Business in the Cloud

Cloud Applications are like an iceberg. The ‘portion above water’ is what most people have seen. What lies below is yet to come. The obvious as well as hidden potential of cloud apps is driving its business value upwards and costs of implementation downwards.

For the average Joe with a smart phone and a laptop to boot, cloud is the buzzword. With the internet connectivity to mobile devices touching a point of ascendance, the cloud becomes even more relevant. You can place that average Joe anywhere on the consumer normal curve – be it the innovator, early follower, early majority, late majority or the laggards – the usage pattern and the value sought from the cloud application remains more or less the same. The jury is out on whether one can actually classify the ‘cloud app end-user’ based on the mentioned categories because of the sheer proliferation of such cloud apps as Dropbox, Google Docs etc. which have made adoption and use as easy as point/touch and click. But what is evident is the propensity of people around the world, to using a cloud app for a purpose or many purposes, as the case may be.

In my daily work and play motions, apps have become an essential part of the way in which I function, interact, communicate or consume. With Android becoming a green pasture for many a cloud app startup to happily graze on my life couldn’t have been better. The following is an attempt to share with you, the reader, three of my favorite things on the cloud.

Google Docs

A real godsend in terms of functionality, this cloud app is one of the most essential tools in my ‘garage’ of an app collection. For people like me who lead two lives, one inside the office and one outside of it and both equally vibrant and demanding, Google docs becomes the easiest way to create, share, edit and move on. The devil is not in the details in this case. While MS Office clearly outshines Google docs, the attraction quotient for me is its simplicity, its complicity to my existing documents and the fact that I have so many friends with whom the docs can be shared for tweaking, editing or creation. The fact that it’s free makes it simple, lucid and a win-win proposition for consumers like me. With the arrival of Google Drive, the value proposition just got the shot in the arm it needed.

Dropbox

The name says it all. One of my earliest brushes with cloud apps was through Dropbox and it sure did impress me. Combining one of the most basic functions that behoove a cloud with the basic need of storing files on the go, Dropbox has come a long way since its inception. Originally an answer to the conundrum of a lost USB drive, Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox did something that now benefits close to 50 million users worldwide. One of them, lucky me, finds the app the easiest to use when it comes to storing my photos, documents or presentations, that I know would eat up space on my HDD. Even with the Android Market awash with alternatives, my allegiance to Dropbox is unwavering simply because it has improved rapidly over the years and maintained its parity and differentiators vis-à-vis other players. The ‘Point-click and store’ activity never had a more apt name.

Yuuguu

The name has an Indian touch to it. Anish Kapoor, one of cofounders of this extremely useful desktop sharing and conferencing website, admitted that the idea behind Yuuguu was borne out of the need to collaborate and work inclusively. The idea caught on with Philip Hemsted and together, Yuuguu was launched in 2007. The underlying idea of the app is a multiprotocol messaging program that supports the biggest IM services--Yahoo, MSN, Google, AIM, ICQ, and more recently Skype. And it sure does deliver in terms of quality of sharing, IM messaging speed and usage simplicity. What is the killer-blow in this case is its ability to allocate to every conversation a private global conference bridge which therefore ensures smooth data flow and collaboration. In my book and considering the work that I do, Yuuguu is the best ‘Web 2.0 certified’ (if there is such a thing) desktop sharing and web-conferencing tool out there!

[Written for Recruiterbox, 2012]

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The Agile Redemption

The landscape of business in the 21^st Century is being shaped by the resurgence of the small firm. Be it a bakery, a niche restaurant serving exotic cuisine, a small mobile phone app maker or a startup offering web-development services – the importance of the ‘small business’ is being sharpened in today’s economic landscape. A coherent analogy would be the McKinsey view of the modern economy shaped as a barbell – few large firms on one side, the mid-sized firms populate the middle and thousands of small firms balance the other side. The growing importance of small firms on one side seemingly balances the few large firms on the other side. But how is all this happening?

A number of factors contribute to the answer to this question. But the focus here is on the ‘agility’ of the small firms, the technology and how that is an enabler. The best example of how technology is enabling small businesses capture significant mind shares and market shares is the power of software and the ‘agility’ it attributes to businesses. From providing analytics to building a better customer relationship through web services, software is paving the way for small companies itching to serve the market they target. However, one would be missing the wood for the trees if one fails to realize how critical the methodologies are to developing a piece of well-functioning, targeted and customized software. And when one talks of methodologies in the 21^st century, one most definitely hits upon the term Agile.

Agile & Small Businesses

Small businesses run on tight purse strings. Things are piecemeal and nothing is done without keeping an eye on the results it should deliver. Hence the ‘IT” part of businesses or small software development firms take on a huge responsibility when saddled with some initiative like developing a creative piece of software that captures X amounts of data/insights and delivers Y dollars worth of results. The fuzziness of requirements coupled with the fog over the end result is what Agile flourishes in and delivers results that not only work but deliver excellence.

Agile & the Development process

Although there are several different flavors of an Agile methodology, the fundamental facets remain indelible and unwavering. The principal objectives of Agile are – shorter delivery lifecycle, smaller teams, continued customer collaboration and iterative development. To break down the aforementioned into simpler steps – Close and repeated Collaboration with customer to understand business needs => Cross-functional teams break work into smaller pieces of functionality => Work executed in priority order => Delivery of working software in short frequent durations => Iterative development, testing and deployment =>All stakeholders work together to communicate what is valuable for business, when it will be delivered, and enforce ongoing commitment. What this does is offer managers strategic and operational benefits such as lower costs, lower defect rates, flexibility to change, and the ability to leverage new technical or business information for rapidly changing/dynamic business needs with a need for fast time-to-market or delivery. In other words, working through the fuzziness of requirements and the fog of results just became interesting and fun!

