Google Base

Now, is Google into e-commerce with Google Base ?!

Innovation and Business

"I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others... I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent...." - Thomas Alva Edison.

The most daunting thing for an innovator is to make a living out of his innovations. Professors and scientists at universities do research and claim to be working towards inventing something, but the million dollar question is, "can they commercialize their innovation?" A great innovator who makes money out of his inventions is the one who has a unique and gifted talent to mix business-mindedness with the single-mindedness required to do research.
Most people fail to create exactly this balance. Either they do more research, which is not needed by anyone or they focus more on the business side of the things, trying to focus on "branding" and spending time and money marketing a weak product.

A great innovator-entrepreneur is the one who can look at things in a way no one has ever done before and goes out to express to everyone what he percieves as the truth around him and has a vision to create great products/services with an attitude to serve people.

First, Next

First break all the rules.
Next create your own rules !

Cool illusion

This is really cool, dont miss it. Click here

Only one option

There is only one option: WIN !

Love your independence

"If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in the hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances."
-- Albert Einstein, The Reporter, November 18 1954

I'm quoted

Blogger.com founder Evan Williams quoted my comments on his blog ! Click here to see it.

Tech leaders on Web 2.0

"e-commerce has not even begun." -- Bill Gates

"In the 2000s, there will be two kinds of businesses -- ones that are online and the ones that are out of business." -- Bill Gates

"It's still day one. We're in the stone age of computing." -- Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com

"Never underestimate the Internet. Manipulate it. Respect it. But don't try to dominate it."
-- Jerry Yang, Founder, Yahoo Inc.

"I think the XML message form will really be the thing that unlocks the future" -- Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corp.

......
Will be updated

Google in 2084

- As visualized by Randy Siegel

What leaders are saying

Bill Gates had been to M.I.T recently to interact with students and encourage them to pursue computer science as a career.

Mr. Gates said electronic commerce had not yet even begun, and that huge gains in communication, convenience and productivity are on the near horizon. He acknowledged that there were challenges to be overcome in areas like privacy and computer security, skipping lightly over the fact that security flaws have bedeviled many Microsoft products. But even the headaches, he said, are merely intriguing problems for smart computer people to conquer, and profit from.

Jeff Bezos likes to say when exhorting his staff to innovate, "It's still day one." We're in the stone age of computing.

Web 2.0 e-commerce company

I feel the web is moving towards a more generalized pattern and towards a standard.
Like, personal web pages were random and radically different from eachother while all the blogs follow a specific design and pattern and framework. Same thing with Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org provides information about each and everything but in a definite pattern and model and everything fits into that model.

My vision is to create such a pattern, standard and framework for an e-commerce company. eBay and Amazon are not working like wikipedia or blogs hence I consider them to be web 1.0 companies. Information about buyers and sellers in eBay and Amazon is not formatted and doesnt fit into a framework. This will not be the case in a web 2.0 e-commerce company.

So far what I have learnt from web 2.0 is "information shouldnt be presented as flashy and haphazard, information should be presented in an organized and disciplined manner and should fit in a framework".

Web1.0 vs Web2.0

Web1.0 -------------------------------------- Web2.0

DoubleClick ----------------------------------Google AdSense
Personal Websites ----------------------------Blogs
Ofoto -----------------------------------------Flickr
mp3.com -------------------------------------Napster
Britannica Online -----------------------------Wikipedia
eBay/Amazon -------------------------------- ?????

So, what will be the web 2.0 company for e-commerce? Will eBay or Amazon continue to be considered as web2.0 companies or will some new company with a novel idea and big vision become the web2.0 company for e-commerce?

For information on Web2.0 click here

eBay buys VeriSign

eBay's buying spree continues. Not even a couple of months after buying Skype, eBay has bought VeriSign for $370 Million.

Here is what Jeff Jordan, President PayPal (also aquired by eBay) says:

"I’m excited to let you know that PayPal has agreed to acquire VeriSign's payment gateway. This acquisition will allow PayPal to accelerate its growth in off-eBay merchant services, and will provide merchants with even more processing choices from a single provider – including VeriSign's gateway, PayPal’s Website Payments Standard, Express Checkout or Website Payments Pro.

