group of entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in Bengaluru in late 2006. Kumar was one among the group and asked many questions about how…

VIPs continue to be stumbling blocks in the paths of ordinary citizens. My daughter and I had another brush with a V/VIP at HAL Airport on Friday (28 March) morning. This time it was Rahul Gandhi. There were no noticeable signs at the entrance to the road into the airport to let the public know that it was being cleared for a "VIP" to go the wrong way on it. But, half way down the road, we were brusquely waved to the side by a belligerent policeman so that the political convoy could whizz straight out from the tarmac. Clearly…

Marketing need not necessarily involve cash outflow. Sometimes one can earn money, while reaching out to new customers in the process. Gift coupons, for example, offer you the double advantage of making money while reaching out to new customers. Your existing customers and well wishers can buy these, to gift as vouchers to those who may not have heard of you. We have two such companies in Bangalore who believe in this. Active Canvas, a one of a kind art school for people of all ages, offers a variety of courses and hosts events. It now offers gift coupons. Many…

 Entrepreneurship is about thinking differently, creatively. Innovation is not limited to having unique ideas or projects. Innovation can be in the way one manages operations, the way one implements projects or in a combination of all this.One of the key problems faced by entrepreneurs... and no prizes for guessing... is shortage of money. Some entrepreneurs have come up with creative solutions to manage with limited finances at their disposal. What may seem like an essential cost to most persons, have been reviewed and innovatively reduced or managed.One such cost is the cost of routine administration work. While it may seem…

 Last Thursday evening there was such an exceptionally grim gridlock at HAL Airport that landing passengers had to cool their heels or wander about between cars and puddles for over half an hour while their pick-up vehicles were stuck within the airport premises, unable to move in any direction. The reason? "VVIP movement." It wasn't even a visiting head of state: just a regular, home-grown neta (in this case, apparently, Arun Jaitley - but it could have been any number of other politicians whose fawning parties treat them like latter-day royals; I shudder to think of the likely situation during…

I thought I'd begin my blog on Citizen Matters with the question: does the citizen really matter? Recent experiences in Bangalore suggest that they do not, especially in the context of public policy. The ongoing brouhaha over the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) is only the latest example of the total lack of transparency and complete disregard for citizens' rights to information and self-determination that mark planning (if any) for the city's development. This aspect of the issue has received far less attention so far than more obviously emotive ones such as inadequate infrastructure for effective connectivity. Although reams of newsprint…