Agile & the statistics

A recent survey by the hallowed Harvard Business School revealed – using Agile delivered 50% reduction in engineering efforts, 55% improvement in time to market and 925% improvement in the number of changes allowed during the development process. The same study stated a 50% improvement in quality associated with iterative development. No wonder case studies of Agile include that of a small die-cutting shop in Ohio, a mid-sized law firm in Washington or a small chain of sports goods stores – all with similar requirements. They all wanted to harness the power of software, customized to their own business needs and they all wanted it done within a definite budget and timeframe. Agile is what they embraced. And excellence is what they experienced. 

[Written for Recruiterbox, 2012]

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Zynga & the Game of Growth

It’s all about the game, and how you play it. Mark Pincus, an undergrad from Wharton and a Harvard MBA sure knew how the game could be played. But the jury is out on the fate of his creation, Zynga that in today’s financial reality trades at $6.03 a share and has a market cap of $4.44 billion. Will the proverbial fortune favor the brave or will investor sentiment spill water on a carefully designed plan, drawn on the canvas of the teeming and writhing world of social networks and ‘Web 3.0’? Once the fat lady sings, you know it’s over but till then, here is a synopsis of how Zynga came to rule the roost.

Mark Pincus was never the one who saw himself as climbing the ladder by taking orders as a subordinate. After numerous experiments of trying to work as a regular employee, when Pincus eventually got fired, entrepreneurship appeared to him as the logical next step. So he took it, with open arms and consequently began the journey, dotted with startups such as FreeLoader (web-based push company), Support.com (later Supportsoft) and an incubator called Tank Hill which he co-founded after being inundated with cash post the public listing of Supportsoft. But the venture that set him on course to tech-stardom was the one where he partnered with Reid Hoffman and bought a small stake in Facebook in 2007. The stake brought him in contact with Mark Zuckerberg and gave him an inside entry to the social media revolution.

Zynga, according the Pincus was formed after he failed with TagSense and Tribe.net. It was during that time that Facebook opened up its API for programmers and riding the wave of people flocking to acquire ‘Facebook land’ was Pincus, armed with ideas of making it big on the social networking platform. In his own words, Pincus had always been a closet gamer and with the advent of social media, he did the math and it told him that ‘Friends + Social Network + Games’ could be a win-win proposition for all. This wasn’t a new idea at all, considering that rivals like Slide, RockYou and the 2008 'springster' Social Gaming Network emerged as big rivals to makers of games on Facebook. But the timing on the part of Zynga was bang on. The fledgling start-up hung on to the coattails of Facebook and rode the journey to the throne of online gaming.

Facebook’s growing popularity helped Zynga grow its user base in leaps and bounds. Coupled with that was Pincus’ focus on rapidly evolving its games to suit user tastes and demands. His vision was simple – Zynga’s business should be metric-driven, combining intuition and data. Insights and analytics would help Zynga rapidly iterate and drive reach, retention and revenue. This is exactly how Zynga differentiated between itself and others; it learned what users wanted and modified its games quickly, sometimes overnight, to better provide what the users wanted. The iteration reached its zenith when Zynga started testing every idea. In those heady days of tech entrepreneurism, one usually perceived Web 2.0 companies behaving in this fashion, but game companies for the most part didn’t.

Monetization of online games was seen as a big challenge by companies during the advent of social media. Pincus saw a way around it and brought into the scheme of things, what he likes to call ‘Web 3.0’. Virtual objects for sale – the idea on the face it seems innocuous. But the revenues it generated were staggering. In contrast to conventional gaming parameters, Zynga did not restrict the amounts users could pay to play. This resulted in some users, across Middle East and Europe paying as much as $100 for poker chip packages. The trend, as it would in a network, caught on and the proverbial ‘Network-Effect’ took over. The results were evident as the user base grew. By April 2009, Zynga had 40 million monthly active users and its poker game was the top title on Facebook. The game, Texas Hold’em Poker, was the first one to reach more than 10 million monthly active users. Following close at heels were Mafia Wars and Farmville. Investors flocked to pour money into the burgeoning gaming ‘whiz-kid’ - In a deal announced Jan. 15, 2008, Zynga was able to raise $5 million from Union Square Ventures, Foundry Group, Avalon Ventures, Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel and other angels.

However, the growth wasn’t all hunky and dory for Zynga and Mark Pincus. Since the days it broke into popular consciousness with famous gaming titles, Zynga has had to suffer the ignominy of being called a ‘Copy-Cat’. Cases were filed against it by Dave Maestri, designer of Mob Wars (allegedly the original of Mafia Wars) and Playfish, a fierce competitor. At one time, the industry had considered it a foregone conclusion that Zynga would die its natural death, cloning games and ideas. But it was Pincus’ bull-headed approach to moving fast that proved the detractors wrong. Ideas were brought to the table, designed iteratively, tested in real-time and the ones generating users were accepted. The ones that couldn’t were summarily rejected. The continued efforts, with the opening up of an office in India, finally made the difference with the launch of Frontierville, Café World, Cityville, Empires and Allies and the acquisition of OMGPOP.