In addition, eBay and PayPal have signed a multi-year agreement with VeriSign for a variety of technologies, including authentication tokens, which protect the security of online transactions. eBay and PayPal users will benefit with enhanced security and privacy of their account data.

We’ll keep you informed about how these technologies will be integrated with eBay and PayPal in 2006."
More detailed news here

Bill Gates on his competitors

Microsoft Corp. is grappling with "a lot of smart competitors," including Google and Apple, who are ahead of the Redmond company in some key markets, Bill Gates acknowledges.

But the Microsoft chairman on Tuesday said his company remains the overall industry leader, and he compared the current rivalries to legendary ones with Lotus, Novell and WordPerfect -- situations in which the Redmond company ultimately overcame steep odds to prevail.

"At any point in our history, we've had competitors who were better at doing something," Gates said in an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, underscoring the fact that it wouldn't be unprecedented to come from behind now. Read more here

In an other interview with CNET Microsoft Boss Bill Gates talks about Google, he said: "Google, because they are in the honeymoon phase, people think that they do all things at all times in all ways". Read more here.

How Microsoft will "kill" Google

When Steve Ballmer yelled at a departing Microsoft employee that he would "kill Google" we had no idea just how direct a method he had in mind. Buying all or part of AOL may be the first part of the master plan, as Google relies heavily on the advertising pages that come from AOL, since it now syndicates its search to Google.

Best Entrepreneurs under 25

BusinessWeek Online is conducting a search for the country's (USA) most talented entrepreneurs under 25. To submit your nomination click here

Some of the best business ideas are hatched over cold pizza in college dorm rooms. If you need proof, look no further than the Dell computer likely sitting on your desk. Considered a generation ago to be the career path for those without one, the term "entrepreneur" has gradually shed its stigma and become the rock star of the business world -- a ticket to riches, independence, and sometimes, celebrity.

With the proliferation of related classes and competitions on campuses across the nation, not to mention an array of publications like SmallBiz, budding business owners have more resources than ever. The result has been savvier startups coming from increasingly younger founders.

With this in mind, BusinessWeek Online is embarking on a nationwide search for the best entrepreneurs under 25. We're looking for young people running their own companies -- real, fully operational companies. And that's about the only criteria.

Business plans are important, of course, but we're really out to find young business leaders who have taken the proverbial plunge and already put those plans into action. And by no means do they have to come from the friendly confines of academia.

e-commerce + e-communication : eBay + Skype

eBay to Acquire Skype

London, September 12, 2005 – eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY; www.ebay.com) has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration. The acquisition will strengthen eBay’s global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business and creating significant new monetization opportunities for the company. The deal also represents a major opportunity for Skype to advance its leadership in Internet voice communications and offer people worldwide new ways to communicate in a global online era. Skype, eBay and PayPal will create an unparalleled ecommerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world.

“Communications is at the heart of ecommerce and community,” said Meg Whitman, President and Chief Executive Officer of eBay. “By combining the two leading ecommerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in Internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the Net.”

Founded in 2002 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, Skype offers high-quality voice communications to anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world. The Skype software is easy to download and install, and enables free calls between Skype users online. Skype’s premium services provide low-cost connectivity to traditional fixed and mobile telephones. Skype’s software also offers a robust set of features, including voicemail, instant messaging, call forwarding and conference calling. Upcoming product innovations include Skype video, expressive content such as avatars, and customized toolbars for Outlook and Internet Explorer.

One of the fastest growing companies on the Internet, Skype already has 54 million members in 225 countries and territories. Skype is currently adding approximately 150,000 users a day and has created a thriving ecosystem of products, services, developers, and affiliates. Skype is considered the market leader in virtually all countries in which it does business. In North America alone, Skype has more users and serves more voice minutes than any other Internet voice communications provider.