The present day realities for Zynga are a mixed bag. While Project Z (code name for Zynga’s vision of its own social network for gaming) is the next step forward for Zynga (breaking away from the ‘Facebook dependency’), Pincus isn’t shy in buying companies out there, doing good work and producing games that have promise and a market potential. “Draw Something” has a tremendous user base among iPhone and Android users which naturally gives Zynga another network (within a network) to tap into. But, although its revenue has seen growth in the past, its operating income and margin has taken a dip from 2010 to 2011. Although Wedbush Securities is of the bullish opinion that - "Zynga remains well-positioned for long-term growth” what will be interesting to see is how Pincus and his crew steer the ship amid stormy waters in the years to come.

[Written for Rrecruiterbox, 2012]

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The Economist Crossword Book Awards - List of Nominees

In short, the latest and possibly (I am not sure) the best of literature out there !! Go ahead and start reading !!

(This list is courtesy Mr. Arunava Sinha - a writer known for his superb translations of Bengali Classics)

Fiction 

1. A Bowlful of Butterflies, Ritu Lalit, Rupa & Co.
2. A Flawed God, Arjun Shekhar, Hachette India
3. A Monsoon of Music, Mitra Phukan, Zubaan Books
4. Adultery and Other Stories, Farrukh Dhondy, Harper Collins India
5. Along the Way, TGC Prasad, Rupa & Co.
6. An Autumn Melody, SS Ahluwalia, Rupa & Co.
7. An Evening In Lucknow, Suresh Kohli, Harper Collins India
8. Another Chance, Ahmed Faiyaz, Grey Oak Publishers
9. Anurima, Rani Dharker, Roli Books
10. As Long As I Love You I Will Let You Hurt Me, Nikhil Mahajan, Srishti Publishers
11. Bali And The Ocean Of Milk, Nilanjan P Choudhury, Harper Collins India
12. Bangalore Calling, Brinda S Narayan, Hachette India
13. Bitter Wormwood, Easterine Kire’s, Zubaan Books
14. Black Limericks, Ranjit Lal, Roli Books
15. Blinkers Off, Andaleeb Wajid, Rupa & Co.
16. Blossom Showers A Novel, Giselle Mehta, LeadStart
17. Broken Melodies, Gajra Kottary, Harper Collins India
18. Burnt Toast, Sandy Verma, Rupa & Co.
19. Calcutta Exile, Bunny Suraiya, Harper Collins India
20. Campus Cola, N Sampath Kumar, Rupa & Co.
21. Can Love Happen Twice?, Ravinder Pal Singh, Penguin Books
22. Chai for Beginners, Jane Ainslie, Rupa & Co.
23. Chocolate Guitar Momos, Kenny Deori Basumatary, Westland Books
24. Clear Line of Fire, Badrinath Nuggehalli, Rupa & Co.
25. Conditions Apply, N Kaushik, Rupa & Co.
26. Custody, Manju Kapoor, Random House India
27. Dating Diapers And Denial, Rachna Singh, Alchemy Publisher
28. Desi Stories, Anil CS Rao, Cyberwit
29. Doosra a Tale of Cricket, Rajiv Rajendra, Rupa & Co.
30. Fish in Paneer Soup, Deep Ghatak, Rupa & Co.
31. Focus Sam, Rohit Gore, Rupa & Co.
32. Harappa Files, Sarnath Banerjee, Harper Collins India
33. Haunted, Douglas Misquita, LeadStart
34. Ice Boys And Bell Bottoms, D V Krishna Shastri, Harper Collins India
35. Imperfect Mr Right, Shakti Salgaokar, Popular Prakashan
36. In Pursuit of Ecstasy, S Parashar, Rupa & Co.
37. Injustice, Sanjiv Bhatla, Crab Wise Press
38. Ithaca, David Davidar, Harper Collins India
39. Last Man in Tower, Aravind Adiga, Harper Collins India
40. Last Song of Savio De Souza, Binoo K John, Harper Collins India
41. Life Love Kumbh, Aporva Kala, Srishti Publishers
42. Live from London, Parinda Joshi, Rupa & Co.
43. Lonely Gods, Shivani Singh, Hachette India
44. Love in a Wooden Box, Yateen Suman, LeadStart
45. Love was Never Mine, Kunal Bhardwaj, Cedar Books
46. Luwan of Brida, Sarang Mahajan, Popular Prakashan
47. Mad Tibetan Stories, Deepti Naval, Amaryllis
48. Man of a Thousand Chances, Tulsi Badrinath, Hachette India
49. Map Making, Various Authors, Amarllyis
50. Melancholy of Innocence, Raj Doctor, LeadStart
51. Memsahib Chronicles, Suchita Malik, Rupa & Co.
52. Meshes of Smoke, Nazia Mallick, Dronequill
53. Miss New India, Bharati Mukherjee, Rupa & Co.
54. Missing Varun, Amar Agarwal, LeadStart
55. Murder on a Side Street, Salil Desai, Unicorn Books
56. Night in Kullu, Rita Mathur, Rupa & Co.
57. Noon, Aatish Taseer, Harper Collins India
58. Not Like Most Young Girls, Trisha Ray, Jaico Book House
59. Office Shocks, Sumit Agarwal, Rupa & Co.
60. Ohh Yes I Am Single, Durjoy Datta, Grapevine Publishers
61. Overwinter, Ratika Kapoor, Hachette India
62. Pyramid of Virgin Dreams, Vipul Mitra, Rupa & Co.
63. Rebirth: A Novel, Jahnavi Barua, Penguin Books
64. Release And Other Stories, Rakhshanda Jalil, Harper Collins India
65. Revolution 2020, Chetan Bhagat, Rupa & Co.
66. Rhythms of Darkness, Anjana Basu, Gyaan Books
67. River of Smoke, Amitav Ghosh, Penguin Books
68. Rough with the Smooth, Ram Govardhan, LeadStart
69. Satin, Payal Dhar, Harper Collins India
70. Scammed Confessions of a Confused Accountant, Ahmed Faiyaz, Grey Oak Publishers
71. Scandal Point, Manju Jaidka, Rupa & Co.
72. Show me a Hero, Aditya Sudarshan, Rupa & Co.
73. Sleeping With Movie Stars, Gitanjali Kolanad, Penguin Books
74. Slither: Carnal Prose, Urmilla Deshpande, Westland Books
75. Solo, Rana Dasgupta, Harper Collins India
76. Spotting Veron, Ankush Saika, Rupa & Co.
77. Starstruck, Rajal Pitroda, Harper Collins India
78. Strange Connections, Subha Majumder, LeadStart
79. Tailor Of Giripul, Bulbul Sharma, Harper Collins India
80. Tamasha In Bandargaon, Navneet Jagannathan, Westland Books
81. Tanzeem, Mukul Deva, Harper Collins India
82. The 6 PM Slot, Naomi Datta, Random House India
83. The Body in the Back Seat, Salil Desai, Gyaan Books
84. The Book of Answers, C.Y. Gopinath, Harper Collins India
85. The Cavansite Conspiracy, Manjri Prabhu, Rupa & Co.
86. The Collector's Daughter, S K Das, Rupa & Co.
87. The Company Red, Shantanu Dhar, Om Books International
88. The Cry of the Kingfisher, Belinda Viegas, GOA
89. The Dancing Boy, Ishani Kar Purkayastha, Harper Collins India
90. The Eighth Guest and other Muzaffar Jung Stories, Madhulika Liddle, Hachette India
91. The Folded Earth, Anuradha Roy, Hachette India
92. The Fountain’s Magic, Marya Rahator, Mehta Publishing House
93. The Garden of Solitude, Siddhartha Gigoo, Rupa & Co.
94. The Girls Behind The Gunfire, Trisha Ray, Harper Collins India
95. The God Enchanter, Anuradha Majumdar, Harper Collins India
96. The Incredible Banker, Ravi Subramaniam, Rupa & Co.
97. The Ineligible Bachelors, Ruchita Misra, Rupa & Co.
98. The Iron Tooth, Prithvin Rajendran, LeadStart
99. The Kabab Maker, A Sikka, Rupa & Co.
100. The Lotus Queen, Rikin Khamar, Rupa & Co.
101. The Mine, Arnab Ray, Westland Books
102. The Muddy River, P A Krishnan, Westland Books
103. The Newsroom Mafia, Oswald Pereira, Grey Oak Publishers
104. The Nothing Man, Ajay Khullar, Rupa & Co.
105. The Odissi Girl, Donovan Robert, Rupa & Co.
106. The Perfect World: A Journey to Infinite Possibilities, Priya Kumar, Embassy Book Distributors
107. The Quest of the Sparrows, Karthik Sharma, Rupa & Co.
108. The Reluctant Detective, Kiran Manral, Westland Books
109. The Reverse Journey, Vivek Kumar Singh, LeadStart
110. The Rivered Earth, Vikram Seth, Penguin Books
111. The Secret Of The Nagas, Amish, Westland Books
112. The Sly Company of People Who Care, Rahul Bhattacharya, Picador
113. The Songseekers, Saswati Sengupta, Zubaan Books
114. The Storyteller Of Marrakesh, Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya, Westland Books
115. The Tree Bride, B Mukherjee, Rupa & Co.
116. The Urban Jungle, Samrat Choudhury, Penguin Books
117. The Vague Woman's Handbook, Devapriya Roy, Harper Collins India
118. The Valley Of Masks, Tarun Tejpal, Harper Collins India
119. The Weight of the Days, Ajay Pisharody, Rupa & Co.
120. The Wrong Chase, Vikrant Shukla, Mehta Publishing House
121. The Year of High Treason, Vithal Rajan, Rupa & Co.
122. There is Never a Last Time For, Vishwajeet Singh and Indresh Kumar, Diamond Pocket Books
123. Third Best, Arjun Rao, Hachette India
124. Three Parts Desire, Shailaja Bajpai, Harper Collins India
125. Three Times Loser, Akash Verma, Srishti Publishers
126. Thunder Demons, Dipika Mukherjee, Gyaan Books
127. Twice Written, K Sridhar, Popular Prakashan
128. Two Fates: The Story Of My Divorce, Judy Balan, Westland Books
129. Two Worlds, Nandita Puri, Rupa & Co.
130. Vinu I Am Getting Married, Vineet Mishra, Alchemy Publisher
131. When Faith Turned Red, Sharad Pagare, Rupa & Co.
132. When Mira Went Forth, S Antony, Rupa & Co.
133. While I Write, K Satchidanandan, Harper Collins India
134. Withered Leaves, Jayanta Ray, LeadStart
135. Yearning Of Seeds, Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, Harper Collins India
136. You Were My Crush, Durjoy Datta, Grapevine Publishers
137. Zero Percentile 2 0, Neeraj Chhibba, Rupa & Co.