“Our vision for Skype has always been to build the world’s largest communications business and revolutionize the ease with which people can communicate through the Internet,” said Niklas Zennström, Skype CEO and co-founder. “We can’t think of any better platform to fulfill this vision to become the voice of the Internet than with eBay and PayPal.”

“We’re great admirers of how eBay and PayPal have simplified global ecommerce and payments,” said Janus Friis, Skype co-founder and senior vice president, strategy. “Together we feel we can really change the way that people communicate, shop and do business online.”

Zennström and Friis will remain in their current positions. Zennström will report to eBay CEO Whitman and join eBay’s senior executive team.

A Powerful Ecommerce and Communications Engine

Online shopping depends on a number of factors to function well. Communications, like payments and shipping, is a critical part of this process. Skype will streamline and improve communications between buyers and sellers as it is integrated into the eBay marketplace. Buyers will gain an easy way to talk to sellers quickly and get the information they need to buy, and sellers can more easily build relationships with customers and close sales. As a result, Skype can increase the velocity of trade on eBay, especially in categories that require more involved communications such as used cars, business and industrial equipment, and high-end collectibles.

The acquisition also enables eBay and Skype to pursue entirely new lines of business. For example, in addition to eBay’s current transaction-based fees, ecommerce communications could be monetized on a pay-per-call basis through Skype. Pay-per-call communications opens up new categories of ecommerce, especially for those sectors that depend on a lead-generation model such as personal and business services, travel, new cars, and real estate. eBay’s other shopping websites — Shopping.com, Rent.com, Marktplaats.nl and Kijiji – can also benefit from the integration of Skype.

PayPal and Skype also make a powerful combination. For example, a PayPal wallet associated with each Skype account could make it much easier for users to pay for Skype fee-based services, adding to the number of PayPal accounts and increasing payment volume.

In addition, Skype can help expand the eBay and PayPal global footprint by providing buyers and sellers in emerging ecommerce markets, such as China, India, and Russia, with a more personal way to communicate online. And consumers in markets where eBay currently has a limited presence, such as Japan and Scandinavia, can learn about eBay and PayPal through Skype. Skype can also help streamline cross-border trading and communications.

With its rapidly expanding network of users, the Skype business complements the eBay and PayPal platforms. Each business is self-reinforcing, organically bringing greater returns with each new user or transaction. The three services can also reinforce and accelerate the growth of one another, thereby increasing the value of the combined businesses. Working together, they can create an unparalleled engine for ecommerce and communications around the world.

Transaction and Financial Information

eBay will acquire all of the outstanding shares of privately-held Skype for a total up-front consideration of approximately €2.1 billion, or approximately $2.6 billion, which is comprised of $1.3 billion in cash and the value of 32.4 million shares of eBay stock, which are subject to certain restrictions on resale.

The maximum amount potentially payable under the performance-based earn-out is approximately €1.2 billion, or approximately $1.5 billion, and would be payable in cash or eBay stock, at eBay’s discretion, with an expected payment date in 2008 or 2009. Skype shareholders were offered the choice between several consideration options for their shares. Shareholders representing approximately 40% of the Skype shares chose to receive a single payment in cash and eBay stock at the close of the transaction. Shareholders representing the remaining 60% of the Skype shares chose to receive a reduced up-front payment in cash and eBay stock at the close plus potential future earn-out payments which are based on performance-based goals for active users, gross profit and revenue.

The above-mentioned dollar and eBay share amounts are approximate, based on the Euro-Dollar exchange rate and eBay’s stock price as of September 9, 2005. The final value of the stock component of the consideration may vary significantly from this estimate based on the value of eBay stock at closing.

Skype generated approximately $7 million in revenues in 2004, and the company anticipates that it will generate an estimated $60 million in revenues in 2005 and more than $200 million in 2006. For Q4-05, eBay expects the acquisition to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.01 and $0.04 respectively. For the full year 2006, eBay expects the transaction to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.04 and $0.12 respectively, with breakeven on a pro forma basis expected in the fourth quarter of 2006. On a long-term basis, eBay expects Skype operating margins could be in the range of 20% to 25%.