Non-Fiction

1. 24 Akbar Road, Rasheed Kidwai, Hachette India
2. 3's A Crowd, Vijay Nagaswami, Westland Books
3. 7 Secrets Of Shiva, Devdutt Pattanaik, Westland Books
4. 7 Secrets Of Vishnu, Devdutt Pattanaik, Westland Books
5. 80 Questions To Understand India, Murad Ali Baig, Jaico Book House
6. 99 Thoughts On Ganesha, Devdutt Pattanaik, Jaico Book House
7. A Book Of Memory: Confessions And Reflections, Sudhir Kakar, Penguin Books India
8. A Doctor To Defend: The Binayak Sen Story, Minnie Vaid, Rajpal & Sons
9. A Free Man, Aman Sethi, Random House India
10. A Grief To Bury, Vasanth Kannabiran, Orient Black Swan
11. A Shot At History, Abhinav Bindra & Rohit Brijnath, Harper Collins India
12. Basant Kumar & Sarala Birla - Life Has No Full Stop, Rashme Sehgal, Amaryllis
13. Be A Super Salesperson, Cyrus Gonda & Kalim Khan, Embassy Book Publishers & Distributors
14. Beyond The MBA Hype, Sameer Kamat, Harper Collins India
15. Breaking India: Western Interventions In Dravidian And Dalit Faultlines, Rajiv Malhotra & Aravindan Neelakandan, Amaryllis
16. Brick By Red Brick, T.T. Ram Mohan, Rupa & Co.
17. Champions: How The World Cup Was Won, Suresh Menon, Harper Collins India
18. Chess Variants And Games, A.V. Murali, Leadstart
19. Confessions Of A Serial Dieter, Kallie Purie, Harper Collins India
20. Corporate Nirvana, Sonali Masih-D'Silva, Embassy Book Publishers & Distributors
21. Curry: The Story Of Britain's Favourite Dish, Shrabani Basu, Rupa & Co.
22. Death In Mumbai, Meenal Baghel, Random House India
23. Delhi: 14 Historic Walks, Swapna Liddle, Westland Books
24. Delhi Durbar 1911: The Complete Story, Sunil Raman & Rohit Agarwal, Roli Books
25. Doctor Why Is My Baby Crying, P. V. Vaidyanathan, Rupa & Co.
26. Does He Know A Mother's Heart, Arun Shourie, Harper Collins India
27. Don't Go Away We'll Be Right Back, Indu Balachandran, Westland Books
28. Employee Engagement, Debashish Sengupta & S. Ramadoss, Biztantra
29. Entrepedia A Step By Step Guide To Becoming An Entrepreneur In India, Nandini Vaidynathan, Embassy Book Publishers & Distributors
30. Euphoria The Story Of Palash Sen, Ashish Kate, Harper Collins India
31. Experiencing Tarot, Roopa Patel, Harper Collins India
32. Family Fables And Hidden Heresies: A Memoir Of Mothers And More, Vrinda Nabar, Harper Collins India
33. Good Food Good Living, Karen Anand, Harper Collins India
34. Healing Through Ayurveda, Sonica Krishnan, Rupa & Co.
35. Healing With Homeopathy, Mukesh Batra, Jaico Book House
36. Heart To Heart: Remembering Nainaji, Vidya Rao, Harper Collins India
37. Hello Bastar: The Untold Story Of India'S Maoist Movement, Rahul Pandita, Westland Books
38. His Majesty's Opponent Subhas Chandra Bose And India'S Struggle Against  Empire, Sugata Bose, Penguin Books India
39. I Have A Dream, Rashmi Bansal, Westland Books
40. In Quest Of The Last Victory, Navin Gulia, Pearson
41. India: Land Of A Billion Entrepreneurs, Upendra Kachru, Pearson
42. India's Parliamentary Democracy On Trial, Madhav Godbole, Rupa & Co.
43. India's Place In The World, Krishna Chilukuri, Leadstart
44. Indian Mujahideen, Shishir Gupta, Hachette India
45. Intolerant Indian, Gautam Adhikari, Harper Collins India
46. Jihad On Two Fronts, Dilip Hiro, Harper Collins India
47. Journeys Through Rajasthan, Aman Nath, Rupa & Co.
48. JS And The Times Of My Life, Jug Suraiya, Westland Books
49. Kindle Life, Swami Chinmayananda, Jaico Book House
50. Krishna: A Joyous Celebration Of The Divine, Chandrika, Vakils
51. Laughter In The House: 20th Century Parsi Theatre, Meher Marfatia & Sooni Taraporevala, 49/50 Books
52. Livelihood Augmentation In Rainfed Areas, Astad Pastakia & Sachin Oza, Development Support Centre
53. Lost Loves Exploring Rama's Anguish, Arshia Sattar, Penguin Books India
54. Lucknow Boy: A Memoir, Vinod Mehta, Penguin Books India
55. Mafia Queens Of Mumbai, S.H. Zaidi & J. Borges, Westland Books
56. Mumbai Fables, Gyan Prakash, Harper Collins India
57. My Father Baliah, Y. B. Satyanarayana, Harper Collins India
58. Non Stop India, Mark Tully, Penguin Books India
59. Out Of The Blue, Aakaash Chopra, Harper Collins India
60. Pakistan Beyond The Crisis State, Maleeha Lodhi, Rupa & Co.
61. Palmistry: The Mystery Of Destiny, Sunita Chabra, Leadstart
62. Poribortan: An Election Diary, Ruchir Joshi, Harper Collins India
63. Portraits From Ayodhya, Scharada Dubey, Westland Books
64. Pullela Gopi Chand, Sanjay Sharma & Shachi S. Sharma, Rupa & Co.
65. Rabindranath Tagore: An Interpretation, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Penguin Books India
66. RD Burman: The Man The Music, Anirudha Bhattacharjee & Balaji Vittal, Harper Collins India
67. Rocky's Table, Rocky Mohan, Harper Collins India
68. Sachin 501 You Didn’t Know About The Master Blaster, Suvam Pal, Harper Collins India
69. Scrolls Of Strife, Homen Borgohain, Rupa & Co.
70. Shringara, Alka Pande, Rupa & Co.
71. Skipper, Chetan Narula, Rupa & Co.
72. Solstice At Panipat 14 January 1761, Uday S. Kulkarni, Mula Mutha Publishers
73. Spark Of The Divine, Rajinder Singh, Diamond Pocket Books
74. Step By Step Guide To Start Investing, Deepa Venkatraghvan, Network 18
75. Sunshine, Minakshi Chaudhry, Rupa & Co.
76. Superfoods: Make Your Child A Genius, Amitabh Pandit, Bjain
77. Taj Mahal Foxtrot, Naresh Fernandes, Roli Books
78. Target 3 Billion: Pura Innovative Solutions Towards Sustainable Development, APJ Abdul Kalam & Srijan Pal Singh, Penguin Books India
79. Tathaastu, Sajeev Nair, Rupa & Co.
80. The Asocial Networking, Dhiraj Kumar, Leadstart
81. The Biz World, Ravi Handa & Avinash Maurya, Alchemy Publisher
82. The Business Of Cricket, Shyam Balasubramanian & Vijay Santhanam, Harper Collins India
83. The Caliphate’s Soldiers: The Lashkar-E-Tayyeba’s Long War, Wilson John, Amaryllis
84. The Complete Mahabharata, Ramesh Menon, Rupa & Co.
85. The Devil's Pack, Balvinder Singh Sandhu & Austin Coutinho, Rupa & Co.
86. The First Spring The Golden Age Of India, Abraham Eraly, Penguin Books India
87. The Fresh Brew, Amitabh Thakur & Amit Haralalka, Alchemy Publisher
88. The Habit Of Winning, Prakash Iyer, Penguin Books India
89. The Illuminator Access To Universal Intelligence, Rajith Rajappan, Strategic Book Publishing
90. The IPL Story, Abhishek Dubey, Pearson
91. The Mahabharata, Shiv K. Kumar, Harper Collins India
92. The Man Who Would Be Queen, Hoshang Merchant, Penguin Books India
93. The Other 99 Percent, Debashis Chatterjee, Jaico Book House
94. The Punjab Bloodied, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Rupa & Co.
95. The TCS Story And Beyond, S Ramadorai, Penguin Books India
96. The Winning Way, Anita Bhogle And Harsha Bhogle, Westland Books
97. The World In Our Time, Tapan Raychaudhuri, Harper Collins India
98. This Is All I Have To Say, Swapan Seth, Roli Books
99. Tinderbox, M.J. Akbar, Harper Collins India
100. Trees Incredible, Madan Mohan Pant, Rupa & Co.
101. Varanasi: Story Of A Civilazation, Raghu Rai, Harper Collins India
102. Water, Brahma Chellaney, Harper Collins India
103. Whatever The Odds, Kushal Pal Singh, Raman Swamy & Ramesh Menon, Harper Collins India
104. Women Awakened, Swati Chopra, Harper Collins India

Translations 

1. A Night In London, Sajjad Zaheer, Urdu, Translated by Bilal Hashmi, Harper Collins India
2. A Summer Nightmare and Other Poems, Ranajit Das, Bengali, Translated by Nirmal Kanta Bhattacharjee, Rupa & Co.
3. Antharjanam: Memoirs of a Namboodiri Woman, Devaki Nilayamgode, Malayalam, translated by Indira Menon & Radhika Menon, Oxford University Press     
4. Birds Beasts and Bandits, Krupakar & Senani, Tamil, Translated by S. R. Ramakrishna, Penguin Books India
5. BT Road / The Hollow, Samaresh Basu, Bengali, Translated by Saugata Ghosh, Harper Collins India
6. Chemmeen, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, Malayalam, Translated by Anita Nair, Harper Collins India
7. Deliverance, Gauri Deshpande, Marathi, Translated by Shashi Deshpande, Women Unlimited
8. Fever, Samaresh Basu, Bengali, Translated by Arunava Sinha, Random House India
9. Gopallapuram, Ki Rajanarayanan, Tamil, Translated by Pritham K. Chakravarthy, Penguin Books India
10. Harbart, Nabarun Bhattacharya, Bengali, Translated by Arunava Sinha, Westland Books
11. In Freedom's Shade, Anis Kidwai, Urdu, Translated by Ayesha Kidwai, Penguin Books India
12. Manik Da: My Life with Satyajit Ray, Nemai Ghosh, Bengali, Translated by S.K. Ray Chaudhuri, Harper Collins India
13. Nandanvan and Other Stories, Lakshmi Kannan, Tamil, Translated by Lakshmi Kannan, Orient Black Swan
14. No Crystal Stair, Ambika Sikar, Marathi, Translated by Ambika Sikar, Leadstart
15. Paper Bastion, Meera Kant, Hindi, Translated by Ranjana Kaul, Rupa & Co.
16. Poems Come Home, Sukrita, Urdu, Translated by Gulzar, Harper Collins India
17. Prisoner No. 100, Anjum Zamrud Habib, Urdu, Translated by Sahba Husain, Zubaan Books
18. Rumi: Poems, Jalaluddin Rumi, Urdu, Translated by Farrukh Dhondy, Harper Collins India
19. Seventeen, Anita Agnihotri, Bengali, Translated by Arunava Sinha, Zubaan Books
20. Sikandar, Binayak Banerjee, Bengali, Translated by Soma Ghosh, Westland Books
21. The Araya Woman, Narayan, Malayalam, Translated by Catherine Thankamma, Oxford University Press  
22. The Empty Space, Geetanjali Shree, Hindi, Translated by Nivedita Menon, Harper Collins India
23. The Last Poem, Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali, Translated by Dilip Basu, Harper Collins India
24. The Mountain of the Moon, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Bengali, Translated by Jayanta Sengupta, Rupa & Co.
25. The Story of Felanee, Arupa Kalita, Assamese, Translated by Deepika Phukan, Zubaan Books
26. The Temple and the Mosque, Premchand, Hindi, Translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, Harper Collins India
27. When the Time is Right, Buddhadeva Bose, Bengali, Translated by Arunava Sinha, Penguin Books India
28. Yellow is the Colour of Longing, K.R. Meera, Malayalam, Translated by J. Devika, Penguin Books India