The acquisition is subject to various closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2005.

About eBay Inc.

Founded in 1995, eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and inspired by opportunity. eBay enables ecommerce on a local, national and international basis with an array of websites – including the eBay Marketplace, PayPal, Kijiji, Rent.com and Shopping.com – that bring together millions of buyers and sellers every day.

About Skype Technologies SA

Skype, the Global Internet Communications Company™, allows people everywhere to make free, unlimited, superior quality voice calls via its award-winning innovative peer-to-peer software for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Pocket PC platforms. Skype is available in 27 languages and is the fastest growing voice communications offering worldwide. Since its launch in August 2003, Skype has been downloaded more than 163 million times in 225 countries and territories. Fifty-four million people are registered to use Skype’s free services, with over 3 million simultaneous users on the network at any one time. Skype Technologies SA is headquartered in Luxembourg and is growing its offices in London and Estonia.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements regarding Skype and the expected impact of the acquisition of Skype on eBay’s financial results. Those statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the timing of the closing of the transaction, the possibility that the transaction may not close, the reaction of the users of Skype’s services, the future growth of Skype’s user base and public acceptance of Internet voice communication services, rapid technological changes in the Internet voice communications sector, the reaction of competitors to the transaction, global developments in the regulation of Internet voice communication services including those provided by Skype, the possibility that integration of Skype’s offerings following the transaction may be more difficult than expected, and the possibility that entry by Skype and eBay into potential new lines of business will not be successful. More information about potential factors which could affect eBay’s business and financial results is included in eBay’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, the company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to eBay on the date hereof, and eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.

Indian engineers good only at theory: Microsoft

India does not produce enough computer engineers and those it does are good at theory but not very well equipped to handle the practical aspects, according to Microsoft Corporation's Chief Technical Officer Craig Mundie, who is on a visit to India.

"India produces a lot of engineers. But the production of computer science engineers is low, pro rata.

"Computer engineers are more into theory and less in managing businesses, building businesses or writing source codes, the key to software development," Mundie told Business Standard.

Microsoft has a large number of Indian software engineers on its rolls in India as well as abroad. Out of the 2,000 people working for Microsoft in India, a sizeable proportion comprises software engineers. India produced 401,791 engineers in 2003-04, of which 35 per cent were computer engineers. The number increased to 464,743 in 2004-05, of which 31 per cent were computer engineers.

According to Mundie, the problem with the engineers can be attributed to policy issues. Universities in India, he said, did not get proper funding for research and were not directed towards software development. "The lack of trained staff is addressed by firms through internal arrangements for proper training," he said.

Besides, he said, India did not have enough software companies nor were enough companies developing India-specific applications.

"There are so few Indian software companies developing local software. That is a negative reinforcement, because there is no local software and no new applications," he said.

What Vinod Khosla is doing these days

"I recently visited Vinod Khosla, who since the 1980s has been a general partner in seven funds at VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which has funded such companies as Google, Genentech, and Sun Microsystems, where Khosla was a co-founder. Last year, when KPCB raised its eleventh fund, Khosla opted not to participate as a GP. Though he still keeps an office at the firm, he now invests his own money, sometimes alongside KPCB, sometimes with other VC firms, and sometimes solo. He is still a GP in past KPCB funds, some of which are fully invested but not yet fully distributed to limited partners. He manages his investments from those funds and serves on some boards on behalf of KPCB. But when making new investments, he bets only his own money. I asked him why he chose to go it alone and what he's up to.

When you walk into Khosla's office, the first thing you notice are the enlarged photos of his four kids that line the walls. There must be 20 or more pictures. Khosla says his kids are the main reason why he chose his current work arrangement. "For the next four or five years, they're all going to go through high school, and it's pretty important to me that I have the flexibility of my time and schedule," he says.

The new schedule also lets him devote time to ventures that aim for maximum social impact rather than maximum profit. Khosla is especially interested in social ventures that use Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurship to create self-sustaining organizations. Two weeks ago at the TiECon 2005 conference, he moderated a panel with some of the organizations he has been working with: Share Microfin Ltd., Aravind Eye Hospital, and Institute for OneWorldHealth.