Children 

1. 103 Historical Mysteries Puzzles Conundrums And Stuff, Siddhartha Sarma, Scholastic India
2. 120 Days Around The Universe, Bittu Kumar, Cyberwit
3. A King Cobra'S Summer, Janaki Lenin, Pratham Books
4. A Walk Among Trees, Nimret Handa, Pratham Books
5. Ambili, Anita Vachhrajani, Pratham Books
6. Beyond The Blue River, B Vinayan, Tulika Publishers
7. Bishnu The Dhobi Singer, Subhadra Sen Gupta, Pratham Books
8. Buro Angla, Abanindranath Tagore, Scholastic India
9. Champa The Dreamer Journeys To The Land Of The Buddha, Asha Shankardass, Leadstart
10. Champa The Punjabi Kudi Discovers The Himalayas, Asha Shankardass, Leadstart
11. Cheep Cheep Drip Drip, Lubaina Bandukwala, Pratham Books
12. Chopped Green Chillies, Sam Mukherjee, Rupa & Co.
13. Doa Detective Files Trouble At The Taj, Sonia Chandrrachud, Penguin Books India
14. Espi Mai Is Stuck Again And Other Goan Tales, Anita Pinto, Goa
15. Fun In Devlok: An Identity Card For Krishna, Devdutt Pattanaik, Penguin Books India
16. Fun In Devlok: Saraswati's Secret River, Devdutt Pattanaik, Penguin Books India
17. Fun In Devlok: Gauri And The Talking Cow, Devdutt Pattanaik, Penguin Books India
18. Fun In Devlok: Indra Finds Happiness, Devdutt Pattanaik, Penguin Books India
19. Fun In Devlok: Kama Vs Yama, Devdutt Pattanaik, Penguin Books India
20. Fun In Devlok: Shiva Plays Dumb Charades, Devdutt Pattanaik, Penguin Books India
21. Ghosts Don't Eat, Sanket Pethkar, Scholastic India
22. Great Stories For Children, Ruskin Bond, Rupa & Co.
23. Growing Up In Pandupur, Adithi & Chatura Rao, Zubaan Books
24. Icky Yucky Mucky, Natasha Sharma, Zubaan Books
25. Kallu's World 1, Subhadra Sengupta, Pratham Books
26. Kallu's World 2, Subhadra Sen Gupta, Pratham Books
27. Mad And Madder Tall Tales Of A Fantastic Family, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Scholastic India
28. Mayil Will Not Be Quiet, Niveditha Subramaniam And Sowmya Rajendran, Tulika Publishers
29. Monkeys In My Backyard, Abanindranath Tagore, Scholastic India
30. Monster Slick And The Magic Umbrella, Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Scholastic India
31. Mumbai Rollercoaster, Rajorshi Chakraborti, Hachette India
32. Naughty Avantika, Prashant Pinge, Leadstart
33. No Dogs Please, Dheera Kitchlu, Serene Woods
34. One Night In The Sunderbans, Tannaz Daver, Leadstart
35. Paper Play, Mala Kumar, Pratham Books
36. Poetry Writing Made Simple 1: Teacher's Toolbox Series, Sarika Singh, Leadstart
37. Poetry Writing Made Simple 2: Teacher's Toolbox Series, Sarika Singh, Leadstart
38. Raja And The Giant Donut, Prashant Pinge, Leadstart
39. Russian Folktales, Scharada Dubey, Scholastic India
40. Sea Buddies: Book 2 The New Kid, Darsana Radhakrishnan, Leadstart
41. Sea Buddies: Book 1  The Singing Conch, Darsana Radhakrishnan, Leadstart
42. Spinning Top Stories Little People To Love And Share, Nitya Satyani, Leadstart
43. Tales From Sundervan, Neelam Chandra, Sahni Publications
44. Tales Of Historic Delhi, Premola Ghose, Zubaan Books
45. The Chattering Forest, Seema Chatterjee, Leadstart
46. The Enchanted Saarang, Asha Hanley, Tulika Publishers
47. The Golden Gate And Other Stories, Anita Pinto, GOA
48. The Kashmiri Storyteller, Ruskin Bond, Penguin Books India
49. The Kite Tree, Avanti Mehta, Tulika Publishers
50. The Mystery Of Mindnet, Aradhana Bisht, Scholastic India
51. The Mystery Of The Silk Umbrella, Asha Nehemiah, Scholastic India
52. The Phoo Phoo Baba And Other Stories Volume I, Aabid Surti, Pratham Books
53. The Secret Medallion, Sindhu Keshavamurthy, Power Publishers
54. The Seventh Sun, Manav Jalan, Pratham Books
55. The Story Of Solar Energy, Anushka Ravishankar, Scholastic India
56. The Timid Train, Bharati Jagannathan, Pratham Books
57. To The Principal, Shankar Musafir, Leadstart
58. Uncle Know All And Other Stories Volume II, Aabid Surti, Pratham Books
59. Wild Child And Other Stories, Paro Anand, Penguin Books India

The Facebook Saga - from facepalm to IPO !!

“Carpe Diem! Sieze the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary!” – So exclaimed a certain Mr. John Keating, the brilliance of Robin Williams running riot though the countenance of the young professor, smiling at the small group students gathered in front of him. Dead Poets Society, (1989) – a movie that could have been watched by a wide-eyed, five year old kid named Mark Elliot Zuckerberg. Who knows, Mr. Keating and his inspiring quotes could have been just the push little Mark required in setting out on a journey that would culminate in a creation that the today everyone calls Facebook.

Facebook has been an extraordinary development in the world of internet. What started out as Mark’s little dorm room creation has now given the world the platform to ‘connect’, ‘like’, ‘share’ and ‘comment’. All this and much more have added to the appeal of the social networking giant – the latest being the filing of SEC and the eventual release of the IPO. But has it been the right move for the curly-haired poster boy of Silicon Valley? Could the world’s largest technology IPO also be the biggest blunder ever? Or are we reading too much into the data? The debate has already started and to avoid getting lost in the melee of ‘strings’ and ‘numbers’ one should sit back and crunch the ‘basics’ first.

The basics are certain simple law-of-the-land fashioned truths about the two biggest words in the title of this article. ‘Facebook’ and ‘IPO’ – and these two need as simple an understanding as possible for the data to make sense to one and all. To begin with, here’s looking at the IPO or the Initial Public Offering - a tool used by companies to raise capital (money for bigger, grander plans), to provide liquidity to its founders, employees and early investors and to benefit from the prestige or notoriety of being a ‘public’ company. With the aforementioned set as a background, ‘Facebook’ can be described as – a second generation Internet company with ‘dynamic’ content (set your status, like a comment, share a photo), communication platform (user connections, chat, message, wall-posts), 800 million active users and a plethora of games, apps and ‘addictions’ to make one spend close to 6 hours a day surfing it (ComScore says it, I don’t).

Having crunched the basics, the next step is to question, how did it all happen? Any IPO begins with a company filing an entry at the SEC – Securities & Exchange Commission, under a particular category, which in the case of Facebook was S1. The filing, among other things, includes a letter from the company founders, to prospective shareholders, which in the case of Facebook, was an interesting one from Mark Zuckerberg. With the filing formalities out of the way in the month of January 2012, the IPO was released on 18^th of May, 2012 amidst much fanfare and hullaballoo. The opening price was $38/share.  So far so good – a company has invited the public to invest and much needed capital is being pumped in by eager investors. But in retrospection, was this process needed at all? If yes, what is in store for the blue and white hued social network?

Facebook had money coming in from private investors, much before its decision to go public. With Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Hong-Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing, Russian honcho Yuri Milner and Bono’s Elevation Partners, all pouring money into the internet darling, raising capital was certainly not difficult. It became even easier when Facebook employee shares were up for grabs on the ‘grey’ market – SecondMarket or SharePost. In addition to this, providing liquidity to the founding partners wasn’t difficult either. The investment by Russian Investment fund DST sort of completes the picture in this respect, with its offer to buy $100 million of stock directly from the employees. Hence, cash wasn’t a problem. Then why file an S1 in the SEC? Why go public?

Here is where the proverbial ‘streams’ seem to converge. If one goes through the SEC filing of Facebook and the passionate letter for Zuckerberg and juxtaposes it with the prestige of going public and associated bits of wisdom, the reason begins to emerge. The story of Facebook, the evolution of the company, the equation it has with the public, the attraction quotient of its value proposition – has grown and is something that investors just cannot be kept away from. Social media as a tool, technology and a platform has evolved with Facebook as its champion, face and torchbearer. The industry has taken to Facebook like a glutton to a tasty lamb chop. Targeted Marketing & Advertising are ruling the roost in terms of revenues for ‘FB’. It is only fitting that the public focus on social media, the interest it generates throughout the world and the implications it can have for the future be better measured, analyzed and invested in for the future. This is something the Stock Exchanges around the world are too good at.

But is it only the ‘public’ we need to look at? Can it be simply that Facebook needs more money? Maybe – if one looks at its burgeoning growth trajectory, its competitors and the evolution of the consumer it serves. Browsing is going mobile, literally. And with that, Facebook needs to go mobile too. With Android and iOS standing guard to a market full of opportunities, Facebook will require developing its interface – the mobile way. The baby steps in that direction – acquisition of Insta.gram – is a sign of sorts. But that is certainly not enough. From a very simple logic – more money is needed if Facebook wants to acquire more or grow faster. And an IPO is surely one of the best ways of doing that – of ‘seizing the day’ (in order to ‘make’ things ‘extraordinary’).