Investing solo lets Khosla fund pet projects that many VCs wouldn't touch. "I can invest in more seed and speculative ventures," he says. Khosla has always had an interest in pure research that promises to produce breakthrough technologies--the kind of initiatives that don't yet fit neatly into a business plan. He calls them "science projects."

For example, he recently teamed with MIT professor Srini Devdas on a project they're calling Puffco. Devdas is developing a tiny chip that can uniquely identify an object and, according to Khosla, can't be counterfeited. Applications for the invention aren't yet certain. It could be placed inside a Rolex watch to ensure authenticity. It could be incorporated into radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to uniquely identify each tagged item. It could ship inside every laptop to make sure only a rightful owner gains access to stored contents.

Investing at the science-project stage is highly risky since the entrepreneur hasn't yet proven his or her technology can work, much less attract customers. But Khosla has experience with investing at that stage. Over half his investments at KPCB from 1996 to 2001 were infusions of $1 million or less into barely formed startups. That period was a golden era for him, giving rise to such hits as optical networking company Juniper Networks, which returned KPCB's invested capital over 1,000 times.

Investing alone also lets Khosla explore industries VCs have rarely funded in the past. Recently, he has looked at investing in bio refineries, which use sustainable crops or agricultural waste to produce fuel. He has also considered synthetic biology, the creation of new life forms (or alteration of existing life forms) through genetic engineering. He's also interested in fuel cells and solar cells.

He's still doing traditional VC deals, too. He recently invested alongside Sequoia Capital in a second round of funding for Beceem, a WiMax chip startup. In February, he invested with KPCB in Spatial Photonics, a display company. That deal has given him the opportunity to serve on the same board as KPCB general partner John Doerr--something he never got to do at KPCB since the firm assigns only one partner per board. He has also invested with KPCB in chipmaker eAsic and data center equipment maker Xsigo, where he serves on the board with KPCB general partner Ray Lane. After leaving the partnership, Khosla is finally getting to see his former partners in action."

-Justin Hibbard (From BusinessWeek)

Adam Smith's theory of markets from the Internet-perspective.

"If every buyer knew every seller's price and every seller knew what every buyer was willing to pay, everyone in the "market" would be able to make fully informed decisions and society's resources would be distributed efficiently." - Adam Smith in his book, The Wealth of Nations.

Often a buyer doesnt have enough information when he goes into the market for shopping. This bottleneck can only be eliminated in this Information Age with the help of the Internet. Adam Smith's theory of markets can be implemented successfully if we can devise Internet-based applicatons that allow a buyer to have total information before making any purchasing decision. I think this is the future of e-commerce - providing full information to a buyer in an organized manner so that he can make an informed and wise decision.

Bill Gates in his book, The Road Ahead confirms that we are in the Information Age and in this age unlike previous ages, people wont fight for natural resources but will fight for Information. The more information you have and can sell the wealthier you become.

I think, to create an Internet application to provide full information about sellers to a buyer would be the next killer application and the right approach to conquer the e-commerce puzzle.

The beauty of proactivity

You have a dream, an ambition, a vision that you believe is reasonable and will be accepted in the market. And you start taking steps in the direction to make that dream come true. Despite any number of initial setbacks you keep working and pretend that what you are doing is absolutely normal (though at the back of your mind you know that you are doing something extraordinary (not abnormal)) and believe that you can make that dream come true. That is the essence of proactivity. This is exactly what Bill Gates did and Steve Jobs did and any successful entrepreneur does. You need to dream up big things and push yourself and people to make that dream come true. Its not absolutely nessecary that your dream be as brilliant as Edison's idea of creating a bulb but the trick is to be proactive and have a genuine desire to serve the people by creating great products/services.

"Whatever the mind of man can concieve and believe, it can achieve."
Napoleon Hill

"Great men are those who see that thoughts rule the world"
Ralph Waldo Emerson